A/N: Hi everyone! It's the start of a new school year and I'm very happy to be updating my long overdue story before I get swamped with school work. Everyone who is still reading this story and reviewing it is my personal hero. No seriously, you're all saints for staying with me for so long and my very drawn out updates. And if you're a new reader welcome! I hope you're enjoying it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. As always I am going to finish this story, it's just taking me an awful long time. But I promise that it will never go unfinished, for those who were wondering during that long absence. And we're actually not that far off...I couldn't give a for sure chapter amount but the end is definitely near which is very strange for me.

On a side note I traveled to Japan this summer including Tokyo and fell in love. I even went to the Tokyo International Forum and saw all the places I had researched and described for the big event when Kagome and Inuyasha first met back in chapter 7 (remember how long ago that was??). It was so incredible to see it in person and Ginza as well. I definitely had a fan girl moment imagining them in the Plaza. Ok well that's enough for me, please enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think of it! I love reviews. A constant thank you to my beta Maggz as always and I'll try and update again as soon as possible. Ja ne!

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"So that's it I swear, you can even ask Miroku. He'd obviously tell you anything I left out." Inuyasha muttered glaring over at his friend going through his kitchen from his seat. Kagome had managed to get him to sit down at the table before she listened intently to the brief version of the story without interruption, seated across from him.

"I'll have you know some people appreciate my frank nature. And look, you explained everything and she hasn't broken down at all Inuyasha." Miroku reminded him while opening another cabinet quickly rifling through it in search of something.

Inuyasha looked back to Kagome still worried by her lack of reaction to all of it. She had listened quietly the entire time, only asking an occasional question. It was killing him to not know what she was thinking at this point…now that she knew just how awful a person he was and the extent to how badly he had fucked up his life. But initially Kagome didn't react to anything he had said.

Kagome sighed softly and closed her eyes waiting for her barrage of emotions to calm before she dared to speak. But she couldn't stop it, the anger and frustrations of the entire last month that rushed through her, and she snapped.

"How could you be so stupid?!" She shouted her eyes gleaming with tears when they opened. Miroku glanced back at the two of them before making a quick exit to give them some time alone and check on Kikyou again.

"You've been running around dealing and pushing coke! Did you forget that was illegal?! Your father is a cop; you know all the repercussions and dangers of doing this! Did you think you were invincible to it just because you're so awesome and live in New York and drive a BMW?!" Kagome exploded panting and shaking from how upset she was. She knew this wasn't exactly constructive but right now she didn't give a shit.

Inuyasha opened his mouth to say something but she quickly cut him off. "And don't you dare try and do the whole I'm a victim too bullshit! You are bleeding and could have died all because of your own recklessness!"

"You had everything, all the opportunities you needed, more than me! You were born into a respectable family who actually cares about you, who loves you! Your family sees you as more than just a tool to advance their own prosperity, you're a man, and you weren't even the eldest. And you threw every bit of your fortune away on nothing, just so you could chase your indiscretions in peace. Had I been given chances you had do you think I would have wasted them and found myself in your position? Do you know me well enough to even answer that Inuyasha!?"

Inuyasha stiffened from the harsh truths and accusations, and only piercing silence echoed after her last yell for several moments. His arm throbbed loudly in his ears and he subconsciously held the painful limb a little tighter.

"This is not okay, and this is not a joke..." Kagome's voice cracked with desperation and tears slipped down her face suddenly. She quickly wiped them away to continue. "I literally escaped my house and chased you half way around the world, without even hearing from you or getting a proper apology first. Just because I care so much about you and was so worried." She closed her eyes again as more tears fell. "And I don't even know what I'm doing here." She admitted to both of them, defeated and exhausted from her outburst.

She couldn't stand the empty silence between them, and felt farther from him than she ever had been when she opened her eyes to stare into his lost expression. Abruptly she bolted up shoving her chair back and walked into the only other room to escape him. She fled past a worried looking Miroku in the hallway and closed the door leaning back against it. She slid slowly down until her knees curled up against her chest, finally giving in and sobbing.

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Once her tears stopped Kagome couldn't count the number of shaky breaths she had to take to finally calm down. Internally her thoughts were as they had been for the past few days, chaos. Her emotions flickered between anger, fear and sorrow, never staying on one for long. So she stayed silent waiting for them to hopefully settle and got up to sit down on the edge of Inuyasha's bed to think in peace for a few minutes.

