Betrayal by thetroll

Chapter 1

Kagome stared at the flames before her with growing horror. Everything she'd owned—everything she'd loved—burned before her eyes.

And there was nothing she could do about it but watch the flames grow.

She'd been betrayed. Everyone had betrayed her. 

Miroku had drugged her tea so Kagome couldn't try to stop them. Sango had lit the fire. And InuYasha—her husband—had been the one to bring everything over to the flames. Unable to move, all Kagome could do was watch as everything she'd brought with her from her own time was fed to the flames by everyone she'd trusted.

"It'll be over soon, Kagome-san," Sango said gently as Miroku and InuYasha burned her backpack and the schoolbooks she'd left behind in the final days of Naraku. "You have to trust your husband here. He knows what he's doing."

Yes, he does. All of you do. Kagome bit back her tears as she glowered at her former friend, but Sango remained as oblivious to Kagome's rage as she had to the bruises InuYasha had left on her body when Kagome had refused to get rid of her own possessions herself earlier that week. With her voice and body paralyzed by the drug Miroku had fed her, there was nothing Kagome could do now.

But she wouldn't stay. After tonight's events, she didn't see how she could.

Her former friends and soon-to-be ex-husband could burn everything she owned from her old life, but they couldn't control her. As soon as the drug wore off, she'd leave.

She tried to remain resolute, but she lost the battle when the bento boxes her mother had sent her back with were tossed in next. They weren't expensive—they were made from plastic and had been factory-painted with her mother's favorite flowers—but they'd been given to her mother by her father before they'd married.

Tears streamed down her face as she watched the plastic disintegrate, an acrid smell filling the air.

InuYasha had known how much she'd loved those bento boxes. She'd used them on several of their picnics after they'd married.

How could he hurt her like this? 

She watched as Miroku helped InuYasha throw in her old clothes, including one of the school uniforms she'd left behind. That hurt, too, but clothes were transient. She'd never expected to wear them after her return, anyway. The sturdy shoes she'd brought were added to the blaze next, and then one of her modern blankets, followed by a few of the scarves she'd brought with her. Most of them had been purchased, but one had been lovingly crocheted by her grandmother while she'd been in the hospital recovering from pneumonia. 

More tears ran down her face. She had so few items from her family in this time with her, but they'd been a link to the family she'd left to be with InuYasha.

And now, one by one, they were being destroyed—and she could only watch as fire consumed them all. 

InuYasha looked back at her as he held the last two items in his hand. He lifted it for her to see the beautiful jade and pearl necklace and earring set her father had brought back for her on his last business trip. She'd been too small to wear them then, but he'd told her she could wear them for her wedding and feel like a princess.

And she had worn them to her wedding, just as she'd promised him the day he'd died. She'd looked so beautiful that day. She'd been so happy as she exchanged her vows with InuYasha—a blend of the customs of his time and hers. She'd felt her father's presence at her side that day, even though both time and death had separated him.

Wordlessly, she tried to plead with her mate. If anything could be salvaged that night, let it be her jewelry. If InuYasha had any love left for her, he wouldn't do it. He wouldn't hurt her like this.

As she watched, InuYasha threw the jewelry into the fire. For a moment, they persisted in the fire, and Kagome held her breath, hoping it might not be too hot to damage the pieces. If she could salvage them—if she could salvage the only thing she had from her father, then maybe—

But it was futile. The gems cooked, cracked, and blew apart as her friends fanned the flames. The gold slowly began to melt. Soon, nothing at all was left of her father's final present except a molten puddle of goo that had once represented her father's hopes and dreams for her.

Sango and Mirou patted her on the shoulders as they walked away from the fire, the damage done. "InuYasha will buy you new things, Kagome-sama. Things worthy of a miko of your caliber," Miroku said, his eyes solemn. He was the first to pull away. 

"Please understand," Sango implored her then, her tone firm rather than remorseful. "You were spending too much time in the past, Kagome-san. You needed to move forward to begin your life with InuYasha."

That's why you haven't had a child after five years together. The rest of Sango's message was left unsaid, but it added the final blow to Kagome's already fractured heart. Sango clearly held Kagome responsible for being barren, believing that if Kagome had focused more on her life here, she wouldn't have miscarried.

Kagome choked on a sob. Even if she could have spoken, she could think of nothing to say. Words alone could not express the betrayal and pain she felt—the way everyone had abandoned her, believing InuYasha's claims and strategy to move forward over what Kagome wanted and needed.

Sango and Miroku headed towards the edge of the village then. It was late at night, and they'd left their children with Rin and Kohaku. No doubt they were going to collect their children and go home as if nothing had happened.

As if nothing had changed.

But it had. 

Everything had. They'd done their best to destroy her—and they'd known it was wrong, or they wouldn't have plotted together. They wouldn't have set the blaze late at night when the villagers and Kaede were all asleep and couldn't come to her aid. They would have come and talked to her about their concerns.

The truth was, Kagome accepted now, that they'd never truly cared enough about her. They'd placed all of their trust in InuYasha, who had squarely dumped their marital problems on Kagome's shoulders without any accountability for his own actions. No one except Kaede knew the true reason Kagome had miscarried a month before.

The beating he'd given her when she'd told him she was going to the neighboring village to help no matter what he said had sealed their unborn child's fate. InuYasha hadn't agreed with her, and he'd ensured she'd been hurt too severely to go in the end.

"It's done," InuYasha said as he walked up Kagome, his eyes blazing with rage and revenge. "You can't fucking hide behind that shit now, Kagome. You're my wife. You'll do what I fucking tell you. Kikyo would have." She flinched. "Stop fucking going off on your own." His expression softened for just a moment to the boy she'd once known. "I worry about you, Kagome. You're soft. You're going to get hurt."

She opened her mouth, but she still couldn't speak. What could she even say to change his mind? To return him back to the boy she'd fallen in love with instead of the monster she'd married?

"I don't want to see you hurt." He reached out for her, claws grazing her cheek, but then his expression hardened once more. "If you'd done what I fucking said, none of this would have happened, Kagome. It's all your fucking fault."

Her lips trembled as she tried and failed to stop the tears rolling down her face. She could see the signs now, but at the time, she'd had excuses for them. She'd excused his manipulations, his moments of temper and abuse, and she'd indulged him more than she should have. She'd rationalized his faults away to herself and others.

And now there was no one left to help her. No one would believe her now. She'd helped create the monster within InuYasha every bit as much as he had. 

"I'm fucking tired of seeing you go off with other men," he added jealously, his jaw tightening, "every time one of those fucking messengers asks you for help. You don't know what monsters they can fucking be, but I do."

She knew. She lived with one.

"Think about that," he told her, pulling back from her. "Remember that I'm just fucking trying to keep your stupid ass safe. You're always getting into fucking trouble." His ears flattened as he scowled. "And keep your damn mouth shut if anyone asks about tonight. I don't feel like fucking explaining this to anyone."

She flinched at the threat, knowing then that he meant what he'd said. If she told anyone in the village, he'd beat her again. She could see the truth of it in his eyes. She nodded once, not wishing to risk more of his wrath. There was simply no telling what he'd do next if she dared.

"Good." InuYasha said nothing else as he turned on his heels and left her there outside they'd shared for the last five years. She heard him settle down on their futon—the same futon they'd purchased when they'd married, one that came from the heart of Edo and had cost a small fortune but offered a great deal of comfort—and snore as he nodded off.

He left her outside in the cold, but Kagome scarcely noticed the chill in the air. 

It paled in comparison to the ice in her heart.