They watched as she took the cubs out of danger 'good woman'. Koga was under the impression that Kagome had given up and allowed them to fight for her. Inuyasha was livid. He knew Kagome was getting away, but that seemed to be a problem for a future Inuyasha, one who had finally killed the fucking wolf, one who had fought with honor for her. She didn't ask him to stop, so everything about this fight was fair play.
Inuyasha tried to use his usual technique with Koga. He visualized his yoki and attacked with the Wind Scar when the fucking coward up and left. Inuyasha sheathed tessaiga and went to the street, he could not smell Kagome's scent, he went back to the apartment and started over, his blood was cool now, he just wanted to find her, the place smelled like her but a few steps outside her door her scent disappeared. He expanded his search and found the smell once again, only to lose it again. She was good, but this was bad.
.
The first thing she did was to create a barrier around Shippo, Sota, and herself to hide their scent. Maybe her magic or the barrier itself had a smell or something identifiable, so she went a few blocks at foot, put the barrier down, a few streets ahead she put it up again and then took a cab. They did all this twice as she thought of going to Hojo's but changed her mind. Inuyasha had known him. Maybe Kagome was overreacting, but she knew no one else and trusted no one else either. Gathering optimism, she smiled, stepping on the bus. She believed in the kindness of strangers to get by. This is how she had been living all along. With the rest of the money, they took that bus to change districts. Koga had told her where his territory ended and Inuyasha's brother started. She sought help in that place. After all, she belonged to both of them and neither of them.
The outskirts of any place were the homes of outcasts. Both people and yokais live on the fringes, and they do so begging or by non-violent criminal means. They arrived at night as the streets were busy. Most buildings were abandoned, and the air smelled like smoke. That first day they went to a building and slept on the roof. It was a sultry night, and they were not cold, but in the morning they were hungry. Kagome walked a few blocks and yokais and humans looked at them sporadically. She had lowered her defenses and they could smell her, but none of them knew her, and if one of them found her it would be because of Shippo and Sota, there was no point in dying her hair or changing clothes, the boys were a dead giveaway. She could only hope that Inuyasha's and Koga's pride would get in the way and they would give up on her. She thought she was not worth the effort.
In a corner of the street, there was a shelter, Kagome remembered vaguely her past life struggling to eat and finding places to sleep, as soon as she got a job she worked hard to keep it and paid for rent and food for herself and Sota. This time, things would be harder. They built shelters to only accept humans, as yokai wars were not worth it for the humans and yokais didn't have any social programs for yokais in need, not that she knew. They believed in strength and dominance and most times left the weak ones to fight for themselves and prove their worth.
She left the boys at the door and entered the shelter. When she came out empty-handed, she told them the rules. She had to stand in line since dawn to get food or else there would be nothing left. Same at dusk with the beds, only they did not accept yokais so that wasn't a possibility. Tomorrow morning, she was going to wake up early to get food. Right now they were headed to a supermarket. Dumpster diving was the only solution, and after that, job hunting. She had little money, and it was for emergencies.
"We should try to gather cans or bottles or something and sell them," said Sota trying to be helpful
"I'm sure that there are already people doing that. We don't want any problems to do we?" said Kagome, looking at the road. Sota said nothing, but as she turned back, she saw the two boys looking worried.
"Don't worry if it comes to it. I'll use my powers like before, remember? People pay well to have good health," she said, showing a big smile.
Sota knew she was special in all kinds of ways. Most of the time, she did the job for free. Back then they lived near poor people too and with a heart that was always willing to help with nothing in return. But she was right, too. People didn't pay with money, but they never let them starve. They brought gifts and food. She was right; they were going to be ok.
"What powers?" said Shippo and the startle brothers looked at him and then at each other.
Kagome forgot to tell Shippo, as simple as that. She considers him to be part of the family already and in on the secret. This was as good a time as any to tell him her truth.
"I am a miko Shippo," whispered Kagome with a hand on her lips and a mischievous smile.
