Ok so I lied to one of my reviewers (who sent me a very nice PM requesting i update the next chapter). I told her that i most likely wouldn't update this story till next weekend but since i've been getting such a good response with it i decided to update the chapter i had ready.
There is an important message at the bottom of the chapter so please read!
Chapter 2
Kikiyo looked at Inuyasha for a moment before moving her eyes so that they locked on Kagome. Then she spun on her heel and marched back the way she had come. Leaving the rest of the group in shock. Kagome didn't know what happened next, she had left in a cloud of dust in all the confusion.
Kagome shrugged into her riding jacket and helmet and hopped onto her bike. Guardian roared to life as she sped out of the parking lot. For a while she drove around the city, familiarizing herself to it's streets, trying to get her emotions under control. Her head was screaming at her that she had already crossed all sorts of lines that were never meant to be crossed already, that she needed to stop and go back before she did any real damage. Her heart was telling her that she had already crossed so many of those lines, what was a few more?
'No,' Kagome thought,' I promised never again would I ever let myself get into a situation like that. Never, never, never. I need to stay away from him and his group of friends and that is final.' A hanyou, like a mute, was never fully accepted anywhere they went. They were shunned just for being alive and breathing. They were considered abominations to their race and the human race, neither side ever fully accepted them. Mutes were the same way. Normal people didn't accept them, because they were different from them and learning a whole new form of communication for so few of them just didn't seem like it was worth the effort. People who were deaf didn't accept them either, because mute people could hear just fine. Mostly they were jealous of that fact and pointedly snubbed people who were mute.
But the gods above simply loved screwing with people's lives because no matter what world Kagome lived in, she was never accepted. Humans wouldn't accept her as a mute and demons wouldn't accept her because... Because she was a hanyou. Yes, a hanyou. An inu hanyou to be exact, just like Inuyasha.
At her old home, Kagome had lived as a hanyou and a mute. Most people hated her simply on sight. Those that didn't, hated her when they found out she was mute. People made fun of her, beat her up, tortured her, ignored her, took every chance they could to snub her, the list went on and on. There were even more horrible things they did but Kagome wasn't going to touch those with a forty foot pole. Those wounds are still too sensitive to touch.
When three o'clock rolled around she sped over to Souta's school to pick him up. He came out the front door, surrounded by a group of boys about his age. he was laughing and smiling, and Kagome found herself smiling too. It had been a long while since she had seen him that happy. She revved the engine, signaling to him where she was. He walked over, friends in tow and said," hi sis!" He could tell she was smiling under her helmet.
"This is your ride home Souta," one of the boys exclaimed," awesome!" "Sweet bike," another commented. "Thanks guys," Souta said, accepting the praise for his sister," I've got to get going now, see you tomorrow?" A chorus of 'Yea's' erupted from the group as Kagome handed Souta his helmet and he hopped on the bike. They sped off through the streets and soon came to a stop at home.
"Dad said that he wouldn't be home till late tonight, so you need to feed us," Souta said, hoisting his school bag and beginning to head inside. Kagome sighed as she opened the garage door to park her bike. Souta's dad was really Kagome's step dad, Souta was her half brother. After her real dad died, mom got remarried to a guy named Naraku and shortly after her brother was born. But things weren't really happy for long. Her mom got sick, really badly sick and when Souta was just three, she died, leaving Naraku as their soul guardian. All told he's a good dad, even if he's almost never around and makes Kagome do all the chores around the house, but other than that, he's ok.
Kagome made Souta do his homework before he was allowed to play video games and did her own. Then she made dinner before making Souta go to bed around nine. When they were finally both safe and sound in their rooms, she took a deep breath and pulled the ring off her finger. It was a welcome relief to say the least. Her hanyou form was her true one and it didn't like being squashed into the human form the ring commanded it to take. Kagome had learned a long time ago that she did not sleep well in human form, so every night, the ring would come off and she would sleep soundly in my demon form.
