Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. No, really, I don't.
Kagome listened as the door shut and she waited with bated breath for whomever it was to call out or do something so she could tell who it was.
"Kagome?" Her mother yelled out.
"It's mom." Kagome breathed out heavily. She chuckled to herself. "Yeah, Mom, I'm home!" She walked out of her door and went downstairs. Her mother was putting groceries away in the kitchen. Kagome walked over and gave her a hug as she picked up some lettuce.
"Hey honey. When did you get back home?"
"About an hour ago. I came back to get some of my work and everything. Is Dad still mad at me?"
"He was when you left. You can't blame him; he was worried about you. But I told him that you're a big girl now and he should learn to trust you."
"Thanks Mama."
"Don't you have homework you should be doing? I put it all on your desk." Her mom grinned. Kagome rolled her eyes. "Don't roll your eyes at me; I'm just looking out for my little girl." She leaned over and kissed the top of Kagome's head. "Now go upstairs and relax. I'll call you down when your father gets home."
"Thanks Mama. I'm going to take a nap." Kagome yawned as she smiled and left the kitchen.
For a few brief moments, the fear that she had felt because of her father had all but disappeared from her body. But now that she was gone from her mother's naïve and bright disposition, the clouds seemed to cloud over the once bright and sunny sky. The fear slowly crept back into her being as she ascended the stairs. She gripped the stairwell tightly and wrapped her other arm across her chest as she walked down the hallway and into her room.
He was going to beat her tonight.
No matter what her mother said, he was going to hit her over and over again.
Kagome found it difficult to swallow.
She eased herself down on her bed and rolled onto her side.
Maybe she could sleep all of this away . . .
Maybe when I wake up this will all be a great, big, awful nightmare . . . just a dream . . .
Inuyasha sat there, more impatiently than patiently. He forced himself not to just leap into the well to just see her and make sure she was okay.
Before he recognized the movement, his body was already being engulfed by the strange blue light that meant he was going to wherever Kagome was. His feet hit the ground and he rebounded himself out of the well and into the well house. He pushed one of the doors open quietly and peered out. No one was around and Inuyasha bounded out and made his way to the nearest trees. He didn't stop moving until he was in his normal branch near Kagome's window. He couldn't see her while he was in complete hiding. He brushed some of the branches out of his way with the back of his hand and stepped forward to look in her window.
He couldn't see her.
He stepped forward and then he saw her feet on her bed. She was just resting on her bed. That was all. Probably asleep.
It's been a rough week on her. She could use all the sleep she can get. I'll just stay here and watch over her.
Just to make sure that the bastard doesn't try to do anything.
I'll skin him alive if he does.
Inuyasha settled back into the tree and kept an eye on her door and waited for anyone or anything to enter.
Kagome blinked her eyes open a few times and found it to be a little over half an hour after she had fallen asleep.
I guess my body's telling me to do my homework. How nice.
Kagome rolled to a sitting position and stood up slowly and went over to her desk. Her schoolwork was piled dangerously high and Kagome knew that she wouldn't be visiting the Feudal Era until at least half of this was done.
She sat down in front of her desk and opened the first book.
Chemistry.
Nothing against chemistry, but amino acids, organic compounds, and the conservation of energy wasn't all that necessary to her when she was 500 years in the past.
In fact hardly anything she was learning was of any use to the past. But in order to have a life when she completed the shard hunt she would have to know all of this. She took out a pencil and started doing the calculations for some of the problems.
This was turning out to be a very, very long day.
And she had a gut feeling that the night was going to be just as bad. Mama had said that Dad wasn't mad at her. But that meant that he was probably holding it deep down inside. He was waiting for her to come home so he could explode all of his anger, all of his frustration, all of his vengeance on her. Because she could do nothing to stop him and nothing would stop him.
Why am I doing homework now? In a couple of hours I'm going to be dead, so why bother. School should definitely be on my lower priority list.
But she couldn't stop doing her homework, because that was what she was supposed to be doing.
Her life was grounded here. Here in this time, there were things that she could count on. Meals to eat, a place to sleep, school with a regular schedule, everything here was grounded and concrete.
