Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha and Co.

Warning! This does contain adult themes and language.

Buffer

(n) a person or thing that shields and protects against annoyance, harm, or hostile forces.

"Okay, Ms. Higurashi. Do you think you could tell me what happened from the start?"

Kagome didn't bother looking up from her white knuckled grip on the blanket around her shoulders. She couldn't recall who had put it around her, or how many officers had come and gone through her and Inuyasha's apartment. To be honest, she couldn't really say she cared, about much of anything.

Except the keep the memories away.

After her panic attack against Inuyasha, she had passed out from sheer exhaustion. When she had woken, Inuyasha was still glued to her side, but the young officer had been replaced by a kind, middle aged detective who was now leading her case.

Her case…

She had become a victim.

Never in her life, had Kagome had ever dreamed she would be one of the women that was featured on the news. One of the women that she herself had winced over and shaken her head sadly over. She had never thought it would be her picture they would show next to the words: Attempted rape victim.

Tears burned a track down her cold cheeks.

Would she ever go back to just being Kagome Higurashi? Probably not.

When she felt a nudge against her shoulder, she looked up blankly. Inuyasha stared intently down at her from next to her. Ever since she had woken up, he hadn't left her for anything. She didn't know whether to be grateful or suspicious of his behavior.

But at the moment she didn't care.

He offered a comfort to her she hadn't felt since the beginning of that night.

"Ms. Higurashi?" the detective tried again.

Turning to him, she offered him a hollow smile.

"I'm sorry. What was your question?"

"Can you tell me what happened from the beginning?"

Biting her lip, she steeled her nerve. This would undoubtedly be one of the many times she would be relaying her story. Taking a deep breath, she tried to detach herself from the memories.

"I was…walking home from work…"

When she paused, the detective hedged in gently. "At what time did you get off work?"

She swallowed around the sudden lump in the throat. "Around nine. I work at the local grocery store. I'm one of the managers. I never thought about taking a cab. I only lived four blocks away anyway. I never…I never thought this would happen to…me."

Inuyasha reached over and tentatively placed his hand over her death grip. Looking up, she saw his steely gaze was not on her, but on the patient detective. Leaning into the warmth he offered, she tried again.

"I got off around nine and instead of taking a cab, I decided to walk home on my own. I think I was around a block from the grocery store that I heard footsteps following me. I thought at first that I was going crazy…but then when I increased my pace, so did the other footsteps. I knew I was being followed and I…I panicked. I started to run home, but something…someone hit me from behind and…and pinned me against the w-wall."

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to block out the memory of his voice, of the feel of his body pinning hers against the brick wall.

"I want you."

She shuddered but continued. "I asked him what he w-wanted with me and…he said," her breath hitched. "He said 'I want you'. And then he hit me in the back of the head and I…I blacked out."

When she paused, the detective nodded and asked quietly, "If you heard his voice again, would you be able to identify it?"

She looked up at him and even though he had seen several rape victims over his years on the police force, he couldn't recall ever meeting a gaze so thoroughly haunted as hers.

"I'll never forget it," she whispered.

"What happened after that, Ms. Higurashi?"

"When I woke up, I was in a dark alley. At first I didn't know where I was and it was so dark that I couldn't see anything. When I tried to get up, I heard him. He was laughing at me. At how scared I was." Her lips tightened and a sense of raw fury settled over her heart. "He thought it was funny that I was scared. There were two of them. I didn't see one of them…he stayed back and watched. The other man had a rope and when I tried to scream, he-he wrapped it around my neck. I tried to struggle, but every time I did, he wrapped it tighter around my neck until I almost couldn't breathe…"

"Struggling will only get you killed, little lady," a patronizing voice rang out over the sounds of Kagome's muffled screams of panic and struggles. She stopped and sat there, panting with a combination of searing pain in her head and fear.

Her tearful gaze danced from one man to the other. The one holding her captive was breathing heavily from excitement and his dull brown eyes were glazed with a sick enjoyment and lust.

Whimpering, she turned to look at the shadowy figure to her right.

He met her gaze and she saw his smile widen. His hand came out from the light and she noticed a thin, long scar from the back of his hand to his elbow to disappear into the shadows. He skimmed a hand down her cheek, tracing the path her tears took and his grin only widened at her fearful wince.

"So beautiful…I'm going to have fun breaking you…"

With that his hand pulled back into the shadows and she saw movement to her left. Screaming behind the meaty hand over her mouth, she was pinned onto her back with a big, hard body pressing against her front. Struggling and trying to buck off her attacker, she thrashed and scrambled desperately for something…anything to save her from her looming fate.

The man above her grunted in excitement at her struggles and lifted a hand from the rope around her neck to reach down and grasp the hem of her skirt roughly. Attempting to yank it up between their bodies and keep her pinned in the process, he gave a grunt of frustration right before Kagome heard the horrible rip of cloth.

Sobbing, Kagome's hand groped for a weapon. When her hands skimming over something, her heart gave a lurch. Her fingertips sought after the object and she identified it at something made of glass. She managed to wrap her fingers around the small shaft of what she identified as a beer bottle.

