Breaking Faith by Aurora Antheia Raine

Of Lies and Untold Truths

Much thanks to my lovely beta, Smortz, for her awesome beta skills! Without her, this chapter would still be nonexistent!

For The Lovely Miko's Weekly Quotes and Prompts Challenge.

Prompt: Loss

Quote: Trust is like paper, once crumpled, it can‘t be perfect again.

Naraku remained silent as he slowly propped himself up with his elbows. He clenched his jaw tightly, and his eyes were downcast - not in shame, but in anger. He was angry for having been caught, especially by Sesshoumaru. He should have left her alone, but blinding rage had taken over when he saw the broken plates and half-dried mess in the room.

All Naraku wanted to do was scare her – perhaps rough her up a little bit – but her nude body had looked so perfect, so delectable; he hadn’t been able to help himself. If that bastard could have access to that body, why couldn’t he? He was better than him. He wasn’t a child murderer and he surely would have shown her a good time.

Suddenly aware of the fact that he had been silent for far too long, Naraku quickly got on one knee, held back his irritation, and bowed his head in respect. At that moment, Kagome’s eyes caught a glimpse of Naraku’s arms and she froze. Long scratches marred his otherwise flawless arms and by the pink tenderness at the site of the wound, it appeared to be fresh. A shudder coursed through her as she finally had the opportunity to look at the face of her kidnapper. Before she could dwell too deeply on it; however, Naraku spoke.

“I don’t know what came over me, boss."

“Hn.”

“Forgive me,” Naraku murmured, keeping his voice dutiful.

“See to it that it does not occur again,” Sesshoumaru replied, his voice smooth as silk but tinged with frostiness.

“Yes, sir.” With his head still bowed, Naraku stood up and left.

The moment Kagome realized she was alone – and still nude – in the bathroom with yet another man, her heart skipped a beat in fear. Moving swiftly but silently, she wrapped the shower curtains around herself again. She didn’t know who this man was or if he, too, would take advantage of her, but he had saved her nonetheless and thus, she was now indebted to him.

“I… Thank you,” she whispered, “for stopping him.”

He didn’t respond and for a long moment, Kagome thought that perhaps she had spoken too softly and her words had fallen short of reaching his ears. She lifted her eyes to look at him with curiosity and saw his piercing gaze staring right at her. There was such bitter coldness within his golden eyes that she couldn’t help but shiver. It felt as though he could freeze her solid with a single look.

“You are of no relevance to me.”

Her eyebrows rose in blatant surprise. “Excuse me?”

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at her, disdain evident upon his face.

“Never mind,” Kagome mumbled, as she bit her lip nervously and stared at the floor.

She could feel his intimidating gaze sliding across her skin, and she felt the urge to curl into herself in an ineffective form of defense. His scrutiny made her skin crawl, but the sensation left as quickly as it came. A small gust of wind made Kagome’s head snap up, only to catch him walking away with an air of aristocratic elegance.

Before she could even think about what she was doing, she stepped forward and gripped his wrist with both hands to stop him. His response was immediate.

Whirling around with silver hair flying, he snatched his hand away and glared at her with blatant hatred burning in his eyes.

“Do not touch me,” he seethed.

Kagome flinched before quickly stepping back, her blue eyes wide in shock and mild fear.

“I-I’m sorry,” she stuttered. “I just…”

Without responding or waiting to hear what she had to say, Sesshoumaru stormed out. The bedroom door slammed shut, and the lock clicked back into place noisily, leaving Kagome utterly alone - again.

- A -

Night had already fallen when the sound of her lock rattling could be heard. Sluggishly, Kagome lifted her head up from within her circled arms and blinked, unable to see much in complete darkness. She was hidden between the small crevice between the bed and nightstand, back pressed against the wall and knees drawn to her chest.

The door swung open slowly and the hallway’s bright lights spilled into the room, causing Kagome squint her eyes while blinking in rapid succession. She caught a glint of silver and her heart sped up in fear. It was him; the one she had seen earlier. Her cold savior. What did he want with her now?

Silently, he moved closer to her, his face hidden in the shadows. He was holding something in his hands, but she couldn’t see what. The thought that perhaps he was here to put an end to her briefly crossed her mind, but she quickly shook that off. She couldn’t die. Not yet.

She had to escape first in order to find Kouga. Someone had to have seen his body by now and she wanted to put him to rest properly. Then, she had to piece her life back together without him by her side. She would live every day of her life to the fullest for Kouga in order to never regret how she had lived and he had died. It would be difficult, but she was a persistent individual and she wanted nothing more than to put this period of her life behind her - assuming her kidnappers would free her one day. It was too early for her to die; it wasn’t her time yet.

