I hope you guys enjoyed chapter one. I think that's the longest I've written in a single chapter. Well, I won't keep you waiting, so here comes chapter two of Without Wings! Oh, and just to clarify things, Inuyasha and Kagome are NOT a couple. They are just friends.

W I T H O U T W I N G S

Chapter Two: Whisper

"She beckons me
Shall I give in
Upon my end shall I begin
Forsaking all I've fallen for
I rise to meet the end."

- Whisper by Evanescence

The first sun ray of Saturday morning peaked over the horizon, and into Miroku's bedroom. The light glared through his closed eye lids, causing him to wriggle around in discomfort. He rose from his pillow, and rubbed his head. The sun light was a brilliant red, that gave him bedroom a hint of a heavenly atmosphere.

Not caring if it made his room look like the inside of the Playboy Mansion, he shut the drapes and fell back onto his pillow, hoping to regain some sleep. Preventing him from fulfilling his wish was the memory of what he witnessed just the night before. His eyes slowly crept open. ' That's right. I forgot what happened last night.' He thought.

The image of Natsume was still haunting him. Right now she was probably being woken up from a sound sleep by that same shady man as the night before. Before paying her he probably wanted her to please him once more. Miroku acted out the whole vile scene in his head over and over again. What kind of depraved bastard would want to have a seven year old girl relieve their 'sexual tension'?

Miroku couldn't even think about it. All he wanted to do was end it all. He had heard stories of children being forced into this when he was younger, but he never really gave it much thought before now. That's probably because he never figured that it would happen right in front of him.

Trying to shake the thoughts and images from his head, Miroku rose out of bed and walked downstairs to get something to eat.

XXX

When he arrived downstairs his mother was already up making breakfast for him. She was humming a cheery tune to herself as she popped some bread into the toaster. The sound of Miroku's tired feet shuffling across the hard wood floor made her turn and face him. She smiled and greeted him with a soft hello. He smiled back at his mother and found a place to sit at the table.

"I wasn't sure if you were awake or not, so I didn't start your breakfast yet," his mother spoke, "is there something you would like me to make for you?" She asked sweetly. Miroku shook his head. He was too tired to eat. "I didn't see your car in the driveway this morning. Where is it?" She asked.

"It's still at school. I'll walk over and get it this afternoon." Miroku answered with an exhausted groan.

"Why would you leave it at school?"

"Inuyasha,Kagome,Shima,and I all decided to walk home. It was nice out, so we enjoyed it. Don't worry, mom, the car is safe." He assured her. His mother just smiled and nodded.

"So, do you have any plans for today?" She asked. Miroku had an spinning in his head. He was going to do something about child prostitution. he needed as much help as he could possibly get, though. He turned to his mother and answered, "I'm just going to walk around town today."

XXX

Later on, after he got dressed and had something to hold him over until lunch time, Miroku was out the door and began to walk down the sidewalk. He often walked around when he was deep in thought, or when something was bothering him. Everyone knew this, and that's why his mother didn't question him. He lived on a small culdesac. His house was the last one on the right, and it was out of the way from all the other houses.

He looked back at his home for a second. It was a quaint, small home. It had two floors, but the second floor could only be seen from the side yard. it was white, and had a picket fence surrounding it. It was like a house a grandmother would be seen living in, just like in the bed time stories his father used to read him when he was small. Grandparents always lived in the small, cute house, where the sun would always shine.

After looking back for a moment, he continued to walk down the street and into the busy side of town. He walked down further down into the area, where there were shops all around. he watched people go in and out of stores, restaurants, and ice cream parlors. some of the people he recognized from school, so he would wave to them, but keep on moving.

He only stopped when he turned the corner and saw that there was a Love Hotel that was going out of business. The owner of the place was putting an Out of Business sign over the doorway. Miroku thought about it for a moment, 'A hotel is going out of business. A hotel would have plenty of beds and... of course!' he cried in his head happily. he ran toward the building, trying to catch up with the owner before he left.

