Unstable
Insight into the Past
"Him…" The man said peaking past Kagome. "I don't know…"
"Please Mister, he is very strong and will help you take down the rides, and we only want to stay for one night." Kagome pleaded with her hands in a prayer form.
The man looked at her and sighed, "It is Carnie rule to never turn down a pretty face, so alright. Just make sure you control him, another stunt like he pulled earlier and he won't be walking away from here tomorrow."
"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" Kagome hugged the man quickly. "Inuyasha!" she yelled running a few yards towards the woods. "Inuyasha!"
"What? I can here YOU just fine." He said emerging from the dark forest.
"If you can't already tell, they said we could stay." She said. Inuyasha walked up to her and shook his head.
"I don't want to help them with anything." He said.
"What do you mean?" Kagome blinked.
"I will not, I repeat, will not help them with anything!" Inuyasha crossed his arms and turned his back to Kagome.
Kagome quickly ran in front of him. "Please?" She asked sweetly giving him her kindest most persuasive smile. Inuyasha hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. "Pretty please?" Kagome fell to her knees and tugged on Inuyasha's pant leg.
Inuyasha shook his leg and took a step away from her. "Alright, alright, just get off me."
Kagome smiled and jumped up giving Inuyasha a tight hug just like she had given to the Carnie except she didn't release him. Her toes were barely touching the ground and the top of her head was just below his chin. Her hands were wrapped tight around his neck while his own hands remained at his side.
"Uh…" he said.
Kagome pulled away from him and hid the blush on her face, but she still managed to look into his eyes, searching for the hint of his emotions. But she saw nothing.
"What?" Inuyasha asked feeling as though he were being spotlighted in a crowded room.
"Nothing…" Kagome said continuing to stare into his eyes.
"HEY!" The Carnie yelled. "ARE YOU GONNA HELP US? OR ARE YOU GOING TO SLEEP IN THE FOREST?"
"Coming!" Kagome yelled. She ran away from Inuyasha towards the Carnie with a smile on her face.
Inuyasha looked after, not really seeing anything. His mind was floating with thousands of questions that only one person could answer.
"Are you coming?" Kagome said to him from the gate of the Carnival.
Inuyasha nodded and started to walk towards her.
Kagome... He thought as she made a funny face at him.
****
"I refuse to talk to that." Sango's patient said pointing to Miroku who was leaning against the closed door of the room.
Sango was sitting on the edge of her desk with a clipboard in her lap. Her hands were on either side of her body clenching the tip of the desk.
"And what has Miroku done to you, Shippo?" She asked the young child who was sprawled out on the couch in the center of the room.
"He was born," Shippo answered.
"Sango can I please leave." Miroku asked as calmly as he could manage.
Sango sighed and waved to Miroku that he could leave. He didn't hesitate in leaving and making sure the door clicked closed behind him.
"'Bout time he left." Shippo said with relief in his voice.
"And why is that? He didn't say a single word to you except 'Hello' when he walked in and you just started immediately going off on him." Sango hopped off her desk catching the clipboard in her hand.
"I bet he deserved it in some way, shape, or form." Shippo said.
"Shippo, do you know why you're here?"
"Cause I hate all men…"
"But aren't you a…"
"I hate myself too!" Shippo yelled.
Sango stared at Shippo for a moment before continuing, "How is your relationship with your father?"
"How do you expect it to be?" Shippo asked.
"I don't know, why don't you tell me?"
"Fine…" Shippo said as he leaned his head against the back of the couch. "I hate him. I hate him so much that just the thought of him makes me melt with anger."
"Is this the man you currently live with?" Sango asked jotting down notes on the clipboard.
"Yes." Shippo said through gritted teeth.
"And he is not your real father, correct?" Sango looked up from her notes.
"Yeah, that's right. But he's the only father I've ever known." Shippo jumped off the couch and walked towards Sango. "What's that you're writing?"
"Notes." Sango said as she clasped the clipboard to her chest to hide it from Shippo. "So…Shippo, how is the relationship with your Mother?"
"You mean how was the relationship…"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Oh, you mean you haven't heard yet, my mom died three days ago."
