Disclaimer: See chapters one and two for the disclaimer. *is too lazy to write*
Chapter 3: Proper Introduction.
Kagome was on the sidewalk, right outside of the alley. There were so many people around that she had a hard time moving through the crowd. She stumbled to a stop near a light pole and looked around. The streets and sidewalks were busy with movement, not one person stayed still for very long and everyone was either running or walking somewhere.
Kagome needed help and the only thing she could think of doing was asking someone on the street. Building up her courage she blocked the path of a young woman with flaming red hair and quite a few shopping bags in her hands. The woman looked at Kagome, her big red lips grew tight in annoyance.
"Um, excuse me…"
Kagome didn't get the chance to finish; the woman walked right passed her and continued on her way, muttering to herself about how rude people in the city were. Kagome sighed and tried to ask a few more people but they just ignored her as well.
This is going to be a lot harder then I thought…she thought warily. Kagome had imagined everyone in the outside world being friendly to someone in need but apparently she had been wrong. The world was much different then she imagined, but she didn't blame people for staring and giving her odd looks as they passed. Her dress was torn and had black smudges all over it from the smoke, not to mention the large bandage on her cheek. She was a mess.A big man in a leather jacket knocked shoulders with Kagome as he passed her on the sidewalk. They both stumbled and looked at each other. "Watch it, will you?" he grumbled out and turned to leave but Kagome grabbed his jacket, making him stop. "Sir, I need help, my friend has been injured and I don't know where to go."
The man gave her an odd look and Kagome quickly added, "I-I'm from out of town."
"Oh, is that all? Well. I think you can go to the local hospital. It's not far." Kagome knew she couldn't go to the hospital. Naraku was a very powerful man and he had connections all over the city and she knew that he would look everywhere for her and Inuyasha. If Naraku knew that Inuyasha was injured he would also look in all the hospitals around the city.
"Is there anywhere else I could go?" she asked hopefully.
The man shook his head. "Sorry, I can't help you. I'm in a hurry today anyway. Good luck." And then he turned and left her.
Kagome sighed again. She had gotten nowhere fast and she had asked at least 10 people for help. She knew she wouldn't have much luck asking anyone else; it seemed that everyone was in too much of a hurry.
If only she knew where Inuyasha lived then maybe she would be able to get him there and somehow help him on her own.
Kagome turned and started head back into the alleyway when she noticed a woman talking in some sort of booth. She stopped and stared, watching the woman talk into a black receiver then she hung up minutes later and marched out of the booth and into the crowd afterwards, quickly disappearing into the sea of people on the street.
Kagome ran over to the booth and saw that it was a telephone booth and a telephone booth always had a telephone book. She found it hanging down from the phone attached to a short metal cable. Kagome picked it up, opened it then began skimming through it. These things always came in alphabetic order, last name first or at least that's what she could remember.
"Hanyou…Hanyou…Hanyou…" she whispered Inuyasha's last name over and over again, her finger trailing down the endless list of names and identities, something she didn't have. "Hanyou…Hanyou…ah! Hanyou Inuyasha!"
Kagome had successfully been able to find his address but now she needed some paper to write it on and something to write it down with. There was a pen lying on the floor of the booth, she quickly picked it up and scribbled on her hand to make sure it worked, fortunately it did, but now she needed paper. She kept one of her fingers on the page with Inuyasha's address on it and skimmed through the phone book, picking a page and ripping it out.
Kagome quickly copied the address down then ran out of the booth and back down the alleyway.
Well, at least I have a place to take Inuyasha, but how am I going to get him there? She thought. If Inuyasha were still unconscious she would have to carry him all the way there.
Kagome approached Inuyasha, who was sitting up with his head against the wall, still out like a light. He was also still bleeding pretty badly and he was getting paler by the minute from the loss of blood.
Kagome ripped off a long piece of her dress and used it to wrapped around Inuyasha's waist to try and help stop the bleeding. That would probably buy her some time. Hopefully, she could get Inuyasha home and be able to help him there.
Kagome sighed and reached up, wiping the sweat off her forehead. "All right, Inuyasha. Lets get going."
. . .
Back at the mansion, the guards were still cleaning up the mess that Inuyasha had made for them.
Kagura was standing in the far right corner of what used to be Kagome's room; almost everything had been completely destroyed. Yoji and Takeru entered the room silently and approached Kagura.
"Mr. Naraku wants to see you in his office." Yoji informed her. He didn't have to tell her why Naraku was calling on her; she knew that it was about Kagome being taken by Inuyasha.
Kagura wasn't going to give Naraku the satisfaction of taking his anger out of her though, no sir. She had warned him before Inuyasha had come that they should take him seriously but he hadn't listened and now his precious pet was gone, that was his fault not hers. That wasn't what upset her however. It was the fact that she had been driving herself crazy trying to figure out why Naraku was so fond of the girl, Kagome. She was useless and incompetent, what was so special about her?