She looked back at Kikyou's motionless form; she had actually forgotten the girl was still in the room with her. With quiet composer she leaned forward and checked her pulse and breathing, neither was strong but they were still there. Kikyou spasmed in her sleep and moaned quietly and Kagome's eyebrows knit with worry.

She pulled back and studied her in silence, the girl who had virtually ruined all she had struggled through this past month, and plucked Inuyasha from her when she was just beginning to feel stable in their relationship. And she had done all of this in barely ten minutes.

Despite all this she felt no great satisfaction watching her lie weakly in bed, because she looked nothing like the vindictive woman she had watched on the television that day. She looked frail and pale, because she was. Kagome would have felt badly for wishing her harm under these circumstances though, it just wasn't in her. Instead she found herself worried, wondering how long they had before she needed to get to a hospital. The boys had found her like this apparently, no clue if she had done it to herself or even really was over dosing. Either way Kagome didn't like the idea of leaving her in this room to wait and find out.

Kagome pulled the blankets up over here sheer dress when she noticed Kikyou was shivering, her skin was so cold. She wondered how on earth Inuyasha could have ever fallen for both of them when they were so very different. But there she went again, giving herself too much credit.

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Miroku hesitated in the front of the door Kagome had just slammed pondering if he should try saying anything to her. But he curtly remembered how much trouble his big mouth tended to get him in, and how he had just met the girl minutes earlier. Walking back into the kitchen he stopped to look at his friend. Inuyasha's face was painfully somber as he clutched his bloody arm a bit too tightly to his side.

"I know this isn't what you want to hear right now," Miroku sighed, "but we need to do something about Kikyou soon. She's breathing shallowly at best and her pulse is weak. We don't know what she took but if it is heroin she could slip into a coma easily. We've got to get her to a hospital."

Inuyasha winced as he sat up still holding his good hand against the now bloody rag tourniquet. "So take her to the hospital and I'll sort something out while you're gone."

"You need to see a doctor too-," but Miroku was quickly cut off.

"Absolutely not, I'm not putting either of us in danger. Don't you think the second they realize we're not dead they're going to check the hospitals? They'll know we're injured. Kikyou will automatically be protected because of her fame, we'll call her agent…I know I still have her number lying around here…"

Inuyasha couldn't help one of the brief memories of their relationship that resurfaced. The last time he had needed to call her agent when Kikyou once again had taken too much of something and had to be rushed to the emergency room. He had waited hours anxiously not knowing if she would wake up, without ever receiving a thank you for taking her to the hospital. A week later she was back in the club on E.

Miroku sighed agitated from the counter trying to think of a solution quickly when he heard the bedroom door open again. Kagome walked into the room still looking a little lost and her face flushed from crying.

Inuyasha immediately wanted to reach out and touch her, to hold her and apologize for everything he could think of. But all he managed was a stupid "You okay?" He ventured to ask her after she had sat down across from him at the table.

Kagome stared down at the lines of the deep wood of his table. She didn't deserve his concern, not after how she had spoken to him. She felt awful she had released all those frustrations on him, even though he was the cause of most of them. But he had just been shot, 'Who yells at her boyfriend that was just shot?!' her self doubt cried, as she looked back up to the dried blood still covering his arm with a wince. What a pair they made, both sitting across from each other feeling sorry for themselves.

"I'm sorry…for shouting at you-" she began but he quickly interrupted.

"You don't have anything to apologize for, everything you said was true." Kagome looked up to his sincere face and felt her heart drop all over again with guilt. He shifted uneasily in his chair, cringing from the pain.

"But I didn't have to do it like that, to yell it at you…" Kagome looked away from him so frustrated with herself she couldn't see the sad look in his eyes.

"I upset you, I deserved your reaction."

"Oh god, yeah, yeah you're both sorry. Quit apologizing in circles, we have decisions we need to make pronto." Miroku muttered walking over to set some towels down on the table. Kagome glanced up in surprise from the interruption and Inuyasha glared at him.

"Those are my good towels; you can't use those for whatever you're doing." He said still scowling at him.

"You have good towels?" Miroku arched an eyebrow.

"Never mind…" He mumbled watching Miroku jet off towards the bathroom again before he continued.

"I never wanted you to be apart of this Kagome…," he trailed off looking down at his fidgeting right hand, which was clasping and unclasping on his pants in a very not Inuyasha like manner.

"I know; it doesn't matter now. I don't regret coming, and what's done is done. I know you didn't mean for any of this to happen and…I can't really hold you accountable for things you did before you knew me, however stupid they were…" She trailed off losing her thoughts again.

"So you're not mad still?"

