A/N: well *sighs* definitely my longest chapter yet *sighs*. I sat here in front of the computer for two days typing this, so I say that's dedication. I hope that you guys like this chapter. I, personally, like it, but not everyone's going to. All I can hope for is for a review explaining why or why not you liked it. This should definitely clear a lot of things up, and, believe it or not, we're almost at the end of this story…unless you guys want a sequel, but we'll deal with the final chapter.
There's even a lot of I/K and M/S…hope you like ^________^
~*~*~*~
CHAPTER 9: Sunrise, Sunset
Kagome slowly awakened to find herself tied down at her ankles and wrists. She pulled at the ropes, but it was no use.
"Sango? Miroku? Inuyasha!!" Desperation crept into her voice as she realized her fate was left up to them.
"Now, now, Kagome…I'm not THAT bad, am I?" Tokuno taunted her as he stepped out of the shadows. Kagome growled at him.
"Let me go or I'll-"
"May I remind you that you are the one tied down and helpless? And that I am the one calling the shots?" Kagome bit her lip. She knew it.
"Not for long. Sango will be here soon!" She struggled beneath the ropes again, but to no avail. Finally giving up, breathing heavily at her efforts, she laid her arms back down. "This is just like right out of a horror movie…can't you at least think of something better?" Kagome complained heatedly, but Tokuno ignored her.
"Say what you want, but your friends will soon be joining you. What they don't know is that I built another room even deeper than the last one, hidden from view. They won't be able to find us."
Kagome tilted her head in the direction of the door, only a couple of yards away. She wished she could just get free of her binding, but it was too strong.
"Inuyasha is on his way here. I can sense him getting closer, but there's nothing I need to worry about. Not even he can find this place. I built it that way. Not only do objects block the entrance, but the walls are thick and soundproof."
'Why does he keep mentioning Inuyasha like he's the only one that can find me…there must be some reason. I'll just have to go with that, for now.'
"INUYASHA!!! HELP ME!!" Kagome cried out and once again started to fight the ropes. "INUYASHA HURRY!!!" Kagome didn't stop resisting even when the ropes dug into her skin. She noticed Tokuno cringe every time she mentioned his 'cousin's' name.
"Shut up! It's not like he can here you anyways," Tokuno scolded her as he caressed her cheek.
"Why are you so afraid of him?" Kagome whispered as her body went limp.
"Afraid?" Tokuno questioned. "Me…afraid of the hanyou?" Laughter filled the musty air, and Kagome trembled.
"Hanyou? But that's a…" Kagome suddenly came to realization.
"Do you know that this forest is full or demons, Kagome? Didn't you ever wonder why my dad picked this place?" Kagome shook her head slowly. "Inuyasha's mother had come here camping, just like you and Sango had. She had met another human here…or so she thought. Soon enough the demon fell in love with her and they were married, of course. The woman must have suspected something, because she told him no man could ever be so perfect. That was when he told her of what she was. She just smiled and kissed him…because she had fallen in love with him to. She didn't care what he was, as long as he was with her."
"But how do you know all that?" Kagome ventured carefully. She wanted answers, but wasn't sure if she would get all of them.
'Inuyasha is half demon? But that's impossible…there's no way…demons aren't real…but that would explain his ears.'
A little voice in her head repeated a name in her head. "Shippo," it said.
'That's right…Shippo said he was a demon, and he can't be human, there's just no way. But why didn't people know about the demons before? Were they hiding it? Maybe the demons look mostly like humans, and that's why no one has been able to tell.'
"Inuyasha's father told me," Tokuno answered, interrupting her thoughts.
"INUYASHA!!!!" Kagome screamed once more. A hand was placed gently over her mouth.
"Stop it you wench!" Kagome winced at his words. "Anyways, I think it's time that we leave this place and go to a more suitable place. You're too pretty to die in a torture chamber…and there's this large waterfall not too far from here."
