InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Sinner ❯ The Great Unknown ( Chapter 4 )

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Author's Notes: Back from my break and rearing to go. I'd like to point out here that the name "Ori" doesn't actually mean anything. I've been asked several times but really, it is just a name. I have been told that "Orri" was another word for dog - but if that's true then it's a coincidence, I certainly didn't plan that! The name selection was random, but I just wanted a short catchy name... no way was I going to write out a five syllable name every time I mentioned the brother.

Also, if you're not getting the "perfect ten" remark, then it's ok, I'm not expecting you to. That will be explained later. I guess only a few sport fans might guess it's association to the way of scoring/grading someone's performance - you know how in ice skating or gymnastics, or a hundred other competitive sports, they'll hold up a score card with marks out of ten? The most perfect scored you can get is simply 10. That's the basic reference, is all. Like I said, all shall be revealed later on.

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The Sinner

Chapter 4

The Great Unknown…

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For one agonising, and rather horrifying moment, Kagome was reaching for the red button to turn the phone off - regardless of the fact that her own mother was calling her.

Perhaps it was because she was afraid one of the other pirates would hear the ring tone and come to investigate…?

Kagome would have liked to think that… but in truth, she felt weird talking to her mother now. After the sharp jolt of being tossed into this twisted place with equally twisted people, she felt like she was in a different world already. Her mother was so far away…

Part of her didn't want to believe that this world was real…

Kagome wanted to slap herself. Here she was, in the middle of the East China sea, kidnapped by a bunch of not-as-charming-as-Johnny-Depp pirates, and her only link to land and ultimately, freedom, was in her hand… and she was about to divert the call to her voicemail?!

Quickly, Kagome accepted the call and pressed it to her ear. "Mama?!" she whispered urgently.

"Kagome - thank goodness you're alright!" she heard her mother's wonderfully familiar voice on the other end. "We were so worried about you!" And then she was off, unloading her worries on Kagome, who was left to sit beside the messy bunk beds and pick at her fingernails as she listened. "We heard there was trouble on a news report, and that one teenage girl had been abducted in the raid - we were worried it was you and we went straight off to the port where the passengers were being brought back to - then we saw dear Hojo - did you know he's been shot in the leg by some fiend? - oh, I don't know, honey, we saw him and he told us that you were the one who had been abducted and we were so worried that those men could be doing awful things to you at that very moment - but then I realised that we got you the tri-band phone network for your birthday so if you were anywhere in the world I'd be able to contact you - but when they told me you'd been thrown into the water I was worried the phone wouldn't work - but I rang anyway, but you didn't answer, so I rung again and you still didn't answer - and then I rung a third time and here you are and I just wanted to ask if you're-"

"Ok?" Kagome guessed, feeling slightly sorry for putting her mother through so much worry… but feeling ever so slightly more sorry for herself. "That pirate… the one who shot Hojo is the one who kidnapped me. He stole my phone before he threw me overboard and stashed it away in his…" she cringed… "treasure chest…" If he hadn't taken her phone off her on the cruise, it would have drowned along with her.

"Where are you now?" her mother demanded.

"Good question." Kagome looked around. "I'm not seeing any sign posts…"

"I've contacted the police and they're searching the coast for you, honey."

"But I'm not on the coast." Kagome told her as she scrambled up onto the lower bed to peer through the porthole. "I think… I think I'm on a big ship or something in the middle of the sea… I can't see any land… but I can't feel the waves underneath us… I don't know where I am!"

"That's ok, honey, just describe what you see."

"They've shut me in some kind of prison cell with Playboy magazines. That's all I can see. It's horrible!" Kagome gripped the barred window with her free hand. "And outside I can see… um… I don't know what to call it all… there's two levels below me… I think we're suspended over the water - and this place is big, I mean, I can see boats and stuff tied up down there…"

"Isn't there anything else you can possibly tell me…?" her mother pleaded.

"Well…" Her captor's face floated over her mind's eye. "The guy who took me… he looks just like Ori."

"Well… how much like him?" Mrs Higurashi sounded daunted.

