-:- Adrift -:-

.:An Inuyasha Fan-Fiction:.

Author: B-mo

Disclaimer: Lemme see. Do I own Inuyasha? *Checks to see* Nope. Still don't own him. Damn...

Summary: Three days. They had been stranded in a raft, bobbing up and down at mercy of the constant roll of waves for three days already and no one had come. No matter how hard she tired to occupy her mind with other things, busy her brain with anything else so she wouldn't go crazy, she still couldn't get around the fact that they were stranded at sea, lost without a locator to alert anyone to their current position. Kagome definitely wasn't a dumb girl; she knew that no one knew where they were. No one was coming for them.

They continued to drift.

BeforeNote:

Didn't we just have a chat?

-B-mo

›‹›‹›‹›‹›‹›‹›‹

No, seriously. I'm pretty sure we just had a chat.

Chapter 4. The Gala Part II

The left side of the ballroom was bordered completely by tables with white lacy tablecloths. Miscellaneous items being auctioned sat on top of each. Underneath two large golden chandeliers lighting the grandiose room with a soft glow were the dinner tables, set respectively with decorative mauve placemats, intricate centerpieces of arranged flowers, gleaming dinnerware and blue gift bags; a small appreciative token of 'thanks' from the Taisō family to their guests for honoring them with their presence at the gala that evening.

A few attendees lingered around the auction tables, sniffing about expensive and rare items, while others slowly migrated to their tables and poked their noses into the complementary goody-bags at their assigned spots. A mere few demons and demoness's simply stood out of the way, hovering in shadows that even the chandeliers couldn't reach, watching the elaborate scene with critical multicolored eyes that left one cold.

Persnickety, fickle creatures demons were, the lot of them, the half-demon son of the Great Dog Demon thought as his gold eyes slid back to the seductive form of his red-clad date.

Pacing slowly from one piece to the next, Kikyo occasionally picked up the less expensive auction items, rotating them around in her smooth hands and placing them back down before moving on to the next thing that peaked her interest.

"What was that all about?" Inuyasha eventually asked, trailing behind at a lazily gait.

She had swept them into the grand ballroom, bypassed a few people who approached them with nothing but a quick nod and a small finger wave that annoyed Inuyasha to no end and dove into the silent auction like her life depend on it. She kept up with the pace of the line, taking a measured step to stare down at an authentic lacquered hair comb.

"What was what all about?" She muttered distractedly, leaning over slightly to look over the comb more closely.

The hand he'd previously stuffed in his trouser pocket balled into a fist. Couldn't she at least do him the curtsy of looking him in the eye while she blatantly lied to him? It was the least she could do.

He leaned the side of his hip into one of the many tables. "You know what I'm talking about. The thing, outside in the hall with Kouga and Kagome? Why'd you get all—" Weird.

Picking up the pen and piece of paper that were laid out before the comb, she wrote down a bid for the item, ever evasive, while a very airy sigh flittered past her lips. "I have't the slightest idea what you're talking about, Inuyasha."

"Mmmhm. I'm sure you don't."

He snatched up an object from beside the comb while Kikyo busied herself with looking at anything that wasn't him and writing down on the bid card, turning what looked like a milky blue egg made of crystal in his comparatively larger hand, but placed it back down hastily like it had caught fire when he saw the steep price tag attached to it. That many zeros could have wrapped around his neck and choked him.

Kikyo turned to him suddenly and he placed on the bored frown he'd mastered when he was merely a child.

"I'm going to go find some wine," she told him, already retreating.

"Sure." He uttered thickly, the feeling of confusion causing his chest to tighten. "I uh…I guess I'll catch up with you later then."

She straightened and almost smiled, but not one of her brilliant carefree smiles. In fact, she looked pained over something. Yet she turned before he could properly address it, and was left alone with guests sidestepping around him to get at the expensive auction items.

He turned and sneered down at the cheerful looking faberge egg, as if the small decretive trinket were the main source of all of his problems. "Who'd pay that much for one stupid egg?"

"I find it best to avoid talking to oneself," Sesshomaru's bridled voice uttered from behind. Inuyasha swiveled, meeting the stare of the elder brother with narrowed eyes. "Others may start to wonder at the stability of your sanity."

"And I'd bet you'd just love to tell me about the stability in my sanity wouldn't ya?" He gnashed back. Damn, why couldn't Sesshomaru just mind his own business?

The lack of control over his emotions was enough for Sesshomaru's lips to tweak with a swift smirk. "Why dignify that with a well thought-out answer when you already know?"

Inuyasha huffed and knew if his ears weren't clipped down so tightly that they would've twitched angrily. "Whaddya want Sesshomaru? Whenever you come lurking around its never good news for me. So get spillin and get gone."

With deft effortlessness Sesshomaru lifted a long and thin unwrapped box he carried beside himself and a plain bag, presenting them both to the younger inu-yokai.

"For me? Sesshomaru you should have," Inuyasha teased gruffly with an unpleasant twist of his lips.

Sesshomaru's mouth twisted back into a half-sneer. "I didn't, whelp. Father did. While we were packaging a few things for the auction, he came upon these and deemed you old enough to inherit them."

Inuyasha's brow lifted and his petulant scowl morphed into child-like curiosity. "What is it?" He reached out and gently took the plain white box in his hands, eyes widening curiously. He shook the package, listening carefully for any noise from inside.

"Be careful you little fool." Sesshomaru snapped briefly at seeing the rather harsh treatment of the hidden object. "That is essentially father's legacy left to you."

Now he was really intrigued.

Inuyasha brushed the harsh words aside and went to open the lid, only to stop when Sesshomaru set an abnormally gentle hand on his shoulder. He was about to to flick the hand off when Sesshomaru caught his gaze. There wasn't any malice or hatred towards him there like usual.

There was only some type of understanding he'd never seen, a quiet evaluation that wasn't harsh or cruel. As if his brother was truly seeing him for the first time.

"Not here," he heard him utter flatly. "Keep it somewhere safe and hidden from prying eyes. Not even that woman of yours is to see it. It is with this treasure that you make and leave your mark on this world, and only you alone can decide your fate."

Inuyasha nodded numbly, not really knowing why, shifting the package underneath his arm and gathering the bag. Sesshomaru eyed him for a touch of a second longer and then with a quick incline of his head he pivoted on his heel and strode over to a few of their fathers most important clients who graciously accepted the firstborn son of their fathers company with metaphorical open arms.

Sesshomaru seemed to meld in with the crowd of grown demon males, plucking a flute of wine from a platter offered to him. Feeling a pair of eyes still trained fully on him, he turned and peered at his little brother and, with another discreet nod, lifted the wine to his lips to take a sip and then turned back ago the group surrounding him.

Inuyasha was left with nothing but the box underneath his arm, the bag in his hand and his own thoughts.

"What was that all about?" Asked Miroku, seemingly pooping in from out of nowhere. Or maybe he had been there longer than Inuyasha realized.

Still paralyzed by confusion, Inuyasha barely acknowledged his presence as he opened his mouth to speak. "Dunno. He gave me this," he gestured vaguely to the still unknown items, "muttered something cryptic, and then walked away like it never happened."

Miroku stroked his jaw thoughtfully. "Well that does call for a rise in suspicion. And might I ask what it is?" When Inuyasha finally looked over at him, perplexed with a hint of annoyance in his expression, the slightly older man reiterated slowly, as if speaking to a particularly slow child. "The bag. The box. Whats inside?"

