Affections, Part I
by rabid-dove
Chapter One, The Kidnapping
Inuyasha hustled busily around his three-room apartment, a look of weariness spread all across his face. He hadn't gotten much sleep, and having night shifts really screwed up his idea of "resting". He had forgotten he even had night shifts at work, so he hadn't bothered to sleep in the daytime. At all. Which was why he was so terribly exhausted, itchy, and overall grouchy.
(Why was he itchy? You might find you're very itchy when you're tired, if you don't, then ... I don't know)
Pouring himself a cup of very, very, VERY strong coffee, Inuyasha's jaws opened so wide he could hear them crack and a strange noise emitted from his throat. He rubbed his sore jaw, great, now he was in pain too. He could hear the beeping of cars below him (he was on the 7th floor), and a familiar honk symbolized the Jarvis Taxi, his ride to work.
"Coming!!!" Inuyasha called in a gruff and scratchy voice, spilling his coffee all over his new emerald robe. It wasn't just new, it was brand new, you know, like those clothes that smell like the store you bought them from? That kind of new. A growl escaped his lips, and as he stumbled up the stairs to his wardrobe, he furiously attempted to scrape the stain from his clothing. It didn't work.
Peering at his clothes choices, Inuyasha finally decided on a navy blue t- shirt, stonewashed jeans and a white and red striped blazer. Not exactly the most elegant blazer either, but Inuyasha didn't care, his job wasn't exactly elegant either. Was an engraver an elegant person? Nope, he didn't think so.
The taxi horn blazed again, signaling that if Inuyasha wanted his ride he'd have to hurry up. "I said I was coming, damnit!" Inuyasha growled, shoving his feet into a pair of white and grey sneakers. Rushing clumsily down the stairs and checking his watch every five seconds, the dog demon actually managed to hitch a ride in the taxi. The driver, however, was not amused at his tardiness.
"You're late," she hissed, pushing her foot hard on the gas pedal. Inuyasha looked at the rearview mirror sheepishly, trying to maintain a serious face. As the car veered away from his apartment, Inuyasha wondered whether or not this woman actually enjoyed driving people around day after day. She didn't exactly sound happy, did she?
"Hey, do you like--" Inuyasha began, but the taxi driver woman screeched her car to stop, glaring hard at the strange man. Inuyasha edged away from her icy stare, but unfortunately he couldn't avoid it. Her eyes were fixated on him.
"I would advise you to save it, Mr Yamamoto," the woman spat, "I'll do the talking, you do the getting to work on time. Clear?" Inuyasha nodded feebly, looking out the window and trying not to think about the icy woman. What was her problem, all he was going to ask was if she was amused with her job, and she had brushed him off completely!
But ... why did he even care about her well-being, anyway? ... Oh no, he didn't like her, did he? No, he didn't. He couldn't.
Not like she was taken or anything ...
Finally, Inuyasha's workplace, a small and tacky laboratory coloured with a creamy looking white paint, loomed up in front of him. It didn't look half as bad as it usually did, but that was probably because it was dark outside. Come to think of it, it was really dark outside, wasn't it? He was about to ask the woman what she thought, but remembering his past attempt at conversation dropped it.
"There it is, now get out," the woman snapped, hastily clicking open the taxi door and pointing a sharp fingernail out into the warm summer air. Inuyasha stepped out of the car, breathed in the fresh air and pondered what he should do. Then he felt it. That really weird feeling you get when you want to just ... talk to someone. That woman, he had to know who she was.
"Tell me ... who are you?" Inuyasha asked the woman, leaning over, but it sounded more like an order than a request. The woman frowned and stared into the man's golden, glowing eyes. Such insolent eyes ...
"Kikyo. Now go," The woman replied, slamming the door in Inuyasha's face. Kikyo, huh? It was a nice name, and Inuyasha had a feeling he should hang onto it. Inuyasha didn't waste another moment. He bowed quickly and dashed off to his workplace. Kikyo smiled slightly and began to drive again.
"He ... that man ... I must find out who he is ..." she whispered to herself, staring hard at him as he entered the laboratory where he worked.
Meanwhile, another woman was thinking about Inuyasha as well ...
