Mangalover: WwwwwooooooHhhhhoooooo! HAPPY 2011 EVERYONE! Of course I missed my deadline I set for myself...again! But I was partying hard for two days now! Hope everyone partyed hard in their own way to bring in the new year!

ENJOY! XD !

Chapter 26:

"What the hell were you thinking!" The elderly man yelled out of anger at the teenager. "Now look at what you've done! You've gotten yourself kicked out of school and for what? Do you have any idea how embarrassing this is for me? To have everyone in the whole district know that my granddaughter got expelled for cross-dressing! Masquerading around school as a teenage boy for months! You… you…aaaggghhh!" Kagome jumped as the enraged man threw one of the kitchen chairs across the room. "Get out of here! Get out of my sight, now!"

Scurrying to her feet, the raven made it upstairs and to her room in recorded time. Slamming the door, she slid to the carpet and wept. She wept and wept until a dull ache settled behind her eyes.

"Kagome." A soft knock came after on the other side of the door. "You ok?"

The girl sniffled, wiping away the wetness from her eyes and nose. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"But…"

"I said I'm fine." She snapped back. She felt awful for doing it but she didn't want to be seen nor did she want to talk to anyone. She stayed on the floor for what felt like hours. Thinking and mostly berating herself for what she had caused. Disaster, mayhem, destruction of people's lives and she could blame no one but herself.

No one would answer her phone calls, leaving dozens of apologizes to everyone; not even the hundreds of text messages she sent were replied to. Though the punishment she was enduring was just. She had deceived everyone, pried into their lives, dug out top secrets that the CIA didn't know and all for her own perversions, persistence and selfishness and what did it get her? Suspensions, expulsions, broken hearts, broken friendships, lost of credibility in everyone that knew her.

It's all my fault.

Wallowing in self pity, Kagome dragged her feet like a zombie as she made her way to the wicker door. Sliding it open, she slumped down to her knees again; tossing color coordinated shoes out of the way; she didn't think that her closet was so large until she had to hunt for the items that she had hidden from her past. She huffed in frustration as she pulled more clothes that had fallen from their hangers. Finally her fingers brushed the cotton blanket that covered what she had been searching for.

She paid no mind to the mess that was made as she sat cross legged on the floor of the closet; placing the wooden box in her lap. The old hinges creaked as the lid opened; fingers shuffled through the memories. Memories of the times when she had to use the fake passports and I.D cards, of when her father purchases the plane and train tickets from all over the world; of the places where the photographs of her father and her were taken.

Picking up one, her thumb ran over the once familiar face that she forced herself to forget, because remembering him was too painful. She was just born, bundled up in the same cotton blanket that covered her treasure chest. From the angle that the photo had capture the event, the man's outreached arm, and titled slightly to get all three of them, her father had taken the picture himself. The man that she adored was looking at her, his arm draped over the pillow that cushioned the mother of his child's head; her mother, young and bright was smiling tiredly. Her eyes evaded the lens to look at the newborn that slept soundly in her arms.

Digging further into the box, shuffling through the small amount of pictures, there were some of her aunt and uncle who she had grown and thought of as her second mother and father, Souta and her grandfather. She realized that she held the only picture of her biological mother.

It scared her to know that someone outside of their household (a.k.a slutbag Kikyo) knew the details that were never discussed even between the people who did know. Grandfather pretended that the events that took place never happened.

Her father, his son, had been a con man. A criminal and the sheer epitome of shame on the family name. She was told as a child that her father was disowned from the family at the age of fifteen and was never seen or heard from again for a long time.

During the time of his disappearance, he lived the life of his dreams: money, exotic countries, and women; lots and lots of women. It wasn't until he met a young woman, the woman that would change his life forever. He loved her, cherished her, lavished her with everything that she desired and in return she gave him a child of his own.

If her mother was now a drug addict, she didn't know. She knew from sure that she wasn't when she had met her father; he hated the stuff. He always said that drugs clouded the mind and would make him a bad decision maker so he strayed clear and far from them, the dealers and the users. If her mother was in jail, she didn't know that either. Kagome didn't know her own mother's name for that matter. Soon after she was born, her mother left them both. From what Kagome was told, she wasn't ready to settle down and be a mother.