"Like, exactly like him. But four years older, of course. I thought it was Ori at first, but he's different… he says he's called Inuyasha and that they're actually twins." Kagome shook her head in a mixture of confusion and resignation. "But I don't know if I should believe that… I think it is him, Mama. You remember how he was always talking about pirates and saying how he was going to be one of them when he grew up-"

"Kagome - he grew out of that."

"But he still wanted to be a pirate - the night he died, h-he-" Kagome choked up slightly. It was always painful talking about the past, but she needed to say what was on her mind. "The night he died, me and Ori had this fight. He said he was going to be a pirate and I said that they didn't exist so he couldn't - yes, I know, I'm eating those words right now, thank you very much, mother. But then he said that they did, and that he'd seen one the day before… although, I didn't believe him at the time. And then the next morning his house was gone…"

Her mother sighed softly, a gentle sound of sympathy. "Kagome…"

Kagome's heart pinched slightly, but she shoved the hurt to the back of her mind. "But isn't it suspicious?" she pointed out. "Ori always wanted to be a pirate, and here I am with a pirate who looks exactly like him!"

"What if they are twins?" Kagome's mother said thoughtfully. "I reckon the police would be able to track him down if they know who his brother was. Although… Ori was adopted so I doubt anyone would be able to find his parents now…"

Her mother didn't like her theory, that much was obvious. But Kagome couldn't cleanse the coincidence from her mind. What if that 'Inuyasha' was Ori, and he just didn't remember? Or worse - what if he did remember and just wanted nothing to do with her or his former life…

But then, if that was true, why would he called her "Kikyo" and kidnap her?

Perhaps Kagome was just desperate to prove Ori was alive… but the obvious facts all blatantly argued otherwise.

The sound of a slamming door somewhere beyond her cell alerted Kagome to the return of her kidnapper. The sound of footsteps drawing nearer confirmed it.

"Mama - I have to go!" she whispered quickly.

"Keep in touch with me, Kagome." Her mother told her firmly. "We'll get you out of there soon enough… you're a brave girl, I'm confident you'll be ok."

Kagome wished she could believe her mother when she said Kagome was brave. In truth, she felt like she was two more surprises short of turning into a puddle of water.

"I love you," she told her mother, meaning each word with every fibre of her heart. Just in case she never saw the woman again.

"I love you too, honey." Her mother sounded emotional. "I will see you again."

Kagome ended the call quickly and juggled the phone precariously while she tried to decide where to hide it. Her clothes were a bit too flimsy, and she didn't want to give anyone the wrong idea by hiding it down her bikini bottom.

The footsteps were getting closer.

Kagome saw the only possible answer. She snatched up a rather beaten up looking leather jacket that had been lying on top of the goods in the 'treasure chest' and slipped it on.

She'd only just sat down with her phone in the jacket pocket when the door swung open.

She'd expected her Ori look-alike to be standing there.

But instead there was someone rather different.

"Ah, hello." He seemed pleasant… for a pirate. Long hair - though no where near as long as Ori's twin - was tied back in a short little ponytail at the back of his head. A nice open face… if Kagome met him on the street, she wouldn't have suspected him of larcenous behaviour even in the slightest. "I heard he'd locked you away in our cabin."

"This is a cabin?" Kagome asked flatly, surprised.

"What did you think it was?" he inquired amiably.

"A prison cell?"

He seemed to think that was a joke because he laughed anyway. He was carefully setting down a sports bag inside the trunk behind the door. He noted the broken latch and shattered wood with a faint "Hmmm" but didn't say anything more. The bag he was depositing was probably full of stolen goods like everything else seemed to be.

"Do you… live in here?" Kagome ventured.

He sighed. "A bit drab, isn't it?"

"Only a little…" Kagome eyed a vent high up on the wall that seemed to be leaking… mould?

"Did you realise that was my bed you're sitting on?" he pointed out cheerfully.

"Oh - sorry!" Better not aggravate the pirate, Kagome. She jumped up quickly. "I didn't realise-"

"It's ok." He ushered her to sit back down, which she did, and he sat down beside her. "I've never willingly kicked a lovely young woman out of my bed before."

Kagome shuffled a little further away. Clearing her throat, she asked. "Is that Or-Inuyasha's bed?" She pointed up at the top bunk.

"Funny you should ask." He smiled. "Yes, it is."