He obviously thought that it was a joke and Kagome seemed to notice that because she shook her head, took them to a side street, and turned her head to all places verifying that they were alone, producing a small pink ball of pure energy on her palm. He was truly astonished. Every time he thought she was making sense, she came up with a new ability. She was kind, honest, brave, and magic. She belonged in his world. His happiness was a sight to see. The rest of the evening, he was glowing. She trusted him with her secret and she was going to live the long years of one who has magic in their blood. His most profound anxiety regarding her was now gone. She would not leave him behind.
.
The very first week was rough, but the boys didn't mind at all. Kagome was kind and generous, they split the food that she got between them and they didn't go to school anymore, not like Shippo went anyway, but he knew Kagome wanted to enlist him soon, at least now he would not have to go. In the middle of the second week, they went to a blocked street, but before turning back Kagome saw that it was a liquor store that surely had no permits selling alcohol or to keep tables in the middle of the street blocking almost all traffic, not that many cars went through these parts, anyway. Kagome saw a little cabin-like room next to the main house that was in disrepair, so she asked the clerk about it. Bars and taverns were always searching for helping hands. An old woman was the owner, a yokai but Kagome didn't know what kind and knew better than to ask. From the first moment she seemed delusional, her suspicions went so far as to not tell Kagome her name even when she offered her a job, without pay, only keeping half the tips but with the little shed as compensation. Kagome accepted at once and worked the day shift, making the old woman much happier, for she was making more money and spending little in return.
The next day the woman with the yokai and the boy turned up early to work. The yokai was tired from all the work at night. Without telling her what to do, she cleaned up the tables and swept the floors. The old yokai instructed the girl to call her -boss- and taught her the prices and how to charge and save money. She told the girl that she was going to sleep but went through her house, to the backdoor, and across the street to the roof of the house in front of her own to spy on her. Humans couldn't tell much anyway, so she spent the day looking for anything suspicious.
The week passed, and the girl had leveled the tables that were wobbly, washed clothes, and even scrubbed the counter. The place looked better than ever, and she was a good-looking girl, the yokai supposed, because more men and yokai came in the day than before.
"You can call me Kemari," said the boss to Kagome one day before going to sleep. For a week now, she had really slept, trusting her with the place.
Kagome smiled "thank you Kemari". It was a nickname, but it was closer to the truth. The old yokai was trusting, and she would live up to the challenge.
"Hmm" was Kemari's only response, and she went to her house.
Kagome had already eaten with the boys at dawn. Their shed was looking like a home now. She worked for a few days before she got the time to clean the shed. They were sleeping with cobwebs in the ceiling and broken things pushed to the back. Shippo and Sota help on cleaning day. The old woman didn't want the wood that they found, so they made a fire and roasted food and sweets to celebrate their new place. It was only a room, so the boys went to the garden sometimes and paid to go to public bathrooms. Kagome went to them when it was necessary. She had little money and wasn't making more, but she knew the boss would never let her enter her house. The days went by with Kagome at the front desk of the shady bar in the day, because nights were busy in the borders and the owner wanted to be open 24/7. Her mornings started at the crack of dawn in the food kitchen, and then she came home to feed them and went to work till dusk. She was tired but still insisted on teaching them one thing before sleep to compensate for them skipping school. Life was making sense again.
Shippo and Sota were good friends at this point. The struggle only brought them closer. They wanted to help Kagome but didn't want to cause trouble to her. Their options were severely limited. The streets were almost crime-free, at least when it came to robberies or violence, so they were free to play outside and have fun. They own nothing, no tv or anything to entertain them, so they did what any poor kid must do, use their imagination. Sometimes they found food dumpster diving and Kagome would sell it and other times they begged near buses, Kagome was too busy to warn them of any danger.
The money she brought was almost gone, and most customers didn't leave tips. The time was near. She would have to heal people for money, just as in the old days.
.
