InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Second Chance ❯ Something Like the Wandering: The Betrayal of Isaac ( Chapter 21 )

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

Disclaimer: I don’t own it so please don’t sue. Oh, and I don’t own ‘Walk the Line’ either.


(I)

Inuyasha sighed and leaned against the pristine white wall, his face calm as he tried to portray the icy aloofness his brother was better known for. ‘Jeez, I don’t see how he does it,’ Inuyasha grumbled to himself. He nodded when a distinguished looking elderly man waved to him from across the polished marble floor, his champagne glass raised in acknowledgment before the gentleman continued on.


‘Miroku’s show’s going over well so far,’ Inuyasha noted as he glanced around the crowded tennis court sized room. Patrons mingled with each other, their talking a dull buzz to Inuyasha’s sensitive ears. Conversation bounced from topic to topic but the subject for the evening was Miroku and his artwork. Even Inuyasha was impressed with the work Miroku had ready for showing, and the first group little more than a faded memory as piece after masterful piece was set up in the gallery.


The inner workings of Miroku’s mind were laid bare for the world to see and Inuyasha could feel the excitement of the artwork crowd as they oohed and ahhed over everything. Cherubs smiled down on desolate wastelands, vengeful archangels shined God’s judgement on masses of terrorized demons, and normal, everyday people were given a new light as they went about their daily lives. The paintings (and one sculpture) were by far the best Inuyasha’d eve seen, but the pair that stood out hung on opposite ends of the showroom. One was a massive painting, 8'x8', called ‘A Picture of Innocence’. The background reminded him of spilled blood, old and sticky but warm. It shone in hues of red, the darkest an almost black with copper and burgundy undertones. It swirled and surged around the subject of the painting, it being in the center of the canvas.


Inuyasha recognized his brother’s charge, or Miroku’s cousin as he was later to find out, and it shocked him so bad that at first he missed the subject of the picture. His shock only deepened once he took a closer look at her heart-shaped face, the crimson tears that streaked down her closed lids left faint trails down her pale cheeks. She bit her lower lip in an attempt to keep in her pain. One hand was tightly fisted against her chest with the other spread out wide beside her. Ebony waves fell like water around her bare shoulders. What could have been cloth was wrapped around her breast and draped around the rest of her body, the picture coming together to seem as if she were merely at rest.


“It’s beautiful,” Inuyasha whispered as he stared up at the painting. He was awestruck, his mouth hanging wide open as he gazed into the beauty’s sleeping face.


“Yeah, I know.”

Inuyasha turned just as Miroku stepped beside him, the normally jovial artist somber and focused as he too looked up at the painting. “Who is she?” Inuyasha asked.


“She’s my cousin, Kagome. She’d literally kill me if she knew I painted her like this.” Miroku chuckled at the thought, the mirth he felt at his cousin’s expense shining in his indigo eyes. “I couldn’t help it though. I started this a couple of days after I met you and well, here it is.”


“But why’d you paint her this way,” Inuyasha pressed and stepped away from the painting. “I mean, wouldn’t you have rather done something happier?”


“Kagome’s always happy,” Miroku replied with a shrug. “She’s always laughing, or smiling, or joking around. She tries to keep her feelings from us all the time and . . . I don’t know. I guess I just wanted to see what she would look like if she were honest for once, both with herself and with those that love her.”


‘I bet she’d be pissed about all of the attention she’s getting too,’ Inuyasha smirked as yet another male stopped underneath the painting to gape like a landlocked fish. ‘Boy, I seriously hope she doesn’t find out about this, or Miroku and his fiancé might just have to adopt.’


Inuyasha turned to the second picture, his joking mood fading into twilight as he stared at the 10"x14" black and white photo. It was the only photo on exhibit and the only picture that didn’t involve angels or people of any kind. In the center of the black background was a massive white dog, the smudged markings on his forehead and cheeks cast in shades of gray as pale eyes stared into his. The sorrow held in those eyes moved Inuyasha more than any picture in the world ever could. It was the second time he’d seen a picture of Sesshoumaru in this form, and the second time the sadness the elder youkai turned canine attempted to hide shone clearly from the other side like a morning star.


‘What happened to you aniki,’ Inuyasha wondered as he traced a pointed fingernail along the smeared crescent mark. ‘The last time you were like this, the world was . . . I thought I’d lost the only living family I had left.’

(II)

He was tired, so tired, and all he wanted to do was sleep.


‘Sesshoumaru, you’re doing it again.’

He padded down the stairs, his paws heavy and his head hung miserably.


‘You can’t keep doing this to yourself. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to forgive yourself.’ Kikyou sighed as he continued to ignore her, his ears droopy as he walked across the living room toward a blanket beside Kagome’s couch. She felt bad for her companion but there was little she could do when he decided to get like this. ‘You’re stuck in the past and you’ve got to let go,’ she told him while the sound of Kagome’s humming fluttered into the room. ‘She’s going to suspect something.’