~*~*~*~*
Kagome lay in her bed, gazing up at the ceiling, pondering the meaning of life. Okay, maybe not something as deep as that, but she did have life problems, so that counted as something, right? She was thinking about many problems with life, but the most important one (to her) was the fact that a man she knew ... well, she was in love with him.
(Bet you can't guess who it is, huh? I'm being sarcastic)
She really couldn't help it, he wasn't exactly nice to her, but she just felt a weird vibe when she was around him. Frisson, maybe? Or maybe just sexual tension? If it was that, then she probably hadn't met anyone for a long time, at least not a guy. How long had it been, anyway? 2 or 3 years? Or maybe 4? She didn't know.
That was sad. She was 21 years old, and she hadn't met anyone since she was 17! She was young though, and if she had kept her old boyfriend she would've had to live with five or more little hairy balls of madness. Yes, children. What was that due to? Hojo, upperclassman Hojo, to be exact. She didn't even like him, and why she hooked up with him was beyond her.
Maybe it was because he was so much nicer than Inuyasha?!?
Yeah, that was probably it.
"Kagome, help me with these dishes?" a male voice called, and Kagome sat up in her bed. Was that Inuyasha? No, it couldn't be, he was at work right now. However, curiousity got the better of her, and Kagome rushed into the kitchen, obviously where the sink and 'dirty dishes' were.
Just as she suspected. There was nobody there. She had been having 'Inuyasha dreams' again, where she was living happily in a house with the man. What the hell was wrong with her?!? Was she in love with this man, or was she obsessed? Kagome thought about those psycho celebrity fans who tried to kill their idols, and she shuddered. The room suddenly felt colder.
Even though Inuyasha wasn't there, the dirty dishes and sink still were. Kagome sighed, slipped on her apron and rolled up her sleeves. Time to do some work for a change, this whole relationship thing was getting to her head. Kagome pinched her nose. Tomatoes, cheese and green peas were flecked all over the plates. Had her mother come by and eaten something? Kagome had fallen asleep after the doorbell had rang, so it was possible ...
So why were there dirty dishes in the sink?!? Her mother usually cleaned up her mess, if it was hers. If it wasn't, she just left it there, what else would she do? Kagome wished she would clean other people's mess, too. Realizing her mean thoughts, she shook her head violently as if her thoughts would somehow fly out of her head. It seemed to work, and Kagome continued washing dishes.
Then the doorbell rang. Wait, or was it the phone? Kagome decided it was the phone, and if it wasn't whoever was outside could wait. She picked up the contraption and sounded almost forlorn when it clicked and beeped. Call waiting, so someone was on the phone? Aww, crap, she didn't feel like talking right now.
"Hello?" a drone-ish voice asked on the other end of the line. Kagome didn't recognize the voice ... was it the bank? She remembered the pile of unpaid bills in her bedroom.
"Okay, I'll pay 'em, sheesh," Kagome replied in an annoyed tone, tapping her foot nervously. The man on the other end cleared his throat and shook his head, but of course she didn't know. "Whaddya want, anyway? Electric? Hydro?"
"I'm not the bank, it's the police," The man replied, his voice shaky and unsure of what Kagome would say. Her grip tightened on the phone. The police? She didn't remember doing anything wrong. Had she been drinking? She never remembered what happened when she got drunk.
"P-Police? What's wrong?" Kagome loosened her grip a little bit upon noticing something. What if it wasn't her who was in trouble? Maybe they got the wrong house or something? Nah, that wasn't really possible.
"Do you know an Inuyasha Yamamoto?" the man asked, his voice still sickeningly calm. Kagome nodded slowly. He lived a few doors down from her, they both lived in the same apartment.
"Yeah, I know him," Kagome replied, still shaky. What was wrong with Inuyasha? Wasn't he at work or something?
"Well, his apartment is ablaze," the man paused and a dead silence crossed through the phone to Kagome. His what?!? On fire?!?
How could that son of a pig (the police man) possibly be so calm right now?!? Oh right, it wasn't his house. Selfish jerk.