"Oh I'm mad; I can't believe how irresponsible you were to get involved with this shit in the first place. I just don't have the heart to yell at you anymore with that bullet wound." She smiled softly. "And I know it won't do any good, we can't undo the past. And I don't think you'll ever use again in the future as long as I'm around." It was a bold statement for Kagome who normally wasn't the type to order other people around. And while she didn't necessarily mean it as a threat, she was pretty sure he understood the context. That wasn't a request.

Inuyasha smirked despite the situation. "So that means despite all this you're actually considering putting up with me in the future?"

"If you behave." She smiled laying her hand on top of his. "Now isn't the time for us to be fighting, it's for all of us to figure out what we can do next." The two smiled at each other in a rare moment of peace during what would undoubtedly be one of the worst nights of their lives.

Miroku cleared his throat softly again. "Well I can be of some help with that. Right now we need to do something with Kikyou. Either take her to a hospital ourselves or call her agent to take her I guess…"

Unfortunately those were the only two options Miroku could manage to think of. He didn't want to leave Inuyasha unattended in the time it would take him to drive Kikyou to the hospital and drive back, not to mention the risk he would be taking personally. But with Inuyasha still incapacitated and not knowing how long it might take her agent he wasn't seeing any other options.

"You can't take her Miroku, you know they'll be looking for you…" he trailed off still unsure how much to say in front of Kagome.

"So who is 'they' again exactly?" Kagome asked biting her lip.

"We're not exactly sure...Our guess is whoever was giving Kouga his shipments and orders and for whatever reason decided they didn't require our services any more. We think his name is Naraku but we're not even sure of that."

"Or someone even higher up than him…" Inuyasha pondered trying to focus his now hazy thoughts, there were so many anonymous people involved in one drug ring it could be anyone.

"We'll deal with what we're doing after we sort out Kikyou. Inuyasha I'm not seeing any better alternative than I take her to the hospital, we're wasting valuable time. Kagome will have to take care of you until I get back; hopefully your arm isn't still bleeding."

"I can't hang around here waiting for you with Kagome! They're going to come here looking for us after or maybe even before the hospitals depending on how many people they have left. But if the amount of guys we already had shooting as us tonight is any indication someone very powerful wants us dead! I doubt they're going to hesitate in their actions."

"Well we can't be in three places at once and you can't travel until that arm is stable, what the fuck else are we supposed to do?!"

Kagome got up from her seat suddenly restless as she paced the room thinking over the boy's shouting. She was way out of her league feeling like this was a bizarre movie rather than her reality. But one glance at Inuyasha's arm and Miroku's badly bruised body told her anything but. Drug rings, or gangs or whatever was after them, she knew nothing about. But she did know they were all wasting valuable time.

"I'll take her to the hospital."

Miroku and Inuyasha immediately stopped arguing to look over at Kagome in confusion. Kagome lost in her own thoughts was tempted to look behind her and see who the boys were staring at. That was however before she realized the seemingly foreign sounding voice was her own. Some usually quiet part inside of her managed to physically manifest in that one startling statement. So she decided, maybe she should listen.

"Absolutely not! You're getting a cab right back across that bridge and taking it to the closest quietest town out of the city and staying there until this whole thing is sorted. That way I know you're safe." Inuyasha insisted firmly.

Now to say Kagome had a problem with authority, especially male authority would have been an understatement. Enough of a problem Kagome didn't care that she had just flown across the world to see Inuyasha and he had someone trying to kill him. She'd be damned if she was to be sent off to safety an hour after a solid day of traveling just to get here.

"Excuse me?" Miroku and Inuyasha both stiffened and exchanged worried glances from that tone. "I will do no such thing! Since when do you two go around giving me orders? Last time I checked you haven't been making the best decisions so far tonight."

She marched right up to both of them and held her hands out expectantly, Miroku gulped. "She could die if we don't get her to a hospital now. And neither of you are capable of taking her there safely so what else do you propose we do?"

"We'll call an ambulance then." Inuyasha argued right back.

"Really? And how do you plan to explain this whole situation to the authorities?" She pointed to Inuyasha's arm and threw her hand out back towards the bedroom. "Why the injured ex boyfriend Kikyou just ruined has her drugged and unconscious in his apartment? Or do you think people just aren't going to notice that?!"

"She has a point," Miroku said meekly, shutting up from the look Inuyasha shot him and shrugging in innocence.

Inuyasha's mouth opened and closed again trying to find the words to argue back, but nothing came out. Kagome crossed her arms and jutted her chin looking definitely down at him awaiting his response. Miroku sighed beside the two of them already having realized the more Inuyasha would argue this with her the more Kagome was going to stubbornly dig her heels in.