*******
A/N: Okay, so I know there's no waterfalls in forests…wait a minute, I take that back. ^_^;; I've seen one before. It wasn't THAT big, but it was still pretty big…think of this place as a mountain forest, I guess…just work with me, please?
*******
"So what, you're going to throw me off of it?" Tokuno smirked.
"If that's what you want. There's a lot of sharp, jagged rocks at the bottom…but you probably already know that, huh?"
"INUYA-"
*SMACK*
"Stop it now, you bitch!!!" Tokuno's eyes were wide and terrifying. They narrowed slightly when he saw her panicked face. "Why do you keep yelling for him?"
"None of your business…" Kagome whispered hotly, turning her eyes away from his. Tokuno bent down so his face was close to hers.
"Are you saying that you love him?" Kagome could have sworn she saw hurt flash in his eyes.
"No." She rejected the idea of having him as her only chance of survival, but beggars can't be choosers, right? Kagome glared defiantly into his eyes.
"I see," was all he said. They sat there in silence for what felt like hours until Tokuno reached for her ropes. "It's time to go. It is night now so it will give them a hard time if they follow us." With that, he untied the ropes and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her to her feet. He tightened his grip on her when she took a step back.
"What makes you so sure that I won't try to escape?" Kagome scoffed at him.
"Who said I thought that?" Tokuno grinned at her, and Kagome cautiously walked with him as they walked out of the door and into the dark passage.
"INUYASHA! SANGO! MIROKU!!" Kagome yelled down the hall, but they were no longer there. Tokuno's smile extended. They had been in that room for over four hours. There was no way that Inuyasha was still hanging around. They had probably left to go look around outside, and are still around. When they reached the room, Tokuno grasped a roll of duck tape.
"Just to make sure that you don't scream outside…" he placed a piece over her mouth and sealed the air out. "Breathe through your nose, alright?"
'Like he needs to tell me twice…'
They walked out of the room and down the hall quietly.
"Miroku! Did you find anything yet?" came Sango's worried voice. Tokuno and Kagome hid in the shadows of the hall listening. He cursed himself for being wrong. He had thought that all of them would have left by now.
'I need to make some sort of noise! They're right there!'
Kagome tried to say something, so it could come out as a muffled cry, but the tape was way too thick. When she tried, almost no sound came out. She tried again, louder, but it was no use. There was no way they would here her. She tried to stomp her foot on the ground, but Tokuno saw and forced her to the ground. He held her still why the two went on talking.
"What if he…what if Tokuno…What if she's d…" Sango couldn't bring herself to say it. Miroku looked sadly at Miroku as he wrapped his arms around her to comfort Sango.
Kagome tried to force her head up so she could hear what they were saying and see what they were doing, but she could do neither. All she heard was some muffled voices and all she saw was the carpet on the floor.
"We'll find her, Sango. Inuyasha's looking outside for her with Shippo. She's bound to be around this place somewhere." Miroku had always known about Inuyasha being a hanyou, but didn't really care. In this case, the demon part of him would be able to help them find Kagome…hopefully before it was too late.
"This is all my fault…I shouldn't have made Kagome go out on a date with him…I just wish that it was me instead of her, because if she dies, I will-"
"Shhh…" Miroku gently placed his finger on her soft lips. "It's not really you're fault. I mean he's Inuyasha's cousin and Inuyasha didn't notice anything out of the ordinary until now. Inuyasha is probably going to kill Tokuno when he gets a hold of him. And if, for some reason, we don't get there in time, Inuyasha will be blaming himself more than anyone else about it…Sango, I think he loves her." Miroku blurted out.
Sango turned away from his hug and blushed slightly when she realized how long they had been standing there in an embrace.
"Yeah, I know," she whispered as a tear streamed down her cheek. "I just don't know if Kagome feels the same way…"
"I'll go look around here some more, and you can look upstairs in those doors. If you see something, scream, and do whatever you can to get away…"
"Alright, Sango agreed.