It was small, so she would only have one shot at getting her attacker off of her.

When she felt rough cold fingers grip her thighs and attempt to pry them apart, she knew she was out of time. Screaming at the top of her lung around the hand on her mouth, she whipped her arm forward and brought the base of the beer bottle crashing against the face above hers.

The man gave a short cry of surprise before slumped dazedly against her. With strength born from adrenaline, she bucked her hips and threw most of his weight off of her. Scrambling from under his unconscious weight, her fingers still gripping the shattered remains of the neck of the bottle, she turned to face the other man.

His face twisted with rage and lunged toward her. In his hand, she saw the wicked gleam of metal and knew she couldn't hesitate. When he was within reach, she squeezed her eyes shut and thrust the jagged glass towards her attacker.

With bated breath, she waited for the agonizing pain, but felt nothing. Opening her eyes she saw the man's surprised face. In her panic she had thrust the bottle into the other man's diaphragm and his rattled breathing was the only sound in the alley. As he began to slump forward, Kagome darted around his form and out into the street.

Looking around frantically, she saw her building still within sight. Sobbing with joy, she sprinted in that direction. However, she only made it to the main door when her knees gave out from under her and her stomach lurched. She turned her head and emptied the sparse contents of her stomach into the bushes lining the walkway. Dizziness gripped her and she slumped to the side, her vision drifted to blessed black numbness.

Silence filled the room and Kagome didn't bother to lift her gaze from the floor to see the reactions in the room. The stiffness in Inuyasha's body said it all.

Suddenly an angry male voice rose from the living room and drifted to the silent room. Kagome's head shot up as she identified to voice.

Fresh tears flooded her eyes and she attempted to stand on her shaky legs. Inuyasha shot to his feet and wrapped a hand around her arm to keep her steadied. But her eyes never left the hallway as she sounds of the familiar male voice came closer. Soon, the words became identifiable.

"I don't give a shit what your protocol says! That's my fucking girl friend in there! Either arrest me now or step aside!"

There was a beat of silence before the sound of running feet could be heard heading toward them. Inuyasha watched Kagome's face crumble with relief as the sight of her boyfriend finally came to the doorway.

Stepping from Inuyasha's warm grip, Kagome didn't bother to hide her tears.

"Kouga," she sobbed and only managed one step toward him before she was swept up into the only set of arms she felt safe in.

Sobbing openly, she wrapped her arms around his neck with all the strength she had left and buried her face in his shoulder. He gave a shudder and buried his face in her hair. His voice was ragged with emotion when he began to talk.

"God, Kagome. Are you okay? I got here as soon as I could."

When he tried to pull back to look at her, she shook her head and clutched him tighter.

"I'm so glad you're here, Kouga," she whispered. "I love you."

He closed his eyes on a wave of emotion. "I love you too, Kagome. God, I love you so much. I'm sorry I wasn't there. I should have been there!"

Pulling back on her own, Kagome met his agonized blue eyes with her own. She reached up and placed her palm on his tanned cheek. "You're here now. That's all that counts." She paused. "How did you know what happened?"

Kouga broke her gaze to look over her shoulder at the stiff and silent Inuyasha. His gaze was trained pointedly away from the tender couple but his golden eyes met Kouga's blue ones and they shared a moment of understanding.

Turning back to Kagome, he gave a soft smile. His hand covered her and he laid his forehead against hers. "A good friend told me I was needed."

Kouga turned to the detective patiently standing where he had gotten to his feet at Kouga's entrance. "Is there anything else you needed? I want to get her out of here."

The detective smiled and shook his head silently.

Just as Kouga was about to lead Kagome out of the room, she pulled back and turned to Inuyasha. Without thinking, she ran forward and wrapped her arms around him. He stood stiffly in her embrace before he relaxed enough to place one hand on the small of her back. She sniffled and gave him a genuine smile.

"Thank you, Inuyasha. You'll never know how much this meant to me," she whispered and placed a chaste kiss against his cheek.

As she left with Kouga and the detective followed them out of the room, Inuyasha was left by himself, his heart beating too fast for his comfort and his cheek still burning from the feel of her lips.

Sighing, his hand fell back to his side and he closed his eyes on a wave of fatigue.

I'm such a fucking idiot.

(AN: Wow, this update has been a long time coming. I know this wasn't really the ending everyone was expecting. I'm thinking about coming out with an alternate ending soon. Do you guys think I should come up with a more Inu/Kag oriented ending? I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. I'm sorry it took so long to get this out. Lacrosse season just started so I have little to no time for anything but practice, homework and sleep. Sometimes, no even all three. Well, I hope this was worth the wait. As always, thank you to those that reviewed! Your words keep me inspired.)

cupcakes- Thank you! I enjoy sharing them.

Rose-Aki- Thank you! Your feedback is what gave me the inspiration to get this update out.

tipsu- Thanks! I hope you enjoyed it.