Over there her life was anything but grounded. There was no telling when a demon would attack or what new and improved puppet Naraku would be sending after them. Over there, there were no guarantees of anything. In mere moments her life could end and she wouldn't be able to do a thing to stop it.
And something about that thrilled her. Over there she had a purpose. Here, in her time, she was but one among the crowd of millions that existed beside her. Here there were hundreds of girls that had the exact same credentials in school as her and thousands that held better scores than she did. And they all dressed the same, talked the same, and looked the same as her.
She was just another pale face here.
But there she was so different, even a bit odd. And she had real friends, friends that were grounded in life itself.
In a way, she came here for a vacation from her reality over there. Over there she was so useful and helpful with what little powers she had.
There she had the semblance of a guardian who looked over her and protected her from everything that he could.
Even if he was a little brash sometimes, he made up for it usually.
And here, she made a big to do over leaving and him not following.
The realization sunk in and she had realized her mistake over everything. Her life meant nothing to her in her own time. Her life in the Feudal Era meant more to her than anything she ever had here.
She wanted to go back. Really she did, but there was so much more stopping her. Things she couldn't even begin to bear.
Kagome leaned her head into her hands and tried not to cry. There were going to be a lot less things she was going to get to cry about later. Like when her father took and beat her into her grave. Which just to spite her, would be in the well house.
Creepy.
She shook her head and started back to Chemistry. Chemistry could keep her distracted enough to make her forget about her father.
Just long enough to make her forget.
Just forget about it all.
Forget about it all.
Forget it.
Forget.
Inuyasha watched as Kagome rose up from her bed and wiped the sleep from her eyes. She walked over and sat down at her desk.
She pulled out a book and grimaced. She opened it and started writing something down on some papers that she had laying on her desk.
She stopped writing and rested her face in her hands. She looked overwhelmed.
Inuyasha noted the large stack of books and papers that were piled on her desk.
Maybe it was just the lighting but she looked paler than she had earlier.
But it could just be the light.
He watched as Kagome shook her head and started to write, but then stopped again. She looked really deep in thought. She was probably working in those spell books that she always brings along with her. They're too complicated for Inuyasha to figure out, although he really hadn't given it much time.
Finding the shards and stopping Naraku was more of a priority for him at this point.
They had to stop him as quickly as they could. But they couldn't do anything while one of their own was injured. But she had been right; she was able to relax more than she was able to back in his time.
Here she could sit in that chair and just relax and do whatever she was doing. Home . . . something.
Home . . . wo . . . .
Home . . . work . . . . Homework! That's it homework!
I have no clue what the hell it is, but that's what it's called.
He leaned back and watched her work. She stopped for a moment and then shook her head and started writing again.
Inuyasha sighed. It was so boring here. He had nothing to do.
He sprawled himself all over his branch and sighed heavily.
There was virtually nothing for him to do here but watch Kagome and that was it. Not that there was a problem with that, but it was so uneventful.
Her father wasn't home so there really wasn't any danger and it wasn't like he could just go and sit in her room, because then she would know that he was there watching her.
He could go down there and claim that he was just checking on her, but he couldn't do that everyday. Not unless she were to grow suspicious.
But he could do it every once in a while. And he would just appear to want her to come back sooner.
And that would be in character for him.
Of course, he wanted to continue shard hunting, but he didn't want to go without Kagome. Somehow it just didn't seem right. She had been there since the beginning and going after one without her seemed . . . it just seemed wrong, that's all.
God, since when did I become such a sap. Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and I could easily go off and find the shards. It may be a little longer, but we could still find them.
And at least it would give me something to do. It would be one thing if I was sitting in her room instead of outside it.
An idea suddenly popped into his head and before he really thought it through he was already acting on it. He crawled forward on the branch and tapped at her window with his claws.
Kagome jumped and looked over at the window. She gave him a puzzled look and then pushed the chair back and stood up. She walked over and slid the window open, allowing him to climb in."Inuyasha? What are you doing here?" She asked, closing the window in the process.
"Feh." He said, taking a seat on her bed. "The old hag sent me here to make sure you were okay."