"Wait, sir!" Miroku called out, his arms extended toward the man. The owner stopped and turned to him, "yes, can I help you, young man?" he asked.

When Miroku reached him, he was out of breath. It was a combination of the hot weather, and the speed he ran to get here. He took a deep breath and looked up at the owner, "Sir, are you selling this place?" he asked.

The owner nodded, and sighed, " My daughter is very ill, and my wife can't take care of her on her own. I have to give up my business so I can be around to care for her when she needs it."

"I can take it over for you!" Miroku cheered confidently.

The man looked down at Miroku, surprised at his sudden enthusiasm. he also gave out a small chuckle, "sorry kid, but this is a love hotel. I can't hand my business over to a high school kid."

"No, I mean, I'll buy the building from you!" Miroku corrected. The owner scratched his head in curiosity. "What do you need a building for?"

Miroku looked down at his feet. He wondered if the man would think he was stupid for caring about something like this, but he had to tell him. "I'm going to open a place for all children that are forced into prostitution. It's a place for them to stay, and get help. When they are better, we will try to find good homes for them. I need this place so I can start it." he answered.

The owner rested his hand on Miroku's shoulder gently, and whispered, "that's fine that you care about something like that, but I think at your age, your biggest concern should be school work."

"Please sir," Miroku began, "I am very responsible, and I have been on the honor roll my whole life. Please, just consider it." Miroku begged. The owner could tell he was being sincere, so he decided to give it a shot.

"Okay, kid. I'll have to have a talk with some people before I can give you permission, but give me your phone number, and I'll be sure to call you when I find out." the man promised. Miroku smiled. The man pulled out his cell phone number and typed Miroku's number in as he said it. he flipped his phone shut and gave Miroku a warm smile. "I'll call you."

"Thank you so much." Miroku said, his eyes glittering with joy. The man just responded with a smile and walked away.

Feeling better about things, he turned around, and made his way back to his house to call his friends about the good news.

XXX

He walked through his front door. the sound of the door opening, and closing again caught his mothers attention. She was sitting on the couch watching the news, like she had done every day since Miroku could remember. "Welcome back, honey." She greeted.

"Hey, mom." He relpied, and made his way upstairs toward his bed room so he could tell everyone what was going on. He walked into his room, and shut the door behind him. He had left his computer on from the previous day, so it made things quicker for him. He sat down in his chair and checked to see who was online. Nobody.

His happiness was gone again. he needed to tell them about the good news. Well, that's if he would even be able to run a place at the age of eighteen. But hey, the world has allowed much crazier things, maybe he actually did have a shot at getting the place.

If he did, he would have to think of a name, find people to help him, find sponsors so he could be noticed...He'd be busy as hell. He began to wonder how this would affect his school work. He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts. Nothing was going to stop him from helping these poor girls.

He couldn't wait anymore. he had to tell his friends what was going on. Even if he didn't get it, he was far too excited to care. He went back to his monitor and went into his mail. He typed in Kagome's, Inuyasha's, and Shima's E-mail adresses and began typing to them.

"Hey guys, it's Miroku. I have to tell you all something very important. Do you guys remember last night? We saw that little girl Natsume standing on the street corner? Well, it turns out that she was forced into prostitution. She told me that if she didn't get money for her father, he would beat her again. Well, today I decided to walk araound town for a bit, and I saw a guy that was selling his love hotel. I asked him if I could have the building, and he said that he'll get back to me once he gets permission to sell it to me.

I want to turn the hotel into a shelter for child prostitutes. I refuse to stand by and watch young girls be treated like this. If the deal goes through, I want you guys to help me work there. It would mean so much if you did this for me. You guys have to help me think of a name, find some sponsors, renovate it, you know how it goes. Please help me with this. I never ask you guys for anything, so please do this for me! I'll be waiting for your reply and I'll write back as soon as I can.

-Miroku

With that, he clicked send and waited while his computer processed his E-mail. 'Cheap piece of junk,' he thought as his computer loaded slowly. Finally it sent. His letter reminded him of something. He checked to see if he received any reply from his father yet. No luck. Miroku sighed heavily at this.

