Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.
Chapter Eleven:
No Escape
"...so... you didn't bring a boat with you?"
"No, Inuyasha. We wouldn't have been able to get close on a boat. Or a plane. Or a submarine. Give it a rest." Sango rubbed the bridge of her nose.
"...and didn't bring extra clothes?"
"No, Kagome. We did not bring extra clothes. Or soap. Or cheeseburgers. We were a bit of a hurry to rescue you." Miroku sighed and rolled his eyes to the heavens.
"Yet, we haven't really been rescued..."
"In. U. Ya. Sha. If you say that ONE more time I will NOT be held responsible for what happens to you," Sango growled through a clenched jaw.
"What's a cheeseburger?"
"Way to go, Shippo," snapped Inuyasha, "You made Kagome cry."
Turns out, the rescue by Sango, Miroku, and Kilala wasn't quite the rescue that Kagome had imagined when she first saw them coming out of the trees and brush. Though her friends had successfully made it to the island, there really was no way to get them all back OFF the island. The trip would have been too taxing for the firecat to carry five across the ocean back to safety. Though even if she could it would still be impossible. That afternoon they had discovered that the barrier would let things come in, but wouldn't let them leave. It made sense, otherwise the demons of the island might decide to take a little swim to more fertile hunting grounds.
Kagome wiped her eyes and tried to stop crying. It was silly really. She was in no bigger mess than she was before her friends showed up. In fact, their chances of survival had increased dramatically. Sango was a very skilled trained demon slayer. Kilala was a fierce fire cat demon who was very protective of her friends. And Miroku... Well, she was pretty sure he could probably fight, though she had never seen it herself (only heard that he used to spar with Inuyasha on occasion). Certainly was good on defense considering how many times he'd have to protect himself from the beatings he got every time he and Sango got together. It just felt that hopes that she didn't even know she had were suddenly just dashed when she realized that there was no easy escape. And she was really hungry for meat that she hadn't seen already alive. She would possibly literally give her right arm for a cheeseburger.
But cheeseburgers, bubble baths, and chocolate would just have to wait a little longer. Kagome pushed away the words 'if ever', but they still circled her head.
She wiped at her eyes some more until all traces of tears were gone. "Dust," she said as a way of explanation. Then she inhaled sharply and cleared her throat. "So... let's start thinking of ways to escape this place."
"I say we fight our way out. Just destroy everything and win this stupid competition and get out of here."
"Inuyasha!" gasped Kagome, horrified.
"It... sounds like a decent plan, actually."
"Sango!"
"Mew."
"You guys are impossible! I just want to get out of here. I don't want to have to kill anything or anyone else. And to actually win we'd have to kill the other contestants!"
"We could always let the demons eat them first."
Kagome grit her teeth. "You aren't helping, Miroku. Aren't you supposed to protect humanity? You are a monk after all."
Miroku smiled, "Who am I to meddle in the matters of fate? If they were meant to be eaten then it would be impertinent of me to interfere with fate's plans."
A dark cloud enveloped Kagome, making everyone take a couple of steps back. What a bloodthirsty group! Then again... this whole thing has been set up as a kill or be killed situation. It was unlikely that the other human participants would think twice before knocking her out of the game by lopping off her head or something. But... she didn't want to kill anyone. She just wanted to go home. She wanted her life back. She wanted this nightmare to be over.
"Maybe I could float us over the barrier," suggested Shippo as he looked up at her with big green eyes and took her hand, holding a flower to her with the other. She practically melted at the sweet gesture. "I've been practicing."
Tears slipped out of Kagome's eyes as she knelt down to hug the fox kit. She buried her face in his red hair to hide the tears. She didn't want to cry anymore. So she put on a smile before standing back up, taking Shippo with her. She took the flower he offered her and smelled it. The scent was light and sweet.
"What a pretty flower, Shippo."
Miroku smiled at the flower. "Even among the very bowels of the earth one can find beauty if one looks."