Great… she was now stuck in a cabin, sharing her limited space with a nut ball and a suspected pervert.

"You knew… Ori, didn't you?"

Kagome blinked at the nameless pirate. "Uh… did you?"

"Only through Inuyasha."

"Does Inuyasha know him?"

"No. I doubt they ever really met after they were sent to different orphanages in two different countries." He shook his head. "We all know that Inuyasha has… had a twin. Identical, was he?"

Kagome nodded with a faint blush. "Yeah… almost exactly the same."

"Almost?"

"Well… Ori was no where near as aggressive and… psychotic as this brother seems to be." Kagome chewed her cheek, wondering why she was just asking for trouble.

"Oh, don't let that gruff act fool you." The young man grinned. "He likes to give the impression that he's tough… but we all know he's a pussy cat when no one's looking."

"But he's like the evil twin." Kagome said shortly.

"Inuyasha's not evil…"

"Yes, I am."

They both started and jerked in synchrony towards the new voice.

Inuyasha.

He stood in the doorway, looking so peeved that Kagome had to wonder if the wind had changed once while he was scowling and now his face was just stuck like that.

"Inuyasha," the pirate beside Kagome called over to him in a friendly manner. "We were just talking about you."

"All good things, I'll bet." Inuyasha's eyes were fixed on Kagome, narrowed and suspicious. Kagome nearly shivered under the intensity. "Beat it, Miroku, I need to talk to her."

The pirate named Miroku stood up with a dramatic sigh. "Really, Inuyasha, you're very rude and uncouth. I'm sure it wouldn't kill you to say 'please' or 'thank you' once in a while."

"Maybe it wouldn't kill me. However, the last person I said 'thank you' to died shortly after." Inuyasha said without blinking.

"In which case, feel free to be as crude as you wish to me." Miroku chortled as he slipped out of the room and shut the door after him.

Don't leave me with this psycho! Kagome wanted to cry out after him, but Inuyasha's lazy sort of glare kept her rigid on the bed. He scared her… but at the same time, she couldn't stop herself from lapping up the sight of him like a greedy cat given a saucer of cream. This was as close as she'd ever get to seeing Ori again…

After a long, overbearing pause, Inuyasha finally spoke. "I'm taking you back to the coast."

Oh good… "When?" Kagome asked warily, not sure whether she should believe him.

He leant back against the door with a thud. "I thought about holding you to ransom… you must have some pretty rich relatives to be on that cruise, right?"

"Well… actually, I'm-"

"But I really can't afford the hassle and danger of messing with the rich fat cats inland." he said with a shrug.

"-rich, very, very rich." Kagome concluded her confession. "Yeah… you probably don't want to mess with my… uh… grandfather. He's very rich. Powerful, and rich. Handsome, too."

"Uh huh." Inuyasha's hands were pressed against the door, hidden behind his back. "You must come from a rich neighbourhood."

"Yes…" Kagome said slowly. "With limousines and uh… big gardens with fountains and driveways - I have my own car."

"Did Ori have his own car?"

That question nearly threw her off balance. "Well… he was only thirteen…"

"But he lived in your 'rich neighbourhood', right?" Inuyasha's gaze was just as intense as before.

Was this some kind of test. Did he know how Ori had lived? Was he trying to trip her up?

Or did he just want to know about a brother he had never met?

Kagome nodded slowly, deciding not to lie… out of pity. "He lived just down the road from me. We saw each other every day…"

She expected him to ask more, but that was it. Inuyasha seemed to have run out of things to say because now his gaze had dropped to the window behind her. He was unreadable.

Tucking her hair behind an ear, Kagome ventured… "So how come you and Ori ended up in different orphanages?"

Inuyasha's gaze slipped back to her. Then he smirked. "You are a hostage, girl. I don't owe you anything, least of all explanations." He had a point. "All I have to do is take you back to shore and leave you there."

Kagome took a shaky breath. "Fine. Sounds good." Although… Kagome felt deflated that she was going to have to leave Ori's twin to the sea. She was already entertaining a little fantasy in which she reintroduced him to land and society and taught him proper manners so he could be just as respectable as his brother was…

But even Kagome knew that she was dreaming of turning him into Ori somehow.