"Dammit, dad. Now everytime you're late on writing back to me, I'm going to think that something happened to you." He growled under his breath. There was so much confusion going on right now, he wasn't sure how much more he could handle. He rose from his chair, and walked back down stairs into the kitchen, "I better see what mom is making for dinner."

He arrived down stairs to find his mother preparing a fish for dinner. She heard him strolling in the room and turned around. She was shocked when she gave him a good look in the face. He looked so spent, and exhausted, it seemed like he would collapse any second now. She dropped what she was doing and ran up to her son. "Miroku, what's wrong?" She asked nervously.

"Nothing, mom, I'm fine." He answered, his voice cracking, and fading with each word. His mother placed a gentle hand on his forehead. He didn't seem to have a fever, so she thought he was just run down. "You should get some rest." She told him.

Miroku sighed, "I'm not tired, I'm just under alot of stress right now."

"Well, what's bothering you? You can tell me." She said.

"Okay, we should sit down for it, though." He requested and walked into the living room, his mother following close behind him. He sat on the lare white sofa. The comfortable couch felt good against his sore body.

His mother sat gracefully beside him, "tell me what's wrong with you, Miroku." she ordered as kindly as she could.

Miroku let out a heaby sigh and began to tell her, "well, last night after the swim meet," he began, "we were all walking home. I saw a little girl standing on the street corner. We were all wondering what she was doimng out there all alone at night. I went up to see what was the matter."

His mother looked deeply concerned, but she asked him to continue with his story.

"She told me that her father told her to have sex with strange menfor money. If she didn't do what he told her, he would have beat her. I don't know what he needs the money for, but it's probably for drugs, or something like that. I couldn't believe how disgusting some people in this world are." He finished. It was hard for him to talk about, especially when he saw his mothers eyes fill up with tears.

This was unusual for her. She was a very strong, brave woman, who always had a smile on her face no matter what the situation was. This was the first time he had ever seen his mother shed a tear. "That's awful! How old was this girl?!" She demanded, sobbing.

"I'm not sure, but she looked around the age of seven or eight." He answered.

His mother whiped a tear from her eyes, trying to piece herself back together. "Is that why you went out today?"

He nodded.

"I wanted to clear my head. But, while I was walking, I found a man that was selling a love hotel," He began. he turned to face his mother, who looked like a deer in head lights at his comment. This made Miroku chickle a bit, "don't worry. I'm not supporting prostitution." he assured her.

"Then why are you interested in a love hotel?"

"I asked the guy who was selling it if there was any way I could take over the building for him. I wanted to make it some kind of shelter for child prostitutes. I want to get doctors to check them for any kind of sexually transmited diseases, or something. I also want to hire psychiatrists to help them get through the mental pain. When they are cured, I'll find good homes for them." He said confidently.

His mother was happy to hear that her son was interested in the problems of the people around him. She brought him in for a hug, and sighed, "I'm so proud of you for doing this."

When he let go, he told his mother that he was going upstairs for a minute to check his E-mail. His mother nodded and sent him up. He sat in his big, comfy chair again and checked his mail. He had responses from all three of them! He was so happy that they all read it. he opened the first one which was from Kagome. It read;

"What!? That is so twisted! What kind of person would throw their baby girl on the streets to give head to a bunch of middle age men? The thought is just sickening. I'm happy to see that you care so much. The world is hard for girls like them, and it's good to see that a MAN has the good ideas for once. Of course I'll help. I'll be online all night tonight, so IM me if you want me to come over."

-Kags

Miroku was happy that she agreed to help. He was also happy to see that she still used her nickname from kindergarten. He looked to see who was next on the list. It was from Shima. He opened it and he read it;

"Hey, sweetie. I got your E-mail. I can't believe the nerve of that girls father! If that were me, I don't think I could live with myself knowing that I'm sending my child out to have sex with a bunch of guys. Shame on the clients too. I would love to help Miroku. I have some time now, if you want me to come over. I really hope you get the building. Good luck. I love you."