A surge of determination washed over her and with renewed energy, Kagome leapt from her hiding spot and tackled the silver haired man to the ground. The object he held flew from his hand as he landed flat upon his back with a grunt. Taking advantage of the situation, she quickly straddled him and began beating and pounding him on the chest, releasing every ounce of her anger and frustration. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she went wild with reckless abandon. Kagome tried clawing at his face, but he blocked her every attempt and she grew more and more enraged.

He was part of the reason her life had been torn apart. He was involved just as much as that man - Naraku. He deserved every blow, every bruise, and every drop of blood that spilled. No matter what, she would seek revenge for Kouga.

“What the hell is wrong with you, wench?”

Kagome paused mid-attack in blatant surprise. That voice. It was different. It wasn’t the same one she had heard earlier. She looked down at the man she had assaulted with eyes that had just begun to adjust to the light and quickly realized her mistake.

“Oh, I-I’m sorry…,” Kagome stammered with wide eyes.

“Then get the fuck off,” he grumbled irritably.

Nodding fervently, she quickly scrambled off of him while he sat up, rubbing the back of his head.

“I’m sorry,” Kagome repeated, feeling slightly guilty. “I thought you were him.”

“Him?”

“The other silver-haired man.”

“You mean my half-brother, Sesshoumaru?”

So that was his name - Sesshoumaru. It was a name that seemed to suit him fairly well. Kagome nodded in the affirmative while he stood up and retrieved the fallen, but not forgotten, item that had been knocked out of his hand. It crinkled noisily as he held it out to her, but when Kagome made no movement to accept it, he shook the bag at her until she took it.

“What is it?” Kagome asked, peeking inside the bag. He didn’t respond, but when she noticed a packaged sandwich and a juice box, she couldn’t help the smile that emerged. “It’s not poisoned, is it?”

“Keh. Eat it if you want or starve. It’s up to you.”

“Thank you,” she replied softly, unwrapping the sandwich and taking a large bite.

He turned to leave, but the sound of her voice made him pause.

“Wait,” Kagome said. “What is your name?”

He looked at her. “Inuyasha.”

She flashed him a genuine smile. “Would you please stay with me for a moment, Inuyasha? I am not used to being alone for such a long period of time…”

In response, he sat down on the floor across from her, silently watching her eat. His golden eyes roved over her form, taking in the fact that she was still wearing the same outfit. He made the mental note to bring her a change of clothes.

Frowning as she ate, Kagome thought back to that man, Naraku, and what he had said about Kouga. Was Kouga really capable of murdering an innocent child? She had never seen him with a fiery temper except in situations where she was getting some unwanted attention from the male species. He was protective by nature, especially towards the people he cared about, but to murder a child in cold blood?

They must have mistaken him for someone else. That had to be it. Kouga worked in a lab at all hours of the day and night, especially when he thought he was on the brink of discovering something world altering like a new drug or a new vaccine. He scarcely came in contact with people other than his co-workers and when he did, it was usually because she was dragging him out to have some fun and to meet her friends. He was so absorbed in his work, how could he have the time to kill someone?

Still, as she thought about it, she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling in her heart. Naraku seemed to genuinely believe that Kouga was a killer and had even sought her body as payment for that crime. Was that something he made up just to throw her into confusion? Was it a misunderstanding? And who, exactly, was the father of that child?

“I was wondering if I could ask you something…,” Kagome started hesitantly when she had polished off her meal.

“Yeah?”

“Naraku…”

“What about him?” Inuyasha asked.

“He told me that Kouga… that he had murdered someone. A child. Is this true?”

Inuyasha stared at her intently for a moment. “Do you really want to know?”

“I… Yes. I need to know why this is happening.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and thoughtfully recalled the day Rin had been killed.

“It was about a year ago…”

Sesshoumaru stopped mid-stride as the pedestrian light turned red. He glanced at his watch, noting that he had two minutes to spare before Rin would be released from school. Staring at the light impatiently, he refrained the urge to simply cross the street while there were no cars.

