{These characters are not property of me. I would never attempt to claim them as my own. This story may not be used without my permission, and may not be used to make money in any way, shape or form. Characters and certain situations were created by Rumiko Takahashi, so don't try any funny stuff!}
She watched him walk inside and head to his room, looking defeated, as usual. This was getting to be more than a sadistic game to her; he was getting grievously injured and more and more off- balance. Maybe it was time to put an end to the entire fiasco. She would be rid of a nuisance and Brother would get some revenge...
A plan started to form. Granted, it was half-formed and excessively violent, but serious trouble was sure to come out of it. She headed to his room silently, as she always was around the house, and stood in the doorway. He sat silently on the floor, meditating before his Akane Tendo shrine.
*He always takes losing so well. It must have been more than simple defeat this time.* An evil smile appeared on Kodachi's face.
"Oh Brother dear, whatever has put you in such an awful mood?" She was expecting to hear the normal 'beauteous Akane Tendo' or something similar. She was surprised when he turned to her.
He was angry. Not just angry, he was furious. Far angrier than any time she had seen him before. "Nabiki Tendo has committed her last act of disrespect, humiliation and theft unto myself." He stood up, the flame of anger burning hotter. "I will not tolerate it!"
*Noble words indeed. But how long until you give in to your desire for Akane Tendo?* Kodachi slipped from the doorway without another word. The plan she had formed earlier began to change. This would not be a physical battle, but a mental one.
She laughed quietly. No one could possibly match her in a mental battle. She went to her own room, closed and locked the door.
"I don't know what you did to my dear brother, but I know he seeks revenge." *Let's see her stick that in her pipe and smoke it.*
"And you're being kind enough to warn me about it? I don't think so." That infuriating touch of sarcasm. "Besides, I saw Kuno-chan's face. He liked it."
*Liked it? What could have happened? Could they have...? No, that's completely ludicrous. But it does give me an even better idea.* "No matter. He informed me how angry he was with you, and that he would... How did he put it?" She put her hand to her chin, in the appearance of thoughtfulness. "Oh yes. He was going to watch your body 'burn in the fires of the heavens.' I thought it was a bit melodramatic of him, but he so loves to hear himself talk."
Nabiki looked bored. "Thanks for the warning. I'll be sure to keep a fire extinguisher handy. Now if you don't mind, I have more important things to do." She walked past Kodachi without a second glance.
Kodachi barely controlled the urge to crush the sneering face of Nabiki and took comfort in knowing that all good things come to those who wait. She smiled before bounding down the street, laughing.
Dear brother was still acting very zombie-like. Not even his pictures could end his stupor. Very soon he would find those pictures not to his liking, though. He would find someone else to focus his desire on. And the results would be oh so humiliating and degrading and invasive and personal... and violent.
A little help a so-called spiritualist, who appeared to be more interested in the darker aspects of enchantment, and I was ready to destroy Nabiki Tendo's life. With a little luck, I would wreck that nasty little Akane's life too. As primitive as I find 'magic' to be, it does serve a purpose every now and then.
A few personal items from my brother and that scheming wench as the withered proprietor instructed, some chemical manipulations, some food drugging and then I could sit back and take my own pictures. I couldn't contain my laughter any longer and let it echo through the house, even in the middle of the night.
A brief excursion to the Tendo home in the middle of the day and Kodachi was able to 'liberate' the required personal items and spirit them back to her workshop. A few physical and chemical manipulations later and Kodachi was ready to move on to one of her favorite activities: drugging food. And she was quite good at it.
Kodachi lifted the two containers. One was filled with a milky liquid and the other with a fine white powder. The smile reappeared.
"Brother dear will take some urging, but once he's under the affect of this, he won't be able to stop himself. Or care enough to try." There was such joy to be gotten from the torment of others.
Getting brother's food drugged was easy. I did it as soon as I got the chance, to let him stew in his juices for a bit. Nabiki Tendo would be more difficult, it would take more preparation. I wouldn't be able to do it myself, I would never get close enough.
I knew of a few people at Furinkan that would be able to do it with the proper... motivation. A few days and I would watch that entire accursed Tendo family plunged into a nightmare. I couldn't wait.
"What's wrong with him?"