The half-demon shrugged one shoulder.

"Again, I dunno. He told me not to open it here. He said 'keep it hidden from prying eyes' or some other nonsense. Speaking of which," he began, clapping a hand on the shoulder of his longtime friend. "Can I keep it in your room? Just for now? My suite is far away and its annoying to walk all the way there and back."

"Oh yes. You poor, poor little half-demon," Miroku quipped sarcastically even as he reached into the pants of his tuxedo, fishing out the card-key for his cabin. "Having a suit aboard your fathers cruising liner can be taxing on oneself, I should imagine."

He was halfway to sticking his tongue out and Miroku appeared as if he were on the verge of doing the same. Inuyasha shifted his weight to go but paused himself when a thought struck.

He turned halfway, mindful of the long box in his care. "By the way, who was that girl you were hitting on earlier? She's quite the smokin' pistil ain't she?"

Miroku's face turned dreamy, as it always did when he thought about a good-looking woman, eyes fluttering partially. "Ahhh, that was the lovely goddess who bares the name of Sango."

"Sango huh?" Inuyasha grunted. "Whatever her name is I fully approve."

"You do, do you?"

Inuyasha felt his lips outspread with a devious grin. "Anyone who can hold her own against you is automatically a favorite of mine."

"Ah," Miroku held his still smarting stomach. "You saw that did you?"

He nodded. "She definitely doesn't seem like the average bimbo you usually go for. I'd be careful with this one Miro," Inuyasha warned, turning fully and striding for one set of doors.

"Oh thank you so much for the advice," Miroku hollered sardonically.

Inuyasha sniggered and, after running a floor up, taking his time depositing the still mysterious objects in Miroku's room, returned to the gala where the auction had ended and dinner had already begun. Servers were moving about the room in a tizzy when he walked in, going from one table to the next to distribute meals.

Kikyo was already at their designated table when he arrived and was sipping leisurely on a glass of white wine, gazing down at the comb she'd won in the auction. She gave him a small little nod as he pulled out his chair and took his spot beside her, but otherwise said nothing and made no indications that she'd wanted that to change.

Inuyasha blocked out most of the idle chatter that was made at the large table—the conversation mostly made by demons trying to impresses Sesshomaru who sat at the head of the table—and pretend he was so engrossed with his food that nothing else caught his attention. Which wasn't hard. The meal was delicious. It was a little hard for him to not inhale all of it without choking.

A few times he discreetly searched the dinning space for Kagome. But the room was large enough that all the bobbing heads of other people eating made it impossible to see more then ten feet ahead of him. He wasn't about to crane his neck in search for her. That would look downright absurd. And Kouga sat a little ways to his right, his side noticeably devoid of any Kagome's for him to hit on.

So the hanyou stayed put, gnawing happily on the steak he ordered.

After the plates were empty and cleared by staff, the room lights dimmed and a hired Dj took his place at a small table placed at the front of the room.

Sesshomaru took the time to stand up, raise his glass and thank the invite guests again for joining them that evening in place of their father, expression as to stolid as ever. He then clasped the hand of a small human woman Inuyasha and never seen before in his life, and drifted soundlessly onto the dance floor where the pair commenced the first dance.

The song floating through well hidden speakers was soft and dulcet. Kind of like the woman in Sesshomaru's arms. She was so…tiny compared to his brothers towering frame.

She wore a bright orange dress that appeared very appropriate on her, very unlike most of the other humans who had chosen more muted colors for their ensembles but tasteful just the sam. A white lilly flower was tucked into her thick black hair and she wore muted colored sandals that gave her at least two inches but she still was dwarfed by the demons above her.

It was odd to watch the stolid demon entertain such a cheerful looking little human woman.

His brother, while he did not hate them, saw the human race as nothing more than a bother; a nuisance. They were substantially weaker than him and in his mind that meant they were one-hundred percent disposable. Every single one of them. And yet the planet was crawling with them, much to his annoyance.

To see him seemingly content with a woman, a human no less, was downright creepy. Inuyasha entertained in the idea of going over and rapping on his brothers head, asking if anyone was home.

The music turned over to yet another slow song and Kikyo opened her mouth for the first time in over an hour to ask a catastrophic question: Would he like to dance?

"You know I don't, Kikyo," he replied, tone clipped and bored, clawed hand tapping the rim of his own wine glass to the beat of the music, internally wishing it were a beer bottle instead.

"Just this once. Please." A genuine smile danced on the corner of her lips and the half-demon was left with no more fight in him.

Inuyasha took a deep breath, held his lungs for a prolonged moment, then released the air with fairly audible whoosh and he stood up.

He gathered her hand in his much larger one, guiding her out onto the dance floor where he pressed his free hand onto the small dip of her back. She leant into him easily, placing her cheek against his chest, the other hand, not intertwined with his, wrapping around his neck, her fingers curling into the silver strands there.

He swayed the both of them, alternating the weight from one foot to the other—a gentle back, forth, back, forth motion. Kikyo let him guide her, allowing for her slender body to be rolled this way and that. The music seemed to sweep over them like a wave, and Inuyasha closed his eyes, allowing himself to enjoy the moment, something he rarely did if at all.

The peace was shattered cruelly, however, when the horrible stench of wolf and the delectable scent of lavender wafted to his nose.

Restraining a growl, he cracked open a golden eye and peered out at the now thriving dance floor which seemed to be alive with bodies pulsing all over the place. He spotted Kagome and Kouga twirling around together almost instantly.

Kouga swung the onyx-haired girl out and back towards himself obnoxiously, before dipping her easily like they'd done it a million times. She tipped her head back and laughed and Inuyasha wished very much that the speakers were turned down so his currently disabled ears could catch the sound.

Then Kagome decided to wrap both of her slender arms around the wolfs neck while his hands slid down her waist, settling on her hips.

Whatever possessive need Inuyasha felt for Kagome spiked angrily inside of him. His chest cramped with a feeling he'd never encountered before and spun both Kikyo and himself around, his back facing them, so he wouldn't have to look at them anymore.

He continued to dance with Kikyo, still blissfully unaware in the safety of his arms for another two songs. He found himself actually enjoying the music and, strangely enough, the dancing. He hadn't been able to run, jump or stretch his powerful muscles properly since the ship had cast off. Any kind of movement, even dancing, was welcomed with metaphorical open arms.

A new song melted into the last and suddenly a new scent came into the mix.

This smell was heavy and pungent, dark almost. The demanding smell singed Inuyasha's nostrils. When the overpowering fragrance intermingled with Kagome's, Inuyasha turned Kikyo and himself back around as discreetly as he could to investigate whatever the hell was going on.

The demon now holding Kagome in his arms was statuesque and his whole presence was commanding. Instantly, Inuyasha felt compelled to…kneel, of all things. His inner demon saw him as a rival Instinctively. And not just because he had Kagome so near to himself, but because his yōkai presence was so suffocating.

His human saw him as a threat. His demon saw him as a challenge.

It gave him no surprise when Kikyo suddenly raised her head from its place on his chest. "Whats wrong?"

"Nothin'." he replied brusquely.

"Oh? Is that so? Then why are you growling?"

His chest stopped making the rumbling noise instantly and he berated himself for not realizing he was doing it sooner. Kikyo followed his unwavering gaze toward Kagome and the mysterious demon who absolutely radiated malevolence, and gasped as if she were trapped in a room that was sucking out all of the oxygen.

