Chapter 9: The Light
"Goddamnit, Kagome! Pick up your fucking phone!" InuYasha screamed at his own device as he sped down the road towards her house, breaking every traffic law in the process. He had only been half a block from his house when it had exploded. InuYasha knew he was lucky to have even been that far away. His nose hadn't failed him in the detection of the crudely made bomb someone had put in his basement. He had a pretty good idea who that someone likely was, but he had bigger problems at the moment.
The second her panic had hit him he knew that she had seen his house. Calling her had seemed the fastest way to calm her mind, but the damn wench wouldn't answer! Shoving the device into his breast pocket of his jacket with a gruff, he rounded the corner leading to her shrine with such speed his knee brushed the ground. The only thing that mattered in that moment was getting her in his arms, safe.
Ms. H. looked up at the ceiling when she heard her daughter scream. Quickly, she ran up the flight of stairs to her child's room and flew through the door. Finding her crumpled on the floor, unconscious, the woman drew her up into her arms and tried to gently wake her. "Kagome? Honey? Can you hear me?"
Slowly, the girl's eyes fluttered open and looked into her mother's "M-mom?" Before the woman could answer her implied question, her eyes opened wide. Kagome shot up to her feet and looked out her window, hoping it had just been a dream. Seeing the smoke and flames still rising to the sky made her heart skip a few beats. Her eyes had just began to water when her ears picked up the distinct sound of a motorcycle engine. Hope sprang to life within her as she looked down at the entrance to the shrine. Moments later, she saw him racing through the gates and screeching to a halt in front of her house.
"INUYASHA!" she screamed down at him. His eyes looked up and met hers as he left the bike and jumped straight up to her window. Not caring about formality or etiquette, he gathered her up in his arms and allowed their shared feelings of relief wash over them.
Time passed, how much neither of them knew. But when InuYasha felt a hand on his shoulder that wasn't Kagome's, he was startled back into reality. His eyes met her mother's and a slight blush crept up his face.
"InuYasha? What's going on?" she asked him, gently.
Slowly, he withdrew his arms from around Kagome and faced the older woman, though he did lace his fingers with hers. "Someone planted a homemade bomb in my basement. If I didn't have such a good sense of smell, I would've still been in the house when it went off."
Ms. H.'s hand flew up to her mouth and her eyes widened. "Oh my!" She touched his face tenderly, like a mother would a child. "I'm so glad you're safe, dear." Seeing his embarrassment at her touch, she offered him a small smile before withdrawing. "We should call the police."
InuYasha ran his free hand through his hair. "Yeah. And I've gotta call my fu-, my brother. He just got back to the U.S., too. He's gonna be so damn pi-, mad." He stumbled over his near curses. He was normally better about controlling his mouth around her mother, but his nerves were frazzled. Luckily, she either hadn't noticed or was willing to let it slide under the circumstances.
Taking on full mother mode, Ms. H. took charge of the situation. "Alright, you call Sesshomaru, then. I'll contact the police. By the time they get here, you should be able to talk to them." With that, she turned and exited the room, fully expecting her orders to be followed.
When she had left the room, InuYasha turned back to Kagome and took her face in his hands. "I tried to call you." He said seriously.
Kagome looked around her room and found her phone face down on the floor by her window. She bent down to pick it up and saw she did indeed have three missed calls from him. "I-I passed out after I saw your house. That must've been when you called."
He pulled her back against him and buried his nose in her hair. He held her there for a few moments before pulling back and sighing heavily. "I've gotta call Sesshomaru. Man, he's gonna be fucking pissed..."
Kagome squeezed his arm. "It's going to be ok. You're ok. That's all that matters."
He nodded before pulling his phone from his pocket and pulling up his least favorite number.
'Brother' was the simple greeting he got from the other end of the line.
"Sesshomaru. We've got a... situation here."
InuYasha could almost hear his eyebrow quirking. It annoyed him to no end. 'What kind of situation?'
"The kind where I was almost blown to fucking bits. Look, you're gonna have to come back. I'll explain everything when you get here, alright?" His voice was gruff and just shy of yelling. Kagome stroked his back, trying to send him waves of calm. He shot her a thankful look.
'I'm going to need a little more information to warrant coming back so soon, little brother.'
InuYasha growled. "Didn't you just hear me, you bastard? I. Was. Almost. Blown. Up. Come the fuck home."
A heavy sigh sounded over the earpiece. 'Fine. I'll be there sometime tomorrow your time. Will you survive without me until then?'
The dripping sarcasm in his voice wasn't lost on InuYasha. "I'll be just fucking peachy. Just get here, asshole." Without another word, he slammed his finger on the red end call button and shoved his phone back into his pocket.
Ms. H. chose that moment to saunter back into Kagome's bedroom. "The police should be here, shortly." A look neither teenager could decipher passed over her face before she continued. "InuYasha, I fully expect you to stay here. Atleast until your brother can get here. Understand?" Her tone was very no nonsense.
InuYasha stared at the woman, dumbfounded. "Oh, Ms. H. you don't have to do that. I could just go check into a motel or something..."
