AN: Okay so I'm figuring this out and my writers block is more like a glass wall instead of a brick wall so it should be easier to break! But yeah so I'm thinking that we are a little over halfway through the story, hopefully lol. Enjoy!
Kagome's winter break wasn't going the way she had hoped. She knew that Christmas wasn't going to be enjoyable, she was single, but she enjoyed shopping with her friends even if Sango disappeared halfway through the day to be with Miroku. Kouga had planned the entire day for Ayame, which she thoroughly enjoyed. Kagome wasn't spending as much time away from home as she had been, she was still working at the dance store, but Kikyou wasn't making her life hell so she didn't feel the need to avoid being at home. Zuki was still upset about Bank, he was still trying to talk to her but she just kept ignoring him. Kagome secretly thought that Zuki was being silly, but she wouldn't say that to Zuki, she liked being her friend. Zuki spent a lot of time at Kagome's house over the break. Her parents were going to be flying in a couple days before the new year and Zuki knew that she would be spending all her time with her family when they got there. Today Zuki and Kagome were in Kagome's living room folding paper cranes for the new year. Souta and Shippou would come a help off and on but they didn't have the patience to sit for long hours folding paper. Zuki was telling Kagome her recent conversation with Bank and her crane was suffering because of it.
"Then he had the nerve to tell me that I'm too sensitive! Can you believe that?!" Zuki nearly yelled. Kagome eyed the paper crane her friend had debating whether or not to tell her what she really thought. She was saved from responding by the front door slamming shut. Kikyou walked into the hall, Kagome could see her shadow on the wall, she was talking quietly on her cell, but Kagome could hear every word. Zuki shut up and sat very still listening hard, what they were hearing made no sense.
"I told you I was done…no! I'm not going to do it!...I don't care if you think I'm being stupid! I-…you wouldn't dare…no! leave her out of this! Fine, fine." Kikyou hung up the phone and walked the rest of the way into the house. Kagome and Zuki quickly went back to folding pretending they didn't hear anything.
"Hey Kagome, Zuki, what are you two doing?" Kikyou asked. Zuki thought she might have been hearing things, but Kikyou sounded, sad. Kagome glanced at Zuki wondering if they were thinking the same thing.
"Folding cranes for the new year, um, want to help?" Kagome asked timidly. Kikyou gave her cousin a small smile before nodding. The three girls sat quietly folding, Kikyou kept her eyes on her work, but Kagome and Zuki kept looking at each other wondering what the hell was going on. Zuki almost jumped through the roof when Kikyou started to talk.
"Hey, Kagome, you haven't gotten any weird phone calls have you?" She asked slowly. Kagome looked frightened for a minute wondering what was going on.
"No, but I did just get a new phone, most people don't have the number," Kagome said softly. Kikyou nodded and went back to her work. Zuki looked at Kagome asking her with he eyes what that was about. Kagome just shook her head as lost as Zuki was. Kagome kept looking up at her cousin, she couldn't help but feel like Kikyou was scared about something, she wanted to ask but worried she wouldn't talk with Zuki in the room. Zuki noticed the way Kagome was looking at Kikyou and worried for her friend. She knew that Kagome wanted her cousin back, but Zuki just didn't trust Kikyou, not with her friends feelings.
"Hey Zuki, would you mind going and getting Souta and Shippou?" Kagome asked suddenly.
"Why?" Zuki asked warily. Kagome gave her a pleading look then glanced over at Kikyou.
"Oh, um, yeah sure," Zuki said standing up. Zuki made like she was going up the stairs to get the boys but turned right around to listen at the door, she wanted to know what was going on.
"Kikyou? Is something wrong?" She heard Kagome ask softly. It was silent for awhile before Kikyou answered slowly.
"It's nothing Kaggy, you shouldn't worry about it," Kikyou responded. Zuki was startled when she heard Kikyou use Kagome's childhood nick name, Kagome hated when anyone but Kikyou called her that.
"Ki, you're my cousin, you're like a sister to me, if something's wrong please tell me, I want to help you. I-I want my sister back." Kagome said the last part so quietly Zuki had to strain to hear her. She hear Kikyou take in a shuddering breath like she was preparing herself to divulge some deep dark secret.
"Kagome, I did something stupid, I made a mistake and I don't know what to do, I-." Kikyou never finished what she was saying because Souta decided at that moment to come downstairs.
"Zuki what are you doing?" He asked loudly. Zuki jumped as a loud noise came from the living room.
"Souta! Don't scare me like that!" Zuki said rounding on Souta. When she turned back around Kagome was standing in the doorway glaring slightly at Zuki. Kikyou was behind her looking scared and angry. Before Zuki could say anything Kikyou pushed past them and went to her room nearly running.