"And since when did you do what anyone else said?" Kagome asked, sitting down back at her desk.
Uh-oh. Quick think of a lie!
"Since Sango hid the ramen and won't give it back until I came over here." He said nonchalantly, silently letting out a breath that he'd managed to come up with something. He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes as soon as she had turned around. He listened to her work.
"So, how are you feeling?" He asked.
He heard the pencil stop writing.
"Good." She said. "Better now." He could almost hear her smile. "Hey, Inuyasha?"
"Yeah?" He answered with one eye opened.
"You can stay here if you want or at least until my dad comes home." She offered.
Inuyasha couldn't help but smirk.
"Feh, whatever Kagome."
Argh! These equations aren't making any sense! No matter how many different ways I multiply them they just don't work!
A tap at the window made her jump.
Who could that be? She turned to the window and there sat Inuyasha. That's odd. I wonder what he's doing here.
Kagome opened the window and let him climb inside.
"Inuyasha? What are you doing here?" She said closing the window behind him.
"Feh." He answered as he sat down on her bed. "The old hag sent me here to make sure that you were okay."
"And since when did you do what anyone else said?" She asked as she returned to her desk and continued working. There was a slight pause before he answered.
"Since Sango hid the ramen and won't give it back until I came over here." He said plainly. She glanced back at him and noted that he had leaned back against the wall and had closed his eyes. She turned back to her work.
"So how are you feeling?" He said, breaking the silence. She stopped writing and smiled.
"Good." She glanced down at her work and immediately noted where she had been going wrong the entire time. "Better now." She easily found the answer inside of a couple of seconds. "Hey, Inuyasha?"
"Yeah?"
"You can stay here if you want or at least until my dad comes home."
"Feh whatever Kagome."
Kagome smiled. She didn't feel quite as pressured anymore. The loneliness didn't seem to engulf the room like it had before.
She glanced out the window and maybe it was just her, but the sunlight seemed to be brighter than it had been these last few weeks.
Today had turned into an alright day after all.
It remained quiet between them for the rest of the time. But Kagome didn't mind. It was just nice to have someone else in the room with her.
She looked out the window. It had turned into late evening which meant her dad would be home at any moment. On the other hand she had finished all her Chemistry and History.
And that was an accomplishment all in itself.
But it also meant that Inuyasha was going to have to be leaving now.
And she didn't want him to leave. She felt safer when he was around and that was a nice feeling in itself.
"Inuyasha?" She asked. No answer. She turned around.
He was asleep.
She sighed. She walked over to him and leaned down so that they were eye-level.
She did her best to hold back her giggles.
Slowly her hand inched forward towards his ears and lightly rubbed the softness of them. Inuyasha's eyes drifted open and she stopped.
"What are you doing?" He asked. She grinned, her arms still remaining in the same position.
"Sorry, couldn't help myself." She beamed as she leaned away from him.
He rolled his eyes at her statement.
"What do you want?" He asked standing up to stretch.
"It's getting late." She said quietly.
There was a lingering pause between them.
"Right, I'm going." He said as he started towards the window. She walked over with him. He had one foot on the windowsill and was about to leap when she grabbed his sleeve.
What am I doing?
"Inuyasha?"
"What? What is it?" She forced herself to let go of his sleeve.
"Just . . . just come back soon, okay?"
He started at her for a while and she looked out the window, crossing her arms around herself. He put a gentle hand on her shoulder and it was a moment or two before he spoke.
"Sure." And with that he leapt out of the window. She raced to the window to catch the last glimpse of him, but he was already gone. She waited a couple seconds to see if he reappeared and then closed the window.
She reached up the shoulder that he had touched. She smiled to herself. At least he cared enough to stop by.
And that was a lot to be proud about when it came to Inuyasha.
That was . . . uncharacteristically nice of him.
Her glee quickly faded as she heard the car door slam outside and a few muffled curses.
Daddy was home.
And he didn't sound happy.
Inuyasha slowly felt himself drifting away into sleep. He tried to fight it, but he felt so relaxed that he just couldn't help himself.