"Keh," Inuyasha huffed looking away from his infuriatingly stubborn ex-fiancée.

"I can call Kikyou's agent, I'll say I'm a friend of hers and ask her to meet me at the hospital. Explain that we were out clubbing and she passed out. I'm not a model but I know something or two about publicity, her agent will be there in a second to make sure Kikyou doesn't attract any attention. Then I'll slip out and take a cab out of the city just like you asked." The offer was more to appease Inuyasha and she knew it, but Kagome truly felt like she needed to do this.

What had possessed her to take care of the snake that had ruined her life only days ago she really couldn't say. She just knew that this had to be done soon, and if it kept Inuyasha out of risk she was willing to do anything. "It's the quickest and safest way for everyone."

Inuyasha finally got up from his seat, despite his body screaming in protest. He turned his back to her resting his hand on the kitchen counter top, the other lying limply at his side.

He let his head hang a little, feeling so exhausted from the night's events already, not even wanting to think about everything to come. "And how will you get there Kagome? My car's still at Kouga's." His voice sounded as heavy as his head felt, as the horrible thought that he might put Kagome in danger was becoming truer by the second.

"How did you guys get here?" Kagome asked innocently.

"I drove the van I stole from my attackers who kidnapped me. It still-" Miroku stopped mid sentence when Inuyasha quickly looked up at him to stop him from going into graphic detail for her sake. "…you don't want to take that." Miroku euphemized.

Kagome paused choosing her words carefully. "Are…there people still in it?" She asked quietly.

"Yes, the two bodies of our would be assassins," Miroku replied. Inuyasha cursed quietly, still not turning to face them.

"It's the truth Inuyasha; she has a right to know exactly what she's volunteering for here. Kikyou is dying of an overdose because of her own involvement in this as well. We've both already killed tonight and we're far from out of the clear. So do you really want to involve yourself in this Kagome? Keeping in mind if you do you'll be responsible for yourself, Inuyasha and I can't guarantee we can protect you from these people." Miroku's words were harsh, but his tone soft and unyielding as he almost pleaded with her to change her mind.

Inuyasha ground his teeth immediately wanting to shout he could protect her from anything but knowing it wasn't true. He did turn to face her then, his face covered with pain obviously not from his arm anymore. Miroku motioned for him to stay silent while Kagome quietly drifted her eyes down to the floor. Both men waited for her thoughts in the tense loft.

But her thoughts were a complete mess, and her mouth opened and closed without making a sound. Each time her decision corroding to ash with doubt and fear before she could speak it. It was an awful thing to think she wasn't safe with Inuyasha, but Miroku was right, it was reality. But through the heavy dread and apprehension she felt about everything one thought wouldn't quit shining through. Kikyou was dying, faster by the second, and they both couldn't take her to the hospital without risking being seen alive themselves or caught by authorities.

Kagome knew the longer the three of them stayed here discussing this, the more dangerous it was becoming. Naraku wouldn't hesitate once he realized they were still alive, their only chance to live through the night was to run now.

"He's going to look here for you first." She stated the obvious. "And if he sees you or if you're caught before then by the press or the cops…" She trailed off to silence. "We don't have time to argue this. I'll call her agent, and call a cab. I'll take her to the hospital, and leave as soon as she's dropped off safely. This will be the easiest way. They don't know my face, and I want both of you to have the best possible chance to get out of the city before Naraku knows you're alive." Miroku and Inuyasha exchanged a quick knowing glance before she exhaled and looked up at Inuyasha finally, his worried expression the same.

"I'm going to go check on Kikyou, and call you that cab." Miroku said quietly excusing himself from the room.

Inuyasha tore his eyes away from Kagome's stare; it was matched with the same worry as his. He couldn't take this anymore, the feeling of helpless anger and fear boiling up inside of him. It was bad enough he and Miroku's lives were at stake tonight, which was probably his fault. But the fact that Kagome was recklessly throwing herself into danger she couldn't comprehend…and he was powerless to stop it. It was too much.

He'd seen what these men were capable of, and couldn't suppress a visible shudder when the image of Kouga flashed through his mind. Kagome was across the room in seconds, putting her hands gently on the sides of his face and dragging his gaze back to her.

"I can't take this," he admitted finally voice shaking from the raw honesty. "If something were to happen to you…because of me-"

Kagome shushed him quickly and hung her head with a soft sigh. Inuyasha closed the small space between them kissing her forehead and leaving his lips pressed there, hoping they weren't shaking too.