Hugs and Kisses Shima

Another yes! He felt like everything was coming into order. He just had one E-mail left. It was from Inuyasha. Miroku was a bit concerned, because Inuyasah was never really one to help him, but he hoped that he changed for the better. He clicked it and read it;

"WTF? That's just gross. Sure I'll help. I've got nothing better to do. Want me to come over or something?"

-InuYasha

He had to laugh when he saw the simplicity of Inuyasha's response. As long as he agreed to help, he didn't care if he wrote one word, or a whole novel. All he had to do now was wait for his call to come through. The way the man talked, it sounded like he would receive it sometime today. Anxious, miroku crept over to his bed, lyed down, and stared at the ceiling, until a large yawn sent him into a deep sleep.

XXX

RING! RING!

He was woken up about three hours later by his cell phone going off right in his ear. He groaned and looked at his caller ID. He didn't recognize the name, but he decided to pick it up anyway.

"Hello?" He asked lazily

"Hello, is this Miroku?" A man's voice came from the other end.

"Yes." Miroku answered.

"Miroku, this is Kazuma Ryuuzaki, the love hotel owner." the man answered. Miroku jumped at this. He never thought that he would hear from him so soon.

"Hello, sir." Miroku said as kindly as he could

"Listen, I talked around to some people, and you got the place. The Passion Pit is yours now."

Miroku cocked an eye brow, "The Passion Pit?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's a stupid name I know. But hey, now that you own it you can call it whatever you want." Kazuma assured him.

"I can't believe I actually got it. Thank you sir! I promise to care for it." Miroku promised.

"I know you will. Good luck with those prostitutes."

"Good luck with your daughter."

With that. miroku hung up the phone. He extended his arms out to their farthest point and cheered as loud as he could, falling back onto the bed. "I got the place, I got the place!" He cheered over and over again. he even did a little dance, but stopped to make sure he was never caught doing it.

His mother, who had heard all the excitement from downstairs rushed up, and barged into his bedroom. "What's going on?" She asked.

"I got the place! I can build the shelter!" Miroku hollered. His mother jumped up and down like a preppy little school girl, "Oh, honey, I'm so happy for you!" She cheered, and ran up to hug her son.

He looked up into his eyes, "Well, since you are making a big change, you're going to need some help with the expenses." she stated. With that she left the room, but told Miroku to wait there for a moment. A few minutes later she came with an enveloped, about as thick as someones hand. She handed it to her son.

"You're father told me to wait until you graduated from college to give this to you, but I think you're grown up enough to get it early." She said softly. miroku began tearing the envelope open. He was speechless when he saw the contents of the envelope. Tons of 100 dollar bills.

"Mom, how did you get all of this money?" Miroku asked, pulling the bills out by the hand full.

"Your father. You see, your father comes from a very rich, and noble family. When your grandfather and grandmother passed away, they left their entire fortune to him."

Miroku looked at her curiously, "well, doesn't dad have four other brothers and two sisters? Why did they choose him out of all the other kids?"

His mother released a small giggle and simply answered, "Your grandmother discovered that I was pregnant. I never tol anyone, not even your father that I was.She told me she figured it out, because I was glowing. They gave it to him, because they wanted him to raise a good son," she began. She reached up and stroked his head, like she once did when he was younger, "and I think he did a fine job at that."

Miroku smiled and blushed lightly. He felt embarassed to be flattered like this, especially by his own mother. He looked back down at the money in his hands, "there must be over 100,000 dollars in here."

"Actually there is 750,000 dollars in there, exactly. I hope it's enough to get that shelter of yours up and running." His mother answered, grinning brightly.

Miroku was speechless. He couldn't believe that his parents trusted him so much with such a large amout of money. He gave his mother a huge hug to thank her. "Thank you so much." he whispered. His mother just hugged him and told him that he deserved every last penny.

"I'm going to call everyone and let then know that they can come over." He stated. His mother just nodded and sent him up to his room.