Just leave this one to lie, Kagome…

Inuyasha kicked away from the door and opened it with one hand, stepping back to let her through like a supposed gentleman. "Come on, we don't have all day, fish-face." Didn't quite have the gentlemanly talk down pat though…

Kagome held herself with dignity and started across the small cabin. Just as she passed him to step through the door, she heard him comment. "Nice jacket."

"Oh, thank you." What a relief he wasn't angry!

"Glad someone can stomach it. I tried to give it away, but once they found out that I'd dragged it off a floating, and rather boated, corpse… for some reason they didn't want to keep it."

"Oh… nice…" Kagome's smile was forced. Was that why the jacket smelt so funny…?

Well, she couldn't ditch it. She needed it to hide her phone from view.

……………………&h ellip;………..

Kagome had never felt so hated in her life!

And all that from one short trip down to the 'docks' as they were called. On the way down, Kagome had begun to realise just where she was…

Some kind of rig. An oil rig, judging by the amount of sticky black stains everywhere. But oil seemed to be the last kind of business on these pirates' minds. Actually… as Kagome made her way down the stairs, she realised that she herself was the only thing on these pirates' minds.

Hundreds of eyes bored into her as she walked down the stairs after Inuyasha. She was so self-conscious that she felt her legs would just turn to jelly beneath her. The fine hairs along her neck and scalp prickled with warning… telling her to run as fast as she could. But there was no where to run. She was miles and miles from land.

They all seemed to hate her… but why? Was it because she was a hostage? Did they just not like outsiders.

"They think you're Kikyo." Inuyasha said bluntly, as if reading her mind.

"Who… who's Kikyo?" Kagome gripped the stair's railing hard as she looked around at the staring faces of the pirates.

My… what a rough and ugly bunch they were.

"A traitor."

"Is that why… you were so mean when you saw me?" Kagome ventured, only listening to their conversation half-heartedly. She was wondering which one of those pirates would pick up their gun first to shoot her.

Kagome was busy eyeing a particularly nasty looking man on a level above her when she bumped unceremoniously into Inuyasha's broad back. Kagome quickly gasped an apology which cut itself off before she'd finished saying it… because just then she'd turned in time to see… him.

"I see… the resemblance is striking. Especially up close. I'm not surprised you were fooled, Inuyasha." His voice was like audible silk.

Kagome looked him up and down from the relative safety behind Inuyasha. "Who are you… sir?" She added the 'sir' simply because he looked important.

"Naraku. I am leader here." He seemed fairly charming… in a creepy, hair tingling way.

"Oh, so you're like the captain?" Kagome guessed.

Inuyasha groaned loudly at the reference to the traditional hierarchy of pirates, but Naraku simple smiled quietly. "In a way, yes." He glanced at Inuyasha. "You're taking her back to her people, Inuyasha?"

"Yeah, whatever…" Inuyasha shrugged and looked away.

"Hurry back," Naraku moved on. "And remember what I said earlier about being careful…"

Kagome waited until she was sure this 'leader' was out of earshot before she leaned forward to whisper to Inuyasha. "He's kinda weird."

"You're weirder." he responded bluntly and carried on towards the docks. Kagome hurried after him, eager not to be left behind with all these staring pirates.

Jeez… Kikyo really was an unpopular gal around here.

Inuyasha led her to the very same yacht she'd seen him sail in earlier that day. As he jumped down nimbly onto the boarding platform at the back, Kagome noticed the bold black lettering along the side. "The Sinner, huh? How fitting."

"Get in already." Inuyasha was already beginning to loosen the knot around the mooring peg.

Kagome hurried to the edge and carefully climbed down. She wasn't so confident as to jump the way he had. She stood beside him, looking around the yacht warily. "Isn't anyone coming with us."

"No." he said shortly, dropping the thick rope onto the deck.

"But…" I'm not sure I trust myself to you in a small boat like this… all alone…

Once again, Inuyasha showed that remarkable talent of being able to read her thoughts. He smirked at her as he brushed past her. "Don't worry. The thought of touching you in any way sends shivers of revulsion down my spine."