"I'll be okay, really. I'm just going to drop her off and take a cap right after. I'll even call you as soon as I leave and once I find somewhere to check in. Then as soon as we can we'll meet up and be together again." She made it all sound so simple and viable. It killed Inuyasha to lie to her this way, but he knew there was no running from this. He and Miroku would talk about it once she was gone but they both had already decided there wasn't any place far enough to run to. He barely nodded in response.

His only comfort was this way she wouldn't be with him anymore. Part of him knew if Kikyou hadn't been there he couldn't have been able to drag her away from his side, and the longer she stayed close the more danger she was in as well. If Naraku knew she was in this city, knew if he could hurt her to get to him, he'd do it without a moment's hesitation. So Inuyasha hugged her tightly with his good arm, burying his face in her hair to smell its soft fragrance and try not to forget it.

Inuyasha was far from the praying type, but right now even he closed his eyes to hope to whatever powers might be listening that Kagome would be safe.

While Miroku got ready to take Kikyou down to the lobby Inuyasha released Kagome and started quickly going through a pile of papers in his living room. He knocked papers aside in search of what he was looking for and thanked the kami's when he found the business card he had been thinking of.

"Kagome get a pen from the table and come here. I need you to write something for me, I'm worried my handwriting would be illegible right now." Kagome gulped but found a pen and joined him on the couch. She picked up one of the discarded pieces of paper and wrote down Miroku's cell phone number, Inuyasha's number, and his address just in case. He made her repeat back exactly what she was going to say at the hospital and to Kikyou's agent then leaned over with his good hand feeling beside the couch for something. He pulled up a black messenger bag, dumping out its few contents and handed it to Kagome for her to put some of the stuff from her suitcase into.

"Only take enough for a day or so, I don't want you to arise any suspicions. And if you haven't heard from me by then," her eyes widened and he held his hand up to silence her before she spoke. "If you haven't heard from me by tomorrow…book your plane ticket home and get out of the country."

"No-" she immediately argued. Inuyasha grabbed her shoulder and jerked her forward only inches from him.

"Do this for me, if you'll do nothing else do as I ask now. If you don't hear from me by tomorrow…get on a plane home. One that doesn't depart from JFK, promise me Kagome." He pleaded so desperately, leaning down to rest his forehead against hers.

"Okay…" she said softly. It killed Kagome to lie to him this way, but she knew she wasn't running without him.

Miroku walked in carrying Kikyou. "The cab just called, he's downstairs. I'm going to go put her in it…be quick Kagome." He said with a slight nod to both of them walking out Inuyasha's front door.

"Oh god," Kagome whispered flinging herself into Inuyasha's impossibly tight embrace. She felt like she had tried to be strong for so long, and now it was all crumbling as she clung to him trembling. She wanted to hold him in her hands forever, to know he was safe and tangible and not going anywhere without her. But none of this was possible, and her safety net, her fiancée for the last month she might never see again. The thought made her feel like her body was being physically ripped in half.

"Hey come on…you're shaking stop that." Inuyasha soothed, running a hand along her back. "You said so yourself, everything will be fine. I'll meet you as soon as it's safe and it'll all be okay. It'll be even better than before." They both knew he was lying, nothing about tonight was going to be safe for either of them, and meeting up would be far from easy.

"Run and stay safe Inuyasha…please. If anything were to happen…" He shushed her affectionately again resting his cheek against hers. Neither of them spoke for a moment, just breathed and then Inuyasha moved. He softly kissed her neck, jaw, cheeks and forehead; as if he was trying to memorize how every plane of her delicate face felt beneath his lips. Kagome felt like she couldn't breathe in that instant and she finally stilled not wanting to ruin this precious moment.

Eventually he pulled back and kissed the lips he loved so much, gentle and firm like the first time they ever had. The kiss that could make sparks travel down to the tips of her toes. This one did that too her again, melting and molding her to his body tighter than before. But it was more insisting than any of their kisses had been in the past, rushed and almost a little frenzied. When they pulled away both were out of breath and staring shakily at the other. Kagome realized the words that were on the tip of her tongue and quickly shut her mouth to keep them in…she just couldn't.

"You better go." He said finally, and she nodded. With another quick hug she grabbed her bag and left as fast as possible, not giving her the time to look back and reconsider.

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Inuyasha watched Kagome from the window. She had looked up one last time before stepping in herself and his heart clenched so tightly in his chest he couldn't breathe for a moment. The goodbye had been gut wrenching, watching that cab drive away was even worse.