Something was rubbing his ears and it felt good. However, someone was invading his space. His eyes drifted open and he found himself
"What are you doing?" He asked her, his eyes narrowing at her hand. She grinned back at him with her arms still remaining where they were.
"Sorry, couldn't help myself." She said as she leaned away from him.
He rolled his eyes at her. She was always trying to rub his ears when he wasn't looking.
"What do you want?" He asked gruffly as he stood up to get a kink out of his back.
"It's getting late." She said quietly as she looked away and glanced over at the window. The sun was beginning to set. Inuyasha didn't need for her to say anything else. He knew that she was afraid that her father was going to come home and she didn't want him to be there. And if it weren't for Kagome, he wouldn't want to be there either.
After a quick moment of trying to come up with something to say, he just decided on the simplest.
"Right, I'm going." He said, starting for the window. She followed him. He prepared for himself to jump outside to the tree when Kagome's hand grabbed his sleeve in a death grip. He stopped to stare back at her.
What is she doing? I thought that she wanted me to leave.
"Inuyasha?" She said almost in a whisper.
"What? What is it?" He asked, trying to mask his concern. She let go of his sleeve almost reluctantly. Did she want him to stay here? All she had to do was say the word and he wouldn't give it a moment's thought.
"Just . . . just come back soon, okay?"
Somehow those weren't the words that he really wanted to hear from her. He was disappointed about that. He almost wanted to stay. After a moment, she turned and stared out the window as she crossed her arms across waist. He put a hand on her shoulder.
The words just wouldn't come. No matter how much he wanted to console her, he just couldn't find the right thing to say. So, he just went with what he hoped she wanted to hear.
"Sure." And he jumped out the window and into the tree. He needed to get back. He dared a glance at her from the well house and smiled inwardly. He would come back later this evening. He just wanted to go back so that the rest of them wouldn't suspect him of being all sentimental about the whole thing.
It was only for a couple hours.
Kagome could handle herself for a couple hours.
Right?
With that last lingering thought, Inuyasha plunged into the depths of the Bone eater's well.
Kagome took in a deep breath to keep the horror down in her belly where it remained. Not outside on the carpet. She shivered and then reached a shaky hand for the door.
No going back now. She couldn't call Inuyasha back and now she was on her own.
She opened the door and started down the steps. One at a time.
One.
Two.
Three.
It wasn't so bad.
Well, not until she heard her father's voice from the kitchen.
" . . . I'm telling you, she shouldn't be allowed to just run back and forth whenever she pleases. What kind of example is she setting for Sota? And that boyfriend of hers . . ."
Kagome was tempted to stand in the hallway and listen, but she knew that if her father found out, then she would be in much worse trouble than she already was.
"Hi Dad!" Kagome said, jumping into the kitchen. Her father stopped mid-sentence and gave her the most evil-happy smile that he could muster.
"Hey there, Baby Girl! How are you doing?" He asked as he walked over to give her a hug.
"Fine."
"That's great." He said and she noticed her mother was already setting out plates for dinner.
"Is dinner almost ready?" Kagome asked.
"It is ready. I was just waiting on your father to get home. So he could have a nice meal after working all day." Her mom smiled. Her father turned his gaze away from her and if she hadn't known any better Kagome could have sworn that he looked happy.
That is, if she hadn't known better.
The thing was that she did know better and the more he smiled the more of a beating she got later on in the night.
Her father grabbed some glasses and filled them with ice. Kagome turned into the pantry to grab some tea bags. Her father was already filling the pitcher with water for them.
After a few minutes of preparation they all sat down like a real family and had dinner together. Mama asked about work and how everything was going about his new-old job. He would respond with a few stories and they would all laugh just like they used to.
Just like before he was put where he belonged.
She wanted to scream at them. But no one would believe her. Her mother would probably just say that he's a changed man. That's the only reason they had him come home. He had changed.
But then again Kagome couldn't bear to tell her mother the real truth. The truth that clawed at her and begged for release from it's carnal prison. It was like a demon's claws were tearing at the flesh in her ribcage and she could almost feel the shreds falling off of the bones.
"So how did everything go with you Kagome?" He asked. "You were gone for a long time."
"It went really well. Well, right up until I fell off a step ladder then Inuyasha sent me back home."