Tonight she fell into bed and slept through the night, exhausted from the episode today and letting mher demon blood heal her in her sleep. The next morning, she was up before Souta, but not before Naraku who gets up at like five and then doesn't get home till two. She had once asked him when he slept but he had just given her a really weird look and she had never brought up the subject again. She woke Souta up and then went to make herself some breakfast.
"Hey sis," Souta said as he raced down the stairs," I forgot to ask you yesterday, did you make any friends while you were at school?" Kagome gave Souta a look as he sat down at the table. 'I don't make friends,' she signed. Souta sighed, this conversation was a big one between the two of the. Kagome wasn't willing to make friends because she always end up getting hurt. Souta thought she should try and make friends because he's never had any of my problems and he just didn't get how much it hurt her.
"Ok, any people that might turn into friends?" If there's one thing this kid is, it's persistent. 'No,' Kagome signed,' I don't want to talk about this. New subject.' "But sis," he wined. 'You want to walk to school?' his sister asked him,' shut up. we are not talking about this.' She turned away from him then because she knew that she had won.
"Dad left something for you," Souta said," he said that it's in his office." Curious, I got up and went to Naraku's office. On his desk was a brand new laptop and a note. 'I figured since you were going to a new school, it was time for a new start,' the note said,' this laptop is equipped with all the latest software as well as an IM program that allows you to send any questions you might have during class straight to your teacher's computers. Have fun, I'll be home a little early this evening.'
This was why, at times, Kagome liked her stepfather. She looked at the laptop before slipping it into her backpack and going to tell Souta brother that it was time to leave.
Kagome dropped him off at school and into the waiting group of students who was sitting on the front step. Then she made her way to school. As she rolled into the parking lot she was immediately on alert. She really didn't want to have to talk to anyone from that group. She noticed Sango and Miroku and the other girl, Rin, around one of their cars, they looked like they were waiting for someone.
Kagome made sure to park as far away from them as she could. Then she snuck into school, keeping an eye out for them. She managed to get to her locker with no trouble. She glared at her combination lock, here's hoping that she could get it open today. She tried it once, no luck. Behind her, she could hear students and someone shouting for someone. She didn't pay any attention as she tried the lock again, paying extra attention to how she turned it.
The lock 'clicked' open. Maybe someday she would be able to get it open on the first try. Yea, and someday hell would freeze over and pigs would fly. She stuffed all the books she didn't need into her locker and shut it just as someone came up behind her. "There you are Kagome, we've been looking all over for you," came a voice. Kagome turned around and found herself face to face with Inuyasha once again. His eyes held concern and worry, but she didn't believe them. "Where did you get off to yesterday?"
'Stay away from me,' she signed angrily, she didn't know why just the sight of him sparked fear and anger and something else that she couldn't place. She shoved her way around him but he grabbed her hand. "Hey, what's wrong? Is it something I did?" 'Stay away from me!' She tugged her hand away from him. Before he could catch her again, she ran off to first period.
"Inuyasha," a voice called as he watched Kagome dash away. He turned to see Kikiyo standing in front of him, hand on her hip and a frown on her face. "I am going to overlook your little announcement yesterday as a temporary lapse in sanity," she said," because I refuse to believe that you are breaking up with me over some little slutty mute girl."
Inuyasha sighed. "This has nothing to do with Kagome," he said," honest it doesn't. It has everything to do with my parents. They don't want me seeing anyone for some reason." Ok so the last part was a little lie, he knew the exact reason. He just knew Kikiyo wouldn't like it. "You're breaking up with me because your precious parents," she spat out the word like venom," don't want to two of us going out?"
The first bell rang. "We need to get to class," Kikiyo said, tossing her hair over her shoulder and turning away," we will continue this conversation later. Until then I am going to act as if your little episode yesterday never happened."
When Inuyasha got to first period, he found Kagome at her desk, typing away on a laptop. Rin, Ayame and Sango were next to her, trying to get her attention. She was obstinately ignoring them. He walked over to Koga and Miroku who were on the other side of the room, next to their desks and glancing at the girls.