"Woah," Inuyasha stumbled as Kikyo's legs seemed to give out from underneath her. Her knees buckled abruptly, her chest concaved into itself. Like a puppets strings being unexpectedly snapped. He supported her limp body from underneath her arms and hauled her up to his eye level.

"What is it? Whats the matter?"

She stood frozen, her whole face flushing with a type of haunting grief Inuyasha had never seen on her and didn't particularly care for. "I…I…I…" Her mouth flapped open and close like a fish fighting for water, eyes glassy and unseeing.

The notion of slapping her so she'd come to her senses flashed briefly in Inuyasha's mind. But he decided against it. No need in harming her when she seemed to be heading down the path of a mental breakdown. Instead he shook her, watching morbidly as her head lolled back and forth with the sharp movement.

"Hey. HEY!" He shouted, his tone on the verge of panic. "Cut it the fuck out, Kikyo. You're scarin' me."

Her brown eyes fluttered and she seemed to come back to herself. "I..I'm sorry. I think—" She swallowed hard, cutting herself off in the process.

When she spoke again a few moments later she spoke like a robot, all controlled words and monotone voiced. "I'm a bit tired. I think I should retire for the evening."

She regained her footing and took a deep breath before pushing away from him gently. Inuyasha let her, too stunned to do anything else but stare at her stupidly.

"Thank you for a pleasant evening, Inuyasha." She leaned her body forward, brushing a kiss on his cheek that left him unsettlingly sorrowful. "I had a wonderful time."

He watched her leave powerlessly, as though nothing had happened, noting how she left a wide berth between herself and the dance floor. She even held her chin with false dignity while she went.

"What in the hell…?"

He searched the room, his sharp eyes trying to pick out any abnormalities that would cause Kikyo to react in such a way. His attention kept falling back on the sight of Kagome and the new man defiantly.

His eyebrows knit the longer watched, the longer he stared. And soon enough it became clear.

Kagome looked a bit repulsed by the unnamed demon and she was standing as far away from the guy as possible, even as they danced. Where their middles should've have touched was a wide empty space as Kagome skirted mans eyes were fixated on her, his head bent towards her own in conversation as if he didn't notice her obvious revulsion. His eyes caught underneath an overhead light and they gleamed wickedly.

Inuyasha felt the flight instinct inside of him kick into gear, the urge to flee almost crippling. Never had he seen such blood-red eyes, so red they were almost purple, so full of malice and venom. Even in the demon world having such color in the eyes was not a good sign.

The demons long fingers seemed to engulf Kagome's whole hand, though she looked like she was trying to wriggle her own fingers free of his grasp while still veering an air of aloofness. Inuyasha felt an unfounded sense of pride swell in his chest as he watched Kagome keep a cool air about her, though she kept an obvious distance, and smirked to himself. Yet the smirk came as quickly as it went.

And among all of the other things, there was her scent.

Kagome's natural smell, usually so carefree and light, had turned dense and rancid, like milk gone sour. It was a spicy scent that burned his nose like wildfire and caused his inner demon to rebel against the confines of his half-demon mentality, trying to gain control.

It was fear that he smelled. She was afraid.

As the comprehension donned on him, his legs were propelling him froward before any other conscious thought. If Kagome was scared of him and Kikyo was seemingly terrified of him that was plenty enough reason for Inuyasha to confront and beat the living hell out of the guy.

He shouldered through the mass of twirling, swaying bodies, adding another reason to his mental list of why he detested crowds. The moment he reached the center of the floor, the ominous man took a step back from Kagome before he could reach him however, slithering back into the thick crowd after offering what seemed like a few more light words and a smile, a smile that curled the corners of his lips unpleasantly.

Giving Kagome a swift once over to make sure she was alright, Inuyasha tried to watch where the nameless man had gone, even going so far as to stand on the balls of his feet to see over the thickness on the dance floor. Yet the demon couldn't be spotted. He wasn't even in the general dining area that was relatively clear of people.

It was as if he'd disappeared. As if he'd never truly been there in the first place.

Inuyasha started moving in the direction the man had gone to see if he could head the rouge demon off but stopped abruptly when something crunched and then cracked underfoot.

He glanced down confusedly, moving his shoe away to find what appeared to be a wooden doll of some sort. It was rounded out and smooth, the head just barely distinguishable from the body or arms. The craftsmanship of the trinket was mediocre, at best, but that didn't seem to be the point of the small object. There was something he was missing here—something teased him in the corner of his mind that he couldn't catch.

Something caught his sharp eye and Inuyasha reached down, cursing under his breath as he plucked a dark strand, almost invisible in the low light from around the doll where it had been meticulously wrapped. He raised it up to his eye level, mouth twisting into a sneer while he observed the tendril of dark hair in his grip.

Inuyasha didn't need to bother with wondering whom it belonged to.

She'd never needed a drink so badly in her entire life.

She twirled the delicate stem of the wine glass in-between her fingertips from where it rested on the tabletop, careful not to knock it into one of the elaborate flower centerpieces that bedecked each table, watching the liquid slosh around in the flute.

Naraku had sought her out again, had done everything but banish Kouga when he'd hesitated by her side on the dance floor, and had interrogated her with seemingly innocuous questions after she'd finally given into his 'offer.'

Kagome snorted to herself and took a long draught. "Offer" her butt. He'd practically demanded her to dance with him.

And when they'd finally found a good rhythm, he was relentless in his questioning. Asking things like where she'd grown up, what her school life had been like, if she had any family, etcetera. While all of them had been on the very innocent side, the way he'd asked them, leaning in as if every word she breathed was the answer to the meaning of life, was very unsettling.

The simple nearness of his presence made her cold. The memory of his haunting and deceptively beguiling eyes was burned into her memory.

A sharp laugh suddenly caught her attention and she turned toward the familiar sound. She found the slightly drunken giggling coming from Sango, who had sat herself on the surface of a cleared dinner table with her legs crossed, broadcasting the slit of her dress like a woman with no morals .

The man (whom Kagome assumed had been funny enough to make her best friend snort) leaned back in his chair, studying Sango's face like she were a goddess in human form. He was generically handsome, with brown hair and wise violet eyes. He seemed like the 'older brother' type of guy, constantly handing out advice but usually hopeless in his own endeavors. She had to admit that he did fill out his tuxedo rather nicely, though.

He inclined his head toward Sango, as she leaned towards him as well, Kagome observed the sight of three or so golden loops in one of his earlobes as they caught the light. Somehow they worked very well with his personality, charming in their simplicity.

Smirking as her friend continued to flirt with the guy, Kagome turned to look at the clusters of demons that stood on the side of the still thriving dance floor, most of them grown males, discussing things with one another. Hoity-toidy things if she took the time to imagine.

"Good evening, Mr. Money bags," she mocked, the lit of her tone airy and pretentious as she made up an overexagerated dialogue to the movement of their lips.

"And how are you this evening, Duchess Fancy-Pants? How's the castle? Doing well, I presume. I hear the weather in Venice is good this time of year. Shall we retreat there for our pre-pre-fall vacation and spend our time thinking about nothing but ourselves and how disgustingly wealthy we are?"

"I actually believe he is Mr. Money bags," A very deep, very amused voice chuckled right beside her ear. The upper half of her twisted to the side and she let out a quiet 'Eeep!' when she caught sight of Inuyasha pulling up a seat and turning it around so he could plop down, pointing to a random older looking demoness. "And her name is Duchess Fancy-Pants."