"Hey onee-chan, Shippou says he's hungry but mom won't be home until late, we were wondering if you would cook?" Souta asked nervously. Kagome was still glaring at Zuki and didn't look away when she answered.
"What do you two want?"
"Oh, ramen is fine," Souta said quickly not wanting his sisters wrath directed to him. Kagome gave him a curt nod then went to the kitchen. Zuki let out a breath before groaning.
"Zuki, what were you doing?" Souta asked. Zuki turned and gave him a withering look.
"Nothing, just go back to your room, you don't want to be here when Kagome explodes," Zuki said with a sigh. Souta nodded quickly before running up the stairs, Zuki watched him go before making her way into the kitchen. Kagome was standing over the stove heating up some water, she knew Zuki was there but wanted her to talk first.
"Listen, Kags, I'm sorry for listening in, it's just I don't trust Kikyou. She hasn't been the best person as of late and I don't want her to turn around and mess you up," Zuki said quickly figuring lying wouldn't work, Kagome always seemed to know when people were lying. Zuki noticed Kagome realized a little then sighing she turned around.
"Thanks Zu-chan, you are a really good friend, but I can take care of myself. I know how Kikyou has been acting recently and I don't trust her fully either, but I really think that she's in trouble and I want to help," Kagome said looking at her hands. Zuki walked closer to her friend and crossed her arms.
"I believe you Kags, but what if it's something we can't help with," Zuki said softly. Kagome just shook her head and sighed.
"I don't know but I'm going to try to help if I can." Kagome looked up at Zuki almost asking for her help. Zuki gave her a reassuring smile and nodded, she was going to do what she could to help as well. The two girls got back to cooking and soon Souta and Shippou were timidly making their way into the kitchen.
"I'm not going to explode on you two so don't worry," Kagome said sensing their trepidation. Zuki looked back to see the two boys looking at her with questioning eyes.
"Kagome and I already talked, it's fine," Zuki said shaking her head. She saw the boys visibly relax before rushing into the room and sitting at the table. Zuki got out bowls and chopstick and put them on the table before turning to get herself a water.
"What do you guys want to drink?" Zuki asked looking in the fridge
"Water."
"Coke."
"Okay, one water for Shippou and coke for Souta," Zuki repeated getting said drinks out of the fridge.
"Zuki will you go ask Kikyou if she wants any?" Kagome asked as she started to pour ramen into the boys bowls. Zuki nodded and walked quickly up to Kikyou's room. She was about to knock when she heard a man's voice in the room, a voice that was definitely not Inuyasha's. She couldn't make out what he was saying so she pressed her ear to the door.
"Don't pull something like that again, understand Kikyou." The man spat out Kikyou's name with such venom Zuki felt herself recoil. She started to fear that Kikyou was in trouble but didn't know what to do. She did the only thing she thought would help and knocked on the door.
"Kikyou? Kagome made ramen, we were wondering if you wanted any?" Zuki said. She heard shuffling then the door was opened a crack. Kikyou looked pale and her eyes were darting around in fear but when she spoke her voice was steady.
"I'm not hungry right now, maybe later. Thank you Zuki," Kikyou said her expression not changing. Zuki nodded slowly and didn't move until Kikyou closed the door. Zuki was starting to freak out a little bit, there was a strange man in Kikyou's room and he didn't sound friendly. Zuki ran from the door into the kitchen, the three residents of the kitchen looked at her wild eyes and Kagome was the first to ask what was wrong. Zuki glanced up at the stairs wondering who that man was hoping he wasn't a demon, or at least a demon who could hear really well.
"There's a man in Kikyou's room, it's not Inuyasha, a-and he doesn't sound friendly at all," Zuki said as quietly as she could. Kagome's eyes widened then glanced in the direction of Kikyou's room.
"Shippou, do you smell anyone who shouldn't be here?" Kagome asked softly. Shippou raised his nose and sniffed a little before shaking his head.
"Sorry Kagome, my sense of smell isn't as good as a wolf or dogs nose, I can only smell you guys and the ramen," he said sadly.
"It's okay Shippou-kun," Kagome said with a warm smile. Kagome closed her eyes as if she was trying to sense her surroundings, Zuki suspected she was trying to tap into her miko powers to sense the presence of a demon.