"Don't know. Few days ago he started acting funny."
"How could you tell?" The two students started snickering, but quieted as Kuno walked by with a blank look on his face.
His eyes were half-lidded and bloodshot. He was totally unkempt and barely spoke to anyone. A line of spittle ran from his mouth when he saw Akane walk by him, towards the school. Akane kept her eyes locked on Kuno as she went inside.
For the previous two days, Kuno had followed Akane all over school. Whenever she told him to leave her alone, he would only stare at her with his bloodshot eyes. The day before, he had sat down with her and her friends at lunch and eaten in front of them. The sight had sickened them all and sent Akane to the bathroom, retching. Nabiki had informed some of her associates that Kuno had stopped buying pictures and would only stare at her whenever she was around. She had asked him what was wrong and saw his fists ball up and his whole body start to shake. It had frightened her.
The next morning, Akane snuck into school, doing her best to avoid Kuno. She made it to class without seeing him.
Kuno stood in front of the school, waiting. For what, he wasn't sure. He wasn't sure of anything anymore. He barely took notice of the hand on his shoulder.
"Brother dear..." A whisper in his ear. "After school... Why don't you take what you want... Bring her back to the house..."
"After school... I'll take what I want... Back home..." His voice was quiet and emotionless. Kodachi slipped away, grinning.
"Ugh. Something didn't agree with my stomach," Nabiki said sourly. She put a hand on her stomach and felt it gurgle violently.
"Do you need to go to the infirmary, or home?" Akane looked at her with concern.
"No, I'll make it through the day." Nabiki suddenly felt very warm and her hand was shaking. "Thanks for asking, Akane." She gave Akane a weak smile.
Akane returned her smile and went back to her own lunch.
The school day ended and Nabiki felt like she was about to die. She had grown more sick and was having a hard time finding the strength to stand. And now, Kuno was sitting in his desk, staring at her.
"Kuno-chan, stop staring at me." She couldn't muster the authority to speak with. She didn't feel much like calling him Kuno- chan, he was absolutely disgusting looking, but old habits die hard. He had completely ignored her words anyway, and continued to stare.
Nabiki slowly stood, her hands planted firmly on the desk for support. The simple act of rising made her nauseous, and her arms were so weak, they barely helped her. She had finally admitted to herself that it wasn't just lunch disagreeing with her, that she was very sick. Then it felt like her head caught fire, and she started to sit back down.
Kuno was quickly at her side. "Stand up." He grabbed her arm and squeezed it tightly. "I said stand up," he commanded, and pulled her arm.
"Kuno-chan, what are you..."
"Shut up!" He squeezed her arm, his fingers digging into her flesh. "Now stand up." He pulled her again, forcing her to rise.
"Hey that hurts. Stop it. Stop pulling my arm!" She tried to pull away from him, but his grip was too strong.
"Just come with me and I won't have to hurt you anymore," he replied, his voice deadly quiet.
Nabiki stopped struggling for a moment and took a good look at Kuno's face. He looked wild, insane, completely unhinged. She noticed in the back of her mind that he smelled like he hadn't bathed in a week. He snarled at her and she did the first thing that came to mind: she screamed.
Kuno yanked her from her desk into his smothering embrace. He drown out her scream by covering her mouth with his and sucking the breath from her lungs.
Nabiki's eyes widened and she struggled more fervently against Kuno. She felt his tongue invade her mouth and her gag reflex kicked in. Choking, she let her knees sag and tried to fall away, but he held her tightly in his arms. She whimpered and a single tear rolled down her cheek.
Kuno relinquished her mouth, breathing heavily himself. "Now you're coming with me." His voice was still quiet and emotionless, but the look on his face told a different story.
Nabiki attempted to scream again. "Somebody he..."
Her head was rocked by Kuno's hand across her face. "I said shut up," he hissed.
Weakened by the mysterious sickness, the slap had nearly rendered her unconscious. She slumped against Kuno, this time she couldn't help herself. Everything around her was blurry and spinning. She tried to speak, but it only came out as a low groan.
"Now I'm taking you home with me," he spoke into her ear. He lifted her unresisting body and draped it over his shoulder. "...take you home...take you home..." he repeated under his breath as he carried her from the room.