Inuyasha angled the chair so he was facing towards her, allowing their knees to knock, and placed both arms on the back of the seat to brace all of his weight forward on his elbows, a heart stopping grin playing on his lips.

Kagome's face flamed in embarrassment and…some other feeling she couldn't quite place. "I…I'm sorry, I'm just….I—."

"—Am a total idiot who's rambling to herself like some weirdo and…and…gods, you're gorgeous. Stop staring at me. Stop smirking at me. Stop it! My heart can't take it!"

"You just were talking to yourself?" He ventured with a snort, reaching forward to pluck up a leftover bread roll from the table before mowing down on it. "No big deal," he muttered around his mouthful. "I do it too. Apparently you're not supposed to, though. I hear that people might think you're crazy."

Swallowing down the lump of embarrassment still in her throat, she shook her head and tsked her tongue. "In this day in age? Really. You'd think that people would be able to talk to themselves without being judged."

"Tell me about it," he drawled, his eyes glinting with humor in a way that made Kagome gulp.

"So, um," she cleared her throat, shifting uncomfortably on the chair. "What are you doing here?"

He took another bite, filling his cheeks. "What do you mean?"

"Why are you sitting here, talking….with…me," she finished lamely, lowering her eyes quickly before he looked at her. Jeez, he must think her so spastic for how she was acting. Couldn't she just play it cool and act natural?

He blinked at her for a few seconds and Kagome wondered if she'd just made a terrible blunder and said something wrong. She wanted to bang her head on the table. But then he seemed to relax a bit, leaning forward until their knees knocked yet again.

"We're friends, right? And friend's sit with each-other so they don't start talking to themselves." The first part of what he'd said had been serious, dead serious, but the last part he had chuckled out.

"Friends?" She squeaked like a mouse being stepped on. So much for playing it cool. "We're friends?"

He grinned and Kagome stared as his nose tweaked with the action. "Yeah, 'course we are. Why wouldn't we be?"

"I um…I don't know." She scratched at her head and then found herself smiling to herself. Yes. She liked the idea of being his friend very much.

"Okay then," she reiterated shyly. "We're friends."

"Great. Now that all that is settled," he stood suddenly, brushing off a few spilled bread crumbs from his pristine white dress shirt. He had taken off his suit jacket now and was carrying it around with him, allowing Kagome to ogle the muscles of his body roll from underneath his shirt. "You wanna get some fresh air?"

She raised a brow. "Uh, Inuyasha, if you haven't noticed we are on a ship." He didn't budge, just blinked. She tired again. "In the middle of the ocean."

"Yes Kagome," he mimicked, "I realize that, thank you. But it's kinda getting hot in here and I need some air. I was just wonderin' if you wanted to join me."

He offered his hand and Kagome got a close up look of his claws. Though she was not afraid. She was…curious if anything, and very, very eager to accept his offer. Inuyasha's smirk widened a fraction as if he sensed that eagerness and her heart flip-flopped. Yes, Inuyasha was right. It was getting rather hot.

She slipped her noticeably smaller palm into his own, shivering as a shock of electricity wriggled up and down her spine at the contact of their skin, ending pleasantly in her toes. His grip was soft and warm, his hand rough and somehow gentle. It amazed Kagome that so many differences in one lone person could be so comforting.

Only in the very back of her mind did she wonder where Kikyo was, she had seen the soft toned model earlier with the man in front of her but she had disappeared a few dances in mysteriously. Kagome recognized it probably wasn't a wise idea to be going galavanting around with someone else's date for the evening. But the other part, the other part strongly influenced by sappy romantic movies and terribly wonderful fantasies she'd had since she was a child, told her she didn't particularly care. The way she saw it was if Inuyasha was asking her to come with that was all that mattered.

Unknowing to her thoughts, Inuyasha took her arm when she needed a tiny bit of help stabilizing herself in her high heels. She was very unused to wearing such footwear and was still a bit clumsy at it. Inuyasha steadied her before she could stumble too ungraciously, placing one hand just on the crest of her hip while the other remained wrapped around her hand.

He lowered his head, looking directly into her eyes. "You good?"

She felt her cheeks warming again at the close proximity of their faces. Their noses almost brushed. Kagome lowered her head before he could see the red claiming the bridge of her nose and face. "Yes. I-I'm fine."

There came a sharp whistle and the sound of two sets of hands clapping over the constant hum of the music and both Kagome and Inuyasha's head shot up. Sango and Mrioku watched them with wide and knowing smirks on each of their faces and when Kagome lowered her head in embarrassment once more Miroku let out another saucy whistle.

"C'mon," Inuyasha chucked lightly to cover his embarrassment. Kagome kept her head lowered, missing the glare he tossed at Miroku. The other man simply grinned suggestively from across the room.

"Well," Kagome took a breath and held it as he ushered her into the hall. The comparable quietness to the constant music, laughter and discussions of the ballroom was almost deafening. "That was interesting."

Inuyasha felt his mouth upturn with a smirk. "Thats just Miroku. You can ignore him. Actually," he amended, "I'd prefer it if you did avoid him."

Kagome looked over and up at him. Even with two inch heels on her forehead was only level with his chin. "Why's that?"

Inuyasha shook his head and began walking down the practically deserted ship, Kagome following almost obediently. Everyone seemed to either be out at dinner, at the gala, or enjoying themselves in their cabins after another long day outside.

"He's just very…" His eyes flew to the ceiling as he searched for the right word. "Handsy."

"Thats the understatement of the year," his mind supplied and he chuckled, turning the sound into cough hidden in his fit.

"Really?" Kagome matched his stride as they continued strolling easily, in no hurry to arrive anywhere, just sort of drifting along. "Is he a bad guy? With women, I mean."

He snorted and ran a clawed hand through his hair, mindful to not nick his claws on his still pinned ears accidentally. "Nah. Miroku'd never hurt a woman intentionally. He just doesn't know how to keep his hands to himself. Or When to shut up for that matter. "

Kagome's chest expanded with relief. "Thats good. He was talking to my best friend Sango in there. I can tell she likes him and I don't want her getting hurt."

He glanced at her as they sidestepped a group of people headed the opposite direction. "Yea, I have a feeling she'll be just fine. I saw her handling herself earlier tonight. Quite the aim she has, huh?"

Kagome laughed lightly while she imagined Sango 'handling' herself, for she knew what that meant all to well, and Inuyasha was drawn to it, momentarily forgetting everything and anything else except for that pure sound. "She sure does."

They continued this mindless chatter until they reached a staircase partially hidden at the back of the ship. Inuyasha offered her assistance so she wouldn't trip over her gown or shoes, and when she complied and took his hand, Inuyasha bit down on his tongue to keep from opening his moth and saying something idiotic about her smooth skin, or how her scent was hypnotic, or how too damn beautiful she was for her own good.

"So you know Mrioku pretty well?" She asked, startling him from his thoughts, fiddling her mothers borrowed necklace around her throat once they reached the top step.

The room Inuyasha had led them to was built as a breakfast bar and was only open during the day. All the lights and appliances were shut off, leaving the job of illuminating the space up to bright moonbeams that cascaded through large windows. He paced them closer to the windows, growing thoughtful, eyes gazing outside at the darkness.

"Yeah. I guess you could call him my best friend." He began chewing on his lower lip with one of his fangs thoughtfully. "He's my only friend, actually."