Her lost. Her lost not raising her and getting to know her daughter. Her lost not finding out what a wonderful and awesome person she had become.

Her lost.

Her lost!

The raven brushed away hot tears streaming down her face. She didn't realize that she had been harboring such feeling for the absence of her negligent mother. She didn't love her, she couldn't love a person that she didn't know and yet she was crying…because she didn't love her. She didn't love her own mother and her mother didn't love her. She was envious of the boys that she had grown to know. The love that surrounded them, even though at times they themselves were oblivious to it; Bankotsu's mother fought hard to protect her son from the evils that surrounded his own father. Kouga's mother, though to anyone else that didn't understand their lives would have judged her harshly for how she raised her only child. But to Kagome his mother surrounded him with all the love in the world and then some. And when she unexpectedly died, that loved transferred on with his godparents who couldn't produce a child of their own.

Where was the love when she was transferred unexpectedly? When her father had dropped by, nearly two decades later with a four-year-old in his arms surprising his father, younger brother, and his pregnant wife, he had said that he would return for her. He was tired of the life that he was living and wanting better for his daughter instead of living out of hotel rooms and moving from city to city, country to country.

The people that were present didn't believe him but took the child anyways. Through tears, screams, and innocent pleads, he had promised that he would return and take her with him. He had never lied to her before, so she trusted him and held on to his words, knowing that he would come back. All the while, she felt like a burden to everyone, feeling their judging eyes on her. It didn't occur to them that she didn't chose to be born, that she didn't decided to roam the earth conning others with her father. She just did what she knew to survive. But they didn't see it that way. She was the prodigal child of the disowned son.

The day came when her father returned to get her, but it wasn't made aware to her until years after the fact. Not until after the people that she had grown to love were gone.

Her father had returned, to the house they had once lived in before moving to the shrine to be with their grandfather. She, her aunt, and Souta were away while her uncle was busy packing the last of their things. The only ones who knew exactly what happened on that day were her father and uncle. Neighbors claimed they had heard shouting and arguments; one of the men was demanding to know where his little girl was whilst the other refused. Berating the other, accusing him of being an unfit father and the child had grown accustomed to her lifestyle and was happy where she was. The noise finally died down but it wasn't until a short time later the nosy neighbors saw both men exiting the house and entering the car and that was the end of that. Only her father had left the car after the crash. Unharmed? No one knew for sure but her uncle wasn't so lucky. Killed on impact was the news that was brought to them once the police had found the wreckage.

Her aunt and grandfather were devastated as was she. After that, they had moved in with their grandfather. It had taken them awhile to grief before finally getting back on their feet once again. She was twelve when the woman she had grown to love and called 'mom' had left her; another accident as well. This time, her father hadn't been so lucky, dying several days later in the hospital. A fact that her grandfather had kept from her until recently; apparently her father hadn't been lying. It took some time, but he had finally been living life on the straight and narrow. He had confessed to his father that the car accident had been just that, an accident. His son was going to take him to the shrine, to prove to his elder brother that his daughter was happy just where she was. All the while arguing back and forth, he had taken his eyes off the road for a second and lost control; the front tires skidded across a patch of black ice. The vehicle slammed into a pole on the driver's side. He had left because surely the police would have him arrested for his crimes. He waited for years until everything was calm once again.

The last time he appeared, he had confronted his brother's widow. Not to coerce her, but to make things right; guilt had plagued him that she had been left a widow and her son fatherless. He was part to blame and he asked for forgiveness and offered to wed her and take his brother's place as her husband.

As her late husband, she had denied his right to see his child. Unfortunately, persistence was a blessing and a curse (a trait that he had passed on to his daughter). He chased her through the crowded sidewalks, begging and bargaining with her, still she refused. In her attempt to escape him, she foolishly ran across the street, making her way to the other side. The driver of the car didn't see her as the others did, and though the driver slammed on the brakes, it wasn't in enough time. He had hit her, and her father who had boldly jumped in the way trying to save her.

Kagome weakly shuffled through the box, finding the deed to the house that her father had bought for him and her, still there collecting dust and cobwebs. Stock bonds, shares, and bank accounts that were still collecting money even now all were in his name. Her father's will that claimed if anything were to happen to him, everything would go to her. The documents came with the story that her grandfather had told her two years ago. When she had asked why, he shrugged and stated that he was protecting her.

