When You Least Expect It

Chapter Nine

The sun was just barely rising when InuYasha woke up, not knowing where he was or how he'd gotten there. He sat up, clenching at his pounding head,

"Damn. How'd I get a hangover?"

"Obviously, you had a little too much to drink." Came a voice across from him.

He looked up, blinking. On the couch on the other side of the living room was Miroku, arms crossed and a look of concern on his face. InuYasha frowned,

"What are you doing here?"

"This is my house." He raised an eyebrow.

InuYasha looked around and indeed…this was Miroku's house. He asked,

"How did I get here?"

"You came here." He replied. "Wasted, as well."

Suddenly, it was all coming back, adding to his headache. InuYasha clutched at his head,

"I've screwed up. I finally ruined everything."

Miroku reached over to the coffee table and grabbed a bottle of Aspirin. He took out three,

"Here."

InuYasha took the pills, gulping down the entire glass of water that sat before him on the table. He put the glass on the table and sighed. Miroku stared at him for a second,

"What happened, InuYasha? I tried asking you last night but you passed out."

"Please tell me it wasn't Sango that answered the door." He retorted.

He shook his head, "She's still asleep. Tell me what happened."

InuYasha sighed in relief, and after a few moments noticed that Miroku was still staring at him intently, waiting for an answer. He took in a breath. InuYasha's voice was a whisper, his head was low, and his hands were clenched into fists,

"I lost control Miroku, I got home late, I don't remember why and I don't recall much of what I did. All I remember is Haru's and Kai's scared face, and Kagome's eyes full of shock and disgust towards me. I did something horrible," Suddenly he put his head up and slammed his fist down, "Damn it! I did something horrible and I don't even have the memory to recall all I did. Pathetic." His eyes were blazing with self hatred.

Miroku looked at his friend, he had never seen him so destroyed and he had known him for a long time, he got up and put a hand on his shoulder,

"Whatever you did, I'm sure you can fix it."

He lifted his hand from his shoulder and walked away into his room, leaving InuYasha to think about his situation. InuYasha sat there, waiting for the pounding in his head to clear. A few moments later the pain wasn't as bad and InuYasha got up, and walked out, slamming the door behind him. He knew exactly where he should go; he just hadn't come up with what to say just yet.

XxXxX

InuYasha walked up the many stairs to the shrine faster than anyone could think was humanly possible. He walked to the door and took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he knew he was going to face. He knocked on the door.

Kagome opened the door; her eyes had dark bags under them and random strands of hair were on her face and some sticking up.

InuYasha looked at her; even now she was absolutely beautiful. He shook the thought from his mind. Kagome's eyes widened when she saw him standing at her door, the shock from her face disappeared quickly and was replaced with something similar to worry or fear. The expression didn't last very long before it turned to outright anger.

InuYasha felt a pang of guilt at watching her expressions change. He cleared his throat,

"Kagome—"

Kagome cut him off,

"You have some nerve showing up at my house!" She practically growled.

InuYasha lowered his head; he expected a reaction like this. Kagome walked out of her door and closed it gently behind her,

"I just got Haru and Kai to sleep and you come back to torture us some more? Didn't you scare them enough? I can't believe you have the guts to actually—"

"Kagome, I don't remember!" InuYasha yelled then immediately regretted it when fear crossed her face and she backed into the door, grabbing the door knob. "Can you…would you just…tell me what I did?"

Kagome looked at him in shock; she had never seen him so vulnerable; it was as if his life was hanging on her words. She sighed, taking in a breath to calm her nerves before looking at him,

"If I tell you what happened, what will you gain with the knowledge? Nothing. Knowing what you did, it doesn't make it any better."

InuYasha looked up at her,

"Kagome, I want to be a better father."

This took her by surprise and she studied him, wondering if his words were true. InuYasha's eyes held great sadness and guilt. Everyone deserves a second chance, right? Kagome just nodded, opening the door and stepping back to let him inside. He walked in. Kagome closed the door then led the way into the kitchen.

InuYasha leaned against the wall near the entrance of the kitchen while she sat on a stool near the island of the kitchen. There was a long silence; Kagome began to think of how exactly to tell him what he did.

"Don't hold back, just tell me what I did." It was as if he'd read her mind and she nodded.

Kagome looked at him, "You came home around 5AM, drunk. I don't know what exactly happened between you and Kikyo but I was awoken by screaming. Haru was the first at the door and my main intentions were to stop him from going downstairs."

He nodded to show he was listening. Kagome continued and didn't take her eyes off of him. When she reached the ending of her reminiscing, his eyes were wide and staring ahead with great shock. The shrine was completely silent again. InuYasha looked at Kagome,

"I…I did that? I almost harmed Haru?"

Kagome looked down and nodded. As much as she disliked this man; she did feel bad for him. When Kagome looked up again, she nearly jumped out of her skin when she noticed him standing right in front of her. His eyes were averted, avoiding hers,

"I'm sorry, I did not want this to happen. You probably don't want to hear my pathetic excuses, and there shouldn't be any but all I wanted was to be stress free. I shouldn't of turned to alcohol. I didn't mean to hurt you or anyone."