Kagome shook her head slowly and tried to catch his eye. "I don't believe that. A funny, good-looking guy like you? I bet you have tons of friends off this ship just waiting for you to get back home."

His head turned to her slowly, painfully slowly, eyes sluggishly moving up toward her face. "You think I'm good-looking?"

Kaogme gulped and floundered, flailing her hands around in wide nonsensical gestures. Had she really said that out loud? "What I meant was…I mean no. I mean yes! But…I couldn't—"

"Okay, okay," Inuyasha chuckled, grasping her hand again so she'd stop flapping them about so wildly. "I get it. Don't hurt yourself."

Inuyasha paused and she paused with him, taking the time to gaze freely at one another, the moonlight the only light on their faces. Slowly, Inuyasha raised their intertwined hands to gaze at the vast contrast, his tanned, clawed hand covering each of her delicate pale fingers, palms flat against each other.

Her eyes flickered upwards, mouth falling open a touch at the sight presented of him, hair and face bathed in the glow of the moon. Each moonbeam immersed every silvery strand on his head in a pearlescent glow until he seemed to radiate all by himself in the stark contrast of darkness behind him. And his eyes…she wet her parched lips at the vision his amber eyes made. She was sure he could read her every thought, know her every hope and dream just by gazing at her with those eyes alone.

Inuyasha watched with intense curiosity as her small pink tongue darted out to wet her lip before she nibbled on it. Oh how he wanted to be the one nibbling on it instead. And how badly he wanted to kiss her, to see what she tasted like and savor her. It was almost unbearable, being so close to her and not spending all of his time pressing his lips to hers.

He thought about it, just for a split second what it would be like. How he would hold her, how he would meld her smaller body to his own and kiss her, kiss her like they both wanted to do. What a strange feeling it was, to want to kiss a person her barely knew, but wanted all the same. What a strange, and truthfully dangerous thought that was, given their situation.

As he leisurely mapped out all the wonderful scenarios of kissing her, a face popped into his mind and caused all his fantasies to come crashing to an abrupt halt; Kikyo. Just what would she think about all of this? What would she think of him if she found out he was thinking this way?

What did that say about him?

Inuyasha cleared his suddenly parched throat roughly and dropped her hand like she'd singed his flesh. He turned from her. "Lets get going."

Kagome faltered for a moment at the palpable change in him, wondering if it had been a bad idea going along when he'd asked. Then, thinking better of herself and of him, nodded slowly and moved ahead, biting her lip so hard it broke the skin. "Right."

Inuyasha stepped towards a set of double doors that lead out to a small deck on the stern of the ship and opened one, waiting patiently as Kagome stepped outside before allowing the door to shut, but not lock, after them.

The deck was oval shape, melding to the side of the sleek ship, and allowed for a marvelous view. Splayed out before them the ocean was placidly gentle and there was a large swell left in their wake by the propellers of the ship. A wide trail of upturned sea churned after them.

The night sky exploded in front of the pair, completely cloudless and, because they were so far out from and city or town, brimming with stars that shimmered and blinked. And, proudest of all, the moon gleamed brilliantly in the darkness surrounding her. The white orb lit up the whole sky, casting shadows on anything that wasn't directly underneath its blinding radiance.

"Beautiful," Kagome breathed at the sight of it all, her previous insecurities about Inuyasha vanishing as quickly ask they'd come. She measured up to the railing and leaned over the very top, peering down at the churning saltwater below.

Inuyasha watched her turn her face up the sky, close her eyes and and take a deep breath. The moon made her pale skin shimmer.

"Yes. Beautiful." He softly agreed, though he definitely wasn't speaking about the scenery. Did she know how gorgeous she was, he wondered. Did she know, perhaps, and was she merely humble about it? Or was she truly so oblivious to her own appeal?

"So," Kagome turned to him, resting one hip against the rail suddenly despite the earlier awkwardness between them, smirking cheekily over one shoulder. "You come here often?"

He laughed—outright laughed at her brazen and abrupt deadpanned joke—and Kagome stared simply dumbstruck while his head tilted back, eyes closed and a beaming smile that should've rightfully split his cheeks on his face. He was truly something else.

"Sorry," smiled Kagome lightly when he glanced back at her, a stray chuckle still escaping him now and again. "I tend to get a bit corny when I'm nervous, or in situations I can't help. Truthfully, I'm not very good at this."

"What? Talking?" Inuyasha groused, ambling his way over beside her and resting both forearms on the smooth railing.

"No, not talking. I mean this," She gestured to her formfitting dress with a wave of he hand before tweaking the edge of his tux. "I'm not good at this dinner gala, elegant evening stuff."

He sighed, chuckling sardonically at the two of them and shifted his weight until the edge of his arm brushed against hers. "We're to peas in pod then. I'm not good at this stuff either."

Inuyasha didn't know why he was telling her this. I wasn't his policy to divulge his personal thoughts with anyone, really, except for Miroku occasionally when he felt especially talkative which was a rare thing in and of itself. But talking to Kagome felt natural. Easy. The words slipped right out of his mouth before he truly thought them over.

Kagome didn't even try and hide the scoff that left her lips at what he'd said. "I doubt that."

Inuyasha glanced down at her with slight offense marring his features. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means…well just look at you!" She indicated her head in his direction. "You're probably used to dinner galas and parties and polo matches, vacations on yachts—"

"Don't forget the private jets," he interjected with a smirk in his eye, though secretly taking everything she said to heart.

The corners of her mouth curled with a smile. "Yes. That too." Then she sighed, "But you understand my point, don't you?"

He didn't really, but she continued before he could point that out.

"My family we…" she swallowed deeply, not understanding why it was exactly she was practically pouring out her soul, knowing that it was ridiculous to babble at him like she was. Her hands twisted and untwisted uncertainly from their place hanging over the rail.

"We're not like you—I'm not like you." She managed, turning to him with a gravitating gaze. "We won our tickets for this trip, my family. We're not well off enough to pay for this kind of thing and we definitely aren't rich.

"My gramps owns a shrine thats been in out family for generations. We help out around the place now, but once he's unable to take care of it anymore my mother will inherit the house and shrine deed. And then after her comes me, and some day I'll inherit it as well. I'm going to school at the moment tough I'm not sure what I want to do with my life, and when I'm not at the shrine I'm an assistant teacher at my collage. Which basically means I'm a glorified tutor."

Kagome turned to him suddenly and looked deeply into his amber eyes that were shrouded by darkness and glowing back at her. "And I thought people wouldn't notice. Thought that maybe if I'd tried to blend in here no one would see me any differently but," she frowned, lowering her head shamefully, "they did. They noticed it. I saw the way they looked at me."

"Who?" Inuyasha found himself asking. The thought that anyone looked at Kagome with anything but admiration and adoration—it didn't sit well with him.

She sniffed, eyes watery but not tearful. "Some of the guests at the party tonight. Mostly the demons but a good amount of humans, too. They looked at me as though I were nothing but a nuisance."

Her head snapped up toward the sound of barking laughter at, what she presumably thought was, her. It was a bitter raspy noise that grated in the back of Inuyasha's throat and sounded anything but happy. Cynical? Yes. Oddly vindictive? Absolutely. But full of happiness or mirth? Definitely not.

Kagome scowled. "Whats so funny?"

Inuyasha heard the disgruntled tone in her voice, knew she was angry, either with him directly or simply just the situation, but couldn't find himself to stop snorting with contempt.