Protecting her? Ha! She knew what protection was. She had seen it for herself. Protection was what Miroku's dad and grandfather did for him. Protecting him from the wrath of his abusive mother and from his own psyche, that was protection. Protecting was what Inuyasha's father and brother did for him, shielding him from the harsh realities of the media and the public. Taking down anyone who threatened their lives in the blink of an eye and a small snap of their fingers; that was protection. Her friends coming to her rescue when she was attacked by a man that she thought she cared for, that was protection.

No, she believed that deep down her own grandfather tolerated her, but could never fully love her, not when he felt that she was the cause of his children's deaths. Her father's persistence had cost her grandfather everything and unlike the boys' family, he didn't seek within himself to forgive. And though she was but a child and really didn't have a part in any of the events that had happened, she was the only one still alive to throw his frustrations at.

He did the only thing that could hurt her beyond reason.

Overwhelmed with bitterness, anger, and sadness, they spilled and leaked out onto her clothes, hands, and lap. With that came tremors and sobbing before expelling cries of sorrow and despair.

Though she didn't want to cause attention to herself, her cries didn't go unnoticed.

"Sis?" she barely heard the knock at the door, it opening, or the boy stepping inside.

"He…he didn't let me say goodbye." She choked out, sobbing even louder. Closing the door, Souta ran to her side. Wrapping her in his arms, he cradled and rocked her on the floor in the closet as she turned into his chest crying out:

"He didn't let me say goodbye!"

Miroku sat on the edge of his bed, contemplating and for once in his life he didn't have the urge to destroy everything in his path, to scream, to harm himself or others. For once, he wasn't angry, well…not at angry as he would have been two months ago. For once, he was at peace and it felt good. He didn't feel like his world was going to end, though his heart was crushed he was sure that he could glue it back together. He didn't feel like he was going to die because someone he had cared about was now out of his life. It hurt, that he knew for sure but he supposed that was normal.

Now he wasn't sure how to handle the aftermath of everything. How was he supposed to go on now? It wasn't like he could avoid the woman; they went to the same school. With the new semester, they didn't have any classes together, not even homeroom, but they lived in the same neighborhood… across the street from one another for Pete's sake! There were going to be days when he would bump into her at the bookstore or the supermarket. Was he supposed to response to her? Acknowledge her presence or just ignore her? Granted he had taken some lovers but they were women that he barely knew and didn't have deep feeling for. Sango was different. Different from all the rest, but should he treat her the same?

Depressed, confused, and frustrated, Miroku decided to stop trying to figure it out on his own.

Alone. He had been alone lately, in his room most of the time. He had stayed away from his mother and grandmother. Not wanting to answer their questions as to why he was moping around the house like a ghost, why he was somewhat pale and not eating as much, and why wasn't Kida around lately? He didn't what to answer, not until he got the bitter taste of betrayal that coated his entire mouth.

He looked on at the picture frame that protected the image of her smiling in his arms. When she had professed her love for him at the stroke of midnight bringing in the new year, his heart stopped. He thought that he was going to die right there on the spot. He didn't want to look like a fool and even when his mouth went dry and his palms were beginning to sweat, he said the first thing that came to his mind. He thought it was a mistake to have not said that he loved her back, noting the shock look on her face. He was glad that he didn't say it. It would have hurt even more now than it already did.

He snapped the frame face down harshly not caring if he had cracked it. He had given her all of him, never hiding anything from her. He had said that he wanted no more secrets between them, spilling out his guts and gave her the opportunity to say whatever she had to say. This whole time, for the past six months she had been behind the masquerade. Hell! She was the one who created the man he knew as Mathias Alexander. The man that he had befriend, had told dark intimate secrets that even his closest of friends or his girlfriend for that matter didn't even know. He had trusted him…or her to be cynical about it.

Angry and fed up with being alone, he snatched his coat and left.

"Why has everyone migrated over here?" Inuyasha question was clipped, eyeing the three teens that had left their cushy warm homes and landed into his bed. He was almost tempted to put them out on their asses.

Almost.

"Because your bed is the biggest to hold all four of us." Kouga said as he flopped his head back on the pillow.

"Because your place is where we can talk about whatever we want and not be interrupted or have any of our conversations leave this room." Bankotsu said, slightly bitter.