"Excuse me," Kagome hastily clicked the 'hold' button, and fumbling with the phone dialed Inuyasha's work number. Sure enough, Inuyasha himself answered the phone, and Kagome felt a sense of slight relief ripple through her. Only slight.
"Yeah, Yamamoto here," Inuyasha asked in a bored tone, as if people called all the time. Well, this call wasn't like any ordinary call, you know. His damn house was on fire!
"Yeah? It's Kagome," Kagome replied, twisting a lock of hair in her index finger. She could almost feel Inuyasha's face brighten a bit, which made her feel even worse. She had been officially dubbed the 'Bringer Of Bad News', and when it came to Inuyasha she (under no circumstances) definitely didn't want to play that role. Great, now she was.
Hell, she was the Queen Of Bad News. What could be worse than a fire?
"Kagome, what're you doing calling here?" Inuyasha asked hastily, in an almost annoyed tone. Kagome gulped and continued twisting her lock of hair. She suddenly felt an empty feeling in the pit of her stomach, and not the kind you like.
(Is there really a good way to feel an emptiness in the pit of your stomach? Besides anorexia, and that's not good at all)
"Inuyasha, your damn house is on fire!!!" Kagome cried, hot tears rushing to her face. She shoved the phone back to it's 'resting place', ran out of her apartment and dashed towards 709, Inuyasha's room.
The policeman was right. As soon as Kagome shoved open the door, a flurry of gritty smoke blasted into her face, causing her to cough and drop to the floor. Actually, she had dropped to the floor of her own accord. Lucky she listened when that fat old firefighter came to her school.
The embers licked her clothing like a gleeful dog, except Kagome wasn't happy to see this dog. At all. She was coughing every five minutes, and bits of grit and dust were dancing around the whole room. A beam of wood began to crack on the ceiling, and a final thrashing of fire upon it caused it to fall, right on top of Kagome.
"Aieeeee!" Kagome cried, splitting the air with a bloodcurdling scream. The door clicked, and Inuyasha rushed into the apartment. "Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, attempting to move out from underneath the beam of wood. Inuyasha knelt down and crawled over to the distressed girl. Being a half-demon he had what might be called superhuman strength, and he lifted the wood with a slight ease. Kagome crawled out from under the wood and hugged Inuyasha.
Oh great, now the dramatics came. And what a great place to have them, too. Inuyasha clutched Kagome and rushed towards the door. Guess what? The door was completely blocked off by thousands of flames. "Looks like the only way to get out now is the window," Inuyasha smiled as he said this, as he loved showing off his skills. Kagome didn't hesitate to follow him, she just wanted to get out. Out of not just the fire, but out of his arms. She felt as if she would explode if she turned any redder with embarrassment.
God must've answered her prayers ... just not in a good way.
As Kagome felt a strong breeze push against her face, she was simply happy that she didn't feel an unreal warmth to it. She wasn't, however, happy that she was plummeting to the ground from the goddamn 7th floor! Even if Inuyasha was carrying her, that couldn't erase her fear completely, no matter how 'securely fastened' she was.
Especially when a tranquilizer stuck Inuyasha in the arm, and he dropped Kagome.
Hang on a minute, dropped her?!? From below, on the safe, sweet ground a sort of needle thingy shot up and pierced right through Inuyasha's arm. With a scream of agony, he stretched out his left arm where Kagome was resting and began falling like a regular human: super-fast. Kagome fell as well, but from what everyone on the ground could tell she was having a harder time, as she had to continously push her skirt back down below her thighs.
Damn air pressure.
What really bothered Kagome was:
1) Someone below had shot Inuyasha with a tranquilizer gun
2) Perverted men below were gawking and whistling at her
and the lucky 'Most Important' ...
(More like most annoying)
3) Nobody was putting out a trampoline or something to catch Inuyasha and her!!!
It was sad, but true. Wasn't there supposed to be something --and she didn't care what it was-- underneath them, ready to catch them, like a trampoline, a net, a giant mattress?!? She strained her eyes, but even through a super powered microscope she knew she wouldn't see anything.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha cried, trying to edge over to the girl. But with the numb feeling in his arms, he couldn't possibly move fast enough to catch her. Still, he tried over and over, but Kagome seemed too far for his reach. Then, without thinking, he muttered a word.