Sango stood up and let the clipboard hit the ground. "What?"
"Yeah, her body was found in a ditch off the road side." Shippo said with a matter of fact voice.
"H-How?" Sango asked before she could stop herself.
"The police say it was a random pick by a serial murderer, but I know better."
"I don't understand…Why didn't I know about this?"
Shippo shrugged.
"Uh…stay here! I'm going to be right back." Sango ran full speed out the door slamming it closed behind her. She ran headfirst into Miroku who was standing just outside waiting for her.
"Whoa in a hurry?" He asked grabbing her shoulders and pushing her back slightly.
"I have to talk to Kikyo." Sango said. She brushed Miroku's hands off her and ran past him. He hesitated a moment before deciding not to follow her; instead he gently turned the knob on the door and entered the room Shippo was currently in.
~
"There are only a few things a pretty lady like you can do." The Carnie said.
"Yeah, I guess I shouldn't have tried to help take down the Ferris Wheel or the Tilt-o-Whirl. And I'm sure that man's leg while heal quickly."
"Yeah Buck's a tough old man, I'm sure that crack we heard was just his teeth shattering together."
"Ha…ha…yeah." Kagome sat down on an old log in front of the fortuneteller trailer. The Carnie patted her on the back and smiled before running off to help properly remove the Ferris Wheel.
"Hello…" An old woman walked carefully down the steps of the Fortune Teller trailer and sat down next to Kagome.
"Um…hi." Kagome said with an unsure greeting.
"There is no need to be frightened, my dear. I only want to speak with you. Your friend is very odd." She said looking at Inuyasha who was busy holding an alarmingly large portion of the Ferris Wheel. The men were in disbelief at his inhuman strength.
"Yeah."
"And his ears are odd as well." The lady said turning towards Kagome. Kagome looked at Inuyasha's strange dog like ears that rested on top of his long silver hair. She had nearly forgotten they were there. The woman shook her head; "They are odd and broken."
"Yes," Kagome said nodding.
"But you have started to fix them, have you not?"
Kagome turned to the old woman and examined her more closely. She was wearing a long brown and gold shawl that was draped over a plum colored dress. She had strange sandals created out of rope and wood. Her hair was dark gray and covered by another shawl that was wrapped around her neck as well.
"You should look at yourself as well, my child." The old woman said. Kagome looked down at her skirt and saw tons of tiny rips and stains from traveling through the forest.
Kagome looked back at the woman and returned to her original train of thought, "What do you mean about his ears?"
"Why my dear it is obvious to every person who lays eyes on you or him, that he can only hear you."
Kagome tilted her head to the side; "You look familiar to me."
"Perhaps we met in another life?" The woman said.
Kagome narrowed her eyes and searched her brain for the origin of this woman.
"KAGOME!" Inuyasha yelled as he jogged towards her. Kagome turned towards the running Inuyasha and smiled. "They're going to give us some food!"
"How do you know?" Kagome asked.
"I can sorda read lips…" Inuyasha said trying not to make a big deal out of it.
Kagome stood up and was about to turn around to tell the old woman goodbye but there was no one there.
"What are you looking at, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked.
"Um…wasn't there just an old woman there?"
"Hey Beautiful, ya hungry?" The Carnie walked up.
"Do you know the old woman who lives in that trailer?" Kagome asked pointing to the fortuneteller trailer.
"I knew of her, if that's what you mean."
"You knew of her?" Kagome asked.
"She died over 50 years ago. Why, do you know her?"
Kagome felt like her heart had just jumped up into her chest. She looked at Inuyasha and then to the spot where she had last seen the woman. She heard the woman's words float through her minds once again…
"You look familiar to me."
"Perhaps we met in another life?"
"Inuyasha…" Kagome said as she covered the side of her face with one of her hands.
"Kagome? What's wrong Kagome?" Inuyasha grabbed Kagome by her shoulders and forced her to look at him.
Kagome did not understand why she felt lightheaded. She had experienced stranger things than this recently. She clenched the sleeve of Inuyasha's shirt and stared him straight in the eye as if she was pleading for him to help her.