‘Leave me be woman,’ was his soft reply as he sighed and closed his eyes.


‘But Sesshoumaru-‘


“Chance!” Kagome chirped out as she danced toward him. “Guess what I have?”


Sesshoumau blinked, then turned his head and closed his eyes again. Kagome frowned and stared down at him. “What’s the matter boy?’ she asked as she kneeled in front of him and scratched the top of his head. “Do you feel bad? Aww, you poor baby.” She lifted his great head, scooted closer to him, and plunked it into her lap. “Let’s see if you feel better after I brush you. This shedding hair has to be uncomfortable.”


Sesshoumaru remained quiet, his eyes secreted away while Kagome brushed through the thick fur on his back. ‘She’s worried,’ Kikyou whispered. ‘Please don’t make her worry.’


‘What she does is beyond my control.’


‘Fine, be a grouch,’ Kikyou huffed as she faded toward her little corner of his consciousness. ‘But try to remember Sesshoumaru: It wasn’t your fault then, and it’s not your fault now. You couldn’t change how the world worked.’


‘That is true,’ Sesshoumaru agreed. He stretched out so Kagome could gain better access to him, his eyes opened long enough to catch her concerned stare before closing them again.


‘But maybe I could have, if it had not been for you.’
)(

Sesshoumaru blinked, his confusion evident on his human features as he turned and glared at the telegraph.


R 16;The hanyou worries too much,’ Sesshoumaru said to himself as he plunked down the money onto the telegraph’s desk.


‘He worries for his brother. You cannot blame him for that.’


Sesshoumaru ignored her, a slight frown marring his otherwise still countenance as he stepped into the frigid air beyond the postal station. He heard his latest nuisance sigh, knowing full well of her frustration at his silence, and pulled up the coat he ‘borrowed’ from a drunken gentleman he found slumped in an alleyway. The streets of Warsaw were otherwise quiet and it wasn’t long before the sun rose and he was once again his canine self.


Inuyasha’s decision to leave Japan was a wise one, even if Sesshoumaru refused to admit it. The English, Russian and French nations were hard at war with the Axis, and the madness that swept from the evil German ruler threatened to overthrow the European nations entirely. Poland was already on its last legs, with France and England not too far behind. ‘This Hitler fellow is far too ambitious in my opinion,’ Sesshoumaru said to himself as the bit of sunlight that filtered through the clouds shone down on him. ‘He is bound to make a mistake soon. He and his Axis will not be satisfied with what they have. They will want more.’


‘Don’t they always?’


Sesshoumaru looked up when the shouting began. The cruel jeers and laughter came from around the corner and Sesshoumaru stepped out just as a small boy ran past him. Another group of boys were hot pursuit and Sesshoumaru could sense the fear coming from the boy in the lead. He ran after them, his curiosity spiked at the sheer terror coming from the boy in the lead.


Sesshoumaru stopped when they did, the scent of blood and a sharp cry buried underneath the group’s laughter.

“Get him!” they shouted as they surrounded the boy. Sesshoumaru nudged his way toward the center where he found the first boy crying and bleeding from a small cut on his forehead. The child was smaller than the other children with a round face topped with chocolate ringlets. His brown eyes were wide and frightened, and his arms were thin and frail underneath his black school uniform. He shivered as a frigid wind cut through him, his knees knocked together and he whimpered when one of the stones being thrown at him clapped against his arm.


‘Why are they-oh.’


The Star of David stitched to his jacket’s breast pocket was the reason for the boy’s torment and a growl slipped from Sesshoumaru’s lips. ‘The ignorance of it all,’ he groused as he moved toward the child. He soon stood between the boy and his tormentors, his lips pulled back in a vicious snarl before a series of sharp barks escaped from his throat.


“Woah, that’s a big friggin’ dog,” one boy said as the others began to back away. “Do you think it belongs to the Jew?”


“Hey, do you think it’ll bite?”


Sesshoumaru barked again and lunged at the nearest child, his fangs coming inches from the boy’s outstretched fingertips. He grinned a dog’s grin when they shrieked and tore off, the sounds of their quick footsteps like music to his ears. He turned when the boy sniffed and watched him pick himself up and dust off his clothes.

“Mother’s going to be angry,” he sighed to himself. “I can’t go to school looking like this though.” He turned to Sesshoumaru and smiled. The blood from his cut ran down the right side of his face when he bent down and before long the pair were face to face. “Thank you,” he whispered before digging inside a brown parcel strapped to his hip. “I don’t have much but-“ He pulled out a piece of jerky and offered it to Sesshoumaru, who turned his nose away.”


“Please take it,” the boy begged. “I don’t have anything else to give you.”