"Because we've all been holed up in our houses, alone and depressed and we need to be around each other."

"Speak for yourself." Kouga sneered at Miroku comment.

"Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Heatless. I forgot that your world hasn't been turned on its side from the sudden events that have happened in less than a week." Out of the quartet, Kouga was the only one that was left without a broken ego, spirit, or heart.

"Yup, well you guys are the epitome of why you gota be careful who you lend your feeling to. That's why I don't do it." The self-proclaimed playboy said smugly.

"I'd kick you right in your balls…" Bankotsu started, moving his foot into position to do the action. "But you're right."

"Oh my God! Stop sniveling already!" Inuyasha couldn't take it anymore. He had to get rid of the thick fog that was swarming around them before they all suffocated on it. Crawling on the bed, he fell against the pillows at the head; Kouga laid on the opposite side while Bankotsu and Miroku were propped up with pillows at the bottom of the bed; their feet pointing towards them.

"How were we so easily duped?" Bankotsu said after a long uncomfortable silence.

"Who knows?" Kouga replied.

"We were just pawns."

"Innocent bystanders is what we were!"

"No, she targeted us." Bankotsu eyes formed into slits. "She could have gotten close with anyone, but she chose us."

"Yeah, but why?"

"Because she felt like we had the most baggage." Inuyasha looked passed Miroku's head, staring out the window. The weather was as gloomy as his mood. "You, the playboy of the century, go through girls like snotty tissues and yet they kept going back for more and you seemed to go without consequences. She was intrigued by you in some way. And you Mystery Man. The silent, smart type who always sat with a book in his hand but no one really knew anything about him. So instead, to fill the voids, people started untrue rumors to make you seem a little more interesting. And you just so happen to be the boyfriend of one of her friends and I'm pretty sure that she has asked about you and all Kida could tell her is what she already knew because that's all you were willing to tell her. She wanted to know the layers behind that seemingly kind smile."

"Seemingly though? I do have a kind smile you know."

"Yeah, but you were mysterious nonetheless."

"Well, Rich Boy, since you have all the answers why don't you explain why she wanted us, I mean besides the fact that we're always together."

"You just happen to be in love with her best friend." He simply said making the other frown and turn away from him. He didn't know when he would be able to vision Sango's face without feeling sadness.

"But I don't think she knows anything about you."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because Sango isn't the type that would squeal." The silver haired teen said confidently. "If you told her not to say anything, then she wouldn't have told no matter who had asked her."

Uncomfortably, Miroku shifted, not wanting to dwell on the topic further.

"And me, well, we pretty much have history together, as fucked up as it is. I guess she wanted to find out how I really felt about her." His answer had the rest of them rolling their eyes.

"And why you fucked her over five years ago and essentially broke her heart." Bankotsu pointed out.

"And that even though you seem to not give a damn about her, you still continued to bang women that resembled her, one in particularly, she-who's-name-shall-not-be-mentioned-in-this-room-because-Bank-will-puke-on-me." He laughed as the boy jerked as if he was making sure his gag reflexes were still working.

"And, even though you continuously say you have no feeling for her, you continued to send mixed signals and fuck with her on a daily basis. Literally for that matter."

"What?" Kouga shot up in surprise. "You screwed the geek? When? Where? And why am I just now hearing about this?"

"I didn't sleep with her!"

"No, he just fingered her into orgasm."

"What?"

"Shut up!" he threw his only weapon, a pillow, to silence him.

"In the family room." He finished before he was smothered.

"You sly, slick dog!" Kouga howled in laughter while Bankotsu just shook his head in silence.

"Didn't I tell you to shut up? Didn't I tell you not to tell anyone about that night?" he pushed down once more before flopping back to his side of the bed.

"So how did she taste?"

"The hell! I didn't taste her! What is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with you! You literally had her in the palm of your hand and you didn't taste her." He rolled his eyes.

"Oh, God." Bankotsu slapped his forehead with his palm comically. Why had he come here again?

"You've been around me long enough that you should know what to do with a woman." He shook his head, thoroughly disappointed.

"I'm sorry that I'm not a whore like you."

"Amateur. That's what you are." He scoffed.

"Whatever. The point is…our lives were supposed to be a part of her story."