Kagome wrinkled her nose at his choice of wording, but smiled at the sentiment. Then she looked over at Inuyasha, who looked slightly grumpy, and smiled at him too. If it wasn't for this horrible game, she might never have heard from Inuyasha again. He had certainly disappeared from her life thoroughly enough after he left her. Quickly she turned her head so he wouldn't see her grin like an idiot. This whole miserable mess was kind of worth it. Though a less extreme reunion would have been a little nicer. And less smelly. This wasn't exactly how she pictured them getting back together and renewing their friendship. That dream involved running into his open arms, or tackling him if necessary.
Kagome bit her lip. Maybe that was it. Maybe he knew that she had developed a crush on him and decided to make himself scarce. Fine fine fine. It was a bit more than just a crush. So she fell in love, so what? It wasn't like she had planned on throwing herself at him or anything. She knew that he was still harboring feelings for her cousin, Kikyo. After they split up, he was so broken hearted he never even LOOKED at another girl! So, if friendship was all she could have with him, then she would be content with that. He didn't have to run for the hills or anything.
"What do you suppose Inuyasha did this time to make her mad," whispered Sango.
Kagome blushed.
"I DIDN'T DO NOTHING!"
She turned her head and tried to think pleasant thoughts. Apparently she wasn't good at keeping her emotions off her face. She bent her head to sniff Shippo's flower to make it not look so obvious that she purposefully not looking at them.
"I didn't do nothing!" Inuyasha repeated, this time a little less certain.
As they fought among each other, Kagome had an uneasy feeling as she noticed that they were all very comfortable with each other. Like countless months hadn't passed since they last spoke. Her suspicions were confirmed when Miroku made a comment about how if Inuyasha killed him then he would never get his game machine back. Inuyasha threatened certain death if there was one scratch on it, since he only bought it a couple weeks ago. Her feet stopped moving as she watched her friends continue to walk.
Her chest hurt.
Inuyasha... He hadn't disappeared from their lives... only hers.
"Kagome...?" Shippo's voice was faint. Kagome could barely hear past the sudden furious rushing of blood in her ears.
Why?
WHY?
Why did they hide this from her? How DARE Sango and Miroku keep that kind of a secret from her! Were they all laughing at how stupid she was for not figuring it out? Poor DUMB Kagome. Too idiotic to get that she was the punch line in some stupid joke.
"Um... Kagome...? The flower...it's moving…"
Her eyes squeezed shut and her hands fisted. How could they do this to her? How could they lie to her for all this time? They knew how hurt she was when he left. They knew how often she went to bed crying, wondering where he was and if he was ok and what she had done to drive him away. All this time they knew where he was… how he was! THEY KNEW!
"Your arm... Kagome... The flower is crawling up your arm!"
How DARE they? HOW DARE THEY? ? They weren't friends at all! The lied to her! All this time they were lying to her!
"I can't get it off! Kagome! Help! Inuyasha! HELP!"
They wouldn't get away with this! No. She wouldn't let them. They weren't going to laugh at HER anymore.
EVER.
AGAIN!
"Wake up, Kagome!" the kit's frantic voice was fading, but she didn't care. "Please wake up! Cut it off her, Inuyasha! It's going to strangle her! Sango, grab the petals! It's trying to eat her! Do something! Help her!"
Rage filled her. Everything else faded away.
ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo
ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo
"A flower?"
"Yes sir. Just as you asked. The flower demon has eaten the girl."
He rubbed his temples. The proud tone of his minion was getting on his nerves. "How many in that little group of theirs?" he asked.
"Um... let's see... the kitzune, the firecat, three humans, and a hanyou... soooo... um...one, two, three..." the minion counted on his fingers, then grinned broadly holding up six fingers. "Six! There are six."
"And how many flower demons did you place in their path?"
"One!"
"..."
"...oh..."
As he placed the call for the cleanup of what was left of his 'retired' minion, he got some pleasure out of the fact that at least he had the girl. The flower would drive her mad. With luck she would dispatch of her friends on her own, then all he would have to do is send someone to fetch her as soon as night fell and the flower slept.
There would be no escape for the little miko in training now.