Sesshoumaru sniffed and, even though he knew how rare it was for the boy’s family to get meat in their rations, ate the small offering. He sat down at the child’s side and stared at him, guessed the boy to be 12 years old, and watched as the boy grinned again. “Will you walk me home?” he nervously asked. Sesshoumaru nudged his hand in response and soon he was following the boy, his hard yellow eyes pinning anyone who dared insult him as they made their way across the city toward the impoverished part of the city. Small apartments were squished against each other, the brick chipped and the doors dented as the smell of sewage clung heavily to the air.


“Isaac!”


The boy turned and grinned as an older woman ran toward them. The Star of David was sewn to her jacket as well, and concerned brown eyes became wet with tears as she swooped the boy up and gave him a fierce hug.


“Boy where have you been!” she scolded as she put him down. She gasped at the cut on his face, then glared at Sesshoumaru before the boy shook his head. “No mama,” he said with another smile. “He didn’t do it. Some of the boys from school did. He saved me.”


“Really?”


Sesshoumaru mentally growled at her frown, her uncertainty of him understood but not appreciated before she turned back to her son. “I don’t think you’ll be going back to school Isaac,” she said as she began to wipe at his face.


“Yes Mama,” Isaac sadly replied. “I know. May I-“


“May you what dear?” she asked while she scrubbed away at the blood.

“May I keep the dog?”


“What, that mongrel?” she cried out and gave Sesshoumaru a critical glare. Sesshoumaru growled then, his displeasure short lived when Isaac hugged him.


“Please Mama,” he begged as his grip on Sesshoumaru’s neck tightened. “I promise to take care of him! And he could let us know when the Gestapo comes to find us!”


Sesshoumaru waited and saw a calm understanding come to Isaac’s mother’s eyes. She saw what Sesshoumaru had seen from the beginning: Isaac’s need for a friend, one he could trust and count on, one that he wouldn’t fear telling anything to.


“Fine,” she sighed wearily. “You may keep him. Now come, we must find shelter quickly.”


“All right! Come Gabriel!”


And Sesshoumaru, now sired Gabriel, padded along silently, once again the protector of another human child.


(III)


“I just don’t understand it,” Kagome told Sango the next morning. “He’s so sad and he barely eats. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”


“Well, when did it start?” Sango asked as she sat on the edge of Kagome’s desk. “Maybe something happened and you just weren’t aware of it at the time.”


“Um...oh yeah,” Kagome remembered with a frown. “It started after we left Miroku’s studio. He was sad during the shoot too.”


“Do you think Miroku had something to do with it?”

“Nah,” Kagome shook her head. “I watched them the whole time. Besides, Miroku’s a pervert, but he’s not an animal abuser.”


“I know,” Sango reminded her. “But maybe Miroku said something, or did something, that triggered something in his memory. You don’t know Chance’s history Kagome, so you don’t know what happened in his past.”


“Yeah, you’re right.” ‘But what started this?’ Kagome asked herself before resting her head on her desk. ‘Chance is so blue. Maybe...I did it. Maybe it’s my fault.’


“Hey Kagome.”


Kagome groaned in response, her dark hair shielding her face from the rest of the room.


“Someone’s coming up to see you. I think it’s Wonder Kop.”


“Sango that’s awful,” Kagome reprimanded as she scrambled to clean off her cluttered desk. Stacks of paper in her In box were pushed together neatly, extra pins were rolled into her pencil drawer and she managed to drop her folders into another drawer as Kouga strolled into the room.


“Good afternoon Kagome,” he said after greeting Sango. “How are you?”


“I’m fine Kouga,” Kagome smiled wearily. “What are you doing here? Is something wrong?”


“Nah, no way. Everything’s fine. I just thought I’d stop by on my lunch break and see if you wanted to grab something.”


“Oh wow, thanks Kouga,” Kagome said with one of her charming smiles. She made a point of ignoring the encouraging gestures Sango made behind Kouga’s back. “I’m so sorry though. I can’t. I’ve got miles and miles of paperwork to do.”

“Yeah, I do too.” Kouga closed his eyes and sighed, an understanding smile propped on his lips moment’s later. “Alright then. Maybe some other time?”


“Definitely,” Kagome agreed as she turned back to the stacks of folders in her In box.


“Cool.” Kouga leaned over her desk to kiss her forehead, unaware of Sango’s silent happy dance behind him, and paused at a bit of silver glittering off of Kagome’s left shoulder. “What’s this?”


“What’s what?” Kagome asked and watched as Kouga pulled a long strand of white hair off of her black blouse. She squeaked in surprise when he grasped her shoulders and gently pushed her toward her desktop, then giggled when he pinched her back.


“I’m so sorry,” Kouga apologized while he plucked strand after strand of white hair from the back of her shirt. “But you’re covered in this. You’re dog shedding or something?”


