A/N: Chapter eight is here! Lol, I promise that there will be explanations in this chapter. (No promises on how many or how detailed; ) Please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not have the pleasure of owning Inuyasha or anyone else in his universe. That pleasure belongs strictly to Rumiko Takahashi. Life is so unfair.

Unnatural Amnesia

Chapter Eight:

Kagome sat on the bench after hanging up with Inuyasha, and wondered what she was going to do. I've got this sinking feeling that, even if Inuyasha were to hand over whatever money is involved before noon tomorrow, I'll still end up seeing Tao again. And I don't think he'll be pleasant about it; I think he really will kill me if he gets the chance. But, why? I don't know him; it's not like I'm that close to Inuyasha. It doesn't make sense. Why can't this all be just a freaky dream? I'll wake up in a few minutes and ask Souta to work my shift at the shrine; maybe I'll even study for my upcoming test.

She was still sitting on the bench five minutes later when Inuyasha sat down next to her. She was so lost in her thoughts that she visibly jumped when he sat.

"Easy, it's me." He said gently, leaning into the corner slightly so that he could see her without craning his neck. He draped his right arm casually over the back of the bench.

Kagome took a deep breath to steady her racing heart and gave him a half-smile. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. You didn't have to come, you know."

Inuyasha managed to resist the urge to pull her against him and bury his nose in her hair, so instead he settled for a verbal reassurance. "Are you ok?"

She nodded, leaning back against the bench, looking skyward. "Yeah, I am. I'm just…scared. I've never had someone threaten to kill me before, and he looked so…serious." She paused then, looking over at him searchingly. "Do you think he could've meant it? Would he really kill me if you don't pay him what he wants?"

Inuyasha was silent a long moment, staring back into her brown eyes, wishing strongly that she had all her memories, so he could tell her the truth. The full truth. Finally, he nodded slowly. "If he said he would, then he meant it. He's unstable, Kagome. Violently unstable."

She dragged in a ragged breath, her eyes going wide. "But you said you don't actually owe him any money. And he never gave me an amount. He just said you had to pay him. How can you pay him, assuming you would, if you don't know what to pay him? Or how to get it to him?" Her mind was racing now, as her fear increased.

He could smell her fear; it was rolling off of her in waves, and it was starting to put him in a foul mood. He'd always hated when she was afraid, and now that Tao had involved her in their little feud, she wasn't safe. And she had no idea how to defend herself, either. Mentally cursing the world, he reached out and lightly placed his right hand on her shoulder, catching her attention again. "I know what he wants, Kagome. And the 'how' wouldn't be too hard to figure out. Don't panic, I promise I won't let him touch you."

"Y-you aren't worried?" Her eyes were searching again, looking for signs of hope; a signal that it would be ok. He did his best to give her one.

Shaking his head, he said, "No, I know how to get him the money and I know how much he wants. I'm not worried." Except for the minor detail of what could happen if Tao figures out just how much she means to me. Then I'll have a reason to worry. If he doesn't know already.

"But, if you don't owe him anything, how do you know what he wants?"

"Because, we've been going through hoops for a few years now. You see, Tao used to work for the company. He was a part-time bell-hop, if you will. He was also putting himself through college, so he was always tight on money. Anyway, about three years ago, he decided that he'd earned more than we were paying him, and so he broke in to the cash registers just before closing and cleaned 'em out. Then he managed to hack into the hotel savings account, and he transferred a nice chunk o' change to his personal account. Of course, transactions like that get looked into pretty quick, so I made a visit to his apartment about a day later and discovered he'd cashed everything. Don't know how he'd done it, but apparently he likes to look at his money. I'd brought most of the local police with me, so they arrested him and confiscated the money. A few days later, all the money he'd taken was put back in the hotel's account, and then the account was switched, to try an' keep people like him out. He was hauled off to jail for a while, but he recently got released, and apparently he's already decided to get back 'his' money. He blamed me for his getting caught and arrested, so that's probably why he's targeting me through you." Missing a few details…ok, a lot of details, but that's all she needs to know right now. I don't think she'd react well to 'Hey, Kagome, the guy who just threatened to kill you is a dangerous demon who probably wants to eat you. Oh, by the way, I'm a half-demon, that's how I know.' Yeah, right.


Kagome was quiet for a moment as her mind replayed Inuyasha's story. She didn't doubt that he'd given her the quick-and-ugly version, but it was really all she needed. "So, he's using me to force you to give him money that he's already tried to steal once before?"

Inuyasha nodded solemnly, watching her. "Yeah, pretty much. Look, I know you're upset and scared, and I completely understand that, but I promise everything'll be fine. Just keep your eyes open today, and tomorrow, just to be safe. I've got a few phone calls to make, but with a little luck, the bastard'll be back behind bars come tomorrow." Or dead. Dead would be better.