Inuyasha searched her eyes for the answer to the question that remained unasked. Kagome fell into Inuyasha's chest as the lightheaded feeling became too much for her to bear. Inuyasha wasted no time in lifted her up.
"Get some water, and lead me to a place where she can rest." He asked the Carnie.
The Carnie nodded and motioned for Inuyasha to follow him.
'Be okay Kagome.' He pleaded in his mind. 'Please be okay.'
~
"I couldn't help but over hear." Miroku said to Shippo.
"So." Shippo said with his back to Miroku.
"You know I lost my parents when I was about your age too." Miroku leaned against the desk.
"Good for you."
"I grew up in a monastery." Miroku said.
"Didn't seem to help you any."
"As that may be true…I still wouldn't trade it…I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for the way I was raised. Sometimes I wonder if I'd be mean and snobby if my parents had been alive to raise me. And other times I pray to the gods to reverse time and to save them from death." Miroku lowered his head and his bangs covered his eyes.
"Death is something no one can change." Shippo said, "It works hand in hand with life."
Miroku raised his head and saw Shippo facing him and looking him straight in the eye.
"With out death," Shippo continued, "There would be no room for life on this planet."
"Very deep." Miroku said.
"Why don't you leave if you're going to make fun of me." Shippo said turning his back to Miroku once again.
"I'm not making fun of you, not at all. I was just agreeing with you. You know, you're rather smart for your age." Miroku sat next to Shippo on the couch. Shippo glanced at him quickly and then turned away.
"Did you know your real father?" Miroku asked not looking at Shippo.
"I have memories of when I was two and he would take me out back and give me piggy back rides while mom would sit in a lawn chair reading a book with the radio blasting."
"At least you remember." Miroku said with a hint of joy in his voice.
"You mean you don't remember your parents at all?" Shippo asked.
"I've never even seen a picture of them." Miroku rested his chin on his hands and his elbows on his knees. "My father died before my mother discovered she was pregnant with his child and she died soon after giving birth to me. The monk at the monastery said he would take me in since he knew my grandparents, but he hardly knew my parents."
"So you've never heard a story about them?" Shippo questioned. He looked at Miroku with sadness in his eyes.
"Only one story…and the details seem to thin out over time." Miroku stood up and headed for the door.
"Your mother may have been murdered." Miroku said with his back to Shippo and his hand inches away from the door handle. "But she was not murdered by a serial killer…. And Shippo, please always remember there are people worse off than you…and others who are so bad, they wish they were you." Miroku grasped the door handle and walked out the door just as Sango was jogging up the hallway.
"Miroku?" She questioned. "Did you get lost on your way to the girls shower or something?"
"Nothing like that Sango!" Miroku said waving as if to brush the comment aside.
Sango raised her eyebrow as she entered the room and kept an eye on the smiling Miroku until the door was completely shut. Miroku let out a relieved breath of air and walked towards the reception area to torment Kikyo.
~
"What?"
"Kagura calm down this is only a calm visit."
Kagura, the woman who clams to control wind, was sitting on her bed in the far side of the cell while a man with long black wavy hair stood in front of the closed door.
"You wish to leave this place?"
"Doesn't everyone?" She asked rolling her eyes.
"Then, as they say, you scratch my back I'll scratch yours."
"No, Naraku." Kagura said.
"I fear you have no choice."
~
"Let me go!" Kagome screamed as she struggled against arms grabbing her. There were so many people around her she couldn't tell how many. She threw her self from side to side as they lifted her off the ground and began to drag her down a strange hallway.
There were cells on either side of the hallway with hands reaching out to her. Trying to grab her, trying to pull her in to their reality. The people dragging Kagome wore strange blue outfits with nametags pined to them. Kagome tried to focus on the name but the only letter she could make out was a K.
The people carrying her forced her to stand up and threw her against a wall surprising Kagome to no end. They began to clamp her wrists, ankles, and her waist to the wall. Kagome struggled constantly but was unable to break free of their grip.