(What word?)
"Kikyo ..." That was it. It just slipped out. Inuyasha would've covered his mouth, but ... you guessed it, numb arm. Actually, now his whole body was feeling numb, and it wasn't just because of the gun. He felt embarrassed. But why? That taxi driver was just a woman, after all, and he never felt embarrassed because of women.
Maybe it was true? Maybe he really loved Kikyo? Was that even possible?
No. It couldn't be. Not in a million years.
Too bad his conscience wasn't very strong.
After about half an hour, Kagome and Inuyasha were so close to the hard cement pavement, it was scary. Still no sign of a trampoline, a net, or a giant mattress. Actually, Kagome had pretty much given up on that giant mattress thing. It just seemed a little farfetched. She probably wasn't the only one who thought that.
"Kagome," Inuyasha cried, still trying hopelessly to move his numb arm, "See if you can scoot over here; I'll catch you," Kagome's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. Her, move over to him?!? She'd never felt so akward in her entire life!
Actually, there was that time with the goldfish and the rat ...
Yuck. That had to be the most akward moment of her life, so this ran second place.
"A-Are you sure? What if I fall?" Kagome asked feebly, biting her nails, or at least trying to. After about 5 seconds she realized how incredibly stupid her last spoken words were. What if I fall?!? She was already falling! Inuyasha didn't notice, lucky for her.
"You're just gonna have to trust me," Inuyasha's face was really, really, REALLY solemn. Kagome thought his face might just fall off, he was that serious. Trust me, that's what he'd said. Unfortunately, that was almost relatively impossible. Why? She didn't even want to start. It was just really ... hard.
Kagome slowly edged over to Inuyasha, finding that moving through air was incredibly difficult. Which was pretty much the only reason she was going soooo slow. But, due to the lack of a trampoline, the ground came a little later than it would have if there was nothing there, so Kagome successfully managed to wrap herself around Inuyasha. The numbness had begun to wear off, and with a loud THUD, they landed on ... a trampoline?!?
(Oh, and it hurt like hell, too)
But ... Kagome hadn't even seen a trampoline, not even a giant matt-- whatever.
Even Inuyasha was rather baffled, "Huh? Where'd this thing come from?" he bumbled, rubbing his head and looking around. People all around him were staring, and was that a news reporter?
Oh no. They didn't get it all on film, did they? He didn't want Kikyo seeing him hugging up to some girl he knew from a few years back.
There he went off again. Thinking about Kikyo, that strange, frosty hearted taxi driver woman. Was there a connection or something?
Then something took his mind off Kikyo, and that was Kagome. She looked like she'd just seen a ghost, and even that couldn't compare to the look of sheer terror spread across her face. Inuyasha thought of going over and comforting her, but the bright flash of camera lights stopped him. They were filming this!
"Hey you, cut that out!" Inuyasha leaped off the trampoline and grabbed the reporters camera, cracking it between his palms. Being a very rude half- demon, he threw the remaining pieces of the thing on the hard floor. The reporter didn't bother picking them up. He was already long gone. "Coward," Inuyasha muttered, sitting back down on the available surface.
He didn't want to aggravate any more people, and he certainly didn't feel like cracking any more cameras, so Inuyasha got up once again and started over to the nearby park, Mitsubishi Park.
A soft rain had begun to fall, and the parks contraptions were beginning to turn a russet brown, they were rusting. Inuyasha didn't mind the rain, however, and chose to sit down on an emerald green park bench. He closed his eyes and downed his head towards the ground.
Suddenly, he felt a hard grip on his torso. He opened his eyes in a flash, but his vision was clouded. What was going on, anyway? With a sickening realization, Inuyasha heard a familiar voice ...
"Inuyasha, I've come for you."