"Don't take it personally, Kagome," he responded. "They're not stickin' their noses up at you—it's the world the think they're superior to, and anything and everything thats even the slightest bit different to them is looked down on. Mocked even. It's cruel, it's ludicrous and damn unbelievable but its true.

"It ain't you," he grunted with a slight huff, his voice lacking some of it's earlier harshness, eyes fixed firmly on the sea displayed in-front of them. "It's them. They're the ones that don't understand."

"You sound like you're speaking from experience," Kagome said, some of her earlier ire pushed back by gentle curiosity.

Inuyasha snorted, shaking his head sadly. "Yeah. Something like that."

Kagome regarded the man—demon—in front of her for a ghost of a second. Her thoughts trailed off as the quaint deck was flooded with gentle moonlight as the ship they were being carried on turned, just a fraction a direction if anything, allowing the moon to catch everything in a brilliant glow. With his weight pressed against the rail, Inuyasha's hair billowed behind him like a silver layer of film highlighted gorgeously in the luminescent lighting. Kagome froze as her eyes were drown to his shadowed figure in full view. He lowered his head, staring down at the waters below before his eyes, weather consciously or not, slid over to look back at her. They narrowed a fraction of a second later, as if his mind couldn't properly place her.

Behind the clear curiosity in those gilded irises was another emotion that fought Kagome by surprise, entirely different yet curious just the same—sorrow, maybe. Some kind of sadness that caused Kagome her own grief.

He was hurting secretly, she realized.

"You, uh," Kagome coughed and then offered a wan smile and took a dainty step forward. "I'm assuming you didn't simply invite me out here to chat about our deep dark secrets. And I know you didn't intend for me to start blathering on about my sad little life as a shrine maiden."

He rolled his eyes but smirked to himself and stood a bit straighter.

"So," she asked wonderingly, brushing back a strand of black hair that had escaped her up-do and raked it behind her ear. "What is it you needed from me?"

"Feh. What made you think I wanted you out here so I could ask you anything? Pretty quick to jump to conclusions don't you, woman?"

"I'm not jumping to anything" retuned Kagome with a smug smirk. "I could just tell."

Inuyasha refrained from flushing embarrassedly or scoffing at her confidence. Had he been that transparent? "Well….there is one thing I've been wonderin' about." he hedged.

"I knew it."

"There was a man you were dancing with earlier tonight—do you know his name?"

Kagome's brows knit thoughtfully, wondering at the direction this turnabout question was leading them. "Kouga you mean?"

The frown that seemed to be permanently etched into his features returned and scattered his prior gentle expression, hands squeezing around the railing as one would wrap their hands around a neck that was to be strangled. "No. Not that flea bitten—…I mean, no. Not him."

"Then who?" Kagome sucked her bottom lip into her mouth pensively, rewinding the course of her evening mentally before it came to a screeching halt on the only other person she could think of. "You don't mean Naraku, do you?"

"Naraku," Inuyasha echoed mentally, fitting his face with the name. "That must be who has Kikyo so on edge."

"Do you know this Naraku person personally?" he asked. "His past, maybe?"

Kagome slowly shook her head, the dangling earrings in her ears swinging from side to side. "No. I only met him just this evening. He…."she trailed, troubled suddenly over the mental road block she'd reached in her thought process.

"What is it?" prodded Inuyasha, sounding nearly fervent.

She met his eyes sluggishly, weary and cautious of the news she was about to confide in him. "He mistook me for Kikyo," she admitted softly with truth. "Thats how we met."

Inuyasha shoved back from the rail with a hiss, running a hand through his hair as he stomped toward the glass doors, his suspicions confirmed. Naraku and Kikyo knew one another somehow, someway. And Kikyo hadn't told him.

"Dammit." He snarled, he paced further, feeling the all too familiar fire of his demon boiling hotly in his veins viciously.

Kikyo had lied to him. Well, perhaps she hadn't lied exactly and entirely, but she certainly hadn't told the truth.

Here he was, embarrassed over the fact that he was out here with a woman who was definitely not Kikyo and she was, what? Keeping secrets?

Wasn't that what people in relationships were supposed to do, he wondered while he strode back and forth. Tell the truth until nothing else remind between? No barriers, no walls? She had kept this from him, and now that Naraku was here she was forced to confront the issue. And what did she do? Run, not toward Inuyasha for comfort, but away.

She had left him. Out of all the hurtful things she'd done…that stung the most.

Who was he, his mind wondered angrily, heart pumping at an increasingly alarming rate until he was afraid the pressure and anger building would ultimately crush his ribcage. Who was this man? What was their shared past? And the question pressing itself to the forefront among the chaotic cluster of the others: what did he want now?

A small, gentle hand rested on the curve of his upper arm, slender fingers wrapping over the curve of his shirt and he found his body jerking to a reflexive still, the fire raging inside of him cooling notch by wrathful notch. He allowed himself to be stopped but he didn't look at her. Didn't do anything expect stand stock still, staring unblinkingly at the ships wall in front of him with hard golden eyes. Too many thoughts buzzed inside of his head, all going unanswered.

"Inuyasha," her soft voice whispered tenderly, as if merely a wisp of a billowing wind. The ears on his head perked defiantly against the clips to seek out her voice better. "Inuyasha it's okay."

Was it? he wondered with a deep sigh that made him truly realize how tired, exhausted he was. Would it truly ever be just okay?

He turned to her, looking at her slowly with a vaguely ashamed expression on his honest face when he felt the crimson of his eyes recede along with the violet marking of his cheeks, chest rising with harsh breaths as his blood pressure fell. He had really worked himself up.

Kagome searched his face silently, wonderingly, before saying,"It's okay. I know you must be confused right now and hurt, but working yourself up isn't going to help anything. I'm not sure why you're as angry as you are but the only thing my mind came up with is that you think Naraku and Kikyo must've….dated before? And perhaps she didn't tell you? Or maybe she did but not in great detail and now your worried she's keeping things from you?"

He swallowed, kicking himself inwardly. He really was transparent. "Damn."

Knowingly she sighed at his expression. He looked like a dog that had been kicked.

"It'll all be aright. It may not seem like it now, I know. But," she smiled softly, head tilting to the side to look at him more directly. "Everything will. It always gets better. And who knows?" She inquired rhetorically with a tone that was ultimately uplifting. "Maybe when she's ready, Kikyo will tell you whats on her mind. You just have to let her."

"Kagome," he thought with the mental equivalent of a deep breath. "If only you knew. If only you understood. You probably wouldn't even want anything to do with me if you knew everything—wouldn't want to know me anymore. You'd be too disgusted."

His eyes sought out her own and found them less than a foot away. Startled, the girl jumped back when she realized how close she was, that her hand was still resting on his bicep, that she had inter to get closer. Much closer.

"I'm sorry," she waved her hands around hastily. "I didn't mean to. I mean I did mean to." Her eyes widened. "Help you! I meant to help you! That is to say I merely wanted to make you feel better seeing as how Kikyo might be lying to you." If at all possible, her eyes widened again, white all the way round. "I don't mean she was lying exactly, but isn't that what you were thinking? That she was?"

She cleared her throat and looked at the deck. "I mean I don't want to say how you were thinking—I don't want throw that out there. I do think it's interesting she wouldn't tell you though," she laughed nervously, tapping the pads of her pointer fingers together in front of her face.