Kagome huffed. Charming! "Yeah, well… I… um… you send shivers down my spine too - uh - not in a good way either… ! Oh, damn it…"

Unfortunately, he'd already disappeared up a flight of steps before Kagome could think of a wittier comeback. The helm was up there, above the cabin. Kagome figured as much when she heard the engine rev and they started to move off. She nearly unbalanced and fell straight into the water, but she caught her hand against the rail in time and watched as the edge of the dock began falling away.

Soon she had a full view of the rig… and decided that, yes, it was an oil rig. She ought to tell the police about this… if only she knew where the hell this rig was!

Rather than go and join the evil twin up on deck, she decided to head into the cabin.

That's when she realised that this was no ordinary yacht. This was a luxury yacht.

Kagome blanched when she saw the fridge, the TV, the sink, and the fruit bowl! She saw a door marked as the bathroom - and further along she could see that there was even a double bed at the very front of the cabin. The sitting area, opposite the TV, with it's own table looked big enough to sleep on too… it was basically a curved sofa anyway…

Everything was polished mahogany with mirrors lining the walls to give the illusion of even more room.

Kagome wandered through the cabin, noticing how smoothly the yacht travelled, but she still clung onto the handy handrail that lined the walls and counters. She only staggered slightly as Inuyasha hit a particularly large wave, but carried on her way over to the kitchen of sorts. She plucked an orange from the bowl and was surprised to find it was real…

"To keep away the scurvy, I bet…" she commented dryly as she put it back. There was a drawer beneath the counter with biscuits in it, just begging to be eaten, so she helped herself to a couple as she went to sit down on the sofa. The remote control for the Telly was built into the armrest of the sitting area and Kagome randomly hit buttons in order to figure out how it worked…

Nothing was on… it was mostly just static and snow. The only channel that was broadcasting anything viewable was showing a Chinese game show which she had trouble following.

Feeling a bit like Goldilocks in the house of the three bears, Kagome worked her way through the yacht until she found herself trying out the bed for size. It was just perfect. Never slept in. It was covered with pristine white silk and now that she looked at it, it was actually… heart shaped?

Inuyasha had stolen this off some kind of Pimp, hadn't he?

Eventually Kagome had run out of things to fiddle with and so decided to risk joining Inuyasha. She left the cabin through the sliding glass doors and went up the steps to the top deck. She paused on the last step and simply stopped to stare, unbeknownst to him. His hair was magnificent. Exactly the same as Ori's, but slightly longer. It was still the same style though…

Even now she could see him steering the ship with one hand while he rested his other elbow against the helm, thumb pressed under his chin and fingers clasped over his mouth. Kagome knew that a lot of people sat like that… but why did everything this guy do remind her of that thirteen year old she used to know so well?

It was odd… two boys who had never met beyond the delivery room seemed to share a lot of habits that seemed statistically impossible. But you heard about that kind of thing all the time… how twins, separated at birth, met up later on in life and discovered how much they had in common.

Not for the first time, Kagome wondered again why they'd ever been separated in the first place. Why had Ori gone to the orphanage in Kagome's district… while his brother had gone to an orphanage in another country entirely…?

Had Ori known he'd had a twin brother?

No… Kagome was sure he would have told her if he'd known. She was his best friend. He'd told her everything.

Kagome pulled herself together with a quick, but firm, shake of the head. She marched over to seat herself beside Inuyasha. "So." she said in a more confident tone than she really felt. "How long till we get to the coast?"

"I figure a day or two… maybe three…" was his vague reply. Kagome barely heard him over the mixed sounds of the engine, the waves and the wind.

"That long?!" she squawked.

"God, that's really unattractive."

Feeling slightly dismayed, Kagome headed below deck to retreat into the cabin. Maybe in two days she could figure out enough Mandarin to follow the game show…

…………………&he llip;……..

It was getting dark, and although Inuyasha had no trouble travelling by night, he just didn't feel in the mood to do so. Yes, he wanted to get rid of the girl as soon as possible, but he wasn't going to run himself ragged for her. As far as he was concerned, she could just throw herself overboard and they'd all be happy (apart from her family and friends who might be a little upset, of course)… but Inuyasha knew he couldn't do that… yet. They weren't far enough away from the rig. If her corpse floated by Naraku's office, his boss wouldn't be a very happy bunny.

Besides, he didn't want to ruin his 'perfect ten'.