~*~*~*~*
A/N: Hardy-har-har-har, a cliffhanger for you readers! Sorry if I put you on the edge of your seat, but Chapter 2 will be on it's way soon enough, so keep reading! By the way, please review if you liked my story, and even if you didn't ... constructive criticism is appreciated, too. GOOD constructive critcism, flaming is prohibited in my books.
by rabid-dove
Chapter One, The Kidnapping
Inuyasha hustled busily around his three-room apartment, a look of weariness spread all across his face. He hadn't gotten much sleep, and having night shifts really screwed up his idea of "resting". He had forgotten he even had night shifts at work, so he hadn't bothered to sleep in the daytime. At all. Which was why he was so terribly exhausted, itchy, and overall grouchy.
(Why was he itchy? You might find you're very itchy when you're tired, if you don't, then ... I don't know)
Pouring himself a cup of very, very, VERY strong coffee, Inuyasha's jaws opened so wide he could hear them crack and a strange noise emitted from his throat. He rubbed his sore jaw, great, now he was in pain too. He could hear the beeping of cars below him (he was on the 7th floor), and a familiar honk symbolized the Jarvis Taxi, his ride to work.
"Coming!!!" Inuyasha called in a gruff and scratchy voice, spilling his coffee all over his new emerald robe. It wasn't just new, it was brand new, you know, like those clothes that smell like the store you bought them from? That kind of new. A growl escaped his lips, and as he stumbled up the stairs to his wardrobe, he furiously attempted to scrape the stain from his clothing. It didn't work.
Peering at his clothes choices, Inuyasha finally decided on a navy blue t- shirt, stonewashed jeans and a white and red striped blazer. Not exactly the most elegant blazer either, but Inuyasha didn't care, his job wasn't exactly elegant either. Was an engraver an elegant person? Nope, he didn't think so.
The taxi horn blazed again, signaling that if Inuyasha wanted his ride he'd have to hurry up. "I said I was coming, damnit!" Inuyasha growled, shoving his feet into a pair of white and grey sneakers. Rushing clumsily down the stairs and checking his watch every five seconds, the dog demon actually managed to hitch a ride in the taxi. The driver, however, was not amused at his tardiness.
"You're late," she hissed, pushing her foot hard on the gas pedal. Inuyasha looked at the rearview mirror sheepishly, trying to maintain a serious face. As the car veered away from his apartment, Inuyasha wondered whether or not this woman actually enjoyed driving people around day after day. She didn't exactly sound happy, did she?
"Hey, do you like--" Inuyasha began, but the taxi driver woman screeched her car to stop, glaring hard at the strange man. Inuyasha edged away from her icy stare, but unfortunately he couldn't avoid it. Her eyes were fixated on him.
"I would advise you to save it, Mr Yamamoto," the woman spat, "I'll do the talking, you do the getting to work on time. Clear?" Inuyasha nodded feebly, looking out the window and trying not to think about the icy woman. What was her problem, all he was going to ask was if she was amused with her job, and she had brushed him off completely!
But ... why did he even care about her well-being, anyway? ... Oh no, he didn't like her, did he? No, he didn't. He couldn't.
Not like she was taken or anything ...
Finally, Inuyasha's workplace, a small and tacky laboratory coloured with a creamy looking white paint, loomed up in front of him. It didn't look half as bad as it usually did, but that was probably because it was dark outside. Come to think of it, it was really dark outside, wasn't it? He was about to ask the woman what she thought, but remembering his past attempt at conversation dropped it.
"There it is, now get out," the woman snapped, hastily clicking open the taxi door and pointing a sharp fingernail out into the warm summer air. Inuyasha stepped out of the car, breathed in the fresh air and pondered what he should do. Then he felt it. That really weird feeling you get when you want to just ... talk to someone. That woman, he had to know who she was.
"Tell me ... who are you?" Inuyasha asked the woman, leaning over, but it sounded more like an order than a request. The woman frowned and stared into the man's golden, glowing eyes. Such insolent eyes ...
"Kikyo. Now go," The woman replied, slamming the door in Inuyasha's face. Kikyo, huh? It was a nice name, and Inuyasha had a feeling he should hang onto it. Inuyasha didn't waste another moment. He bowed quickly and dashed off to his workplace. Kikyo smiled slightly and began to drive again.
"He ... that man ... I must find out who he is ..." she whispered to herself, staring hard at him as he entered the laboratory where he worked.
Meanwhile, another woman was thinking about Inuyasha as well ...