A slightly angry looked crossed her normally calm features. "Absolutely not. Someone obviously meant to cause you great harm, InuYasha. You're safer here. I'm not taking no for an answer."
A light flush of red dusted his nose and cheeks. "Ah, ok. Thanks, Ms. H."
A wide smile spread across the woman's face. "Good." The sound of a car pulling in front of the house drew the attention of the trio. "That's probably the police. We should go down and meet them." Without waiting for a reply, Kagome's mother turned and exited the room. InuYasha latched onto Kagome's hand and the pair made their way downstairs.
Ms. H. had just closed the door behind the officers as they entered the living room. Kagome recognized one of them as one of the detectives who had questioned her at the school earlier that day.
"Miss Higurashi, Ms. Higurashi, you requested to see me?"' Detective Totosai asked.
Kagome looked questioningly at her mother. "Yes, thank you so much for coming, detective. Please, have a seat. We can talk while InuYasha and detective...?"
"Oh, um, Myoga, ma'am. Detective Myoga," came the reply from the much older man.
A smile crossed the older woman's features. "While Detective Myoga and InuYasha discuss this atrocious act." She led Kagome and Totosai to the kitchen, leaving InuYasha alone with Myoga.
"So, InuYasha was it?" Myoga asked.
"Yeah."
"Ok then. Well, InuYasha, what exactly happened?"
InuYasha drew in a deep breath. "My friend, Kagome, the girl in there, was sexually assaulted Friday night by Taro Hojo. I found him forcing himself on her and tossed him. Then, this morning, he was harassing her again at school and I tossed him again, into some lockers which broke his collarbone I guess." Not that the fucking bastard didn't deserve it, he thought. "Anyway, well, after we both got suspended his dad, Yuu Hojo, got super pi-, mad and came by my house this afternoon. He told me I wouldn't get away with putting my claws on his son. I told him his son wouldn't get away with putting his hands on Kagome and he left all angry. A couple hours later I came downstairs and I smelled something weird coming from my basement so I went down there to check it out. I found a very crudely made bomb that was about to go off. I booked it outta there. I barely made it out of the house before it exploded. I came here because I was afraid Kagome might be in danger, too." InuYasha stopped abruptly, unsure what else to say.
"So, you suspect your classmate, Taro Hojo, of placing this bomb in your home?" Myoga asked, looking down at his notes.
"Either him or his dad. I can't be sure. Obviously I didn't see them put it there. It's possible that Taro could have done it while his dad had me distracted. We were yelling pretty loud, so I probably wouldn't have heard him sneaking into the house."
"Is there any other reason you can think of that they would have done this?"
"Well, they hate demons. They've made that abundantly clear. So, I think the fact that I'm a half-demon is even worse to them because a human chose a demon over another human."
Myoga scribbled on his notepad. "So, are you and Miss Higurashi together, then?"
InuYasha glared at the old man as a deep flush crept up his face. "How is that relevant, old man?"
"I meant no disrespect, InuYasha. I simply ask to gain possible motives." Myoga smiled at him, trying to quell any fears the boy might have.
"Keh. Well, um, yeah, sort of. I mean we are now. We weren't on Friday. Not like that, anyway."
Myoga nodded his understanding. "Do you have anyone else in mind who could have a reason to do this?"
InuYasha shook his head. "Nah. I ain't popular or nothin' but most people don't straight up hate me."
"Alright. Here, take my card. If you think of anything else or need to contact me you can reach me on my cell anytime, day or night. Ok?" Myoga pulled out a business card from his breast pocket and gave it to InuYasha.
InuYasha glanced at the card in his hand before sliding it into his back pocket. "Yeah, sure."
In the kitchen, the Higurashi women were discussing Kagome's cyber bullying problem. Ms. H. pulled out her phone and showed Totosai the photos of the horrible things her classmates had been saying. "Detective, the school says there is nothing they can do about this, that it falls under your jurisdiction. Please, tell me you can do something about this?" Ms. H. pleaded with the man sitting across from her at the kitchen table.
Totosai read enough of the comments to understand the jist of what they were. "Well, Ms. Higurashi, cyber crimes are very tricky. But, send me these screenshots and I'll get with our cyber department and see what can be done. I make no promises, though."
Ms. H. sighed and nodded her head. "Thank you, detective. I appreciate anything you can do for us."
Totosai looked at Kagome. "Miss, if I may, has anyone talked to you about assault counseling?"
Kagome had mostly been ignoring the conversation, allowing her mother to handle things. At his direct addressal of her, however, her head snapped in his direction. "Oh, um, I'm sorry?"
"Has anyone talked to you about seeking out counseling, dear?" His face showed genuine concern.
"Um... no. No, no one has mentioned it."
"Well, here. This is the number of a really good assault counselor. Her name is Kasumi Tendo. She's proven to be very helpful to women in your situation. I hope you'll atleast consider giving her a call?" Totosai handed her a slip of paper with a name and phone number on it.
Ms. H. chose to answer for her daughter. "Thank you, detective. That's very kind of you. We'll look into it."
Totosai stood and shook both of their hands. "Please, call me if something else comes up."