InuYasha then looked down, looking at the bruise that was forming around her neck. She shook her head,

"You shouldn't be apologizing to me."

"Y-yeah." He stepped back and looked her in the face. "How do I make up for what I did to them?"

"Well first off, there is something you should know. Kids are very curious and they will question you about what you did and why you did it. Don't give them details but don't lie to them."

InuYasha had a confused look on his face, "How the hell do I do that?"

"Oh yeah, and don't curse around them!" Kagome reprimanded, "Well simply, you tell them how you were mad at Kikyo and had too much alcohol, explaining how bad alcohol is. Don't tell them why you were mad at Kikyo, even if they ask, just say it's something for adults. You shouldn't put your problems on children, they're innocent."

InuYasha nodded, "What else?"

"Give them attention. That is all they have ever wanted from you. If that means you have to take time off from work then so be it. Also, if you make them a promise, be sure to keep it. Kids never forget these kinds of things." Kagome then took a pause, looking as if she was thinking very hard.

InuYasha wanted to smirk but controlled himself, he couldn't help what came out of his mouth however; "Don't hurt yourself."

Kagome glared at him, "Haha, very funny. I can't think of anything else for now, so just go by that!"

InuYasha nodded, "So when do you think it would be okay for me to start trying to make up for what I did?"

Kagome smiled warmly, he did want to change, "Well I suggest tomorrow since I assume they will be sleeping for most of the day today."

"Thanks Kagome."

Kagome then got a glace of herself from something that reflected and nearly dropped dead! She looked terrible!

"Oh. My. God." She stared at herself in shock, "I look like I was run over by a truck!" She mumbled.

InuYasha had picked up what she said and chuckled, "Well, I'll leave and let you sleep. Bye Kagome." He turned around and walked out the kitchen door.

Kagome heard the door close in the silence that now filled the air, 'Well no use in trying to sleep now, I guess I'll go take a shower.'

XxXxX

InuYasha took a deep breath and pushed himself off his car, he'd been standing there contemplating how he'd approach Kikyo. He walked up to the porch and knocked on the door.

"Wait, why am I knocking? This is my home too."

The front door swung up and there stood Kikyo. She, surprisingly, looked as beautiful as ever. However, like Kagome, she had a bruise on her neck. InuYasha felt the pang of guilt once again. A scowl crossed her face,

"What do you want InuYasha?"

"Kikyo, I want to talk to you." He replied, ignoring the urge to pull her into his arms.

She shook her head, "Well, I don't want to talk to you. If you're going to become an abusive alcoholic-"

"How did you expect me to react Kikyo!? You're cheating on me!" He yelled, suddenly outraged.

Kikyo rolled her eyes, "I told you it was an accident. I just got caught up in the moment."

"I don't believe that!" He glared. "Just stop lying already, I'm not stupid. You willingly did that with that bastard, if it was just a moment, why were you in such a secretive area?"

She retorted, "It wasn't that secretive!"

InuYasha glared, she'd basically just confessed. She rolled her eyes.

"Look," He started, calming himself, "I came here to apologize for what I did last night. I'm sorry. I'll never put my hands on you again but I am not apologizing for anything else."

Kikyo pinched the bridge of her nose, "InuYasha, I need some space."

InuYasha looked at her in amazment, 'Did she just say she needed space?' He shook his head, "I need some space also, so I just want to get some of my things so I can rent a hotel or something."

Kikyo glanced at him up and down then moved aside while opening the door wider, "Make it fast, I have to go out soon."

InuYasha resisted the urge to ask her where because he knew he didn't want to know her answer. He walked upstairs to their room and grabbed a small suitcase they kept in case of an unexpected trip. He stuffed a few necessities in it and walked back downstairs, suitcase in hand. He walked to the living room and found Kikyo ready to leave by the door, looking impatient. InuYasha sighed and headed towards the door, as he was about to walk past her; she grabbed his arm.

"InuYasha when I say I want some space I mean I don't want to see you, I don't want to hear from you, heck! If I could, I wouldn't even want to hear your name mentioned."

InuYasha looked at her with blank eyes, "Well that should be rather simple since you are fired."

Kikyo huffed, "I was wrongfully fired, I can sue."

InuYasha laughed, "You were fired way before I caught you cheating, I was looking for Sesshomaru to save your ass but luckily I found you and just finished the job for him."

Kikyo smirked evilly, "Yeah because you don't have enough balls to fire me yourself."

InuYasha looked at her as if she had four heads, "I did fire you! And at least I'm suppose to have balls, I don't believe you are." He smirked at her frown, "Anything else you don't want Kikyo? Or anything you do want? Do you want to see other people?" He said it with a non-caring attitude but saying those words hurt a part of him.

Kikyo looked at him but didn't answer. After a moment she walked away and got into her car then drove off without looking back. In those moments that Kikyo was looking at InuYasha's eyes he suddenly knew the answer to his question and where she was going. He didn't know what to think or what to feel. All he could muster up was this,

'What went wrong?'

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait! School's finally (almost there) coming to an end and that means EXAMS---and Kita has her own stuff that's been keeping her from her laptop. Literally. Ha. . . Ha. . .

. She's going to kill me for that.

Anyway! I hope you all enjoyed! REVIEW!