Inuyasha decided not to pay her lease. He put the few untouched belongings that survived his fight with Koga in a storage space in his own house. He had more rooms than belongings, anyway. He resumed the search. If he found her, NO, when he found her, she would move in with him, he would kidnap her, chain her, and he would definitely never let her go. Well, that was what his instincts wanted, but he decided to act differently, to prove himself worthy of her. It did not depress him this time, wasn't drinking or wasting time. He did his job and searched for her. One thing led to the other. As Sesshomaru's right hand, he had power. He could order people around, pay for surveillance, and everything he could think of. And, if he performed to perfection, Sesshomaru couldn't complain. In fact, he said nothing of his efforts and that was suspicious, but he didn't have time for anything else, except for training, of course. When he found her, the fucking wolf would fight for her and if he got a grip on this Bakuryuha bullshit, he would obliterate the dipshit and she would be free to choose him.
"Pay attention Inuyasha, this is Tessaiga's ultimate attack, you understand it but cannot feel it, until you understand the power you have in your father's fang, will you release it," said Myoga, a tiny yokai that was Inuyasha's mentor.
"keh, it's just about practice," he said and continued to fight his current enemy's force like in wind scar, but failing to make it flow the opposite way to get the Bakuryuuha.
Weeks had passed, and he got a solid lead. For a few years now, some of his men were assigned to watch over the bus stations and airports. One of these measures paid off when a security guy reported seeing a woman with her characteristics and the two children at the bus station on one monitor. Security did not follow her, they almost didn't remember her, but the human and yokai child were the memorable ones, such things were rare to witness. So he knew she was gone, but didn't know where to. As always, it was driving him mad. His only comfort was that Koga didn't even know that and he was losing it more than him because of it. In the last two meetings with Sesshomaru, Koga had sent a distant relative, the redhead, to discuss things in his name. Looking at a map of the city, Inuyasha tried and failed to think like Kagome. He was more and more impatient each day.
That was true until he heard of the news that two children were begging for money near bus stops. Again, it only attracted attention since one of them was a fox yokai and the other was a human kid. But they changed stops at random, maybe to lose the scent. No matter, Inuyasha ordered a new security protocol for the entire city. Security cameras at bus stations were going to be installed, and they posted security guards in populated areas. Thanks to Kagome the entire city would be more peaceful and crime would be low. That was not his intent. Inuyasha was just eager to find her.
.
Koga went the other direction. He was getting tired of her lately, and she went ahead and left him. This was something that he wasn't supposed to feel. Females adored him, fought for him, not run away. He expected Ayame to be happy, but this was not the case either. She was worried about the girl and the fox. Females were impossible to please and understand. He decided that a little entertainment would make him feel better. He fucked around and went feral on his land, having fun with little worry.
That was his life before word came to him that Naraku had found her. The cubs were the giveaway, but she was too soft. She did not deserve to be taken down by her faults. As he contemplated the implications of her death, he felt guilty. Deep inside him, he cared for her, but his ego was bruised. Maybe this threat was the wake-up call he needed to search for her, to make her see reason. Then, the messenger said the thing that changed everything.
"You didn't tell us that your woman was a miko boss, your cubs would be very powerful"
"WHAT?" screamed Koga as he absorbed the knowledge that the girl he wanted to mate was more than she seemed to be. That's why Naraku was obsessed with her, that's why Inuyasha was obsessed with her. She was a prize greater than he thought, and she treated her so poorly, like a simple human that wasn't on his level.
"Well… Naraku wants to absorb her powers, he has been bragging 'bout it," said the wolf tribe member.
Koga's only response was to pace with quiet fury. The messenger was getting nervous.
"I'm sorry, boss, I shouldn't have said anything," said the lower wolf, thinking that Koga's outburst was because of his meddling. As soon as he could, he got out.
How stupid was he? Fooling around when his queen was missing. From this moment on, Koga would dedicate his life to finding her, and when he inevitably did, they would talk and things would be back as they were. As they were meant to be, because surely power was attracted to power and so they were destined to be.