"Hey guys," Inuyasha greeted, noticing the looks," what's up?" "Kagome came into the classroom this morning and Sango and Rin and Ayame went over to say hello and see how she was doing," Koga said," then she signed something which Miroku refuses to translate but says that it means to stay away from her." "I saw her in the hallway," Inuyasha said," she didn't look too happy to see me either."
Ayame came over to the group. "She's ignoring us," she reported," won't acknowledge us or anything. I wonder what we did." The three shot Inuyasha a look. "I've been good," he held up his hands," I swear I've been nothing but the perfect gentleman around her since yesterday morning." "Then I wonder what's going on with her," Miroku wondered aloud as their teacher came in to call them to order and begin the lesson.
The IM program that Naraku installed on Kagome's computer worked like a charm. She was able to get all of her questions answered without the necessity of a translator. She managed to keep away from that whole group for the beginning of the day and then at lunch time she again disappeared to the tree.
Kagome had a little bit of lunch while she sat in the tree and then leaned up against it to study her schedule. She had skipped out on her afternoon classes yesterday but it didn't look like she had missed much. After lunch she had study hall which was the equivalent of a free period, as long as she stayed on the school grounds she could do whatever she wanted. The period after that was literature class. And lastly was gym. Kagome rolled her eyes at the last class. At her old school you only needed to take one semester of gym but here you needed to take the equivalent of two years in order to graduate. Since she had taken a full year at her old school, she would take a year here to graduate on time.
Kagome had just slipped her schedule back in her bag when it happened again. 'Fuck,' she thought as she scrambled to grab her backpack and get her medicine out of it. This shouldn't happen, it almost never happened two days in a row. Her hand trembled as she held the vial to her lips and swallowed. She finally got most of the med down but not all before she slipped into unconsciousness.
That day at lunch, the entire group had gone outside again to sit under the tree on the grounds. The topic of conversation was Kagome. "I really wish I knew what was wrong with her," Sango said," I mean she's shy, any idiot can see that but there seems to be another motive for staying away from us." "And it's not just us," Miroku said," during Physics another person went up to her and asked if she would partner with them but she just said that she preferred to work alone." "I wonder where she is," Koga said," I didn't see or smell her in the lunch room. I don't think she's even been in there."
Suddenly, Inuyasha sat up from where he was leaning up against the tree. The smell of blood hit his nose, mingled with the scent of the particular medicine that Kagome used whenever she was having an attack. Koga, Ayame and Sesshomeru had smelled it too, but he was the quickest one up the tree and onto the branch that Kagome was on, blacked out and blood trickling out of her mouth.
He located the vial that still contained a mouthful of the lavender liquid that she needed to take, clasped in her hand. In one quick motion, he picked her up and took her back down to ground level. "She's having another attack," he said, an edge of concern in his voice," she managed to drink most of her medicine but there's still a little bit left."
The rest of the group jumped into action when he laid her down on the ground. Rin forced the vial out of Kagome's grip and Ayame and Sango held her down and tried to wake her at the same time. "This one's much worse than yesterday," Rin said worriedly," it seems to be a series of attacks. One right after the other in waves."
"Well then give her another dose," Inuyasha growled as Rin shook her head. "It doesn't work that way. I don't know what the medicine is much less what's going on in her neck. if you give someone too much medicine they can die." "She's waking up," Ayame announced.
The first thing Kagome felt when she woke up was the presence of demons near her. She tried to struggle to get to her feet but something was holding her down to the ground. 'Demons,' she thought,' it's just like back at home. I need to get out of here.' Kagome was panicking so bad that she didn't even register the pain in her neck though it was still causing her to convulse.
"Kagome," came a voice. She looked up to see Koga and Ayame looking down on her. 'See,' she told herself,' they're the ones that are doing this to you. They snuck up on you in your sleep.' This thought only renewed her struggling. Fear clouded her mind to the point where she couldn't tell what was going on outside of her. She didn't hear the worried calls of the group around her or Rin's questions of what the medicine was.