"Very well." Kagura followed Yoji and Takeru to Naraku's office then they left her inside the dark room alone.
Naraku was behind his desk, his chair turned towards the hundreds of monitors on the back wall. There were cameras all around Naraku's mansion and the images they recorded were all taken back to these monitors.
"You sent for me?"
Naraku didn't reply for a few moments. "Yes." He replied calmly and surprised Kagura. She was expecting to walk it and see him blowing steam through his ears.
Kagura crossed her arms over her chest. "What is it this time?"
Naraku chose not to answer her this time and reached into one of the drawers on his desk, taking out a remote control. He held it up and pushed a single button. The monitors clicked then blinked and suddenly became one whole image. Kagura looked up at the monitors and frowned. She was now staring at an image of herself, standing in the doorway of Kagome's room with Yoji and the guards behind her. The screens clicked again and the image began to move.
The Kagura on the wall had just slapped Yoji's hand away and was now holding her gun up, aiming at Kagome. "Naraku can find a new pet…"
The image was paused again and there was silence.
"I can explain…" Kagura started but Naraku cut her off. "Be silent!" he screamed.
"It's not my fault that's she's gone. I warned you---"
"If Inuyasha had not come, you still would have tried to kill Kagome, isn't that right? It makes no difference that Inuyasha was around at the time, you're using him as an excuse." He paused a moment then continued. "You are my business partner, Kagura, and you dwell in my home. So, I must be able to trust you with both my company and my possessions." Naraku paused again and waited for Kagura to say something but she didn't. "This little stunt makes me seriously rethink our business relationship. If I can't trust you with my possessions then how can I trust you with my company and my money for that matter? Where does your loyalty lie?"
"I'm sorry, Naraku. It won't happen again." Kagura bit out and turned to leave. "One more thing, I want you to help Takeru and Yoji bring Kagome back to me. If you bring her back alive I'll overlook this situation as if it never happened."
"Very well, sir."
. . .
Kagome had managed to find Inuyasha's apartment building but it had taken her a good two hours to walk there, carrying Inuyasha on her back. She was hunched over, breathing heavily and was in a sort of squatting position as she walked. Not the most gracefully way to walk down the street but it was the only way she could manage with the extra body weight added to her own. People had stared, laughed at her and some people had even knocked into things gaping too long at her as she slowly passed by but that didn't matter to her. She had finally made it to the building and Inuyasha was still alive. That was all that mattered to her.
She opened her hand and read the paper that had Inuyasha's address on it. His apartment was number 231. Kagome made her into the building and looked around; an elevator was open and ready to go up.
"Ah, hold the elevator!" she called.
The person inside placed his or her hand on the door to keep it from shutting giving Kagome enough time to waddle in. She breathed a sigh of relief and turned to thank the person who had held it for her but all she could really see of him in her bent position was his shoes. She turned her head a little until she was able to see his face.
It was a young man with brown hair, a student she guessed by the uniform he was wearing and he looked around Kagome's age.
"Thank you very much" Kagome said and was about to bow but she knew that if she did both she and Inuyasha would go toppling to the floor. The boy looked at her a moment then asked, "Are you all right? What happened to you?"
"Oh…we just got into an accident."
"Is he all right?" the young man asked, pointing at the unconscious Inuyasha who's arms were hanging over her shoulders, head on one of his arms. Kagome nodded, "he's just unconscious."
"Oh my. Which apartment are you?"
Kagome looked down at the paper again. "Number 231." The young man smiled, "that's on my floor. You look tired. Maybe I could help you carry your boyfriend in."
"Ah, h-he's not my boyfriend" Kagome said quickly. "Anyway, I wouldn't want to trouble you. I can make it from here." She was trying desperately to make some kind of excuse so the guy would just continue on his way like everyone else had. She had just realized that if he noticed Inuyasha's wound she was certain that he would ask about it. But the young man insisted on helping her so she gave it.
"My name is Hojo, nice to meet you…?"
"Kagome." She spoke up.
The elevator doors opened and Hojo and Kagome walked out. Hojo took Inuyasha into his arms and carried him for the rest of the way. They approached the door, which said '231' in bold numbers, and they stood there for a while.
"Aren't you going to open the door?" Hojo asked. Kagome blinked and whipped around, "ah, right. Yes. Um. Key…Key…" she said and patted her dress, which had no pockets, with her hands. She looked up at Hojo who was staring at her curiously and she laughed nervously. "I guess I must have dropped it somewhere…maybe Inuyasha has an extra one on him." She walked over to him and searched his pockets; sure enough she found the apartment key and quickly went to open it. The door slowly creaked open and a well-furnished, brightly lit and cheerful looking apartment greeted them.