'There must be some sorta secret door or something. There just has to be…'
She and Miroku went their separate ways again and continued to look for their friend. Tokuno quickly pulled Kagome and himself into one of the rooms closest. He cracked the door a bit to see Sango jogging up the stairs and into the room across from theirs. The door wasn't shut, but he figured that they could sneak by her.
"Come on," he whispered to Kagome. As they passed by Sango, Kagome tried to drag herself and Tokuno into the room with Sango, but Tokuno was easily stronger than her. On the way down the stairs, Kagome kicked her shoe off and it started falling towards the uncarpeted floor. Tokuno cursed when he noticed what she was doing.
"Stupid bitch," his voice rang through her ears as he picked her up bridal style and ran down the flight of steps and out the door.
"KAGOME!!!" She heard Miroku call after her. She glanced over his should to see Miroku chasing after them. "Sango! Hurry!!!" Miroku didn't seem to be as fast as Tokuno, even with Kagome in his arms.
Kagome tried kicking her feet to slow him down, but he held her legs together and her arms were held with the other hand.
"Inuyasha! Tokuno's heading your way!" Miroku screamed out into the woods. Tokuno said some more colorful words and dashed towards the waterfall. It really wasn't too far away, but he needed to get there fast, before Inuyasha was on his tail (not literally -_-;;).
"Sorry, but since you seem so eager to die, I'm going to have to make my goodbye short, and then be on my way." Tokuno leaped over some rocks, and came to a stop at the top of a giant waterfall. Kagome's eyes widened when she saw how big it was, and how many rocks were at the bottom, waiting for her. Tokuno quickly removed the tape and threw it into the water. They watched as it was overtaken by the rapids and then fell over.
"Tokuno, can't we talk? I mean there must be SOMETHING I can do so you won't kill me…" Kagome pleaded while trying to rationalize with him. Tokuno shook his head and grinned.
"Sorry, but my father wanted this, and he was all I had before. I want him to be happy where he his, and him to be proud of me when I see him again in heaven." He started walking towards the edge of the waterfall.
"Stop it Tokuno! She doesn't deserve this!" Inuyasha called behind him, Shippo by his side. Both of their claws were sharpened and out. Kagome shuddered.
'I never knew he had claws…he's just like a dog.'
"Leave her alone you big jerk!" Shippo shouted.
"You don't deserve her either, cousin," he scowled, ignoring Shippo's request. Inuyasha took a step closer, but stopped when Tokuno held Kagome over the edge. "I wouldn't come any closer, if I was you. You wouldn't want to be the one responsible for her death." Inuyasha growled at him.
"Let her go," Inuyasha demanded anxiously.
"Why's that? Why do you want to save her?" Tokuno mocked. Inuyasha saw where this was headed, so he tried to get around it. He wanted to avoid this as long as possible, and had steered clear of it himself and refused to think about it.
"Because I'd feel bad if she died and I didn't do everything I could to save her, just as I would if it was anyone else," he answered warily.
"Why don't you tell her how you REALLY feel…" Tokuno smirked. Inuyasha growled again.
'Damn him!'
"Tell her before you lose your chance."
"Tell me what, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked quietly. He refused to look at her, and instead concentrated on Tokuno.
"Tokuno, leave the girl alone, or I'll-"
"Kill me?" he chuckled. "You underestimate me." Inuyasha was about to lung at him, but Tokuno predicted it and pretended to drop Kagome, watching the panic in his cousin's eyes, before catching her again. Kagome started to shriek.
"INUYASHA!" she yelped, "I said help me you bastard, not cause me to fall to my death SOONER!!!" She noticed Sango and Miroku coming up behind him.
"Kagome!" Sango cried out and rushed past Inuyasha, only to be thrown back by him.
"Think before you act. He'll throw her over if you get too close," Inuyasha stated. Sango looked up at him, then to Kagome. She took a step back and Miroku put his hand on her shoulder.
"He's ruthless!" Shippo added.
Tokuno peered into the darkness for an escape route.
'If I throw her over now, they'll be too worried about her that they'd forget about me for a moment. I'll use that to my advantage and escape.'