"But maybe she had a good reason to keep a secret from a man like you." Her face turned bright, practically firetruck red in the glowing moonlight as her words registered in her head. "I'll stop talking now," she whispered as her huge eyes moved from looking at her hands to staring down at her face in embarrassment.

Inuyasha felt his heart warm inside his ribcage, the fear that had plagued him about Kikyo leaving, ebbing away like the unwanted swell in the tide. Kagome started when she heard Inuyasha chuckle and she glanced up shyly, face still ablaze, and saw him standing casually, a boyish smirk on his face, his posture relaxed.

"Do you want to meet me tomorrow?" He asked her out of the blue, surprising them both. The words had merely waltzed right off of his tongue and he realized (a tad too late) that he had been intending to ask her that the whole night.

She blinked her impossibly large eyes at him. "What?"

He shrugged and stuffed both hands into his pockets so he'd have something to do with them and fought to maintain his stare on her. "It's a simple question: yes you do want to meet me tomorrow, or you don't."

Kagome's mouth flapped. "But…but—"

"Yes I know you do have a tough time at talking to others and we'll work on that issue, but try to keep up." He shook his head at her as though she were a hopeless case. Her mind finally decided to catch up and she matched his earlier smirk.

"Yes."

Inuyash cupped a hand to his ear—or where his human ear should've been. "I'm sorry? What did you say?"

Kagome stamped her little feet. "Oh, I know you heard me."

"One more time. I'm sorry I didn't catch it."

"I said yes."

"What?"

"I said yes," she laughed and he chuckled.

"Once more, just so I'm sure."

Kagome flung her arms out wide, laughing freely for the first time in what felt like forever. "I said I'll meet you tomorrow. I said yes!"

Inuyasha placed a mock frown on his face and crossed his arms. He shook his head, tsking his tongue. "Alright, alright. We'll meet tomorrow. You don't have to get so railed up, woman."

That night seemed endless. They laughed mindlessly, joked and teased mindlessly, completely enthralled and charmed with one another and the idea that maybe, just maybe, things would start to change for the better. That maybe, "please let it be maybe," Kagome thought, that they would perhaps change each other and everything around them.

When the night finally came to a close and the sun rose up from the deep blue, touching the surface of the water, hissing and boiling—the sky turning pink and blue and purple—the pair retreated for the 'evening.'

Like a true gentleman Inuyasha returned Kagome to her room."Didn't want you to get lost or fall down a flight of stairs," He'd told her as his excuse with a gruff snort to cover up a blush that stained his cheeks. "Kami only knows how much trouble a klutz like you can get into wearing shoes like those."

And then he'd said good-night and she'd told him good-morning and then they'd parted, Inuyasha drifting down the hall toward his own room, snapping his fingers subconsciously and whistling while Kagome undid her hair, humming a nameless tune quietly so she wouldn't disturb the occupants of the room who were fast asleep around her.

And then they fell asleep, just like that—Inuyasha as soon as his head hit the pillow and Kagome as soon as she wrapped up the blankets tightly underneath her chin. Falling into a serene black abyss with no worry of what the day would bring. The sun was already shining and with it, bringing the promise of a life changing day.

They both fell asleep with peaceful expressions on their faces.

—A few hours prior—

Kikyo ran.

She didn't look back, just kept hustling on toward her room, rounding the corners of the ship as quickly as her legs and shoes would allow. Her breath was ragged and terribly weak—it felt like someone had reached out and punched her until her chest started to collapse. The world spun, the room distorted itself and her stomach threatened to turn inside out.

She practically swung around another corner, dashing. Her heels clacked and clicked quickly against the polished flooring. She pulled hair pins from her hair until every strand tumbled heavily down her back and weighed down her pale neck. She didn't even hold onto them. Just dropped them dazedly onto the soft carpeted floor while she moved—leaving a curious trail after her.

She reached the elevator, rapidly brushing her way inside while her dress cascaded like a bloody trail behind her, fingering the floor her room was on with haste.

He was here. She couldn't believe it. Didn't want to believe it but it was true. Somehow Onigumo had beaten all odds and survived, had lived long enough to escape the prison she'd worked and fought so hard to encase him in, in what she'd hoped and prayed for, was forever.

And now he was back to haunt her. And probably kill her when that game became to dreary.

The very thought made the walls around her shrink. Once a seemingly large and ornate lift, the elevator suddenly felt cramped and caging. The walls moved in, suffocating her. She fought for air, her lungs expanded and searched for the thing they craved most. She pressed the naked skin of her back into the wall, a shrill whimper escaping, sweat making her brow glisten.

It was a torturous ride, one that felt like an eternity passing by, and when the floor was reached and the two golden doors that were seemingly creeping closer swept open with a contradicting chirpy ding! she very nearly flung herself out into the brightly lit hall.

She stumbled over the hem of her skirts and her shoes, colliding into the opposite wall with a very unladylike grunt. She rebounded away quickly with a swift push. She couldn't stay in one place too long. It wasn't safe out in the defenseless open.

She kept on, moving around a few more corners and colliding into a maid who was pushing a cleaning cart, knocking a few of the contents onto the floor—she nearly tripped over rouge toilet paper rolls—and kept moving with an "I'm sorry!" flung over her shoulder at the cleaning woman who merely stood rooted in her spot, confused.

She reached her hallway and the sight made her think of the home stretch and she let out a deep puff of breath and took out her card key. She'd staggered to a stop in front of her suite door and was just about to swipe the card through the key-reader when a low, malicious and malevolent chuckle from down the hallway rolled into her ears like a phantom of her forgotten past. Scarier still the sound was originating from the way she'd come.

The once powerful miko turned to a stone statue, heart th-thumping to a stop that was deafening. The key slipped through fingers gone numb and dropped to the floor and her brown eyes stayed paralyzed on the wooden door of her room.

Another wave of chuckles came crashing over her like a tidal wave and her eyes closed. She swallowed, deeply afraid to do little more.

"What?" The voice asked rhetorically, smirk evident in the corrupt timbre. "Too stunned are you that you aren't even going to say hello to a former acquaintance? You know, I daresay I am hurt." He clucked his tongue. "Hurt, truly," he paused, pulling out the last word for dramatic effect. "Kikyo."

A wrathful shiver raced up her spine as if the grim reaper had ran its finger over its length, her name coming from his lips like rape, and her fingers tingled, itched with pent up miko energy that hadn't been used properly in far to long to obliterate him. But she knew she wouldn't. Knew she couldn't. She knew it wouldn't be enough. She wasn't strong enough to take him out.

As far as she knew, nothing was.

"Onigumo," she spat, the old but still familiar name sliding with surprising ease from her mouth. Her hands curled into tight fists. "What could you possibly be doing here? How-how did you—?"

"Escape from the godforsaken island on which you imprisoned me?" Kikyo flinched on the word, though true, and stared down at the floor with unseeing eyes. He chuckled again. It was obvious he enjoyed the taste and scent of her terror, much like one would enjoy and succulent meal. "Now why would I indulge my life secrets with you, darling? Where would be the fun in that?"

Kikyo spun around, dark eyes blazing, dress whirling, hands clenched. "Don't you ever call me that! Never again!"

The hall was clear before her, eerily still and for a moment Kikyo wondered if she was going insane. Had she simply imagined him there? She shivered agin, goosebumps welting on her skin and she knew—no, she wasn't going insane. He was there. She felt his attention, his eyes on her.