~*~*~*~*
Kagome lay in her bed, gazing up at the ceiling, pondering the meaning of life. Okay, maybe not something as deep as that, but she did have life problems, so that counted as something, right? She was thinking about many problems with life, but the most important one (to her) was the fact that a man she knew ... well, she was in love with him.
(Bet you can't guess who it is, huh? I'm being sarcastic)
She really couldn't help it, he wasn't exactly nice to her, but she just felt a weird vibe when she was around him. Frisson, maybe? Or maybe just sexual tension? If it was that, then she probably hadn't met anyone for a long time, at least not a guy. How long had it been, anyway? 2 or 3 years? Or maybe 4? She didn't know.
That was sad. She was 21 years old, and she hadn't met anyone since she was 17! She was young though, and if she had kept her old boyfriend she would've had to live with five or more little hairy balls of madness. Yes, children. What was that due to? Hojo, upperclassman Hojo, to be exact. She didn't even like him, and why she hooked up with him was beyond her.
Maybe it was because he was so much nicer than Inuyasha?!?
Yeah, that was probably it.
"Kagome, help me with these dishes?" a male voice called, and Kagome sat up in her bed. Was that Inuyasha? No, it couldn't be, he was at work right now. However, curiousity got the better of her, and Kagome rushed into the kitchen, obviously where the sink and 'dirty dishes' were.
Just as she suspected. There was nobody there. She had been having 'Inuyasha dreams' again, where she was living happily in a house with the man. What the hell was wrong with her?!? Was she in love with this man, or was she obsessed? Kagome thought about those psycho celebrity fans who tried to kill their idols, and she shuddered. The room suddenly felt colder.
Even though Inuyasha wasn't there, the dirty dishes and sink still were. Kagome sighed, slipped on her apron and rolled up her sleeves. Time to do some work for a change, this whole relationship thing was getting to her head. Kagome pinched her nose. Tomatoes, cheese and green peas were flecked all over the plates. Had her mother come by and eaten something? Kagome had fallen asleep after the doorbell had rang, so it was possible ...
So why were there dirty dishes in the sink?!? Her mother usually cleaned up her mess, if it was hers. If it wasn't, she just left it there, what else would she do? Kagome wished she would clean other people's mess, too. Realizing her mean thoughts, she shook her head violently as if her thoughts would somehow fly out of her head. It seemed to work, and Kagome continued washing dishes.
Then the doorbell rang. Wait, or was it the phone? Kagome decided it was the phone, and if it wasn't whoever was outside could wait. She picked up the contraption and sounded almost forlorn when it clicked and beeped. Call waiting, so someone was on the phone? Aww, crap, she didn't feel like talking right now.
"Hello?" a drone-ish voice asked on the other end of the line. Kagome didn't recognize the voice ... was it the bank? She remembered the pile of unpaid bills in her bedroom.
"Okay, I'll pay 'em, sheesh," Kagome replied in an annoyed tone, tapping her foot nervously. The man on the other end cleared his throat and shook his head, but of course she didn't know. "Whaddya want, anyway? Electric? Hydro?"
"I'm not the bank, it's the police," The man replied, his voice shaky and unsure of what Kagome would say. Her grip tightened on the phone. The police? She didn't remember doing anything wrong. Had she been drinking? She never remembered what happened when she got drunk.
"P-Police? What's wrong?" Kagome loosened her grip a little bit upon noticing something. What if it wasn't her who was in trouble? Maybe they got the wrong house or something? Nah, that wasn't really possible.
"Do you know an Inuyasha Yamamoto?" the man asked, his voice still sickeningly calm. Kagome nodded slowly. He lived a few doors down from her, they both lived in the same apartment.
"Yeah, I know him," Kagome replied, still shaky. What was wrong with Inuyasha? Wasn't he at work or something?
"Well, his apartment is ablaze," the man paused and a dead silence crossed through the phone to Kagome. His what?!? On fire?!?
How could that son of a pig (the police man) possibly be so calm right now?!? Oh right, it wasn't his house. Selfish jerk.