"Of course. Thank you so much for coming out, detective." Ms. H. said as she lead him back out to the front door.
Myoga and InuYasha had just finished their own conversation when Kagome came and laced her fingers with InuYasha's, seeking his comfort and trying to provide her own to him. The pair watched as her mother showed the two men out the door and turned back to them.
"Well, then. Kagome, honey, maybe it's best if your friends don't come over tonight. I think you two have had quite enough excitement for one day."
Kagome and InuYasha had both completely forgotten about inviting Sango and Miroku over for dinner. In unison, they both pulled out their phones and began typing. Ms. H. almost laughed at the display.
Kagome-Sango
[hey, some stuff came up. Reschedule?]
InuYasha-Miroku
[hey dude no go tonight. Another time?]
Their phones dinged in unison.
Sango
[of course. Call me if you need me.]
Miroku
[no prob man.]
They both put their phones back in their pockets and looked back at her mother.
"Well, I suppose we need to go get you some basics, InuYasha. Let's go get some dinner and head down to the mall, ok?" Ms. H. said matter of factly.
InuYasha widened his eyes at the woman. "Oh, Ms. H., you don't have to go to all that trouble. I'll be fine, I promise."
"Nonsense, dear. You atleast need some pajamas, a few days worth of clothes and a toothbrush. We certainly don't have anything here you can wear."
Accepting defeat, InuYasha nodded. "Alright. But I'll pay for it with the credit card Sesshomaru gave me, ok?"
Ms. H. smiled at his obvious attempt at conserving his pride. "Of course dear. Come on. I'm starving."
The trio made their way to a modest sushi restaurant and tried to enjoy their food. Kagome managed to swallow a few bites before giving up. This did not go unnoticed by InuYasha or her mother. InuYasha tried to pay for dinner, but Ms. H. refused his offer, telling him she could atleast pay for his food after the day he'd had. Reluctantly, he had agreed.
When they arrived at the mall, Ms. H. gave the pair explicit instructions. "InuYasha, go find yourself atleast 3 pairs of jeans, sweats, and shorts with both long and short sleeve shirts to match, two sets of pajamas, some boxers and socks, and bathroom toiletries. I have a few things I need to go find. I'll leave you two to it and meet you back here in about two hours or so?"
InuYasha groaned. He hated shopping. He hated looking at stuff and deciding what to buy. He hated being surrounded by people in close spaces. He hated trying things on, which he knew from experience Kagome would force him to do. He hated everything about it. But, he knew it was necessary. So when Kagome grabbed his hand and gave him the first smile that genuinely met her eyes that he had seen in days, he just allowed her to drag him along.
An hour later found the pair in front of a display of satin pajamas that Kagome had spent the last five minutes trying to convince him to buy. "Pleeeeeease, InuYasha? You would look so cute in these!" She held up a matching set of deep red satin pajamas.
He looked at her and smirked. "Cute? Nuh uh. No way. Definitely not."
She pouted and gingerly put the pajamas back down on the display. "Fine. I'll go over there and look for some boring pajamas then..." She stuck her tongue out at him before walking away.
InuYasha almost laughed. It was good to see her acting almost like herself. Maybe he should make her get out and do more life stuff. He looked down at the satin pajamas. Shaking his head, he picked them up and tossed them in the cart they had been forced to grab. Damn wench, making me buy these stupid things... he thought.
Kagome wandered several aisles away from InuYasha in search of more manly pajamas for her prideful hanyou. She had just stopped to look at some flannel ones when a voice from behind her ear drew her attention.
"Mmm. Damn, what dumbass started up the bond with a fine piece like you and didn't have the balls to finish it?"
Kagome turned around slowly. Not a foot behind her was a demon she had never met. He appeared to be some kind of flying bug demon judging by the wings on his back. "Excuse me?"
"C'mon, baby. Why don't you come let Gatenmaru show you how it's done..." He reached out and grabbed her by the wrist.
"No! Stop!" She began to try to struggle from his grasp, but he held firmly. She reached out and pressed her free hand on his chest. "I said let me GO!" Suddenly, a bright flash of pink light emanated from her hand and blasted Gatenmaru, forcing him back from her several feet and knocking him unconscious.
"KAGOME!" InuYasha yelled as he rounded the corner and saw her. She was staring at the hand from which the light had come from.
She looked up into the eyes of her hanyou, confusion and fear evident. "I-InuYasha?" she whispered.
A/N: Ok guys. This chapter may be a bit slow, I apologize for that. I do want to say thank you so much for your love and support! It means the world to me! Please review!
Review Replies:
kecole12813 – Hehehe. I know, that ending was so mean, wasn't it? I have a bad habit of leaving things on big cliffhangers like that. I'm so happy you love my story! My heart is so swollen from the love! Thank you so much! I hope you continue to read and review! :)
Wicked Onna- Oh my goodness, you're too kind! Thank you for all your kind words and support. Reading your reviews always brightens my day. I appreciate you saying I'm a good writer. That was a great thing to read. I truly hope the story is still enjoyable. I look forward to your next review!
Until next time!