"Are you alright?" He asked.
Like he cares. He probably just wants to make sure that he can still beat me without killing me.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just have a little bruise, but Inuyasha always make a big deal out of everything. He said that it was too dangerous and I came home."
"Oh, and what were you doing?" He asked. It was as if the entire rest of the table had disappeared from view and only she and him were left to talk.
"You know, work. I helped him in school a little and around the house." Kagome lied with a smile. While she was here among the rest of the family, she knew that her father wouldn't dare try anything. Now was the only time that she had to act like herself and rebel.
But in an hour or two, she would be beaten into submission and she knew it.
And that was the part of the night that Kagome didn't look forward to at all.
Inuyasha leapt out of the well and headed towards Kaede's. The town had grown to be a sort of home for the misshapen group of heroes.
Face it. A half-demon, a reincarnation, a demon exterminator, and a monk with an air void in his hand just don't team up every day, you know.
Their fates were all intertwined by one man. Another half demon named Naraku.
Inuyasha felt his feet dig into the earth as he ran along the familiar pathway. The villagers never dared to go into his forest. And it was his forest; they had even named it after him. It had a previous name, but ever since Kikyo had bound him to that tree, they'd given it his name.
It was almost an honor. But anything the villagers did back then was usually as an insult.
Inuyasha was sure that they still didn't trust him. Even after he'd risked his life more than once and not to mention Kagome's.
It was nightfall already by the time he'd reached the hut. The evenings were always shorter in autumn.
He pulled the curtain away from the door and stepped inside.
"Inuyasha. How are ye? How is Lady Kagome doing?" Kaede asked.
"What makes you think I know, old hag?" He muttered as he sat down.
"Did you go see her?" Miroku asked.
"No, what makes you think that? Why would I go visit her?!" Inuyasha asked incredulously.
"Well, where else would you be?" Shippo asked looking over at Inuyasha.
A few moments passed before Inuyasha realized there was no good answer and decided to whap Shippo in the head a few times.
"Ow! Meanie! I'm telling Kagome on you when she gets back!" Shippo said running over to Sango. He jumped into her lap and rubbed his head.
Inuyasha never hit him hard enough to harm him. Just hard enough to make him learn.
Kaede handed out bowls to the small group that had gathered for shelter in her hut. She always welcomed them without hesitation.
She had to be the kindest old hag that Inuyasha had ever come across.
She was almost like a grandmother to him. Even though he was technically in love with her elder sister.
It was an odd relationship to say the least.
Inuyasha glanced out the window.
I wonder how Kagome's doing.
I should probably get back as soon as I can.
I want to be there so I can kill that bastard if he so much as touches her.
Inuyasha finished his bowl and then stood up.
Much to his liking, no one asked where he was going.
He didn't like to be questioned about his whereabouts. He got enough of that from Kagome when she was here. Of course he didn't mind answering her, simply because she didn't judge him.
He ran to the well. It was plenty dark out. The sun had completely set and the moon had already risen.
It was close to the new moon.
Inuyasha frowned at this recollection. At least they were close to the village this time and not out and about like usual.
The closer he was to someplace that he knew the less tense he was. Of course he would always be tense when it came to a night of the new moon, and that was simply because it was the new moon.
Why wouldn't he be nervous?
Sighing silently, Inuyasha was prepared to jump into the well when he heard someone approaching. He turned and jumped into the trees.
He watched from the shadows as the intruders came into his view. And if that wasn't enough, he already knew who they were by their scent.
He growled at his friendly intruders.
Miroku and Shippo. He sniffed the air again and caught a different scent. Sango was there too!They were waiting to see if he'd jump down the well and visit Kagome!
That bastard! Well, I'll show them. I'll wait until they leave to go to Kagome's time. I am not going to go over there while they are going to be waiting for me to do that.
No way.
I'm not going to give them the pleasure.
With that final thought, Inuyasha sat back in the tree and temporarily forgot about Kagome in his pride.
After that, he was the most powerful demon . . . well half-demon, in this region.
He had all the time in the world to wait.