Soon she would come to him.
Soon she would be his.
ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo
ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo
"Don't you TOUCH her!" snarled Inuyasha as he tossed Miroku into a tree.
The monk rolled to the right after landing to avoid another blue bolt of energy. "Knocking Kagome out is the only way to keep her from trying to kill us," he tried to explain as he dodged another bolt.
"You touch her and I'll make you regret…oooof" Inuyasha barely missed the bolt, it singed the hair off part of his left arm. "… that you were ever born."
"Why is Kagome glowing blue?" Shippo asked from Kilala's back as they dodged stray bolts of energy that came in their direction.
"Flower demon," explained Sango as she spied a couple of cameramen hiding in the bushes. And though part of her hated them for their part in this whole mess, she used to work with these people and didn't want to see them dead. "They infect their host, like a parasite. They fill the host's brain with images, dreams really, then use their bodies as puppets. They are rare, most were destroyed when the company decided to take over the island. Even though the flower demons are one of the indigenous species from this island," she told Shippo, as well as the audience watching at home. "They were relatively harmless until their species were all but wiped out and they had to fight for their existence."
Perhaps a little bad PR would make people take a closer look at the executives on the show. She was still a bit irritated that they had thought the slayers too stupid to bother with signing a non-disclosure agreement. All brawn and no brain they thought.
"Can the history lessons wait 'til later?" snapped Inuyasha.
"Draw your sword to deflect the spells," suggested Miroku as he made preparations for a defensive protective spell.
Inuyasha stopped his jump and nearly got zapped with a spell. He turned towards Miroku and spoke slowly. "Are you suggesting I draw a sword against Kagome?" His claws dug into the earth and he shot a murderous look towards his friend.
Miroku smiled innocently and held up his hands in surrender. "Of course not. No. Never. Heh…"
"Perhaps you should just fight silently for awhile," suggested Sango helpfully. "Before Inuyasha ends up killing you after all."
Inuyasha hoped Miroku took his girl-friend's advice. He couldn't deal with him and try to figure out what to do about Kagome at the same time. Right now all he could do was just keep moving and hope that he would think of something soon.
It was breaking his heart to see Kagome like this. Sure he had seen her angry before. Lots of times, actually. But this was different. Though she was hurling blue bolts of energy at them (badly, was she even aiming?), her face remained impassive. And her eyes were empty. Kagome was in front of him, but she wasn't really there.
"How do you defeat the flower?" he shouted in demand at Sango.
The demon slayer shook her head sadly. "You can't. It has merged with Kagome. If you hurt it then you hurt Kagome. Kill it and… well…"
Inuyasha swore viciously. He couldn't bear to think how Sango planned on finishing that sentence. The world would have no meaning without Kagome in it. He couldn't let anything happen to her. He just couldn't.
"There has to be a way."
ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo
ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo
"Good morning, Inuyasha!"
He smiled back at her and returned her wave. "Good morning, Kagome."
As usual he took her books from her and walked her to class. They stood outside the door smiling at each other. Home Economics for her and Shop class for him. He was determined to learn how to cook something and he enjoyed tearing things apart and putting them back together. Sometimes she shared her cooking experiments with him, the ones that didn't end up in the trash bin. And he was always helping out around the shrine fixing things for her family.
"See you at lunch," she said as she took her books back from him.
"Ok. By our tree."
With a blush she reached up and kissed him on the cheek. Then they waved goodbye and headed towards their classes. They were lucky that their classes were so close together, though she suspected he'd walk her to class regardless if they were on opposite ends of the campus. He was sweet that way. After one last wave she turned to walk into her classroom. She spied Sango texting on her phone (to Miroku of course) and went to go take her seat beside her.
Kagome frowned as she sat down.
Didn't Sango graduate already?
She shook her head, feeling a little fuzzy, then put her books away. The teacher came in and began talking about their new sewing project. Automatically Kagome pulled out the fabric that was in her bag and the embroidery yarn. But… weren't they supposed to be cooking? Maybe that was last week. She laughed at herself and concentrated on tracing the pattern on the fabric. Maybe she had been studying too hard. Or maybe that kiss from Inuyasha wiped out her brain.