"Wow…" Kagome gasped. This was a guy's apartment? Kagome looked ahead and saw something pinned on the wall. She walked over and saw that it was a note, which read:
Inuyasha,
I did a little redecorating today. I hope you don't mind. I also paid all of your utility bills so you have electricity and water again.
I'm your friend so I'm going to look after you, like it or not. I'll probably be by today to visit so be prepared! ^.^
Your friend,
-Miroku
Kagome smiled and set the note down on one of the tables. Miroku, huh? He sounded like a good guy and a hell of a good friend too.
"Where do you want me to put him?" Hojo asked.
"Oh, sorry about that, just put him down on the floor. I can manage on my own now." Kagome said. Hojo nodded and laid Inuyasha down then started to head out the front door. "So, Kagome, will I be able to see you around this apartment building again?"
Kagome smiled nervously and nodded. "I would think so," she said slowly, but she didn't know anything for sure. Inuyasha could wake up any minute and throw her out of his apartment for all she knew. One thing was so sure though, Kagome didn't want to be alone.
Hojo and Kagome exchanged goodbyes and then Kagome watched him leave. Unbelievably he hadn't noticed Inuyasha's wound at all, maybe he just didn't want to ask or maybe…he was just dense. Hojo was nonetheless the first person besides Inuyasha had at least been kind to her but unlike Inuyasha he seemed like an all-around-nice-guy.
Kagome had only known Inuyasha for a little while but she already knew that his moods changed without warning, one moment he would be talking to you quietly then the next he was yelling at the top of his lungs.
Kagome couldn't really decide if she liked him or not but right now he was the only person she had in the world.
She closed the door and walked around the apartment, searching through cupboards and closets trying to find blankets, pillows and a medical kit, but where would they be?
. . .
Night had come quickly and out standing under one of the light posts were Yoji and Takeru. They were waiting for Kagura to come out of one of the local hospitals. She had told them when they left the mansion that she was positive she wounded Inuyasha and that he would undoubtedly go to a hospital to get it treated. So far, they had no luck after asking at three hospitals but Kagura had assured them that one way or another he would need a hospital.
"What makes you so sure?" Yoji had asked her.
"The bullets in my gun are no ordinary bullets. After being embedded in the human flesh it attaches itself to whatever it can organs, flesh, and then injects a deadly poison into the victim's blood stream. It doesn't take long for the poison to start killing your vital organs. It's very painful and it's nearly impossible to escape death, that is unless you take the bullet out and if you can find it." Kagura had replied coolly.
"He's a smart boy. I'm sure he'll find a way to survive," Takeru had said much to Yoji's surprise but Kagura just chuckled. "I suppose you're right, it is possible but very unlikely that he will survive."
Yoji lit a cigarette and hungrily puffed at it while they waited, he always did that when he was nervous, while Takeru stood next to him waving the smoke rising around his face away and coughing a little. "You shouldn't smoke, it's bad for your health."
Yoji turned his head and glared at Takeru. "You sound like my mother…" he grumbled.
"You're mother must have been a smart woman then."
"Shut up."
Kagura came striding up to the two men a moment later and judging by the look on her face they had found no leads.
"No luck?"
"None."
"Where do we go next?" Yoji asked, taking another puff of his cigarette.
"We'll continue our search until we've found something but we'll split up. That way we'll be able to cover more ground. You each have your cell phones with you, if you find anything or need assistance you'll report back to me" Kagura stated. "Do you understand?"
"Yes." They both replied.
. . .
Inuyasha groaned and slowly opened his eyes. His vision blurred and then refocused in a manner of seconds. He blinked and sat up, but that seemed like a bad decision, moving seemed to make his whole body burn and he gasped in pain. Inuyasha looked around the room and found that he was in his bedroom, in his own bed, but it seemed different somehow, but why?
Hey, I don't remember a television being there or that mirror… he thought and suspiciously eyed the room. Inuyasha looked down and noticed that his shirt had been removed and that someone had treated and bandaged his wound, but whom?
A loud series of crashes came from the kitchen and Inuyasha immediately got to his feet, using the walls to help him walk down the hallway. He reached the doorway to the kitchen and peered inside cautiously, as if expecting one of Naraku's henchmen to be waiting for him but instead he found the girl, Kagome on her knees on the ground. Pieces of broken dishware and glasses were all around her and there was blood on the floor as well.
She looked up and saw Inuyasha standing there staring at her and she turned as white as a ghost. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I was trying to cook dinner…"
"What happened?"
"I was trying to get the dishes down but they were---"
"I'm not asking about that. I'm asking what happened to you. Are you injured?"