"Excuse me," Kagome hastily clicked the 'hold' button, and fumbling with the phone dialed Inuyasha's work number. Sure enough, Inuyasha himself answered the phone, and Kagome felt a sense of slight relief ripple through her. Only slight.
"Yeah, Yamamoto here," Inuyasha asked in a bored tone, as if people called all the time. Well, this call wasn't like any ordinary call, you know. His damn house was on fire!
"Yeah? It's Kagome," Kagome replied, twisting a lock of hair in her index finger. She could almost feel Inuyasha's face brighten a bit, which made her feel even worse. She had been officially dubbed the 'Bringer Of Bad News', and when it came to Inuyasha she (under no circumstances) definitely didn't want to play that role. Great, now she was.
Hell, she was the Queen Of Bad News. What could be worse than a fire?
"Kagome, what're you doing calling here?" Inuyasha asked hastily, in an almost annoyed tone. Kagome gulped and continued twisting her lock of hair. She suddenly felt an empty feeling in the pit of her stomach, and not the kind you like.
(Is there really a good way to feel an emptiness in the pit of your stomach? Besides anorexia, and that's not good at all)
"Inuyasha, your damn house is on fire!!!" Kagome cried, hot tears rushing to her face. She shoved the phone back to it's 'resting place', ran out of her apartment and dashed towards 709, Inuyasha's room.
The policeman was right. As soon as Kagome shoved open the door, a flurry of gritty smoke blasted into her face, causing her to cough and drop to the floor. Actually, she had dropped to the floor of her own accord. Lucky she listened when that fat old firefighter came to her school.
The embers licked her clothing like a gleeful dog, except Kagome wasn't happy to see this dog. At all. She was coughing every five minutes, and bits of grit and dust were dancing around the whole room. A beam of wood began to crack on the ceiling, and a final thrashing of fire upon it caused it to fall, right on top of Kagome.
"Aieeeee!" Kagome cried, splitting the air with a bloodcurdling scream. The door clicked, and Inuyasha rushed into the apartment. "Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, attempting to move out from underneath the beam of wood. Inuyasha knelt down and crawled over to the distressed girl. Being a half-demon he had what might be called superhuman strength, and he lifted the wood with a slight ease. Kagome crawled out from under the wood and hugged Inuyasha.
Oh great, now the dramatics came. And what a great place to have them, too. Inuyasha clutched Kagome and rushed towards the door. Guess what? The door was completely blocked off by thousands of flames. "Looks like the only way to get out now is the window," Inuyasha smiled as he said this, as he loved showing off his skills. Kagome didn't hesitate to follow him, she just wanted to get out. Out of not just the fire, but out of his arms. She felt as if she would explode if she turned any redder with embarrassment.
God must've answered her prayers ... just not in a good way.
As Kagome felt a strong breeze push against her face, she was simply happy that she didn't feel an unreal warmth to it. She wasn't, however, happy that she was plummeting to the ground from the goddamn 7th floor! Even if Inuyasha was carrying her, that couldn't erase her fear completely, no matter how 'securely fastened' she was.
Especially when a tranquilizer stuck Inuyasha in the arm, and he dropped Kagome.
Hang on a minute, dropped her?!? From below, on the safe, sweet ground a sort of needle thingy shot up and pierced right through Inuyasha's arm. With a scream of agony, he stretched out his left arm where Kagome was resting and began falling like a regular human: super-fast. Kagome fell as well, but from what everyone on the ground could tell she was having a harder time, as she had to continously push her skirt back down below her thighs.
Damn air pressure.
What really bothered Kagome was:
1) Someone below had shot Inuyasha with a tranquilizer gun
2) Perverted men below were gawking and whistling at her
and the lucky 'Most Important' ...
(More like most annoying)
3) Nobody was putting out a trampoline or something to catch Inuyasha and her!!!
It was sad, but true. Wasn't there supposed to be something --and she didn't care what it was-- underneath them, ready to catch them, like a trampoline, a net, a giant mattress?!? She strained her eyes, but even through a super powered microscope she knew she wouldn't see anything.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha cried, trying to edge over to the girl. But with the numb feeling in his arms, he couldn't possibly move fast enough to catch her. Still, he tried over and over, but Kagome seemed too far for his reach. Then, without thinking, he muttered a word.