Her hands froze as she reached for her scissors.
"You okay?" Sango whispered to her.
Kagome nodded absently. Since when was Inuyasha kissing her on the cheek like that? Suddenly her mind was filled with images of her and Inuyasha kissing. She remembered them, sort of. They were kisses that daydreams were made of. Kisses under falling cherry blossoms. Kisses under a sky filled with fireworks. Kisses at the beach. Kisses on a tropical island. Kisses in the rain. Gentle ones. Sweet ones. Fiery. Romantic. Passionate. And…
"Lies..." Kagome murmured as she touched her lips.
Inuyasha had never kissed her. He wasn't her boyfriend. He wasn't in love with her. The giddy farewells at classroom doors were something she had always dreamed about, but they never really happened. Sure he used to walk her to class, but usually he was growling at passersby who gave them dirty looks and called them names.
And Sango never once set foot in the Home Economics class. She claimed an allergy to baking. Besides, they weren't even in the same grade.
Suddenly the world around her began to fade and she heard Inuyasha shouting her name at the top of his lungs. She started running, then stopped when she realized she had no idea where she was or where she was going.
"INUYASHA!"
"Sleep, girl."
Kagome spun around at the soft voice, but saw no one behind her.
"I will give you your dreams, just sleep."
She stomped her foot and clenched her fists. "I don't want dreams. I want reality. I want Inuyasha!" That's when she noticed the flower still in her hand. It was glowing blue. And somehow looked angry.
"Vengeance," it hissed.
Grass grew suddenly beneath her feet. It dwarfed her until she felt like she was only two inches tall. Wasn't there a book like this? She looked around her at the field of flowers, heads bopping in the breeze. Then a blaze of fire swept across a section of them four feet wide. The screaming echoed in her head. She looked up to see half a dozen humans in equipment that looked similar to fire fighters.
"Hide!" she heard voices scream before their voices ended abruptly.
"Dig!" other voices yelled, before their own screaming began.
She found herself being pulled into the ground by few of the flowers around her. Felt them piling on top of her. She wanted to hold her hands to her ears to drown out the horrible sounds, but found she was immobile. She watched her mother's face as it burned, then disintegrated. She cried out, but was silence quickly by a vine. More dirt was poured on top of her. And ashes. She heard sobbing. Then all she heard was the sound of crackles and pops, the charred remains of her family and friends. Then there was silence.
"I'm so sorry," Kagome cried as she held the flower closer to her face and gently stroked the petals. "I'm so sorry for your loss."
"Everyone is gone. And I am alone."
"Others must have survived. They must have." Kagome sniffed and tried to stop the tears. "I'll help you find them."
"You… you will?" The flower was silent for a moment. "But… you're a human. Why would you help me?"
Kagome smiled warmly.
"Do you promise to help me?" it asked in a small and uncertain voice.
"Yes, I do."
There was a moment of silence. "My name was once Joi. But I'd like you to call me Doki."
"Wrath, huh? Ok, Doki. But one day… one day I will call you Joi once again." She winked at the little flower that was turning from blue to violet.
The world began changing once more and she heard her friend's worried voices. Her arms and legs were bound, and she felt Doki begin to shrink and unravel itself (herself, she would bet) from around her. Her neck tickled and she tried not to giggle. Then it came to her attention that she was still bound, even though the flower was now halfway back to her normal size.
"Kagome?"
The voice sent rumblings through her body. Apparently it was Inuyasha's arms wrapped around her torso that kept her arms bound. And his legs were wrapped around hers in such a way that it kept her own legs from moving. It was his hair that was tickling her neck, and she could feel his chest rumble against her back as he spoke.
Maybe… maybe she could fake still being under the flower's spell… for just a little longer.
Author's Note:
Thank you very much for your reviews. I appreciate that you take the time to let me know what you think.
Sorry writing is taking awhile. I'm having some medical issues this year that are just a pain in the keister and are getting in the way of writing.