With a wide yawn, Inuyasha pulled the key from the ignition and rubbed his eyes absently as the yacht slid to a halt in the water. The sea was calm so he didn't feel the need to bother with the anchor. He doubted it would reach the sea floor anyway. It was just a yacht, after all…

He found the hostage girl slumped over the table in the seating area, apparently engrossed in some tacky game show. She glanced at him as he entered. "Why did we stop?"

"Sharks attack travelling boats at night." he teased, though she didn't know that…

"Really…?" She chewed her lip.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes as he went to the fridge and got himself a soda. The girl noticed this too.

"Oh - can I have-?"

He tossed his soda haphazardly at her and got himself another one. He watched with a certain degree of amusement as the girl's bubbled and overflowed as she opened it. "Thanks…" she said slowly, glaring at him.

"Don't mention it."

Kagome wrinkled her nose as she flicked her soda-coated fingers. Great… now she was going to have to squeeze into that mosquito sized bathroom and clean up. Well… she would have, if her kidnapper hadn't cut off her route by plonking himself down on the seat beside her. With the table in front of her, and an armrest barring her in the other way, Kagome was at a loss.

She was more at a loss of how to deal with the person sitting next to her…

He was just so… so… beyond what she was used to dealing with.

But he didn't seem too interested in making conversation with her, which Kagome was quite relieved about. He just kicked back, feet on the table and soda balanced on his stomach with his hands behind his head. Every now and then he'd free a hand to take a lethargic sip, eyes on the Telly.

Kagome was his exact counterpart. She sat perched on the edge of her seat, soda clasped tightly on her knees with pale fingers while her eyes darted just about everywhere except the TV and the seadog. Her teeth worried the inside of her cheek anxiously as she fidgeted as if in discomfort.

"Would you just sit still for more than ten seconds?" Inuyasha sounded annoyed, but at least he didn't bother glaring at her.

Kagome sent him one wary look before realising his attention was solely on the TV. She followed his gaze and frowned…

She needed to break the silence.

"So… do you understand what they're saying?" she asked stiffly.

He sighed loudly. "Mostly."

Impressive. Kagome refrained from fidgeting a little more. "Where'd you learn?" But she bit her tongue after she said it. He'd lived in the China Sea all his life right? Ships from all kinds of nations must dwell in these waters - he'd be pretty handicapped if he could only speak one language. A pirate needed to say "Hand over all your treasure or else!" in at least five different languages in order to be get anywhere, right?

"I was born in Shanghai." Inuyasha said shortly. "It was my first language."

"Oh…" Did that mean Ori was born there too? "So… it's your mother tongue? Well - you speak very good Japanese. You don't even have an accent."

He gave her a half-hearted glare.

Kagome fell quiet, wondering if she'd somehow offended him. But Inuyasha had that blunt, curt manner that suggested everything she did and said was somehow an offence. But what he'd said made a little sense now…

She'd first known Ori when he was all of four year old, and back then Kagome's mother had said that the boy hadn't spoken much and didn't seem to understand what people said to him. They thought it was a learning disability or something… but Kagome didn't remember that far back. The earliest memories she had of Ori was a total chatterbox who wouldn't shut up. Her mother said that the boy seemed to have learnt quickly, but his guardians had suspected he was a child of some kind of illegal immigrant since he occasionally babbled in a foreign tongue. They'd never specified which.

Kagome carried on watching the game show in silence with Inuyasha, and even though Kagome was the only one who couldn't understand it, she was probably the only one who enjoyed it. The show wasn't that hard to follow, after all. The host asked questions, and the three contestants answered until there was only one left. Then after some intense lighting effects and long drawn out pauses between the hard questions and the answers, there was confetti and the contestant drove out of the studio in a car.

"I guess he won." Kagome commented.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and punched the 'off' button on the control panel. The TV clicked off instantly, leaving a little white dot in the middle of the large blank screen. "I'm going to bed…" he informed her bluntly as he stood up and trundled off towards the other end of the cabin where the double bed lay.

"Me too…" His departure now gave Kagome a free passage out from the seating area. Eager to clean the soda off her hands, she shuffled towards the end and headed for the bathroom. Inuyasha spotted her approach and glared at her.

"You're not joining me, ya know."