(What word?)
"Kikyo ..." That was it. It just slipped out. Inuyasha would've covered his mouth, but ... you guessed it, numb arm. Actually, now his whole body was feeling numb, and it wasn't just because of the gun. He felt embarrassed. But why? That taxi driver was just a woman, after all, and he never felt embarrassed because of women.
Maybe it was true? Maybe he really loved Kikyo? Was that even possible?
No. It couldn't be. Not in a million years.
Too bad his conscience wasn't very strong.
After about half an hour, Kagome and Inuyasha were so close to the hard cement pavement, it was scary. Still no sign of a trampoline, a net, or a giant mattress. Actually, Kagome had pretty much given up on that giant mattress thing. It just seemed a little farfetched. She probably wasn't the only one who thought that.
"Kagome," Inuyasha cried, still trying hopelessly to move his numb arm, "See if you can scoot over here; I'll catch you," Kagome's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. Her, move over to him?!? She'd never felt so akward in her entire life!
Actually, there was that time with the goldfish and the rat ...
Yuck. That had to be the most akward moment of her life, so this ran second place.
"A-Are you sure? What if I fall?" Kagome asked feebly, biting her nails, or at least trying to. After about 5 seconds she realized how incredibly stupid her last spoken words were. What if I fall?!? She was already falling! Inuyasha didn't notice, lucky for her.
"You're just gonna have to trust me," Inuyasha's face was really, really, REALLY solemn. Kagome thought his face might just fall off, he was that serious. Trust me, that's what he'd said. Unfortunately, that was almost relatively impossible. Why? She didn't even want to start. It was just really ... hard.
Kagome slowly edged over to Inuyasha, finding that moving through air was incredibly difficult. Which was pretty much the only reason she was going soooo slow. But, due to the lack of a trampoline, the ground came a little later than it would have if there was nothing there, so Kagome successfully managed to wrap herself around Inuyasha. The numbness had begun to wear off, and with a loud THUD, they landed on ... a trampoline?!?
(Oh, and it hurt like hell, too)
But ... Kagome hadn't even seen a trampoline, not even a giant matt-- whatever.
Even Inuyasha was rather baffled, "Huh? Where'd this thing come from?" he bumbled, rubbing his head and looking around. People all around him were staring, and was that a news reporter?
Oh no. They didn't get it all on film, did they? He didn't want Kikyo seeing him hugging up to some girl he knew from a few years back.
There he went off again. Thinking about Kikyo, that strange, frosty hearted taxi driver woman. Was there a connection or something?
Then something took his mind off Kikyo, and that was Kagome. She looked like she'd just seen a ghost, and even that couldn't compare to the look of sheer terror spread across her face. Inuyasha thought of going over and comforting her, but the bright flash of camera lights stopped him. They were filming this!
"Hey you, cut that out!" Inuyasha leaped off the trampoline and grabbed the reporters camera, cracking it between his palms. Being a very rude half- demon, he threw the remaining pieces of the thing on the hard floor. The reporter didn't bother picking them up. He was already long gone. "Coward," Inuyasha muttered, sitting back down on the available surface.
He didn't want to aggravate any more people, and he certainly didn't feel like cracking any more cameras, so Inuyasha got up once again and started over to the nearby park, Mitsubishi Park.
A soft rain had begun to fall, and the parks contraptions were beginning to turn a russet brown, they were rusting. Inuyasha didn't mind the rain, however, and chose to sit down on an emerald green park bench. He closed his eyes and downed his head towards the ground.
Suddenly, he felt a hard grip on his torso. He opened his eyes in a flash, but his vision was clouded. What was going on, anyway? With a sickening realization, Inuyasha heard a familiar voice ...
"Inuyasha, I've come for you."
~*~*~*~*
A/N: Hardy-har-har-har, a cliffhanger for you readers! Sorry if I put you on the edge of your seat, but Chapter 2 will be on it's way soon enough, so keep reading! By the way, please review if you liked my story, and even if you didn't ... constructive criticism is appreciated, too. GOOD constructive critcism, flaming is prohibited in my books.