He didn't know how long he stood immobile at the window. But when he looked beside him Miroku was suddenly there without him ever hearing the door open again.

"Miroku if anything happens to her because of me I'll never forgive myself."

"I know that, please stay calm there's no reason she should be in any danger." Miroku said coolly.

"She could be killed from this!" Inuyasha burst out.

"She won't be."

"How the fuck do you know that for certain?!" Inuyasha whirled on his friend, his usual fierce glare back in place.

"Trust me Inuyasha, I have a plan. And it doesn't involve any of us dying tonight." Miroku said calmly staring out the window into the city that owned him.

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"You want to talk about it?" Miroku asked while rustling through his kitchen.

"No." Inuyasha quickly responded keeping his eyes closed and massaging one of his temples halfheartedly. Miroku didn't say anything else in response.

"What are you doing over there?" Inuyasha finally asked with a weary sigh.

"Setting a pot to boil water, do you have a needle and thread?" Miroku asked without explanation.

Inuyasha thought for a moment. "Yea I think there's some in the first aid kit in my bathroom." The less adrenaline pumped through him the groggier he was starting to feel from the blood loss. "Why?" He mumbled.

"Because the wound on your arm is going to get infected if we don't do something about it. If we live through the night you'll still need to see a doctor but this will have to do for now."

"What will have to do?" Inuyasha asked a little slower than usual.

"I'm going to stitch it up myself idiot."

Inuyasha thought about this for a second, had he just heard him right? "How the hell would you know how to do that to someone?"

"I was training to be a paramedic in a past life. Not that you have the luxury of being picky right now." Miroku quipped.

"When did you do that?" Inuyasha muttered in confusion. But Miroku was already gone disappearing into the hallway without bothering to answer. "Yeah that's great, ignore and leave the injured guy alone, perfect." He sighed laying his head down on the table and fought the urge to sleep. He wondered if he should try and go after Kagome, but both the loss of what to say and the worry he was too weak to stand right now kept him in his seat. How utterly pathetic of him in every way he thought. His traitorous eyes rocked closed for a moment.

Miroku lingered in the hallway watching Inuyasha for a second before moving into the bathroom quickly and shutting the door. Flipping open his cell phone he hit a number on speed dial, speaking quietly to ensure Inuyasha wouldn't hear him.

"I only have a second, I'm not alone but I need you to do something important. Kagome Higurashi is in New York, follow her and watch her closely. Don't let her out of your sight is that understood?" He shut it after the confirmation and paused to exhale. The girl was definitely a problem he hadn't foreseen.

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Kagome looked up to Inuyasha's building only once more as the cab pulled into the busy flow of traffic. She whispered softly a pleas up to the window in a moment of prayer, something uncommon for her despite her family's Shinto origins. Leaving Inuyasha to the fate of the night she forced him from her mind focusing on the important task ahead instead.

"Please hurry. Get me to the hospital as fast as possible and I'll double you'll fare." Those were apparently the magic words as the cab instantly took off and began to weave through the traffic.

Kagome grabbed her cell phone and turned it on for the first time in hours, maybe going on days now she couldn't keep up. Thankfully her adrenaline was kicking her in the back of the skull too hard for her to notice her extreme exhaustion, yet. "I'll sleep when I'm dead," she thought morbidly.

She ignored the mass of voicemails and texts that popped up on her screen. It didn't matter to her now if they traced this, it'd be too late anyways. She dialed the number for Kikyou's agent that Inuyasha had given her and nervously bit her lip. Outside the streets sped past and another car honked when the cab cut him off so close they almost hit. Finally a curt voice answered and Kagome got straight to the point.

"Hi, I'm with Kikyou on the way to the hospital. I can't wake her and I don't know what she's taken."

"What hospital?" The woman replied calmly as if this was an ordinary scenario for her. Kagome held the phone away to ask the driver, who yelled it back loud enough the woman on the phone replied "I'll meet you there in ten minutes." Then she hung up.

Kagome stared at the phone for a moment before shoving it back into the bag he gave her. She paused to feel the fabric of the bag, it was soft and worn like he had this many years. Kikyou shook her out of the depressed thoughts when she moaned and spasmed again in her sleep. She was curled up on the seat, her head resting in Kagome's lap, an oddly personal position to be in with one's enemy. Kagome leaned down to check her pulse and breathing once more, they were still faint. She smoothed the bangs sticking to her clammy forehead trying to comfort the older girl. Her eyes twitched out of her control behind her closed lids.