"She's panicking," Inuyasha said, he could hear her accelerated heart rate, above even what it should be when she was having a pain attack. she wasn't struggling like she was in pain, she was struggling because she was scared. "We need to get the girl assured that she is in no danger before she will stop struggling," Sesshomeru said. "Well what the hell do we do?" Inuyasha asked.
"Kagome," Rin called," Kagome I really need you to look at me." Surprisingly, through the din of the panic and chaos in Kagome's mind she was able to hear that. Her eyes locked with Rin's. "Good job," she murmurred," now what is the name of the medicine that you take for these pains?" She signed and vaguely remember hearing Miroku translate. "Alright, Kagome I need you to stay awake now, no going to sleep, we're trying to help you."
Kagome still felt demons, there was no way she was going back to sleep. "Koga and Ayame are trying to keep your arms down while I get the medicine in you," Rin continued," Sesshomeru is behind them, but not touching you. Inuyasha is beside you on your left side. Sango is keeping your legs down and Miroku is with me on your left side in case he needs to translate." She had told the panicking girl where everyone was, telling her where the demons were in the process. At the moment they were indeed trying to help her. Her eyes closed, she was so tired.
"Not yet Kagome," Rin said," you've got to stay awake." 'Too sleepy,' Kagome thought to herself, fighting to stay awake. "Inuyasha, dig around in her pack and get me one more vial of her medicine," Rin said," I know this one and it's safe for her to take about two doses at a time if it's an emergency."
A moment later, Kagome felt the glass of the medicine vial on her lips and Rin's voice telling her to drink. The pain in her throat was back with a force and she tried to get as much as she could without choking. Kagome managed to drink the whole thing before all her strength left her. She collapsed on the ground, still in pain but the medicine was working quicker due to the double dose. She felt two arms wrap around her and pull her close to them, growling softly in a way that reminded her of her very earliest memories. Memories that reassured her that everything was ok and would remain that way.
"We should get her to the nurse's office," Rin said. 'No,' Kagome signed, jolting upright for a moment,' no nurse. I'll be fine. I just need to rest. No nurse. no nurse.' She fell back into whoever's hold she was in as Miroku translated. The growling resumed and it was to that sound that she blacked out.
"Well," Inuyasha said," do we listen to her or do we take her to the nurse?" "I can keep an eye on her here," Rin said," judging from the panic attack she had when she woke up in a place she didn't remember coming to I don't think we should move her. Especially since she's so against it." "But she could be hurt far worse than what we can see," Sango argued. "If she doesn't wake up to tell us that she's better by the end of our free period," Rin reasoned," we take her to the nurse's office whether she likes it or not."
"Alright," Sango said dubiously, eyeing the sleeping girl in Inuyasha's arms. "Now what I want to know is why mutt face here broke up with Kikiyo," Koga said," that threw all of us for a loop there. Unless you're starting to have feelings for the mute girl?" The soothing rumble in Inuyasha's chest changed to an annoyed one. The sudden change nearly woke up Kagome. "Mom and dad wanted me to break up with her," he said. "And you're going to do it just like that?" Koga asked, it wasn't in Inuyasha's character to listen to his parents just like that. Especially if it involved Kikiyo, those two had been together since 8th grade.
"Mom told me that she didn't like her," Inuyasha said," and dad doesn't like her either." "So you're just going to give up possibly the best girl of your life just because your parents don't like her?" Miroku was incredulous. "It also has something to do with the prophecy given at his birth," Sesshomeru said. "Prophecy?" Koga was skeptical," what prophecy?" "You know my grandmother on my mother's side, Kaede?" Inuyasha asked," just before I was born she had a dream and when she woke up she wrote it down. She said she thought the gods were speaking to her through the dream."
At this point, Kagome stirred in his arms. Her eyes cracked open and she found herself into very worried golden ones. "Kagome, are you ok?" Inuyasha asked her. She nodded, she wasn't sure if she had the strength to sign or not, then struggled to sit up. She found out very quickly that if she didn't have the strength to sign she sure as hell didn't have the strength to sit up on her own. Inuyasha kept her pinned pretty tightly to him. 'What happened?' Her signing was slurred, as if she were signing in water.