"Her being expelled doesn't stop the fact that she can still publish her story, whatever it may be." Bankotsu pointed out.

"Damn it!" Kouga snapped. "She's got everything on us, but we don't have shit on Nancy Drew."

"What about your brother?" Miroku asked.

"What about him?"

"Well he did find all that information on that Sinclair guy for you."

"Hell yeah!" Kouga chimed in. "Maybe he can do whatever he did before and dig up dirt on her."

"What good will it do?"

"If whatever we find is good enough, we might be able to convince her not to go public with her damned paper." Anger grew inside of him when he didn't respond. "Listen! I know that I don't really care what people think about me and what I do with my life, but I know for sure that I'll be expelled right along with her if the Ed. Board finds out that I have sex with married women and occasionally get paid for it." He looked over at the dark haired teen. "And I know damn well you don't want the whole district to know that you're a former juvie bad boy drug dealer gone good and who the hell knows what kind of dirt she has on you." He nudged Miroku. "You most of all should be the most worried!"

"I know!" Inuyasha screamed back. "But…"

"We will not make this a S.O.L situation here!" Fed up, he sprang from the bed. "If you're not going to ask him, then I will."

"You don't have to do that."

"Why the hell not?" Inuyasha said nothing as he pulled a flashdrive from his pocket.

"What's that?"

"Every stitch of information on Kagome Higirashi."

"See! This is why you're a sly, slick dog!" Happily, Kouga jumped back on the bed. "Already three steps ahead. So what's on it?"

"I don't know."

"You haven't looked at it?" Bankotsu looked at his suspiciously.

"No. I thought about it. I've had every opportunity but… I can't." He was angry just like the rest of them and he had every right to invade her privacy just as she did to them. But he couldn't bring himself to uncover the secrets that she had desperately wanted to hide from the world.

"Well if you can't…" Quickly, Bankotsu snatched the small device from his hand. "I sure as hell can."

"That's what I'm talking about! Fight fire with fire!" the playboy followed the law abiding teen off the bed and towards the computer room.

"It's for the best." Miroku tried to make his friend feel better about the situation that was about to conspire.

"Why am I not convinced?"

Pressing 'send' without hesitation, the letter to the school as well as the Board was sent. Kagome rested her head in her open palms praying that they would give her friend the benefit of the doubt. If she had to go in front of the Board in person, she would; anything she had to do she would be willing if it meant that Sango would be exonerated. It was the least she could do for her.

She turned to see Souta sitting on her bed, the glow of his hand-held game illuminated his face. He hadn't turned her away once she had told him everything that she knew. He was confused at first, then mad and hurt. He had left her to cry by herself for awhile after that, probably to cry himself. But he had come back, with a bowl of extra buttery popcorn, a sleeping bag and his games. He told her that he wasn't leaving her side until the emotional crisis she was having ended.

Clicking on the minimized window, see reviewed the final product of her piece. It had taken her several hours; between the breaks to pace the floors to think, something that she always did to unblock the words that were trying to escape. Or she would stop in the middle to cry a while longer where Souta would be right behind her for comfort.

Deleting, revising, rearranging, it exhausted her to no end emotionally and mentally. Not being able to deal with it anymore, she pushed away from her desk.

"Souta, take a look at this. Tell me what you think." She requested from her brother once they switched places.

Jittery, Kagome walked away, instead of hovering over his shoulder like she had intended. She sat on the bed and picked up the game. Just because the shit hit the fan and she was exposed wasn't going to stop her from writing her piece for the school newspaper. Never had she set out to do something and not finish it and she wasn't about to start now. She set out to find the answers to her questions six months ago and she did just that.

As she manipulated the character to jump over the body of water, she recalled everything she had written and the consequences she would encounter. But she soon forced herself to stop after conjuring up different scenarios. However, she wondered after everything that she was trying to accomplish backfired in her face, whether there was anything beyond rock bottom.

"It's good." She heard him say. "But are you sure you wanna put all this stuff out there?" He looked at her with worry written on his face.

"It's about time that everyone learned the truth."

"Yeah, but everyone isn't confided to just the school. You know that, Sis."

Kagome shook her head, already making up her mind. Pushing pass him, she saved the final product before attaching it to Megan's email. She pressed 'send' before she lost her nerve completely.

"Everyone will know everything."