"Stop moving freak." One of them said as they left the room they had dragged her into. The room was painted entirely white from one wall to another. There was a mirror on the side opposite Kagome that probably had people observing her from the other side.
The strange thing about this mirror was the reflection starring back at her was not her own…it was Inuyasha's. Kagome studied the angry expression that was on his face, or was it her face? His silver hair was rattled and he was covered in scratches. Kagome looked at her own arm and saw no such scratches. She returned her gaze to the mirror to find her own reflection gazing at her.
"What is going on?" She asked.
"Number 5," a voice announced over the loud speaker. Kagome looked around the room and could not find the loud speaker. "This is experiment number 5 starting in 5…4…3…2…1…"
A sharp pain entered Kagome's entire body and she screamed as loud as she could manage.
"Kagome! Wake up Kagome, wake up!" Inuyasha shook Kagome out of her nightmare. She looked at him with more fear in her eyes than he had ever seen.
"Inuyasha…" she said as tears started to stream down her cheeks. She sat up from the bed she was laying in and wrapped her arms around his neck. He was sitting beside her in one of the Carnie's trailers.
"Uh…Kagome what's wrong?" He asked as he placed his hands on her shoulders. Kagome allowed him to gently push her back as salty tears streamed down her face. "Kagome…" He said almost sadly.
"It was terrible," She said with a sniffle. "There were people everywhere reaching for me…and I was being dragged and there were hands…and clamps…and a white room…then…" Kagome stopped and looked at Inuyasha with wide eyes. "And you, you were in the mirror instead of me. They called you Experiment number Five."
Inuyasha released her and walked to the edge of the small room putting his back to her. Kagome stared at his back with confusion.
"There were five experiments…" Inuyasha began. He turned his side to her but dared not look her in the eye. Kagome looked at him but did not say a word. "The first one…" Inuyasha paused. "The first one…" He seemed to have to gather his nerves before continuing.
'Don't ask me how long ago it happened because I can't remember. It must have been more than 50 years ago though…"
"Drop the net!" A man yelled as four more men obeyed. A young girl was trapped under the heavy net immediately. She struggled in the net only causing herself to be contorted more. A strange red blur zoomed in front of her and beheaded one of the men standing nearby.
Blood spurted on her face and on her sleeveless black dress. She stared at the beheaded body in surprise. She was nearly lying on the dirt ground resting her upper body on her elbows. Her long black hair was draped over her almost like a blanket.
"Get the Tranquilizer!" The man yelled as he took two steps away from the trapped girl. The other three men standing near her looked around them for the strange thing that had killed their comrade. Another man ran next to the man who was yelling orders carrying a large barrel gun. He took aim with the gun.
"Don't shoot the girl." The boss man ordered.
"Yes sir." He said.
"Inuyasha!" The girl yelled. "Don't come out!" She pushed her body up and leaned on her hands. "They want to shoot you!"
"Shut up girl!" The boss yelled.
Without any warning Inuyasha appeared in front of the girl, blocking the boss's view of her. The three men standing near her took a frightened step away from him. He was wearing a strange old fashion out fit that was entirely red.
"Fire." The boss said and the man pulled the trigger. The tranquilizer dart hit Inuyasha in the neck. He didn't flinch or give any indication that he had been hit except when he reached up and pulled out the dart.
"Inuyasha, save yourself." The girl cried.
"Shut up you stupid girl." He said. "I can't let them take you."
She closed her mouth and stared at him for a moment before letting her head drop. "Inuyasha…"
"The dart…" The man who had fired the weapon said as he lowered it.
"Hurry and fire another one!" The boss yelled almost in a panic.
The man fumbled through his coat for another dart and knocked the darts and their case on the ground.
Inuyasha ran forward and grabbed the gun from the man. He bent the barrel and through the gun aside. The man whined slightly in fear as he watched the scene.
The boss man took advantage of Inuyasha's interest in the man to run to the girl and smack her upside the head with a rock on the ground.
She slumped on to the ground silently with a peaceful slumber present on her face. The wound on her head the man had caused was starting to bleed and the blood was trailing down her face and over her eye.