"I can't sense anything so I don't think it's a demon but I might be wrong, he might be able to mask his youkai," Kagome said softly. Everyone froze up when they heard a thump come from the upstairs then it was quiet. The four teens tip-toed over to the kitchen door and looked up the stairs. Shippou had his eyes closed and was straining to hear what was going on. Before they could inspect anything more and knock at the door had them nearly jumping out of their skins. Kagome let out an uneasy breath and went to answer the door, Zuki was very surprised to see her brother standing in the doorway.
"Hey Kagome-chan, I need to talk to Zuki," Yasu said with a small bow. Kagome nodded and stepped back so he could walk into the house.
"Yas? What are you doing here? Why didn't you just call me?" Zuki berated him with questions before he even had his shoes off.
"I did call, you have your phone tuned off," he said a twinge of annoyance in his voice.
"Oh, sorry," Zuki said scratching the back of her neck.
"Look, I just got a call from dad, they changed their flight plan and will be here in two hours," he said not bothering to hide his annoyance.
"What? How? I thought they were in India?" Zuki said scrunching her brow trying to figure how her parents could fly from India to Narita in two hours.
"They were in Seoul when he called me, they wanted to surprise us," he said with mock enthusiasm. Zuki snorted and shook her head, she was about to leave but glanced back at the stairs first.
"Hey, you think he's still up there?" Zuki asked ignoring her brother. Kagome shook her head not knowing the answer. Zuki didn't want to leave her friend if there was a strange man in her cousin's room. She knew there wasn't much she could do but there was strength in numbers.
"I only hear Kikyou up there now, I think she's crying," Shippou said cocking his head to the side to get a better listen.
"Who's here, Inuyasha?" Yasu asked looking between the four teens.
"No, we don't know who he is, but, he sounded angry," Zuki said rubbing her arms unconsciously at the memory. Yasu let out an angry grunt then walked the rest of the way into the house. Before they knew what was going on Yasu was bounding up the stairs to Kikyou's room.
"Kikyou! Open this door!" Yasu shouted banging on it making it shake in the frame. On his tenth knock Kikyou threw open the door her tear streaked face angry.
"What?!" She shouted trying to get Yasu to back down. Yasu stood up and looked over Kikyou's head into her room.
"Nothing," he said then walked away. Kikyou looked confused but when she saw everyone was watching her she slammed her door shut.
"No one was in there, but that doesn't mean he won't come back. You guys shouldn't be alone if he does come back," Yasu said seriously looking up the stairs again.
"My mom should be back soon, she just went out shopping for the New Year," Kagome said. Zuki thought Kagome sounded much more sure of herself then she should.
"Are you sure Kags? I would feel better if Kouga or someone were here," Zuki didn't want to say Inuyasha.
"Look, if he comes back I'll call Kouga or Miroku okay?" Kagome said with a patient smile. Zuki let out a sigh before agreeing.
"Just, promise that you'll call me too okay?" Zuki said. Kagome smiled and nodded. Zuki gave her friend a quick hug before putting her shoes on and following her brother out to his car to drive to Narita Airport.
Thankfully, the angry stranger didn't return that night, but Kikyou didn't come out of her room either. Kagome's mother got back about half an hour after Zuki and Yasu left, Kagome was silently glad her mother was home. She found that her grandfather had gone with her mom out shopping to make sure she got all the right things for the New Year. Kagome wrangled Shippou and Souta into helping her fold more cranes until they decided to go to sleep. Kagome stayed up for another hour before heading to bed herself. When she got to her room there was a new text on her phone from Zuki.
Hey, got my parents ok, hope creepy didn't come back!
Kagome chuckled before writing her back to let her know that everything was fine. She got ready for bed and nearly yelled when he phone vibrated to let her know she had another test. Kagome flipped open her phone expecting it to be from Zuki but was surprised to see a text from Inuyasha.
Zu told me bout the guy, Kikyou is ignoring me, whats goin on?
She was surprised that Kikyou hadn't told Inuyasha, she was usually all for telling him something that would make him come over. Kagome quickly texted him back explaining that Zuki heard a strange guy but that he hadn't come back. Kagome didn't feel comfortable telling Inuyasha about strange men in her cousins room but she didn't have much of a choice. She waited for a few minutes seeing if he would text back, when he didn't she shut off her phone and crawled into bed falling asleep almost immediately.
Kagome was jolted awake by a loud bang and the sound of her cousin cursing as she walked to her room. She got up slowly and walked to her door opening it just in time to see Kikyou walk past.
"Ki? What's wrong?" Kikyou looked at her cousin the anger in her eyes dissipating.
"Someone told Inuyasha that there was another man in my room and he was just trying to give me the third degree," she said with a grimace. Kagome stopped herself from flinching, hoping that Kikyou didn't suspect her.
"I'm sorry, is everything okay?" Kagome said trying to sound as unaware as possible.