"Brother dear, what are you doing home so..." The words died on her lips as she saw her brother walk in with Nabiki Tendo over his shoulder. A smile filled with malicious intent covered her face. "Why, dearest Brother, you've finally shown some real initiative." She checked the unconscious Nabiki. "They worked just as I had planned," she said to herself.
"Why don't you take her to your room? I'll join you in a minute and we'll see what we can do to improve this..." She searched for the right word. "This brigand's attitude."
He nodded mutely and stalked off towards his room.
Kodachi walked into her brother's room and was greeted by a scene that warmed her heart. She smiled involuntarily. Nabiki was laid out on the bed, on top of the blanket, still passed out. Kuno was sitting on top of her in a manner that only lovers should do and was running his hands all over her torso. He was making strange grunting sounds.
"Are you ready to have some fun, Brother?" She was holding a high speed camera and a small bag filled with film.
Kuno nodded again, not taking his eyes from the figure beneath him or stopping his hands. He was in the midst of a fantasy, one he couldn't stop. He was doing all the things he couldn't before. He had kissed her, used his tongue, and he was feeling her. Soon he would get to take of her clothes and he would...
He sat up, a sudden realization hitting him. He removed his filthy shirt and dropped it to the floor. He absentmindedly ran his fingers over his side, tearing at the scab there. The wound began to bleed freely as he continued to scratch at it. He had tripped a few days back and half impaled himself on the tanto blade he has been carrying unsheathed.
Sasuke had found him on the floor, unconscious, with the bloody blade in his hand. At first, Kodachi had thought it was a suicide attempt, but she couldn't imagine he would bungle that up if it was what he really wanted.
"Stop Brother. I'm not ready for blood yet." The camera wasn't quite set.
Kuno stopped scratching and returned his hand to Nabiki's body, smearing his blood on her top. Sister had told him to wait, but he didn't want to. He didn't want her to be unconscious either, he wanted to hear her when they consummated their relationship.
"Wake up," he said, shaking her shoulder. "Wake up," he repeated, patting her cheek, leaving blood there. "Wake up," he said again, his voice more forceful. He shook her shoulder again, while his other hand began to work her arm out of her dress and top.
Nabiki's eyes fluttered open as Kuno succeeded with one arm and started on the other. She looked at him, felt his weight on her, realized she was being undressed and immediately tried to get out from under him. She strained against his weight and tried to push him off, but she was still weak and didn't have any leverage.
Kodachi stood back, watching her brother work on the helpless Tendo. She watched the muscles of his bare back work, smiling appreciatively. He was rather well formed; not the best she had seen, but pleasing to the eye anyway. She thought herself rather fortunate that he was such a sound sleeper.
Nabiki kicked her legs feebly, which drew Kodachi's attention back to what was going on. She moved to the side of the bed to see exactly what was happening with her two subjects. She got right at bedside and watched Nabiki try to fight. Kodachi raised the camera. "Smile for the camera."
Nabiki whipped her head around towards Kodachi. The anger in her quickly turned to horror when she saw the camera. "Wha..."
"Won't this be a fitting way for your family to remember you?" The shutter clicked.
Kuno dropped his head, preparing to kiss Nabiki again. She brought up her hand and tried to push his face away, turning her head even farther to the side. Her horror turned back to anger when Kodachi took her picture again.
"You... this is all because of you..." She shrieked as Kuno ripped her uniform. "What did you do to him?" She put her other hand to his face.
"I warned you about revenge. Too bad you didn't heed my words." Kodachi took another picture. "You should know he doesn't do anything he doesn't want to. And he doesn't give up until he gets what he wants." She gave Nabiki a huge smile.
Nabiki shuddered and increased her struggles when Kuno's hands traveled across her exposed skin. She pushed harder and forced his head back more. Kodachi began laughing at her. Her situation was more than dire. *Oh God. I only hope she lets me live...* Nabiki always knew there was a very good reason she avoided getting near the Kuno residence, and this was it.
Kuno jerked Nabiki's hands away from his face and pinned them above her head. Carefully holding both her wrists with one hand, he turned her to face him. "Don't refuse me... I only want to show you how much I love you."
"Kuno no!" Nabiki was shaking her head as much as he would allow. "No!" He started to lower his head. "No! You don't..."