Suddenly, the distinctive sound of a gunshot rang out clear across the area and screams of horror immediately followed. He could see the crowd gathered at the school disperse frantically while someone screamed ‘Call the police! She’s been shot!’ and Sesshoumaru felt his heart drop. The possibility that Rin could be injured crossed his mind, but no, it couldn’t possibly be her. He wasn’t so unfortunate and yet, when the light turned green, he couldn’t refrain himself from practically jogging to his designated pick-up location

He shoved past the whispering onlookers as he fought his way through and when he saw what everyone else did, all color drained from his face. His entire body grew cold and numb as he saw her - his adorable, chubby-faced daughter - lying on the ground, blood pooling beneath her as she cried in pain. Her small hands were pressed against the gaping wound in her chest as tears slipped down her cheeks.

“No…,” Sesshoumaru whispered. “No!”

He rushed to her side, kneeling beside her as she coughed up blood

“Rin!”

He gazed at her sadly, already knowing it would be too late for her. Sesshoumaru could see her eyes dimming and he ran his fingers lovingly through her hair and down her clammy cheek.

“Da-Daddy?” She croaked.

“I’m here, Rin. I am right here,” Sesshoumaru replied, holding her small hand within his own.

Her passing was quick - only minutes, perhaps seconds - and Sesshoumaru jumped to his feet, intent on finding her murderer. He released a mournful cry as he ran, his observant nature taking in his surrounding and scouting for possible culprits.

Off in the distance, he could see a tall, lean man with long, dark hair leaning against the side of a building nonchalantly, a smirk upon his face and a gun in one hand. He looked at Sesshoumaru with his ice blue eyes and winked before flashing him a finger gun hand gesture.

Sesshoumaru knew him. Tamura Kouga - the Black Knight’s mob boss and his sworn enemy. For centuries, the Takahashi’s and the Tamura’s had been rival mobs. Each had sought revenge for something the other mob had done and yet, the Silver Bullets had never gone so far as to murder a child.

This… This changed the game plan entirely. This created an entirely new level of the type of revenge Sesshoumaru would seek. There was no forgiveness this time for nothing would ever bring Rin back. She was gone forever. Rage and bitterness grew within Sesshoumaru’s heart as he glared daggers at Kouga’s retreating back. Hatred like he had never known before ran through him, changing him.

Sesshoumaru gritted his teeth in barely restrained anger, torn between returning to his daughter’s side or fighting Kouga to the death right here, right now. Yet, as Kouga walked away with a bounce in his step, he never looked back, as though knowing where Sesshoumaru’s priorities would be.

And he would be right, for Sesshoumaru turned his back on his enemy, swearing a revenge so cruel, it would bring Kouga to his knees, as he returned to his deceased daughter’s side.

Kagome’s eyes softened at Sesshoumaru’s loss and tears prickled behind her eyelids at the tragic story. In that moment, it didn’t matter if Kouga was the culprit or not; the fact that an innocent child had been murdered was utterly heartbreaking. She gave Rin a respectful moment of silence before concentrating upon the other aspects of Inuyasha’s story.

Rin had been murdered about a year ago, which meant that if Kouga had killed her, it would have been in the midst of their relationship. It meant that the entire time she had known him, loved him, he had been leading a double life without her ever being the wiser. If it had been years into Kouga’s past, she might have been able to say that he was now a changed man, but she would no longer have that excuse if the truth was revealed.

“So killing Kouga and kidnapping me,” Kagome said slowly, “was all a part of Sesshoumaru’s grand plan at revenge? Why? Why wait so long?”

“Don’t you realize, Kagome?” Inuyasha asked. “We have been watching him - watching you - ever since that day. We wanted to take away the person that mattered to him most just as he took away the only person Sesshoumaru ever truly loved.”

“We?”

Inuyasha nodded. “We. The Silver Bullets.”

A cold shiver ran down her spine. She had been watched, probably at all hours of the day, and she had never known. She had never felt that something was amiss. What else did she not know? How often had her privacy been invaded?

“But… what if Sesshoumaru was wrong? What if it wasn’t Kouga?” She argued, still unable to believe that her beloved fiancé was that kind of man - a mob boss who went around killing a child for revenge.

“What if it was?” Inuyasha countered. “Would you be able to continue loving him as you’ve done, knowing that while he was with you, he was also living a secret double life? Would you continue to be oblivious while knowing that he had chosen not to confide the truth in you? Would you be able to continue trusting him as you always have in the past?”

Kagome bit her bottom lip thoughtfully as she fell silent. Then, she replied, so softly, Inuyasha almost didn’t hear her.

“Trust is like paper, once crumpled, it can’t be perfect again.” She drew in a shuddering breath, voice halfway lodged in her throat as she whispered, “but what good will come from contemplating all this when Kouga is already dead?”

- A -

End chapter. Reviews are appreciated!