Kagome gave a half-nod, but then hesitated, obviously still not quite sure about something. He reached over on impulse and tilted her chin up with his thumb and index finger.
"Kagome?"

"I-I just…I got such a weird feeling from him. I don't think he'll stay away, Inuyasha. I know I don't know him, but this feeling won't leave me alone. I'm worried he'll come back, tonight, maybe, and…I don't know. I'm worried for my family, not just me. Will they be ok? Do you think he'll come back early?"

Inuyasha was quiet for another long moment. Sighing inwardly, he forced himself to release her chin and said, "It's possible. Especially if he's determined to use you. If he thinks I'll get him what he's asked for so far, then he could come back, and try to use you or your family to get more."

"I can't let him threaten them, they're not involved in any of this! Please, how do we stop him? Can we stop him before he comes back?" She paused, an idea obviously occurring to her, and she sucked in a sharp breath. "Oh, God, what if he shows up while I'm not home? I should go home, make sure they're ok-!"

As she made to stand up, obviously not thinking clearly, Inuyasha quickly reached out and snagged her wrist, pulling her down, onto the bench. "Inuya-!"

"Kagome, listen to me! I know you're worried about your family, and I understand. But trust me, right now, it would be stupid for you to run back home. And I highly doubt he'll show up again so soon. If you've got anything to worry about, it's tonight. Or early tomorrow. Right now, you and your family are as safe as you can be. Trust me." He fell silent then, hoping she would come back to her senses and listen to him.

Finally, after a long moment's hesitation, Kagome nodded. "You're right, I'm sorry." She paused, and he smelled the salt a moment before she sniffled. "Should I tell them? I can't just leave them in the dark like this…but at the same time, I don't want to scare them unnecessarily. I don't know what to do, Inuyasha." She said the last part so quietly, it was possible she didn't think he'd have heard it.

"They have a right to know, I agree. If you want to tell them, I'll come with you and help you through it. If you want to keep it a secret, that's your decision. You don't have to make it now, either. Think on it, you've got time. It's only just past noon."

Kagome nodded again, slouching and burying her face in her hands. "Thank you, Inuyasha. I will think about it." Her voice came out slightly mumbled, but he heard her clearly, and rested a hand on her back gently in silent support.


They sat there for a few minutes, a comfortable silence stretched between them. Finally, she sat up and half-smiled once more. "I think I'll go home, now. I'm going to avoid telling them about it if I can; there's no use worrying them. Will you let me know when it's over?"

He nodded sharply, only just realizing that he'd never removed his hand from her back. "Yeah, I will. C'mon, I'll give you a lift home."

"Thanks."

"But I want you to call me if you hear from him again, got that?"

"I was planning on it."

"Good. Now let's hope you don't hear from him again."

"Let's," she said softly, walking beside him until they reached his Mustang. He unlocked it and held the door open for her as she slipped inside. Moments later they were on their way to Higurashi Shrine once more.


Inuyasha dropped her off, and she promised to call him if something came up. Then she disappeared inside her house and he pulled out of the driveway a moment later, telling himself that she'd be alright. Then he dug out his cell phone and made a call.

"I hear Tao is back in town." Sesshoumaru said when he answered the phone.

"Yeah, that's the rumor. He paid Kagome a visit and promised to kill her tomorrow at noon if I haven't paid him his money by then. So of course she freaked out."

"Understandably. What did you tell her?"

"The money story. You know, he worked for us, stole some money, we took it back and got him arrested."

He could almost see his older brother nod. "I see. I assume you left out the bloodier details?"

"You assume correctly. Now I need to hunt that bastard down and take his damned head off."

"I've got men looking for him. So far they've found nothing."

"Damn. Tao must've hidden himself pretty well, then. No matter, I'll just swing by the shrine later and follow his scent trail."

"Unnecessary, I've already had that option explored."

"Let me guess, dead end?"

"You assume correctly."

"Dammit!"

"Are you on your way back?"

"Yeah, I should be there in five or six minutes."

"Very well, we'll be here."


That evening, they were no closer to locating Tao, and Inuyasha's patience was disappearing faster by the second. He was pacing the large room, clenching and unclenching his fists with each step. Sesshoumaru was leaning against the far wall, arms crossed. Rin was sitting on the couch. The double doors opened and Shippo walked in, Kirara by his side faithfully. A few moments later, Kouga, Ayame, and Kenichi followed, shutting the doors behind them.

"Well?" Inuyasha snapped, turning to face them.

Shippo shook his head as Kouga spoke up. "Nothin', Mutt. Couldn't find a damn trace of that bastard."

"That's impossible. He couldn't have just disappeared!"