He kissed her aggressively, silencing her objections. Even though she was still basically helpless, there was one thing she could do. She bit down as hard as she could on his lower lip. She was rewarded with his howl of pain and the taste of blood.
Kuno pulled back, anger etched on his face. He put the back of his hand to his bleeding lip. "You... bitch. How can you do that when you know how much I love you?"
"You don't love me! And I don't love you!" Maybe she could snap him out of it, show him there was something wrong. "Don't you see? Kodachi's drugged you! She's..."
His hand lashed out and struck Nabiki's face. "Shut up! Don't talk about my sister that way!" Tears began to stream down Nabiki's face as Kuno looked at her with cold fury.
"My dearest Brother, I didn't know you cared. How sweet." Kodachi ran her hand across his back and down his spine.
Nabiki stifled a sob, unwilling to give Kodachi the satisfaction of seeing her break down. But as much as she wanted to ruin Kodachi's plan, she could only feel fear after Kuno had hit her the second time. She was at their mercy with very little hope for escape.
"I don't want to hurt you." Kuno's voice had taken an oddly gentle tone.
"Dear Brother," Kodachi said, her voice like silk. "Why don't we continue with our fun?" Her hand slid up to his shoulder and squeezed gently.
Kuno turned to his sister. "I want you to leave."
"You what? You can't make me leave! I did all of this for you. You don't want to pass up this opportunity to..."
"I want you to leave."
Kodachi was livid. All her plans going to waste. "But I... You can't..." Her face was slowly turning red.
"Leave. Don't make me hurt you too."
Kodachi rose from the half crouch she was in. She was too angry to get violent, but her eyes threatened. "Don't disappoint me, Brother." She stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
This was Nabiki's only hope. With Kodachi gone, she had a sliver of hope for escape. Possibly better with Kuno's sudden mood swing. She studied his face as it turned back to her.
"Why don't you understand that I love you?" he asked.
"But I don't love you. And I don't really think that you love me." *Just let him realize that he's sick.* It was hard not to think about the compromising position she was in, panic almost overriding rational thinking.
His face became peaceful for a moment, but he did not release her wrists. He sat silently, then frowned. "And what do you know about love?" Nabiki watched his cheeks and forehead slowly turn pink with fever. She also noticed the sour smell of sickness on him. "You don't know anything about love! Or how I feel!" His fury had returned, more explosive than before. "I bet you don't even know how you really feel."
His face darkened and chilled Nabiki to the bone. "I'll make you love me the way I love you... I'll make you feel good..." He smiled wickedly at her.
Nabiki's screams could be heard throughout the entire house.
"Where?"
"A hospital for the criminally insane. We won't be seeing her any time this century."
"And him?"
"They have him in the security ward."
Nabiki stiffened. "Here?"
"Yeah. They're trying to clean all that garbage out of his system. They said it's not easy. I guess it was pretty nasty." Akane sat down on the edge of the bed. "They said he'd probably be put in a hospital once he's cleaned up."
Nabiki nodded and took a drink of water, wincing when the cup came into contact with her badly cut lip. Akane did her best not to stare at the painful looking bruises or cuts that highlighted Nabiki's face.
Every place she looked though, there were more injuries. Five small, but distinctive marks on her throat, giant purpling bruises covered her upper arms and the nasty looking bruises encircling her wrists. Akane didn't even want to think about what the rest of Nabiki's body looked like.
Nabiki caught her trying to avoid looking at the damage. "Hey, they'll heal up." Her words sounded far more cheerful than she felt. She tried to smile, but her lip prevented it from being more than just the upturned corners.
That finally broke Akane. She burst into tears. "I'm sorry! I should have been able to do something!" She laid her head down on the bed and sobbed.
"Hey, sis. There's nothing you could have done. I don't blame you, you shouldn't blame yourself." She patted Akane's head with her heavily bandaged hand, the metal splints less comforting than she would have liked.
"But if I would have stayed with you... Kuno-sempai and Kodachi wouldn't have..." She choked and began to cry harder.
Nabiki's one eye that wasn't swollen shut glinted with a rage she had never shown before. Her voice was the barest whisper. "Kodachi... I hope she rots in hell..."