Kagome took a step backwards, horrified. "I wasn't even thinking about that! I was just on my way to the bathroom!"

Inuyasha scoffed and flopped down onto the mattress. "Yeah, sure you were."

Was that a hint of sarcasm? Kagome gaped at him in outrage, hundreds of witty comebacks and insults just screaming to be yelled… but his sheer arrogance had stumped her.

So she settled for the generic offended-maiden insult. "You arrogant bastard, you!"

She flounced toward the bathroom and slammed the door after her, just to let him know that he had truly pissed her off.

Once there she slammed the cover down over the toilet and sat down in a huff, smouldering quietly to herself.

What an irritating person he was… it seemed that his habits and looks were all he had in common with her Ori. Ori had been a lovely boy… prone to short temper tantrums and selfishness with his toys, but his heart was always in the right place. Inuyasha was just… just… the flip side of the coin! The dark side of the moon! He was yang! He was a real pirate to all Ori's dreaming of being one… and he was a complete asshole!

Kagome clapped her hands over her head, remembering how terrified she'd been when that machine gun had been turned on her. Well… less terrified and more incredibly numb. Kagome had the habit of falling out of reality when bad things like that happened, becoming detached and merely an onlooker to the terrifying experience. She hadn't been all that scared when Inuyasha had been on the verge of killing her… she'd been too shocked to register that she was in serious trouble.

Of course now she realised how close she had come to death, and now she was belatedly terrified about what had happened. Ori's twin was as dangerous as they came… just because Inuyasha was related to someone nice didn't make him nice. The same way Hitler's mother was quite nice, but did that help dear little Hitler in any way?

Kagome decided it must have been Inuyasha's upbringing. Ori grew up in a secure family, surrounded by friends and loving guardians. As far as she could tell, Inuyasha had been raised by these barbarians he'd call 'comrades'. But she really didn't know enough to make these judgements… for all she knew, Inuyasha had been adopted by a lovely Chinese family and was brought up in a respectable home…

Maybe, Kagome thought as her imagination began to run away with her, maybe his adoptive family was killed in a horrible act of murder and he had pledged his allegiance to these fiends in order to find their killers and bring them to justice!

Or maybe - and this was more likely - he had been a terror to his adoptive family, left home at fourteen and joined the pirates for fun, as all renegade teenage boys must dream of doing.

Well… he may have been dangerous and disturbed, but at least he was taking her home. She felt sorry for 'Kikyo', whoever she was… if that girl ever came across Inuyasha, would he really go through with it and blow her brains out with a machine gun? Kagome had just been lucky this time…

Kagome shivered slightly as a new thought crept up on her…

If Inuyasha would have killed Kikyo, someone he evidently knew, without any remorse or hesitation… then what was stopping him from dispatching Kagome, merely for being a nuisance? Why go to all the trouble of bringing her back to her country if it would be so much easier for him to just put a bullet in her head and dump her in the ocean?

Better not ask him why… it might give him ideas. Who knew, maybe Inuyasha was actually incredibly dumb and hadn't thought about bumping her off yet. Kagome was going to be the last person to suggest it to him anyway…

But… what if it was because he thought she was a millionaire? Maybe he thought he'd get a reward and a pat on the head for bringing her home…? Ok, not after kidnapping her, but Kagome was still entertaining the idea that he was stupendously thick.

But then she remembered with Hojo had once told her.

Hojo had a younger sister, a sister who was always having trouble holding onto boyfriends, merely because their grandfather kept threatening them. "You don't mess around with rich girls because their rich grandfathers will come after you with SWAT teams and sniper guns!" Hojo had once joked to her.

Strange how that grandfather never had any problem with Kagome dating Hojo… perhaps he was just old fashioned and only felt he had to worry about the boys…

But either way, perhaps that was why Inuyasha was going to such lengths to return her. If Kagome disappeared into the sea, her 'rich grandfather' might just spend a couple million on bringing her killer to justice. A pirate wouldn't stand a chance…

Well, if that was the case, Kagome was just going to have to maintain her person of 'rich granddaughter'. As long as he didn't figure out that she was simply the daughter of a shrine's caretaker, all would be well and she would be returned to land without a hitch.

Yes, that was the plan.