The cab lurched again and Kagome held Kikyou a little tighter in her lap trying to keep her still. She reached into the bag next to her getting her wallet out to get a bill ready. "How far are we?"

"It's just around the block now."

"Go straight to the ER." Kagome reminded him and finally the hospital came into view as the cab turned and sped past another series of honks. Kagome dropped a hundred dollar bill into the man's lap not giving a shit about her father's money anymore and gently moved Kikyou off her. She sprinted through the doors of the ER now and rushed up to the counter asking for help. Two nurses immediately followed her outside with a wheel chair and the driver was even out of the car helping them load the limp girl into the chair.

"I think she's OD'ing." Kagome said frantically, knowing how pathetic her lack of explanation was. But the nurses didn't seem to notice as they wheeled her into the ER.

"Is that-" a young nurse in pink scrubs started to ask, her mouth dropped open. But before she could even try the nurse pushing the chair quickly cut her off.

"We're taking her to room four, alert the attendee now." She snapped harshly shaking the girl out of her awe.

Kagome rushed along behind them as they got to the room met by two more people in scrubs who threw back the thin curtains that surrounded the bed. One of the nurses turned back to ask her questions while the other three easily lifted her onto the bed. Kikyou still sagged limp like a rag doll looking paler by the minute.

"How old is she?"

"22." How did she even remember that?

"When did she lose consciousness?"

"Maybe thirty minutes ago, around there? We were at a party and I lost track of her for a few minutes." Kagome was a little amazed how easily lying was coming to her these days.

"What has she taken?"

Kagome remembered what Inuyasha had told her and repeated it back carefully. "I can't be positive, but maybe some cocaine earlier and probably heroin before she passed out." The nurse nodded not fazed at all making quick notes on a chart.

"You're okay though?" She ventured to ask giving Kagome a quick once over.

"Oh yeah…I'm fine. I don't do that sort of stuff." The truth, the nurse looked a little perplexed for a moment but quickly returned to the other staff members surrounding the bed.

Kagome floated in the doorway awkwardly watching the commotion of movement in the tiny space. They swarmed around her frail body shouting to each other all at once it seemed like. Kagome drifted back a step knowing she was useless once again. A nurse that was exiting took a glance at Kagome, and at seeing her stunned expression led her to a seat nearby pointing to a water cooler. Everything had gone sort of quiet and Kagome didn't hear a word the girl had said but sunk into the chair instinctively.

The grind of the day finally settled onto her crushing her as she slumped into the chair. She realized she hadn't eaten since the plane and her entire body felt empty, like she was hollow. She couldn't even feel her heart beating, but Kagome poetically thought it might have ceased all together with Inuyasha gone.

Inuyasha…vaguely she remembered his pleading and that she was supposed to be catching a cab and leaving here now. But she was rooted to the chair watching to procession going in and out of Kikyou's room in a daze. When a very well dressed woman clicked by in a pair of Louis Vuitton heels she knew it was the frigid woman from the phone. Her task was officially complete and she let her eyes rock closed with a soft sigh, succumbing to the exhaustion.

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"You're lucky that handgun wasn't any bigger, or the gunman's shot wasn't any closer inside your arm." Inuyasha opened his eyes again to hear the tail of Miroku's lecture as he sterilized a needle; he wasn't sure when he had even come back in the room. "It easily could have broken then bone or hit the humeral circumflex artery and you would have bled out. In terms of getting shot, you got lucky."

"Yea that's me, Mr. Lucky..." Inuyasha quickly sat up and got subsequently light headed.

"Sit down and do not flinch." Miroku instructed him with a firm push back into his chair, then gathered his supplies laying them on the table.

Inuyasha collapsed back into the seat once more, numb now that Kagome was gone. He couldn't feel anything now, the dim hope that she would be safer without him was the only thing keeping him sane. He knew regardless there was no looking back now and no use thinking about it. If these were his final hours breathing he'd rather think about the happier times with her anyways.

Miroku worked quietly to sterilize the thread now glancing back to his mute friend he barely recognized. He was concerned, this wasn't going as planned anymore.

"This is going to sting." Miroku warned seconds before he untied the make shift tourniquet on Inuyasha's arm, tossing the bloody garment on the table. It made a somewhat wet smack on the wood and Inuyasha winced from the noise as much as the pain. "And this is going to sting more."