“Yeah,” Kagome nodded. She scowled and shot Sango the Finger when she noticed her dance. Sango responded by mouthing, “Kagome and Kouga, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then come-“


“Maybe you should get him groomed,” Kouga offered helpfully, completely unaware of the chaos surrounding him. “My mother has this little yappy mutt that she has groomed all the time.”

“I don’t know,” Kagome replied uneasily. “I don’t think Chance would like anyone touching him that he doesn’t know.”


“Yeah well, the place Okaa-san takes her mongrel is great. That dog’s got to be a hell’s spawn trapped in a footstool, but they manage fine with him. From what I’ve seen, Chance is a calmer dog that my mom’s.”


“Yeah well,” Sango spoke up with an innocent grin. “Kagome treats that mammoth like it’s a teeny baby. You’d be lucky to get her to agree to leave him to come to work.”


“Hey, don’t start on my do-“

“I could make an appointment for Chance if you want,” Kouga interrupted before the pair could argue. “I mean, it’d be no trouble. We could go to lunch while they’re working on him.”


“Well...” Kagome thought it over, her indignation at Sango over her opinion of how she treated her treasured companion forgotten as she considered Kouga’s offer. ‘Maybe it will do him some good,’ she said to herself. ‘He’s been so depressed lately. Maybe what he needs is a good manicure and a trim.’ “Sure Kouga,” said Kagome finally. “That’s a great idea. I’d appreciate it.”


“Great!” Kouga grinned and finally planted his kiss on her forehead. “I’ll call you and let you know when you can take him. They should have some openings since it’s the end of the month.”


“Alright,” Kagome said and waved as the detective practically danced out of the room. “Thanks again!”


“Now tell me,” Sango began once Kouga was out of earshot. “What’s so bad about him again?”


“You mean, other than his insanely violent jealous streak?” Kagome asked, her eyebrows raised as she stared at Sango from underneath her bangs.


“Oh, right. I forgot about that.”


)(


Sesshoumaru watched the commotion in the kitchen, his short ears perked and alert as the adults at the table attempted to figure out a solution to their present problem. The concentration camps of Germany were now up and running, and the Germans were doing all they could to whisk away anyone they felt didn’t comply with their leader’s ‘perfect race’. Isaac and his mother had barely escaped the Gestapo’s first round of arrests by hiding in a coal shaft in a neighbor’s basement, with Sesshoumaru seated underneath it to lean anyone who ‘sniffed’ too close away from the small family. They fled to the outskirts of Lublin where an elderly couple sheltered mother, pooch and child from the freezing cold outside.


“I don’t know how long they can stay here Jeremiah,” a little old lady with kind blue eyes whispered across the tattered tablecloth covering the kitchen table. “The Gestapo are bound to find them here. We have no place to hide them.”

“They are not looking here Anna,” the old man, Jeremiah, assured her with a loving pat to her wrinkled hand. “And if they did, we have more than a few places to hide a woman and her child.”

“Yes, but-“


“We can’t just send them out to their fate,” Jeremiah explained before standing. He groaned and winced at the pain coming from his humped back, his eyes closing briefly before he reached toward the door and grasped a small hatchet. “They need some sort of help and Lord knows how hard that is to find in these times. I won’t kick them out.”


“I didn’t say that,” Anna began, then sighed and shook her head. “I just worry about them. The boy is growing like a weed everyday, and his face is pale from not eating right.”


“We can’t help that,” Jeremiah told her. “They only give us what they think a little old couple should have. Suspensions would only be raised if we asked for more food.”


‘This is awful,’ Kikyou whispered. ‘They shouldn’t have to suffer simply because they’re helping someone. Sesshoumaru?’


Sesshoumaru stood up and followed when Jeremiah walked out the door. His golden eyes were set and determined as he caught sight of the city, the sun setting beyond it and the beginnings of the full moon still a long ways away. He returned later that night, not as Gabriel the dog but Sesshoumaru the man, though the humans inside the tiny little shack would never know his name. They greeted him as they would have any foreigner; with extreme distrust. Jeremiah and Anna allowed him into their home but never any further than their kitchen table.


Sesshoumaru remained as polite as he could, reminding himself whenever something rude was said that the people there needed his help and didn’t have the luxury of disappearing come sunrise. He came with a knapsack of extra rations and always left them sitting underneath the chair he sat in when he left the next morning. For months it went on this way, with near misses of the Secret Police and the hysterics of Isaac’s mother when he was finally introduced to her. His reassurances of her safety were ignored by the woman but Isaac accepted them wholehearted and trusted this ‘Japanese benefactor’ to his word that he would help them escape to America.

If only I had known...If only I had seen his treachery....


I should have stayed away...