Inuyasha smelt the blood and turned around to see the three men and the boss gathering her up. He was about to run to them when the man he was standing near grabbed two darts from the ground in either hand and stabbed them into Inuyasha's back.
Inuyasha jerked forward slightly from the forced before sweeping around and clawing the man across the face causing him to scream and run off.
He started to walk forward but when he took a step the ground under his feet began to waver. He took another step and nearly collapsed to his knees. He saw the boss and his men carrying her farther and farther away from him.
"Wait." The boss said to the men. "I think the tranquilizers are finally kicking in."
The other men stopped walking to look at Inuyasha sway slightly. The expression on his face was a drugged almost dizzy one. The boss started to laugh.
"Not so tough now are you, half breed." He turned to his men and continued to speak, "I think we should take him and the priestess."
The girl opened her eyes slightly just in time to see Inuyasha hit the ground with a loud thud. She widened her eyes, "Inuyasha!" She yelled.
"Shut up, we can't have you using your powers on us…" One of the men holding her net off the ground spoke.
"Yeah, so keep quite or we-" another started.
"Inuyasha!" she screeched in a panic. "Inuyasha."
'They took us to a strange place with hallways filled with cells on either side with people reaching out. They would strap me to a wall in a completely white room and send electrical rays through the walls, trying to see if they could either drain the strength I had as a half breed, or try to shock the demon out of me.'
'And the girl…I only ever saw her once…she looked as though she was thrown into a blender and turned on High. She hard dark circles under her eyes and her long hair was tied into a matted braid. She hardly resembled the once beautiful girl she had been. I felt it was all my fault, that if I wasn't there they wouldn't be putting her under such rigorous treatment.'
Inuyasha stopped talking and sighed deeply. He looked at Kagome who was staring back at him with a sad expression.
"Meh," He said as he crossed his arms. "But that's all in the past now."
"But…don't you want to see her again?" Kagome asked. She stood up clenching the blanket from the bed around body.
Inuyasha looked at her with a slightly menacing expression. "I couldn't see her even if I wanted to…that was 50 years ago, and she was human."
"That's right…you said you were a half breed…" Kagome stated more than asked.
Inuyasha seemed to growl slightly at the word 'half breed'. "I'm half human, and half demon." He said. "My mother was human and my father was demon."
"Oh." Kagome said realizing she had offended him in some way. "I'm sorry, I didn't know…"
"So don't be sorry then." Inuyasha said. "But I guess there would be a small chance that she could be still alive."
"You don't look very old…" Kagome began.
"I age slower than humans because of my demon half." He answered simply.
"Oh, I see." Kagome took a step towards him, eyeing his silver dog-ears.
Inuyasha followed her gaze; "They're my curse and my gift." He said.
Kagome took another step towards him. "Can I…"
"I don't like for people to touch my ears." Inuyasha retorted.
"Oh I understand." Kagome took a step back.
"But…" Inuyasha eyed Kagome wearily. "I suppose since you can hear me…" He kneeled on one knee and bowed his head slightly.
Kagome stared at his silver mane astonished.
"Well?" he called.
Kagome walked forward and reached out with one of her hands while the other continued to clench the blanket around her body.
She gently touched his ear and began to rub it tenderly. Inuyasha did not protest so she released the blanket that came rippling down to her feet. She touched both his ears and then suddenly stopped. She knelt down to be eye level with the already kneeling Inuyasha.
"Inuyasha…" she started.
He looked at her with protest on his lips, but she continued.
"I promise that I will do all within my power to prevent you from ending up at that asylum again." Kagome retained her serious expression for a moment before smiling sweetly.
"You don't have to do anything…I don't need anyone's help." Inuyasha stood up and was about to leave the small room he paused and released a defeated sigh, "Don't get into any trouble, I don't want to have to come and rescue you."
Kagome watched him leave with a smug smile on her face. 'He pretends he's so tough.' She thought, 'But I can see the fear in his eyes.'
*******************************************
Well…well…well…hmph…
Yeah…I know you people don't like to read these so…
Yeah…
Hmmm
Review?