"Inuyasha smelled your blood and jumped into the tree," Miroku said," he found you having another attack and brought you down to us. It's been about thirty minutes now." "Do you remember anything that happened?" Rin asked Kagome gently. 'I remember the pain then I blacked out. Then there was more pain and I woke up. I felt demons around me, I was scared. I tried to struggle and get away from them, I thought they were attacking me. Then chaos, pain and fear, then I heard Rin's voice telling me to give her the name of my medicine. Then me drinking it and falling back to sleep.'
"Have you had bad experiences with demons in the past?" Sesshomeru asked me. Kagome turned her head away from the group. She didn't want to talk about it. "Is that why you've been avoiding us?" Sango asked," because you've had bad experiences with demons?" 'Some, it's personal and it's complicated.' Kagome really did not want to talk about this. 'How long till the bell rings?' she asked,' I have literature next.'
"About ten more minutes until next period," Miroku told her," I suggest you spend that time resting." "It was worse than it was yesterday," Sango said. Kagome gave her a look and signed something that no one needed a translator for. 'You think?'
The teacher for her literature class ended up giving her the free seat beside Inuyasha, that was just as well because he didn't think that he would have been able to let anyone else take that position. There was just something about the girl that was drawing her to him, making him go nearly crazy whenever he was around her.
And when he had seen her in pain, he could almost hear a part of him dying it hurt so much. He didn't ever like seeing people in pain, but her especially he never wanted to. When she had finally drunk the rest of her medicine, he had wasted no time in gathering her up in his arms and holding her up to his chest. Then, to his surprise, he had started growling. It wasn't the angry growl that he made so often when he was pissed, it was the growl that used to put him to sleep at night when he was younger and his father was holding him. It was a calm soothing growl that told the girl in his arms that she was safe.
She fell asleep half way through the lesson, she was exhausted. She was adorable when she slept. 'I wish I could smell her true scent though,' he thought to himself. He didn't know how, but he just knew that the scent that she smelled like right now wasn't real. No, part of it was real but another part was not, it's like it was there to mask another scent from the rest of the world.
"Kagome," he called gently as he shook her awake," Kagome." She stirred but just rolled over and went back to sleep. "Kagome," he tried again," you need to wake up now." he was rewarded a few seconds later when her eyes fluttered open. "Time to get up sleepy head," he said with a chuckle," we need to get to gym."
Slowly, Kagome gathered up all her things, her movements deliberate and slow. She was really tired and went slow to make sure she did everything properly. When she finally was ready, Inuyasha grabbed her hand and tugged her gently in the right direction. 'He's really sweet,' she thought sleepily, too sleepy to censor her thoughts,' and cute to. And every time I see him, something happens to me, I can't explain it.'
She was almost literally asleep on her feet when Inuyasha finally dragged her into the gym. They had a free day today which Kagome was thankful for. "Sleeping are we," came a feminine voice from behind her," you know that's never really a good idea. You never know what could sneak up on you." It had been years since she had heard that voice, but she would recognize it anywhere.
Inuyasha let out a low warning growl at a comment that he thought meant the person wanted to hurt Kagome and turned around. Kagome turned with him and froze in shock at the person standing behind them. He thought she was afraid but a second later she broke out of his grip on her hand and flung herself at the teenager who was standing there. He heard a low growl come from Kagome's chest. He could have sworn that Kagome had just called the girl her sister.
Ok, here's the important message i promised you. Right now i am currently looking for a beta. I don't need one for grammar/spelling as i already have that well covered. What i need is someone who has experience with character creation and building and someone who's not afraid to flood my inbox with messages to get my butt over to the keyboard and get writing. They'll also be needed to help out with the occasional case of writer's block and be available to bounce ideas off of for stories. If you are interested, please PM me!