(IV)

Sapphire blue eyes winked open, her senses wide awake even without their groggy owner as she sat up and fumbled in the darkness for her nightstand.


‘What’s that noise?’ she wondered as she picked up her alarm clock. She read the bright red numbers that glowed 3:08 pm at her and sniffed before putting it back. ‘I could have sworn I heard-‘ She stopped when it sounded again, the little whimper that was coming from somewhere in her room. Kagome reached over and turned on a lamp sitting on her nightstand, then peered over the side of the bed. She frowned when she found nothing before crawling across the bed to peer down the other end.


“Oh Chance,” she whispered as she slipped from her bed to his side. “What’s wrong buddy, huh?” She blinked back tears when he began to shake, her beloved pooch still trapped in the land of slumber as he curled further into a ball. He cringed and whimpered again, his paws covering his nose as moisture began to leak from underneath his closed lids.


Sympathetic tears slipped down Kagome’s cheeks as she cuddled him like a baby and picked him up. She struggled under his weight but refused to let go of him until he rested on the empty side of her bed. “It’s ok boy,” she whispered as she crawled into bed beside him. “It’s ok. Everything’ll be alright. You’ll see. I promise.”


)(


Sesshoumaru paced, his hands clasped tightly behind his back as the howling North winds pierced through his dark coat and thick pants. ‘Where are they?’ he wondered as his companion, a small badger youkai dressed in a gray uniform, watched him pace with something akin to awe.


“Don’t tell me the Great Taiyoukai’s worried,” the badger jeered softly. “How unbecoming of a leader of your station-“


“Do not push me Genki,” Sesshoumaru growled testily. “You promised that your man would bring them and they’re not here. Where are they?”


“Calm down Sesshoumaru,” Genki pleaded with his frightened little paws thrust in the air in surrender. “I told you, my man will bring your precious human family here. We discussed this months ago.”

Sesshoumaru frowned, his instincts disagreeing hotly with Genki’s reasoning over why his charges were late. Everything on how Isaac and his mother would leave Germany had been planned to the tee. Jeremiah, Anna, Sesshoumaru, Genki and Naomi, Isaac’s mother, all knew of the plan and approved of it’s simplicity. Genki’s assistant would bring Isaac and Naomi to Sesshoumaru, who would lead them as far away from Lublin as he could while in his human form. From there another of Genki’s assistants would lead the way out of Poland through a series of rivers that lead toward the Baltic Sea and Sweden. There they would wait until it was safe to leave again, this time going across the Atlantic Sea to Boston and safety.

Sesshoumaru’s reason for trusting Genki with this mission was a simple one: Genki was a trusted friend of his late and terrible father. Had he not remembered hearing the stories about the German badger that once saved the Inu Taishou’s life during a fierce winter he would have had no way to transport his charges toward where he hoped safety would lie.


“Genki...”


“My lord, the sun rises.”


Sesshoumaru looked up and frowned again, his brows furrowed together tightly as the first orange rays began to light the sky. “Genki, what is the meaning of th-“ He froze as a gunshot pierced the air, his hazel eyes wide as another shattered the sudden silence. Sesshoumaru heard Genki call out to him, heard his calls for him to wait, but ignored him as foreboding and panic gave his feet wings. He ran until his curse stopped him, the mind shattering pain bringing the once mighty youkai to his knees as familiar white fur began to bristle along his skin. He whimpered, his face elongating painfully, as more shots were fired. His eyes were screwed shut when the first scent of blood slammed into his senses and he was moving again as the last of the Change settled over him.


He skidded to a stop a few feet in front of the hut, the pristine snow kicked up from his abrupt arrival melting into the crimson pools ahead. Golden eyes stared in wide eyed disbelief until the grief and betrayal he felt poured from his heart to his throat in a haunting, blood-chilling howl.


)(


“I keep a close watch on this heart of mine...”


‘This singing ...’


“I keep my eyes wide open all the time...”

‘What is it?’


“I keep the ends out for the tie that binds. Because you're mine, I walk the line...”


‘Where is it coming from...’


Golden orbs opened slowly and the first thing they registered was that they were not where they first went to sleep. Sesshoumaru inhaled deeply, his eyes narrowed slightly as the scent of his tears touched his nose. ‘This form is far too strong for such emotions,’ he said to himself as he attempted to sit up. ‘It is my own weakness that makes it so-‘


‘But Sesshoumaru,’ Kikyou disagreed. ‘It’s not weak to cry. You went through something horrific.’


‘I went through nothing...compared to they.’


‘It still wasn’t your fault.’


Sesshoumaru said nothing to this, knowing that nothing Kikyou would ever say would change the way he felt, or the fact he felt at all. He sank down onto the bed and sighed, his shoulders hunched in despair as he closed his eyes and prepared to go back to sleep.


“I find it very, very easy to be true,” sang a voice in a soft alto. “I find myself alone when each day is through.”