After dinner Kagome had slipped upstairs and was preparing her bath. She had beaten Sota there and she was relishing in it.
Sota had a tendency to sing and dance in the bathroom and that was before he even got in. Sometimes Kagome would stand by the door and listen in, trying her hardest not to laugh. But tonight, Kagome had beaten him to the punch.
She slid into the warm water and let her muscles relax.
But she couldn't really relax, not knowing that in a couple hours when everyone else was asleep, her dad would come in and beat her.
Beat her until he grew tired of it.
The water grew cold and she grabbed a towel as she stood up from the bath.
The room was steamy and the mirror had fogged up.
She took her hand and wiped away a streak of the condensation.
The person that stared back wasn't Kagome. It wasn't Kagome at all.
The girl who stared back was battered, broken, and defeated. But most of all she was tired.
Kagome wiped her hand over the condensation a few more times and the vision was gone. Her reflection stared back at her. She sighed. All of this was getting her head all screwed up.
She started to readjust the towel, but then stopped and she looked at her reflection once again. Her torso was bruised badly. Almost sickening to look at, but Kagome found that she couldn't look away. No wonder Inuyasha had sent her home. She looked like she should be dead.
It made her wonder why the demon didn't kill her after all.
Her memory was all a blur about the whole thing. It all happened so fast. She wanted to ask Inuyasha what happened, but there was a part of her that wanted to keep the facts as far away from her as possible. Some things are better left unsaid anyway.
Kagome opened the door and slipped out into the hallway. She hollered for Sota to take a bath and when he responded she stepped into her room and closed the door.
She walked over and closed the blinds and then dropped the towel and went in search of underwear and pajamas. She found her favorites and changed. She didn't feel much for drying her hair so she just shook the towel over it a few times.
It was going to have to do for tonight.
All the exercise and thinking had caught up with her and exhaustion settled in heavily after a few moments. Kagome yawned and pulled her sheets back. She sat down and looked out her window.
Oh yeah. I closed the blinds.
It bothered Kagome when she couldn't see the moon. Inuyasha's weakness was revealed on the night of no moon. They always tried to be careful but everyone was always a little edgy. Especially Inuyasha. Kagome tried to pass off like it was no big thing, but every month she couldn't sleep at all.
Once the blinds were opened she turned out the lights and stretched out in her bed. She grimaced at the pain in her side and rubbed the spot that was bothering her. She inhaled deeply and rolled onto her side.
There was a lingering smell on her comforter. It smelled just like Inuyasha. She inhaled it deeply and somehow she managed to find peace enough to sleep.
Finally, those goons are asleep. I didn't think they'd ever go to sleep.
In a single graceful bound, Inuyasha leapt from the tree and straight into the well. The light engulfed him and he landed on soft earth. He looked up and into darkness.
He was in the well house.
He leapt out and edged the door open enough to look and see if anyone was watching him. No one was and so he ran across the stone yard and leapt into the tree. Kagome's lights were out and he could see her sleeping.
So everything was well then.
Good.
For a couple moments he thought that she might have been in danger and he was going to be too late again.
Movement in the hallway outside her door caught his eye and he strained to make out who it was.
Someone had been watching her room besides himself.
And that bothered him. Although he wasn't sure why it did.
Kinda one of those odd things, you know?
Inuyasha settled back and prepared to take watch again.
He knew that bastard was up to something. Inuyasha just didn't have the time or resources to find out what it was.
And that bothered him.
Okay, sorry for the time-span on the last chapter. I didn't think that it would take that long. But hopefully you guys are going to like this one. I know it's kinda boring, but it's going to pick up soon. I think. I don't know what's going on and I sure as heck don't know who the Iskari guy is. But don't worry it's all going to tie in later. I promise. I took my LJ off the author bio and anyone who still wants to keep up with it can do so. My username is 'elkonigin' just like here. So yeah. I just started school so it's going to be a little harder to find the time to write, but I will write, don't worry. It's not going to just end at all. I'd go insane going, 'what happened next?', 'will Inuyasha ever find out what's happening?', 'will they ever get together?', 'will Kagome's father ever get what's coming to him?' and the like.
Enjoy, read, and of course, review!