XXX

About an hour later, a knock was heard at the front door. "I'll get it." His mother called as she rushed for the door. She opened it to find Inuyasha, Shima, and Kagome standing there.

"Hi, Mrs. Hoshi." Kagome said, bowing gracefully. She was flattered at this. She just told them that Miroku was upstairs in his room and that they could go up with him. All three of them just nodded and made their way to Miroku's room.

Shima burst through the door only seconds before the other two. "HI!" She squealed and she hugged Miroku with all of her might. Inuyasha just gave a wily looking smirk. "You know, Shima, you shouldn't burst into a guys room like that. He is a GUY after all. For all you know, he could have been in here giving himself a little treat." Inuyasha laughed, which was followed by Kagome elbowing him roughly in the ribs.

"I don't do that." Miroku yelled in his own defense.

"Why would you need to, when I'm all the treat you will ever need?" Shima asked sinfully, and planted a passionate kiss on Miroku's lips.

"Watch the tounge." Kagome warned, blushing at the sigght of her two friends sucking face right in from of her. She had known both since kindergarten, so this was a bit akward to be watching her preschool pals together like this. But in a way she kind of knew it would happen.

"Okay, if you two are done being a pair of horn dogs, I would like to get down to business." Inuyasha scoffed in annoyance. Miroku and Shima, just realizing that they were being watched, broke apart and began to blush a deep red. They apologized for their behavior.

They all found places to sit. Inuyasha sat on the floor, Kagome pulled up the computer chair, and sat there, and Miroku and Shima shared a spot on the bed. "Well, first of all, I think we should congratulate Miroku on getting the building in the first place." Shima spoke confidently, placing her hand on his shoulder. This was followed by Kagome and Inuyasha clapping at his win.

"Thanks." He said blushing.

"So what did you call us here for anyway?" Inuyasha asked. he didn't like to be dragged to boring meetings like this. He had to deal with it everyday in school, as it is.

Miroku sighed, "Like I explained to you guys in the email," he began," I need your help turning that old love hotel into a shelter for child prostitutes."

"Well, what exactly do you want us to do?" Kagome asked.

"I haven't been inside of it yet, but since it's a love hotel it prbably has all the toys and adult stuff that shouldn't be around if were bringing young children in. I'll need you guys to seach for it. I'll need someone to paint over all the cheesy wall paper. I'll have to do something with the hot tubs and the mirrors on the ceilings. I'll also need a couple chefs to cooks meals for them." He finished.

"That sounds like a lot of work. Don't forget that we have to find people that will sponsor us, and we should find doctors to help them work through the tough time. A name is also needed." Kagome said.

"Well, who says you have to have a degree to work people through their mental issues?" Shima asked. "Kagome, you watch alot of medical shows like that, don't you?"

Kagome nodded. Ever since she was fourteen she loved watching medical shows, and that meant that she had seen more than her share of people in reha and things like that."Then why don't you be the doctor? You have always said how much you wanted to work with children."

That was true for Kagome too. She loved kids, all of them. She wanted to do whatever she could to help them. She nodded and agreed to help. Miroku turned to Inuyasha, who was waiting for his turn to be given an order. "Inuyasha, your uncle runs a huge television studio, right?" Miroku asked.

"Yeah, and?" Inuyasha scoffed.

"Why don't you se if you can convince him to make a couple commercials for us? It would be a huge help."

"I'll see what I can do." Inuyasha sighed. He thought for a long moment about something else, "actually, my brother Sesshomaru just got a new summer job of painting houses and stuff like that. If you want, I can see if I can borrow a few gallons of paint from him." Inuyasha suggested

"Could you really do that? That would be great!" Miroku yelled happily. Inuyasha just smiled.

Shima was given the job of cooking meals, and providing the clothing. She was happy with the work that she was given., and she accepted it with a smile.

After another hour or so of planning, the group departed and walked out the door. Miroku sat down on his bed and sighed heavily. Things were finally coming into order.

Chapter Two Completed on 2/11/08