And then, out from the shadows created by design of the hall a lone figure, seemingly a shadow merely slithering free from the other shadows, stepped into the light, pallid and gaunt compared to the black suit draped tastefully across his body. Ebony locks swept out behind him, the demons lips curved into a cruel smirk, red eyes trained unflinchingly on her own.

There it was. It was true. He was truly here, in front of her.

"Strike a nerve did I? Pity. A true shame. You used to love that little pet name. Used to crave for me to say it," he grinned while she squirmed with obvious discomfort.

"Kikyo," his voice rumbled, her name a sickening caress. "How very long its been since we last laid eyes on each-other. But you knew that already, didn't you?" Kikyo stood her ground, though knew exactly what he was referring to. "I assume I'm correct in guessing that its been so long, in fact, that you probably assumed we'd never meet again." He didn't wait for her reply. "Indeed, I too had certain doubts about our impending gathering.

"However, I planned on it. I waited on it. I prepared for it. And now here we are." he spread his arms in a wide gesture, inclining his head towards her. "Though we're vastly different from our previous encounter."

The implied statement in his word were not lost on the former Miko. Yes. Things were much, much different now.

She inhaled deeply through her nose and narrowed her eyes. "Yes. Here we are." Her eye actually spasmed. "Now, why. Are. You. Here?" She asked, stressing every last syllable. "I ask again because it seems like you didn't hear me the first time."

He grinned. "Still not beating around the bush I see." He took a step forward. She took one back. "Though I must admit I have missed these little dances of ours."

"I know," her lip turned down with a snarl. "You always did like them."

"You've gotten better at it."

"So have you," she bit out between her flawless teeth begrudgingly.

"Naturally," he chuckled with a sweep of his hands.

Then suddenly his expression darkened, the air around him crackled and snapped with electricity stretched thickly and somehow thin all at once, like a wire. Kikyo whimpered as the full force of his power came crushing down onto her weakened miko senses. It was too much, she thought, her body sagging against the wall behind her. The power he once had—it was nothing compared to this. This was heavier, denser and more potent. Minimally, she wondered why no one hadn't noticed this aura yet. Why anyone hadn't come running the second it had been released.

Kikyo choked on her breath as a wind came from out of nowhere, whipping around the pair. The vapor of the wind bled purple, swirling around the two of them like a twisted, sick sort of bond. Narkau's hair billowed behind him like the feathers of ravens wings, oddly beautiful in the dark moment, his mouth already in a pleased grin turned to a wicked smile. Tears leaked from Kikyo's eyes, not from sadness, but from the ghastly air around her. They raced down her cheeks and dribbled off her trembling chin.

"This," her mind thought, though her body was rendered useless. "This is death."

Just when she thought she could stand no more, her legs giving and her mind starting to shut down, he was in front of her, moving so quick he was nothing but a black blur. His hand shot out and grasped her by the neck and hauled her back up to her normal height and held her there. Her legs dangled.

Face blank with no real emotion, Onigumo began to squeeze those fingers around her pale skin, skin that he hadn't felt in years and was oddly aware of that fact. He squeezed, not so much so that the woman would lose consciousness but enough that her heart sped up with the instinctual thought of death, blood pumping frantically as her brain lost oxygen bit by bit. He leaned in close.

"Listen closely, because I will say this all but once," he growled, all amusement gone. His eyes were dead but they still held the power to stab into her soul. "I am far stronger than I once was. You may try to defeat me," he had the gall to snicker at the idea, "if you wish. Though I would strongly advise against it. You're feelings," he spat the word as though it left a bad taste in his mouth, "that you once held for me will no longer render me useless. Never again shall I fall to the likes of you." He shook her for good measure and her hands came up to claw at his hands. "Never."

"You…still haven't…answered me, Onigumo," she rasped out, hands still scratching at his much larger palm and fingers.

He sniggered darkly at her weak attempt (finding it oddly amusing she hadn't even tried or fought to use her dormant miko powers to at least put up a purification barrier to thwart him off), the sound so ominous Kikyo was afraid she would finally succumb to the darkness right then and there.

"All in due time, darling. In due time." It wasn't an offer. It was the threat hidden in a daunting promise. "Moreover, my name isn't Onigumo anymore. That ill-bred fool died long ago," He stated blankly, as though they were discussing the state of the weather. "You may call me Naraku from now on."

She met his stare defiantly, trying to push her way free but he merely pressed his free hand to the wall above her head and crossed his legs at the ankles to anchor his weight; an all too familiar position for the both of them.

"It's doesn't matter how many masks you cower behind Onigumo," Kikyo declared with a strong tone through the tight pinch of his fingers. "You will always be the same despicable, conniving, evil monster you are now, as you will always be. Come to grips with your fate, face the ghouls from your past head-on. Running from them will only give them meaning to chase you. And you cannot run forever."

He frowned, obviously displeased with her choice in words and clenched a bit tighter around her windpipe, watching with uncanny satisfaction when she made a gurgling noise in the back of her mouth while her eyes rolled.

"And," he spoke as if she hadn't stopped his tirade. He leaned close to her neck and she turned her head, but he merely pressed his lips against the outer shell of her ear. "I wouldn't go running off to tell that brash little Inuyasha of yours of our meeting."

He chuckled in sheer glee at the thought, running his nose against her hair, her neck, breathing in her, nuzzling the space of skin underneath her ear in a seemingly sweet gesture—yet they both knew better. Much better.

"We wouldn't want him blindingly butting into situations he clearly knows nothing about and doesn't belong in, Hmm?"

She wet her lips and squeezed her eyes shut and he merely smirked at the sight of her grappling underneath his dominating hold. The very many demons writhing and squirming within him like worms found the sight delicious, if not alluring.

"Otherwise," he whispered sensually and her stomach rolled. She was going to be sick. "That may be the very last thing he ever does."

There came a silence and his words hung up in an air already clustered with ominous electricity before descending around Kikyo like the veil of a funeral shroud, like snow falling from the heavens to the earthly plane of existence.

There was no sound. She wasn't even sure if she was breathing.

The hall was quiet.

The ship was quiet.

Everything was eerily still, like the calm after a tornado hits and blasts someone's world apart.

She stood there—for how long she wasn't sure but did know it felt like forever until her legs finally gave out mercifully without a hand hoisting her up by her jugular, and she slid to the floor, allowing her bodyweight to rest fully against the door of her suite. She kept her eyes closed, kept her mind blank, kept herself as deadly silent and still as he'd left her.

She didn't open her eyes. Didn't want to. Didn't need to.

She didn't need to open her eyes to know that he'd be gone. The bone-chill in the air left in his wake was proof enough.

A/N:

And there you have it.

I am sooooooo happy I am FINALLY done with these two annoyingly awful, wonderful and long chapters. I hope you enjoyed the double update as an apology for being so late with them.

I will be updating as soon as I can—I'm sorry I don't have a specific time—but I will hurry to get the next chapter done, especially since the next chapter is my favorite one so far.

I also wanted to ask if you guys are keeping up with my story so far. I feel like my writing style is, at times, choppy and hard to follow. I hope this isn't the case but thats just how I feel.

*Fun-Fact Of The Week Or Something*

The very last line of this chapter was one of the very first things I wrote when planning this story.

*End of Fun Fact Of The Week Or Something*

Tell me how you feel. Didja like it? Right a review and let me know!

For now, I'm going to go take a nap. Stay beautiful!

-B-mo