Sesshoumaru leaned back and looked up, into Kagome’s face, and noticed her arm as it lay across his furry side. She was crying, her deep blue eyes as dark as spilled Indian ink as she tried to comfort him.


“Yes, I'll admit that I'm a fool for you. Because you're mine, I walk the line.”


‘She’s...singing...’ Sesshoumaru heard Kikyou whisper in amazement. ‘It’s so pretty.’

‘Yes, it is,’ Sesshoumaru couldn’t help but agree. His ears perked toward her whisper and they caught an alto that, despite years of neglect, was still pure and crystal clear.


“As sure as night is dark and day is light I keep you on my mind both day and night. And happiness I've known proves that it's right. Because you're mine, I walk the line.”


She continued to stroke his fur, her hands moving from behind his ears to the middle of his spine before going back up again. Waves of concern flooded him and it wasn’t long before Sesshoumaru realized-


‘She’s singing...for me...’


Her first notes in years and they were to comfort him, a homeless dog that barely paid her any attention.


“You've got a way to keep me on your side.”


Sesshoumaru glanced over his shoulder at her, a mental smile on his lips as she continued to sing with her eyes closed. ‘I was sick, and a pup, when the last person sang to me.’


“You give me cause for love that I can't hide.”

‘I...do not deserve such kindness...’


“For you I know I'd even try to turn the tide.”


He hesitated, then gave her cheek a tentative lick before Sesshoumaru turned around and closed his eyes.


“Because you’re mine...”

In his dreams his youkai self ran through fields of vanilla orchids and jasmine and flew through skies of sapphire blue.


“I walk the line...”


(V)


Inuyasha reached inside his desk drawer, the sparse lamplight inside his office little good against the immense darkness from the night sky outside his office windows. He pushed aside various folders and files until he came to a simple tin box. The lock had long since rusted away but the lid remained intact with little wear and tear to the baseball-card sized container.


Inuyasha opened it, his fingers reverently grasping the edges of a pair of old photographs. He placed them on his desk gently, full aware of the photos’ fragile state as he set them where he wanted them to be. The pictures had been recovered long after the Second World War, found in the documents of a retired official of the Secret Police. The human male had been a photographer then, sent to document the war’s advances to send back to the commanding officers. Even he had been awed by this picture and had chosen to take them, and keep them, until his time came to be tried for his crimes.


The pictures themselves were simple black and whites, as was custom of the time. They were taken outside in a forest blanketed in snow. A small hut was in the background, the lights inside the small dwelling on and lit as the light filtered outside to the landscape. The rising sun gave more light but nothing could help the chilling scene beneath it. A group of people lay dead, dark pools collected and merged underneath them. An elderly couple were side by side, their arms stretched toward each other as thick rivulets of blood ran from gaping holes in their torsos. Another woman, obviously younger, lay a little away from them face down in the snow. Her back was a mess of bullet wounds, one that she never would have recovered from despite the hole at the base of her skull.


The last, and most striking, was the last body, the body of a male child as he lay on his back in the snow. His head was turned toward the photographer, the terror on the boy’s face frozen in his death mask as lifeless brown eyes stared into the camera’s lens. Blood, trickling from a small hole in the boy’s forehead, oozed over his right eyelid to collect on the ground below him.


Here is where the pictures differ. Their were originally three, all separate but the same. In the first picture, the picture that was sent to German commanding officers in the height of the war, an enormous white dog is seen sniffing at one of the bodies.


In Inuyasha’s first copy, the dog is in mourning, it’s golden eyes narrowed and it’s muzzle to the sky as one of it’s forepaws rested on the boy’s chest.


In the last the dog is still, it’s eyes closed and it’s head resting on the boy’s still chest.


‘Who was he Sesshoumaru?’ Inuyasha wondered as he studied over the photos. ‘You were different by the time the war was over and we returned to Japan. Hundreds of years go by and you ignore humans, but the death of this one meant something to you. What happened to you Sesshoumaru? Where did my heartless bastard of a brother run off to?’


)(


Kouga watched her from across the small café table, his chest practically swelling with pride when other couples eyed them enviously. She was dainty, quiet and polite. Her demeanor was calm and serene, her eyes twinkled and she laughed at all his jokes. She was perfect, absolutely perfect.


‘Why did I have to screw our first date up so badly?’ Kouga asked himself while Kagome giggled. “Yeah well, I’m glad my high school torment is so amusing.”


“I’m so sorry Kouga-kun,” Kagome grinned apologetically. “I didn’t know you were so tortured.”


“Yeah right,” Kouga grumbled moodily. He smirked when she laughed again, her merriment like music on the afternoon air. “Thanks for coming to lunch with me today.”


“Thank you for making Chance’s appointment,” Kagome replied back as she stirred her tea. “I can’t believe the place you found. It’s so...posh.”