Kagome dipped a hand into her pocket and carefully changed the settings on her phone. She didn't want it ringing again and alerting Inuyasha, so she changed it to silent. If her mother ever tried to contact her, the phone would only vibrate in her pocket.

She toyed with the idea of calling her mother, but decided against it. Her experience with Ori had taught her that he had exceptional hearing. His brother would be no different if they really had the same ears.

Instead, she slipped the phone away again and stood up to try and wash her hands. She was surprised to find that the water was clean, not salty… obviously there must have been some kind of fresh water supply hidden away. But the problem came when she couldn't find a soap bar… fresh water just wasn't going to cut it with soda.

Kagome began to hunt around the small bathroom. There was a cupboard behind her, but the only thing in there were a few towels, a bath hat and a sponge. There was also some shower gel on the top shelf, but Kagome wasn't sure she would resign herself to that… after all, she'd just spotted another hidden cupboard on the floor beside the toilet. Kagome closed the cupboard and got down on her knees to open the trapdoor-like hatch. The board lifted clean away and Kagome set it on the bog seat before looking down.

What she saw made her heart leap into her throat and her eyes widen to resemble golf balls.

Apparently, her clanging around had irritated Inuyasha. Again. "What the hell are you doing in there?!" he yelled from his bed, no doubt.

Kagome swallowed hard and sat up quickly, scrambling to cover the hatch again, unable to tear her gaze away. Once the hatch was covered again she slumped against the wall, her heart pounding in her chest.

"Oh my god…" she whispered to herself.

She stood up slowly and opened the cupboard again to take down the shower gel. That would have to do for now. As she meticulously began washing her hands, she kept glancing down at the hidden trapdoor beside the toilet. Did Inuyasha know it was there? Probably…

Kagome finished washing her hands and dried them with a towel from the cupboard. Inuyasha was still stretched out on his bed when she exited the bathroom, seemingly oblivious to her most recent discovery.

His eyes cracked open and glanced towards her. Kagome looked away quickly. "Have fun?" he asked dryly.

"All kinds." she responded, wondering if he really did know about the hatch and had guessed her discovery. She decided to put it out of mind. Looking towards the sofa, she frowned a little. "Can I have a blanket, at least?"

"Don't be such a fucking wimp." Inuyasha pulled a face and rolled over, away from her. "You can go without creature comforts for one night."

But… it was surprisingly chilly in the cabin and Kagome didn't fancy sleeping with only a smelly leather jacket of suspicious origins. However, Inuyasha was the boss and her freedom depended on keeping him in a good mood. Meekly, she turned off the lights and went over to the sofa to lay down.

It was awkward… the sofa curved, making her curve with it… and it wasn't all that soft or comfy. Not as soft as Inuyasha's bed, she thought with a hint of envy.

In the silent cabin, Kagome began to notice the sounds outside as if hearing them for the first time, but she knew they had been a background noise ever since they'd stopped. The distant sigh of the ocean was faint, but just about audible. Waves lapped against the boat, swaying it gently with nearer, more noticeable sounds of slaps and gurgles against the yacht's hull. The breeze was louder than anything though, and she could feel it blowing against the porthole window behind her.

Kagome thought about all the sea creatures that could be swimming beneath her at that very moment, and she cringed. Sharks… squid… jellyfish… and what about all those horrifying looking creatures that dwelt at the very bottom in the pitch darkness?

For the first time, Kagome was painfully aware of the huge expanse of simple space beneath her. God only knew how deep the ocean went… and the thought of jumping overboard and sinking into those icy black depths terrified her. She'd never felt this anxious on the cruise… maybe because that had been a massive ocean liner and this was one dinky little boat, closer to the waves.

But fear of death was something that had plagued Kagome since Ori had died… and over the past day or so, she'd faced it too many times.

It caused her to squeak in a very quiet voice… "Please don't kill me in my sleep…"

She got only silence as her response.

Sitting up, Kagome pressed, "Inuyasha?"

"Of for - I won't! You're too damn expensive to kill!" his angry voice grumbled back to her.

Slightly more at ease, Kagome settled down again. "Good… thanks." At least now her suspicions had been confirmed. Her money was the only thing keeping her alive…

Now, if only she had money…!

Kagome still didn't sleep a wink that night.