Death Row by Kirai

Death Row

I was supposed to write an essay on capital punishment but this was spawned in chat with Lady Ky. It wouldn't let me be until i finished it. Here it is.

~*~

Sesshomaru sat quietly with his back against the wall of his cell. He was alone as he preferred, that pesky cellmate of his had been transferred to another cell last week after he had broken the idiot’s arm. He stared across his cell to the wall at the picture he had tacked there. Kagome.

She smiled at him from the glossy paper, her eyes alive with joy and her cheeks bright with colour. It was his favourite way of remembering her. He refused to let himself think of the last time he had seen her. How pale she had been, how still. To him she was better remembered as the brightly smiling girl in the picture before him.

He tossed his long hair over his shoulder. The silver tresses were glorious and tied neatly behind his neck. He sat with his knees up on the small cot, his arms resting on them. In this position he could sit and gaze at Kagome’s lovely picture for hours. He usually did.

“Won’t be long now, Taisho,” called a guard from the other side of the bars.

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at the guard. He refused to reduce himself to speaking with the man.

“It’s your last night. I’ve been sent down by the warden to ask what your Highness wants to eat for your final meal.” The guard sneered at him.

Sesshomaru glanced at his beautiful Kagome’s picture before answering. “Ramen.” Yes, Kagome loved ramen it was fitting. If the guard said anything else to him, Sesshomaru was unaware as he found himself entranced by Kagome’s photo.

“Soon, my love. Soon.” Sesshomaru whispered softly at the picture.

He had been in jail for five years waiting for this day. In a few short hours he would get his deepest desire. He had learned patience well in jail. His temper no longer lost to those idiots who challenged him, instead he was calm and cold. Now his patience was to be rewarded and he would be returned to his Kagome.

Sesshomaru was barely aware as time passed and shadows changed in the cell. He sat in the same spot staring endlessly at her picture. Then a noise interrupted him. He raised his head to see the guard had returned.

“Time to go Taisho!” he ordered, unlocking Sesshomaru’s cell and waiting for him to exit. He was joined by another six guards all tense and ready for the slightest provocation.

Sesshomaru took his time slowly unfolding himself from his position. He stood to his full six foot five height and stretched slightly. He took one step closer to the opposite wall and took his love’s picture off the wall and tucked it into the small pocket over his heart in his orange jumper.  As he walked out of the tiny cell he looked each of the waiting guards in the eye and felt immense pride at the fear reflected back at him. 

The six guards led him to the empty mess hall, where he was to eat his final meal.  It took little time for him to down the ramen, each bite reminded him of his Kagome. She had made this for him once. It had been late at night, they had both been awake and his growling stomach had prompted her to make a midnight snack. He had watched her with a hunger that had nothing to do with food as she prepared ramen for them. He had taken pleasure in dripping some onto her smooth stomach and eating it off of her. She had been more delicious than the food. The memory had a small smile curling on his face.

Once ever lick of food had been cleaned, Sesshomaru stood and motioned to the guard. “I am finished.”

This time instead of returning him to the cell he had lived in for the last five years the guards escorted him to another holding cell. He knew this place was just a waiting room until he was brought to the main event in another hour.

He sat neatly on a bench and pulled out Kagome picture. His thumb slid across it tracing the curve of her cheek. She was so beautiful. It had been too long since he had seen her in person. His last time with her had been regretful. His Kagome had angered him. He had not meant to punish her so harshly but had been lost in the heat of the moment.

He remembered that night vividly. He had come home from a long shift at the factory he managed and had found Kagome entertaining his younger brother, alone. She had been wearing her sheer nightgown. The one he had purchased for her, for his enjoyment. No other man was ever supposed to see her in it. She sat there on the couch beside his younger brother; her arms were wrapped around his shoulders. She had been pressing obscenely against Inuyasha. Rage had come then. He remembered he had told her she was to be punished for wanting his brother when he was obviously the superior choice. As his fists had landed on her soft flesh, he had told her she deserved the pain. He had called her such terrible names.

After his rage had passed Sesshomaru had known he had taken it too far. Inuyasha had bolted out of the house at the first sign of violence. Now Kagome lay motionless on the ground. Her skin had been white and cold. Her eyes had been frozen open, tears leaked out of her deadened eyes.

One thing was as clear to him today five years later as it had been that very day. It had not been his fault. She knew how jealous and possessive he was. She had known better. She had disobeyed him. His sweet Kagome was not at fault either. The person responsible was Inuyasha. His brother should never have touched her. He was the reason she had died. He had fled leaving Kagome behind. His brother was a coward.

“Time to go Taisho,” called the guard from the door.

It took surprisingly little time for Sesshomaru to be hooked up to the humane seeming machine with its three tubes of chemicals. He knew what each did. He knew that he would fall asleep and never know the moment of his death. Before the bliss of that, he would be presented through a glass window to family members of his dear Kagome. Sesshomaru could not think of a better send off. All of Kagome’s family would be there to wish him goodbye. They knew, as he did that he was returning to Kagome.

“Soon,” he whispered to himself as the guards tightened the straps on the gurney that would rise to display him to the audience. Once he was secure the guards retreated to their positions waiting for the curtain to open.

The warden walked into the room. He stood before Sesshomaru. “Do you have any final words you do not wish to say before an audience?”

Sesshomaru shook his head.

“As you wish,” the warden left again, pausing long enough to remind the guards it was five minutes to show time.

Sesshomaru felt like grinning but didn’t as the gurney was raised to face the glass window before him. He was careful to keep his face impassive. Then the curtain moved. He saw a room full of people sitting on folding chairs on the other side of the glass. He ignored the warden as he asked those gathered if any had any final words to say to Sesshomaru.

No one moved forward to the microphone. It was silent. Sesshomaru glared out into the crowd. The first chemical was released as the warden began to document the crimes he had been accused of then sentenced to the full extent of the law for.

“And finally, for the murder of Inuyasha Taisho. For these crimes , Sesshomaru Taisho, you have been sentenced to death.”

Sesshomaru’s eyes widened. There was no mention of Kagome. How was that possible? He had held her as the life had left her. She had died in his arms. He had not bothered with court and had accepted a guilty verdict the moment the lawyer had asked. Sesshomaru had known that sooner or later he would die and join his Kagome. Why had she not been mentioned?

The chemical was affecting his system. He could feel his eyes grown heavy and sleepy. His vision blurring and focusing randomly as he instinctively fought the drug. A slight figure rose from a seat in the second row and approached the glass.

Sesshomaru jerked against his bonds. Kagome. She lived. She stood on the other side of the glass, her eyes red and puffy. He knew she loved him was the last thought he had as the chemical took him.

FIN