“Like I said, my mom takes her dog there. I figured you’d want nothing but the best for your dog.”


“Well thank you,” Kagome said with another grin. “I appreciate it.”

“It’s no problem. Now how about we get out of here?” He stood and gestured toward a nearby waiter. “They should be finished by now.”


“Yeah, you’re right.” Kagome stood up and reached for the bill. Her fingers came up short when Kouga quickly snatched it out of her reach. “Hey, hand that back.”


“Nope,” was Kouga’s response as he mentally calculated the gratuity. “I invited you here and it’s the least I can do since I ruined our first date so badly.”


“How many times do I have to forgive you for that?” Kagome huffed and watched as he passed the waiter the money for the bill.


“Aw, don’t be mad at me,” Kouga smirked as he held out his arm. Kagome shook her head at him, but smiled back, grasped his arm and allowed him to lead her away from the outdoor café and down the sidewalk. “So Kagome,” Kouga said as they approached the front of the dog groomer’s.


“Here we are,” Kouga said as he held the door open. Cool air rushed out and carried the scent of shampoo toward them as they stepped inside. The lobby of the shop was decorated in clean, simple lines in colors of white, sea foam green and pale peach. Kouga smiled when a girl behind the register smiled back at her, the shop girl’s greeting dimmed when Kagome stepped up to the counter.


“Hi, I’m here for Chance.”


“Oh, right,” the girl nodded and cracked another smile in Kouga’s direction. “Let me go get him.” She flounced away, but not before sending a not so subtle wink in Kouga’s direction. Kouga frowned and glanced down when Kagome snickered.


“What’s so damned funny?” he groused.


“I think someone’s got a crush on you.”


“Yeah whatever,” Kouga grumbled. “She’s not my type.”

“But Kouga-“


“Here he is!” the shop girl chirped as she pulled Chance into the room. “He’s a little bashful right now, but I’m sure that’ll go away soon. Now as far as payment is concerned...”


The cashier’s voice faded as Chance walked around the counter toward Kagome, his head down and his posture obviously unhappy as he sat at her feet and looked up. Sesshoumaru watched as her eyes widened at the sight of him, her disbelief at his appearance understandable as she took in his short hair. The shop had left her furry companion with little more than a quarter of an inch of hair along his back, tail, and sides, leaving the hair on his face and ears the same as it had been when she first brought him in. They began to change before him, the normally jovial orbs swirling in righteous indignation.


‘I don’t think she’s happy,’ Kikyou said as Kagome slowly turned her attention back toward the counter.


‘Neither do I,’ Sesshoumaru replied. He wrapped his tail around her ankle and waited as Kagome interrupted the woman mid sentence.


“What happened to him?” she growled out softly, her eyes narrowed and her hands loose at her sides.


“Excuse me?” the shop girl asked as she glanced away from Kouga to give Kagome her attention. “What happened to who?”


“To my DOG,” Kagome finally snapped. “What happened to MY DOG?!”


“Nothing,” the shop girl replied quickly. “We did as you asked! Here’s your ticket! You can see for yourself.” Kagome snatched the ticket out of the girl’s quivering fingers, the frown on her petal pink lips intimidating as she read over the white slip of paper. “See?” the girl said when Kagome remained quiet. “It’s all there! You-“


“I asked for a shampoo, a trim and for his nails to be cut.” Kagome plunked down the ticket and turned it toward her. “In no way did I ask for you to shave him, nor did I ask for you to dye him PINK!!!”


Kouga looked down at that and found that, in spite of the shop’s obvious efforts to shave off all of the pink hair, the poor pooch’s fur still had a rosy sheen to it. “You poor pup,” Kouga mumbled in understanding. “You can’t do a male dog that way man. It’s just wrong.”


“I want to see your manager,” Kagome demanded. Sesshoumaru smirked at the fear radiating off of the shop girl and his opinion of Kagome rose as she defended him.


“S-she’s out to lunch right now so-“


“What’s going on?”


Kagome turned and glared at a red-headed woman standing in the doorway. She was dressed in an apron with the shop’s logo on the front and she glared back at Kagome before closing the door behind her. “Well,” she said as she turned and walked behind the counter. “Is anyone going to answer me?”


“Are you the manager?” Kagome asked instead.


“Yes I am. What’s going-“


“I brought my dog here at 11:20 this morning for an appointment. I asked that he get trimmed, a shampoo and have his nails cut. Now sometime between now and then he was dyed pink, shaved and brought to me in this condition. Now I don’t know if it’s because of her,” Kagome cast am annoyed glance toward the shop girl, “Or one of you’re groomers but I’ve got to say that I’m extremely unhappy.”