Kagome seemed to be surprised by this but she stood up and held out her hands to Inuyasha. Her fingers and plams were cut and bleeding. She had tried to pick up the pieces of glass but had gotten injured in the process. It seemed she had also injured her leg, when she was crawling around and trying to pick up the mess.
"I'm sorry…"
"Don't worry about it." Inuyasha glanced back into the living room and saw the medical kit sitting on a table that he didn't recognize, in fact, he didn't recognize the living room at all. "Where the hell did all of this come from?"
"There was a note. Your friend Miroku wrote saying that he bought you some more furniture and paid your utility bills."
"Miroku? Damn him, why won't he ever mind his own business? How the hell did he get a key to my apartment anyway…?" Inuyasha grumbled and grabbed the medical kit as he walked into the living room. He sat down on the floor near the window even though there was now a brand new, comfortable looking couch available right next to him. Kagome had wanted to ask him why he had such an attitude towards a guy who seemed very generous and a good friend but she had decided against it. She didn't want to upset him anymore then he already was. She didn't want to be kicked out of his apartment, but most of all she didn't want to be alone.
Inuyasha looked over at Kagome. "Come over here." She did as she was told and sat down in front of him. He took out a few bandages and a bottle of alcohol then began to treat her wounds.
After he had finished bandaging her hands and leg he asked her: "How did we get here?"
Kagome replied: "I carried you."
"Y-you…did?" Inuyasha seemed astonished by this but then went on to ask, "How did you get into the apartment?"
"When I came into the building I ran into a nice guy named Hojo. He---"
"Hojo?!"
Kagome blinked at Inuyasha's outburst of emotion. Why did he sound so upset? She couldn't see anything not to like about Hojo. He seemed nice, he was very friendly and he was kind of cute too…in a stupid, dense kind of way.
"Did you tell him anything?" Inuyasha demanded.
"About what?"
"You know what!"
Kagome frowned. "If you mean about Naraku, no, I didn't tell him anything. Why would I?"
Inuyasha didn't reply, instead he decided to ignore her question and stare blankly out the window.
Inuyasha, Kagome had already decided, was going to be difficult to get along with but she would try her best. She needed him, whether she liked it or not.
Kagome crawled over closer to the window and looked up at the stars. Her eyes grew wide with amazement. "Wow…!" she gasped, staring breathlessly up at the millions of balls light in the dark sky.
"Kagome…"
She turned to him, giving him an odd look.
"What is it?" he asked.
She smiled at him, "that's the first time you said my name."
Inuyasha's cheeks reddened a little; he had actually made her smile? He couldn't remember making a girl smile before that is except for Kikyo, his old girlfriend, but she was gone now. She was apart of the past.
"…So what?" he tried to sound angry but it didn't come out with much emotion, not enough to sound convincing anyway. "Hey."
"Hm?"
"What happened to your face?"
Kagome frowned a little and touched the bandage over her cheek. "Naraku…can get angry easily and he is also very psychical when he…" she trailed off and looked too ashamed to continue, but Inuyasha didn't need any help figuring out what Naraku had done.
"He raped you, didn't he?"
Kagome just nodded her head and looked back out the window again. "He took me for the first time when I was sixteen years old. He said that I was mature enough to know how to please 'my master'. It could have been a lot worse though…"
Looking back Kagome really couldn't understand herself. She had actually let a man violate and beat her for years and done nothing or said nothing, she knew that even if she had fought back it wouldn't have made a difference but maybe it would have made her feel better then she did right now.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know."
Kagome looked at Inuyasha. He was looking right back and his face looked so kind, his voice gentle and soothing. "It must have been painful for you. But you won't have to worry anymore. I'll going to protect you from him."
Kagome stared at Inuyasha for a long while then, nodded, slowly she began to cry, which made Inuyasha quickly begin to panic. "H-hey! What did I say wrong this time?" he exclaimed.
Kagome just smiled and wiped her tears away. "I'm just happy!"
"Happy? People don't cry when they're happy…"
"Yes, they do."
"I've never cried before when I'm happy."
Kagome made a face then said: "That's because you're male." Inuyasha glared at her, "what's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing…"
"Tell me right this instant!" he demanded.
Kagome snapped back angrily. "Don't shout at me!"
"Shut up! Don't command me, woman!"
And the bickering went on long into the night…^_^;;
To be continued…or not. =P
(A/N: Holy crap! 40 something reviews already? O_O I'm glad people like the fic so far!
Whoo-hoo! 3rd chapter is finished! *dances around the room happily* Chapter 4 will be along shortly. I just have to write it up. Truthfully people I'm just writing this as I go along, but I have an idea of where I'll take the story, and I'll just add more details as I go.
Thanks to all of you who bothered to read my sad excuse for fic and a special thanks to you reviewers! *huggles them*)
Next chapter
Chapter 4: The Return of an old flame.