Chapter 22
The scent of Kagome's tears gets Inuyasha and Koga's noses. "This way." Inuyasha runs off ahead with Koga right by. It didn't take long for them to find the warehouse where the scent is coming from. With their strength, the two boys managed to break the door down to look inside. Inside has them see it with disgust in theirs. "Koga. What a surprise." Naraku speaks to him. Koga snarls at him. "You bastard. What the hell did you do to Kagome?" Koga demands the man. Inuyasha helps Kagome out of her binds of the handcuffs. "I see you have Inuyasha with you. I have to admit that this is interesting." Naraku casually tells him.
Inuyasha helps Kagome onto his back while Koga does the unthinkable. He punches Naraku in the face and in the gut. "Don't you even come near Kagome ever again." He warns the psycho, but what happens next surprised them. "It's a wooden doll. I knew for sure that Naraku is just a coward as usual." Inuyasha tell him. Koga punches the wall above the wooden doll. "We're taking this as evidence." He confirms as he leaves the warehouse. Inuyasha can tell that Kagome is so tired from all of this. Sango sees Inuyasha with her on his back. "Kagome, you okay?" Sango asks quickly to make sure that Kagome isn't hurt anywhere. "I'm just so tired." Kagome weakly responds to her. "Let's get her home." Sango suggests Inuyasha. Inuyasha agrees as he get Kagome into the SUV's back seat with Sango sitting next to her.
As soon as the group make it to the apartment complex, Sango digs through Kagome's purse to find the key to make sure they can get in. She tells the guy who spoke with her that Kagome is way too tired to unlock her own apartment. He didn't mind and let them in. Once Sango opens the door, Inuyasha gently takes her to her bedroom to let her rest. He steps out and heads back into the living room where everyone else is waiting. "She's weak. We all know that." He tells them already. He can see Koga in conflict as well. "Inuyasha, I just want to make sure you know fully well that I'm innocent." Koga begins.
Inuyasha raises his hand. "I know you don't have to tell me. I knew for sure that Naraku bastard's scent was that of deception. Besides I already know about your innocence." He assures him. "But tell me this, Koga. How was it that you knew that somehow Naraku was the one behind all of this?" Miroku asks him. Koga tells them about he was to go to college in New York, had no idea that his father was Naraku all this time. "So Naraku managed to make you believe that you were better off going to New York so he can get close to Kagome?" Inuyasha asks him. Koga just nods. "I even told Kagome about it, and trust me, she didn't like it one bit…"
Flashback
Koga gets to his locker. He has only three days left until he has to leave. "Koga." Kagome runs up to him. "Oh hi, Kagome." He replies as cheerful as he could be. Kagome knows that look. "What's wrong?" She asks him. She sees him getting all of his belongings out. "I hate to say this, but I'm going to college next week." He tells her. Kagome didn't see this coming. "College? Koga you're just a junior and have another year to go." She said in a matter of fact tone. "Trust me Kagome. I tried to get my dad to change his mind but he was serious about all of this." Koga explains to her about this sudden moment. "When do you leave?" Kagome asks more quietly. "This Saturday." Koga answers to her. Kagome helps him with the remaining stuff he had in the locker. "Let's get these to your house." He tells her. Kagome blinks her eyes. "My house? But this is all of your stuff." She disagrees with his decision.
"No I mean you'll have some of my stuff to remember me by." Koga tells her clearly. Kagome nods to let him know she gets it. When they get to Kagome's house, Koga helps her with the box that had some of his things with. They make it up to her bedroom. "So I guess this is it." Kagome starts first. Koga nods. "Yeah.' All he does is hug her dearly. He's not that kind of guy who would step over his own pride to take the next step.
End of Flashback
The room felt silent after Koga's story. "Koga I just want to say I'm sorry for what I did. I have no right to do those things to you." Sango starts off. "Sango. I know what you mean. But it was Naraku would disguise himself as me, so there is no need for an apology." Koga waves her off. "So what are we going to do?" He asks the room. Not a single person could come up with an answer.
About an hour later, Kagome comes to find herself in her bedroom. AS she tries to sit up, her head pounds from the inside. A sharp cry gets the group's attention to come to her room. "Kagome, are you ok?" Sango asks her. Kagome looks up to see Koga among them. She cries in fear into Sango's arms. "Sango, please keep him away from me." She begs her friend. Koga knew for sure that Kagome isn't ready to face him, despite what she just went through. "He's innocent." Sango tries to tell her.
Kagome shakes her head, "No you don't understand. He's the one who raped me." She tells her frantically. Koga just walks away, knowing this isn't going to be easy. "Miroku, Inuyasha, Hakkaku, could you guys give us a moment?" Sango requests the rest of the group to give Sango and Kagome the privacy they need. "Sure." Miroku responds as he simply guides the guys away from the girl.
Sango closes the door. "What else are you not telling me, Sango?" Kagome begins, she suddenly stopped crying. "I'm not hiding anything. This is all I know so far." Sango responds as she sits next to Kagome on the bed. "Sango. I know what happened." Kagome stares at her. "Know what?" Sango asks her. "That guy who kidnapped me. He was the one who did it to me." Sango is still confused. "You mean Naraku? Yeah, I was able to track him down with Inuyasha's help. And not just that, Naraku disguised himself as Koga throughout the time." She explains to her. Kagome looks down to her quivering hands. "I should've seen this coming. I should've known that something was wrong with Koga when he told me that he was leaving." Kagome starts off.
Flashback
It was Friday morning, and Kagome isn't in the best of moods to move on with the day up ahead. As she gets her things from her locker, she closes it to find Koga leaning onto the locket next to her. "Oh, Koga, I didn't expect you to be here. I thought that you were still packing to go to college." She said sadly to him. But then Koga smiles. "It turns out that I won't be going to college after all." He tells her. Kagome blinks her eyes. Is she hearing this right? Two days ago she was told that he was going to college and now all of a sudden he's not going. "What made your dad changed his mind?" Kagome asks him curiously. Koga stands straight up. "Well, it turns out that I need to complete my high school years in order to go. I'm speechless on how to respond to his idea. But all I can say is this. I'm relieved." He keeps his smile on his face.
All Kagome does is tear up her eyes and embrace him. "I'm so glad you're not going." She weeps. All Koga does is return the hug.
End of Flashback
Sango couldn't believe it. "I just want to know one thing, Kagome." She speaks to her. Kagome looks up to her. "What is it?" She nervously asks her friend. "Did Koga change since then?" She asks her. Kagome had to think of a good answer. "Since then he began to open up his feelings for me. I had no idea that since graduation, he proposed to me in secret. I was so happy. But then that's when he went to the bad side of our marriage. And you know the rest." She tells Sango. "And that's when we were in court, the judge ruled him on a restraining order after the divorce." All Kagome does is nod.
But now, Kagome knows the truth. And the first she needs to do is to make amends to Koga. But the only thing that also crossed Kagome's mind is if that their relationship was really a mistake or the right choice since that time?