"Did you find anything?" Kouga argued as he sat down.

"So we try harder."

"Inuyasha, we've tried everything we could think of. He might as well have just vanished." Shippo put in, sitting down and scratching Kirara's ears as she jumped up and curled into his lap. No one spoke for a minute, all wondering how the demon could've vanished so thoroughly. All hoping he wasn't hiding behind an undetectable barrier, like someone else they'd once known and hated.


It was then that Inuyasha's cell phone rang again. "Yeah?" He was proud of himself for not biting off the head of whomever had called, seeing as he hadn't looked at his caller ID first. After a second or two of silence, his expression went from grim frustration to surprised anger. Then, suddenly, he stalked over to the coffee table, where he'd thrown down his keys after his search, too, had ended in failure, and snatched them up. "I'm on my way. Won't take me ten minutes." Then he hung up.

"Was that Kagome?" Shippo asked bravely.

"Yeah. I'll call later." And he was gone. A moment later, they heard his Mustang start up and peel out. The room was silent for a long while.


It took him less than five minutes, which he figured was probably not overly smart, but he also didn't overly care, to arrive at the shrine. He quickly climbed out of his car, and as soon as he did, he could smell the stench of Tao. The demon had obviously been there recently; not that he didn't already know that. Pausing long enough to inhale deeply, he was half reassured, and half frustrated to discover that Tao was no longer there. One very reassuring thing, though: he smelled no trace of expended demonic energy, or human blood. Shaking himself, he jogged to the front door and knocked loudly. It was all he could to do to keep himself from just barging in, like he used to oh-so-many years ago.

Kagome slid the door open almost immediately, and she gave him a small, appreciative smile as she stepped aside to let him in. "Thanks for coming, Inuyasha."

He stepped inside quickly, taking another deep breath before replying. "No problem. Where's your family?"

"They're in the living room. I haven't told them anything yet; I figured it'd be easiest to tell them all at once."

He nodded, understanding her logic. She took this as a sign to head into the living room, which was just down the hall, and began walking. She got about two feet away when she felt Inuyasha grasp her elbow firmly. She turned, confused, and met his gaze. "Inuyasha?"

"First, I want you to tell me what happened."

Kagome hesitated, but finally relented. "Ok." She paused, and he released her elbow and crossed his arms. She dragged in another breath and began. "Tao showed up about ten minutes ago; five minutes before I called you. He told me that he knew you were looking for him, and wasn't going to let you catch him without a final laugh. When I asked what he meant, he said I'd find out later, when he made me watch…made me watch him kill them." She looked away, and he smelled worry and fear and salt water. And hesitation.

"What else, Kagome? What else did he say?"

She sighed, leaning against the hallway wall and wrapping her arms around herself. She stared at the floor, and when she spoke, her voice was faint. "He said, 'after I'm done slaughtering your family, I'll play with you for a few hours. And when I've had my way with you, I'll chop off your head and carve out your heart.'…What kind of person makes threats like that?"

Inuyasha couldn't completely suppress the growl that rose in his chest, but he ignored it, walking up to her and grabbing her shoulders, causing her to look up at him. His expression was serious when he spoke. "Don't let him scare you, Kagome. He won't get to you, or your family. I swear it."

She watched his eyes intently for a beat, studying his courage and using it to help her control her emotions. Then she nodded, and the tears which had threatened to spill were gone. "Thank you, Inuyasha."

"You're welcome. Now let's go talk to your family."


Ten minutes later, Kagome's family was completely up-to-date. Or, rather, as up-to-date as Kagome was. Souta was clinging to their grandfather, whose mouth was still hanging partially open as he tried to understand exactly why this was happening. Mrs. Higurashi had her hand over her mouth, tears in her eyes. After a moment, she patted the empty seat beside her, forcing a calm smile. "Kagome, come here, dear."

Kagome stood and came over, collapsing beside her mother and allowing her to engulf her in a hug. "Oh, Sweetheart, I'm so sorry you had to deal with that all by yourself. You can always come to me, dear, I want you to know that."

"I know, Mom, I know." Kagome mumbled, returning her mother's hug.

Inuyasha watched from his spot against the wall, wishing once again that things were as they should be. Then the entire situation would be easier. He could just spend the night at the foot of Kagome's bed, as he'd done any number of times in the past, and he'd be more than ready when Tao arrived. Not to mention, Kagome would be right behind him with a quiver of arrows, ready and able to help take down the demon. But now she has no idea that she's one of a handful of priestesses with true spiritual powers left in the world; let alone that she could well be the strongest. They have no idea that demons exist; no idea that all I need is two minutes alone with this bastard. One Wind Scar, or maybe an Adamant Barrage, just to be sure. That's all it'd take. But I have to be more careful about it now. Damn it all.