“Let me see her ticket.” The manager glanced over the ticket and shook her head. “This is what you ordered. See.” She turned the ticket to Kagome and pointed toward the signature at the bottom. “That’s you’re signature right there.”


“Ok, one: That’s not my signature. Here’s my license to prove it.” She handed the woman her driver’s license and watched as she compared the two. “And two: My dog is a BOY DOG. Why on earth would I want to dye him pink then have them shave it all off?!”


“That is rather odd,” the shop manager whispered to herself before handing Kagome back her license. “Ma’am, I don’t know what happened but there was a mix-up. I sincerely apologize.”


“Thank you,” Kagome replied cooly. She reached down to pat Sesshoumaru’s head, her frown deepening as she scratched the little fur left behind his ears. “Now what is to be done about this?”


‘She reminds me of you,’ Kikyou said as the manager and cashier attempted to appease Kagome. ‘She’s cold when you mess with someone she cares for.’


‘Her anger was justified,’ Sesshoumaru smirked as he watched the two workers fall over each other to calm Kagome down. ‘How dare they treat this Sesshoumaru so distastefully?’


‘You’re in a weird mood today,’ Kikyou told him. ‘Are you feeling better?’


‘Of what concern is it of yours,’ Sesshoumaru remarked, a doggy grin appearing on his face as Kagome threatened to report the shop to the Better Business Bureau. ‘She is calm in her anger, more so than she is in her everyday life. Her anger is...stimulating.’


‘Oh ew,’ Kikyou remarked before fleeing to her chosen corner of Sesshoumaru’s mind. ‘I so don’t want to hear this.’


“Ma’am please,” the manager said as Kagome continued to glare at them. “We know we made a mistake. We’ll...forget your bill since you didn’t receive what you wanted and take 30% off of your next one.”


Kagome considered this a moment, then sighed and nodded. “That’ll do,” she said and frowned again when the manager deflated in relief. “But I have no intention on coming back here. Kouga, please tell you’re mother to feel free to use my discount.”


“OK,” Kouga replied weakly. He watched, his mouth hanging open in shock as Kagome turned on her heel and walked out of the building with Chance following close behind. Kouga finally snapped out of his stupor when she opened the door to her car and rushed out as Sesshoumaru climbed into the back seat.


“Hey buddy, are you alright back there?” Kagome asked as she sat down and started the car. “Did they hurt you? Cause if they did I’m going back in there.”


Sesshoumaru and Kouga were stunned at the promise in her voice and watched as her fingers tightened around the steering wheel before Kouga found his voice.


“Um Kagome, I’m really sorry about this,” Kouga said once Kagome glanced up at him. “They’re normally such a great place.”


“Don’t worry about it Kouga,” Kagome said with a strained smile. “You were trying to do something nice for me. How were you supposed to know that the screw-offs were working today?” Sesshoumaru smirked at the growl in her voice, the vengeful sound reminiscent of a mother bear protecting her cubs. He took a deep breath, intending on inhaling a full dose of her spicy scent, and snarled when Kouga’s ‘appreciation’ for his charge smacked him full in the nose.


“I’ve got to go Kouga,” Kagome said as she glanced in the rear view mirror at her unhappy pet. “I’m going to take Chance home then fix him something special to eat. Maybe that’ll cheer him up and help him forget this horrible experience.”


“I’m sorry again Kagome.”


“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” Kagome reassured him with a stronger smile. “You were trying to do me a favor and I still appreciate that. I’ll call you later, ok?”


“Alright then.” He leaned inside the car and kissed her forehead, his frosty eyes glancing momentarily at Sesshoumaru when he growled, and stepped back from the car so Kagome could pull off.


‘Hey Sesshoumaru?’


‘And here I thought I could rest after all of this,’ Sesshoumaru quipped and rested his head on the Bug’s dark seats. ‘What is it now?’


‘How does it feel?’


‘How does what feel?’


‘To be protected for once. Doesn’t it feel...weird?’


‘No,’ Sesshoumaru replied after a few second’s thought. ‘It is not ‘weird’ at all. It is almost...


‘Nice...’

(End Chapter)

SF: Yeah, this chapter is kinda depressing, or Sesshou’s part is at least. But at least you know what lead up to Rin, and Kagome for that matter, and the way he treats them. Forgive me if my history isn’t dead on. I honestly did my very best with what I could find. Oh, and seriously, no flames. I can almost smell them coming...

Kagome: Hey, the next chapter is better though! Lots happier too, right SF?


SF: That’s right! The next chapter is Miroku and Sango’s Wedding! I’ve already found Sango’s dress and everything! Next chapter for Second Chance”


Chapter Twenty Two: Wedding Bells and a Changing of the Moon!


*Map information came from worldatlas.com and ‘The Gestapo Parts I, II, III’ on the History Channel. (Yes, TV can teach you things.) The rest came from random WWII sites I found along the way.