Inuyasha's silence abruptly ended with a loud string of obscenities when Miroku put the alcohol soaked towel over the wound. It felt like he had been lit on fire. He tried not to look but couldn't help but glance, now that the splattered blood had been cleaned away he saw how deep the gash's went. It started as a slice on the front of the arm but widened into an angry split of frayed skin near the back where the bullet had sped through the tissue.

"At least it didn't take out too much of your muscle."

"No, no, only tore a chunk out of the side." Inuyasha muttered sarcastically. "It's ideal really."

Miroku didn't respond to this, threading the needle carefully.

"You sure this has to be done tonight? Couldn't we wait to just see if we live until morning instead?"

"We're going to live asshole, quit thinking so pessimistically. That's your problem Yash, you're way too negative, you know that?"

"Yeah we have tons to be positive about right now, forgot."

"Grip onto something and don't move, it'll only hurt worse." Inuyasha frowned holding on the table with his good arm. He looked away at the last second when the nausea hit him.

"So you and Kagome were engaged pretty quick."

"Can you not make- casual ...conversation while you sew...err...my skin." Inuyasha grimaced through grit teeth.

"I just never figured you for the settling down type." Miroku threaded and pulled tight then paused. "Breathe." Inuyasha did.

"It wasn't a real...engagement." He finally muttered after a minute of silence. "It was arranged by our parents."

"I didn't know people still did that in Japan." Stitch, pull, stitch.

"They don't, it was -rrr...political..."

"Well however it started you certainly seem attached to her and I don't blame you, really pretty girl."

"Shut your mouth letch..." Inuyasha ground his teeth sucking his breaths through with a hiss. "That's none of your god damn business," he growled out now officially pissed off.

Miroku pulled the thread a little tighter with a smirk. Inuyasha swore.

Pulling the thread tight one last time Miroku finally started knotting it off securely and cut the extra off. "There finished." He grinned at the work.

Inuyasha ignored his enthusiasm glancing cautiously at his arm. It looked like a cheesy horror wound from a bad movie, black thread and all. He poked it just once to feel it, and winced.

"What is wrong with you dumbass? Don't touch it! God knows your hands probably aren't clean." Miroku rolled his eyes wiping more alcohol on it then bandaged a large piece of gauze over the stitches. "It'll be a miracle if it doesn't get infected before we get you to a real ER."

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"Excuse me miss?" A soft grip was shaking her shoulder and Kagome's eyes fluttered open to the piercing fluorescents of the hospital lights. She winced looking around bewildered for a second.

"Sorry to wake you but Mrs. Kotara is stable now and you can see her."

The words finally made it through her fog, "is she…okay?" She managed to croak out.

"She hasn't woken up yet so we can't say for sure but we gave her the first two opioid antagonist injections. We're waiting for her to regain consciousness to give her another if needed. But it stops the drugs effects in her system immediately and she shouldn't have any permanent damage because you got her here fast enough."

"Thank you," Kagome murmured and picked up Inuyasha's bag to follow the nurse. She had no idea why she was going in that room and it because painfully clear to her she had no place there once the nurse left. She thought she gave her an envious look on her way out, and it caused a lump in her throat.

The room was empty, the harsh agent gone leaving only a very different looking Kikyou and the beeps of the hospital equipment. Kagome softly walked up to the bed and placed her hands on the railing. Kikyou looked even tinier in the over sized hospital gown but thankfully no longer so deathly pale and shaking. Her chest rose and fell peacefully now and Kagome studied her again quickly. 'She ruins my life and I help save hers' she couldn't stop the cynically ironic thought.

She gazed over her features, much sharper than her own and not as pretty without all the make up she wore on TV, she noted. She wondered sadly what she was like when she was dating Inuyasha. Surely the woman had a reason to hate him so much, but Kagome still had no idea even now what it could be.

Realizing she had been there far too long and had lurked enough she turned and left. But right as she was going through the doorway the strangest thing happened freezing her to the spot instantly.

'No…' she thought panic setting in. 'I'm tired, I'm wrong-'

But then she heard it again, a voice harsher than her own but speaking softly.

"Excuse me…where am I?"

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A/N: Ahh! Do you love it? Hate it? Hate the cliffhanger? Tell me about it and review, I'll love you forever :D. I know I'm cruel, forgive me kind readers! More updates to follow soon. And if anyone's interested there's a unofficial soundtrack song for this chapter which is Tidal Wave by the Killers. I don't really like including lyrics in the middle of chapters but this song reminds me perfectly of Kagome and Inuyasha so look it up if you're interested. Thank you again to everyone who supports this story, you have no idea how much I appreciate it.

Disclaimer: Inuyasha owns me