Mrs. Higurashi looked up a moment later and met Inuyasha's gaze. "Thank you, for being here for my daughter through this."

"Keh, it wouldn't be happening if not for me, anyway. I'm doing what I can to make up for that."

Mrs. Higurashi smiled sweetly at him. "I don't blame you for this. You have no control over people like him."

"Yeah, I know. But it's still my responsibility, and I intend to do everything in my power to protect your family."

"And for that, I thank you."

"Are we gonna be ok? How are you gonna find this guy?" Souta asked from his position beside his grandfather.

Inuyasha switched his gaze briefly over to the young boy, who was growing well, though he still had no tolerance for scary things. Then he looked back to Kagome and her mother as he replied, "We're working on finding him now, but he's hidden himself well, and I'm not sure we'll be able to find him before tomorrow."

"But you and Kagome said he'd come back tonight!"

"That…that does sound like a problem." Grandpa Higurashi put in.

"Inuyasha, what if you stayed here? I mean, would you mind? If he's going to come back, then surely that would work. Right?" Kagome asked hesitantly, not sure how the others would receive that suggestion.

"I'd be willing to, but it's your home, so it's your decision." Meaning you don't have say 'yes,' 'cause I'll sleep in the damned tree if I have to. Not that I'd sleep.

"That sounds like an excellent idea to me. It would certainly put our hearts at ease. Are you sure you wouldn't mind?"

"Not at all. I can crash on the couch when you decide to turn in. Only problem I see is if I leave my car here, he'll see it. But I've got no problem moving it and walkin' back."

"Where would you leave it, though?" Kagome asked.

He shrugged non-chalantly. "Don't know, but it doesn't matter. I'll go do that now, so that I'll be back in plenty o' time to keep watch."

"Ok, then why don't you do that, if you don't mind?" Mrs. Higurashi stated.

"Alright, then I'll be back in a few." With that said, he pushed off of the wall and started towards the hall that led to the front door. A minute later, they heard his car come to life and drive away. No one said anything for a while, letting the events of the day sink in.


Inuyasha sped off down the street, turned a corner and took a side street that led to a couple of private driveways. Finding a section of road with large bushes and lots of trees, he pulled around and managed to fit the Mustang behind them, barely. Then he turned off the car and pulled out his phone. Sesshoumaru answered on the first ring.

"Inuyasha?"

"Yeah, listen, I'm stayin' at the shrine tonight. I've parked my car on a side-street, behind some brush. Just wanted to let you know where I'll be."

"What was the disaster?"

"Tao made a more detailed threat, that's what. I'll give you the details tomorrow. Maybe by then he'll be dead."

"I'll send someone to keep an eye on the house, to provide backup should you need it."

"No, he's as demon as we are, he'll smell a scent that doesn't belong and disappear again. I can deal."

"Very well. Good luck, then, little brother."

"Yeah, yeah. Call if somethin' important pops up." Then he hung up and stepped out of his car. And then he disappeared into the foliage, choosing to use the trees instead of walking.


He let himself in when he got back, deciding that they wouldn't mind if he forgot to knock. They were gathered in the kitchen, and Mrs. Higurashi was digging through the fridge. He pulled out the open chair beside Kagome and sat down soundlessly. She smiled over at him, but he could easily see through her façade. "Mom's making dessert. All she's saying is that it's something chocolatey."

Inuyasha grinned. "Really? Sounds good to me."

"So, Inuyasha, how come you stay in the hotel business if it's so dangerous?" Souta asked, leaning on the table.

"It ain't usually so dangerous. Sometimes people are crazy, that's all." He paused, smirking at the boy. "Besides, danger can be fun. Why do you think I'm head of security?"

Kagome lightly smacked his arm, saying, "You're giving Souta the wrong impression. You don't actually like the death threats, do you?"

"'Course not. When they're only directed at me, and I know the guys givin' 'em are nothing but dreamers, then sometimes it's funny. But situations like this just piss me off."

"Does this sort of thing happen often? I mean, do people threaten you or someone you know very often?" Souta asked curiously.

Inuyasha shook his head. "No, not really. It's happened before, sure, but it could be a hell of a lot worse."

"Still, I'd rather not have a job where people are gonna threaten to kill me."

"That's not a bad dream, kid."

"Hey! I'm not a kid, thank you very much! I'm fourteen years old!"

"Now, now, no yelling at the table. Who's in the mood for chocolate?" Mrs. Higurashi teased, turning around with a big, chocolate, dessert. They all dug in as soon as their portions were served, delighting in the small distraction.

To Be Continued…
A/N: Ok, so I know that was an odd ending, but I hope it wasn't too bad for people. That said, please review and come back for the next chapter!