"I don't know, he's mad and I just slammed the door in his face, I'm to tired to deal with this anyways. I'll be fine Kaggy, g'night." Kikyou quickly stepped into her room and closed the door. Kagome stood on in her doorway for a while before retreating back into her room, nearly screaming when she saw the hanyou they had been discussing sitting on her bed. She took a moment too look at him and noticed he wasn't happy.
"Inuyasha, what are you doing?" Kagome hissed walking over to stand over him.
"I want to know what the hell is goin' on and no one will fucking tell me!" He nearly shouted. Kagome sighed not sure what to do about the angry boy. Part of her was glad that he had decided to come to her, but another part was just as angry as Kikyou.
"Look, Zuki thought she heard some guys voice in Kikyou's room earlier today, she doesn't have super demon hearing so it could have just been Kikyou's phone or radio," Kagome said, if Kikyou wasn't going to divulge the truth she wasn't about the destroy the shaky truce they had come too.
"Zuki sounded scared when she talked to me, and she doesn't get scared of much," he pointed out quickly glaring up at Kagome.
"Look, Kikyou can take care of herself, even if there is some weirdo bothering her she can take care of it," Kagome said sitting down on the bed. With an angry growl Inuyasha jumped off the bed and stomped to the other side of the room.
"I'm not worried about her, I'm worried about you!" Kagome almost stopped breathing at this confession. When she didn't say anything Inuyasha slowly turned to look at her his expression soft.
"I'm worried about you," he repeated more softly.
"Why?" Kagome couldn't help the question, she didn't understand at all. Inuyasha crossed the distance between them and crouched low.
"I've been hearing things lately, Sesshoumaru told me that this woman has been hanging around his office a lot lately, when I heard the description I realized that this same chick has been following around Kikyou. I asked Kikyou if she knew her and she made me promise to never speak to her and if I saw her near you to let her know. If Kikyou is worried about you getting hurt then something is up," he said softly. Kagome nodded slightly but that didn't explain why he wasn't worried about his girlfriend.
"Why did you say you weren't worried about Kikyou?" Kagome asked softly, trying not to sound like she was accusing him of anything.
"I guess I am a little, I'm just more worried about you is all," he said like it wasn't strange at all. Kagome couldn't help but get angry at his comment.
"Kikyou is your girlfriend! You're supposed to worry about her more then some girl that you bonded with over similar pain!" Kagome hissed. Inuyasha looked at her with pain in his eyes.
"I can't help it okay? Kikyou…she's pushing me away and to be honest it's not bothering me as much as I thought it would, what bothers me is that I can't get my best friend to look at me let alone talk to me," he said looking away. Kagome felt slightly guilty for causing Inuyasha pain, but didn't let the guilt take hold. After all he was the one who didn't bother to make sure she was okay after all her fights with Kikyou.
"I don't know if you can be considered a friend when you don't look out for them and drop them the minute their girlfriend calls on them," Kagome said not hiding the venom in her voice. Inuyasha flinched and his ears dropped slightly.
"I know, I'm so sorry Kagome, I just, I felt guilty. Kikyou kept accusing me of replacing her with you and I didn't know what to do. I've been a horrible friend but I want to fix that, I need to protect you Kagome, you're my best friend," he said his voice cracking a bit at the end of his confession. Kagome sighed and shook her head having no clue what to do.
"I'm sure that there isn't anything out there that is going to hurt me, besides I know you'll protect me." Kagome gave Inuyasha a warm smile when he jerked his head to look at her. His face broke into a relieved grin before he gave her a rib-cracking hug. Kagome returned the embrace then wiggled out of the hug to get some much needed air.
"Okay now that's cleared up, I need to get to sleep, Zuki, Sango, Ayame, and I are going out to shop tomorrow," Kagome said giving Inuyasha a pat on the head. He grumbled at the pat but smiled at Kagome anyways.
"Thank you, for giving me a second chance, I promise I won't screw this up," he said with such sincerity that Kagome believed him.
"I know you wont, goodnight Inuyasha," Kagome said as she crawled into bed. Inuyasha pulled her covers up to her shoulders and smiled.
"G'night Kagome." Kagome closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep immediately. Inuyasha quietly leaned over and kissed her temple before slipping out her window.
AN: Awwww :D Sorry if Inuyasha is a bit OOC, but I figured he grew up with both his parents and didn't really have to deal with the stigma of being a hanyou so he's gonna be a bit nicer. Can anyone guess who the mysterious woman is? Oooo hehe. You'll find out in the next chapters I promise! As always thanks for reading please review!