Tokuno glanced at Inuyasha, and leaned over to kiss Kagome. He pried her lips open with his tongue and busied them, all the while looking at his cousin. Kagome tried to pull away, but found it difficult.
"Let her go!! Kagome!!" shouted Shippo, but it was no use. Tokuno deepened thee kiss. When he saw the jealousy in Inuyasha's eyes, he pulled away with a satisfied smirk.
Inuyasha growled again, Tokuno held Kagome over the waterfall.
"Goodbye, Kagome," he said as he let go. Kagome's eyes filled with terror when she realized that her weight wasn't being supported by anything anymore.
"INUYASHA!!!!: She cried out, not really thinking, as she fell in slow motion…she saw Inuyasha dash towards her and reach out to her…
"KAGOME!!!!" a hand grabbed hers, but it was not pulling her up, instead, she continued to fall with that hand. She looked up to see Inuyasha pulling her close to him and into an embrace. Up above them they faintly heard their friends calling out their names.
"Inuyasha…" Kagome whispered, but it was too late, they had hit the water…and the rocks…
*******
"Kagome!" Sango watched helplessly as they plummeted to the bottom before hitting.
"Inuyasha! Kagome!!" screamed Shippo in agony.
"Inuyasha!" Miroku peered over the edge, but seeing that there was nothing he could do, he bellowed to Sango behind him as he ran, "I'm going after Tokuno!!!"
He was enraged…his best friend and his newest friend were just sent to their death, and this thought gave him speed equal to Inuyasha's. He continued to run in the direction Tokuno left, his sense on their highest alert. There was no way he was going to let Tokuno get away now. Inuyasha would want him to go after and take care of him.
*******
Sango and Shippo went around the waterfall and raced down into the knee-high water, searching frantically for her friends. Shippo climbed onto her should.
"Kagome, Inuyasha…where are you?" Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something move. Walking towards it, she realized it was Inuyasha, crawling up with what looked like to be Kagome in his arms onto the other side of the bank. "Inuyasha! Is Kagome alright???" She rushed over to him only to see blood staining his side and lip.
He was cradling her in his arms, and when Sango tried to take Kagome father away from the water, he clutched her tighter.
'He's totally out of it…'
Sango checked Kagome for a pulse, and froze.
"Is she alright??" Shippo whimpered and climbed off of her shoulder.
"No pulse…" answered Sango. She forcefully pulled her away from the weak hanyou and started to pump the water out of her lungs. She breathed into her mouth, and then pushed on her chest (Not that way, you perverts!). After a long time of doing this, Kagome spit up some water, going into a coughing fit.
Sango began to wipe away the blood that stained Kagome's forehead and shoulder.
"Kagome…" Inuyasha crawled towards her again.
'He's in much worse shape than Kagome…I can't believe he jumped after her. Kagome, he saved your life…'
Inuyasha hacked up some blood and fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Inuyasha!" Sango exclaimed as she scrambled towards him. He was still breathing, but very slowly and lightly. She pulled him up to where Kagome rested.
"MIROKU!!!!!" Sango yelled at the top of her lungs. She need him here now.
*******
"MIROKU!!!" He stopped when he heard his name called. Giving one last glance back to where he was headed, he sprinted back towards Sango.
'I shouldn't have left her alone…what if Tokuno had doubled back after losing me and went after Sango?'
Suddenly a figure jumped in his way and pushed him to the ground. Miroku quickly jumped back up and reached for the bow and an arrow from Kagome's pack he was carrying. Inuyasha had given it back to him when he had left to search outside for Kagome and Tokuno.
"You're not so tough without your hanyou friend to protect you, huh?" the figure laughed evilly.
"Tokuno…" Miroku breathed. He couldn't make out where he was, but could hear well enough to point the arrow in a direction. He shot it, and heard a sharp, pain filled cry in the direction he heard the voice. The he heard someone collapse onto the ground. Satisfied, he ran towards Sango.
Miroku reached the edge of the waterfall and then looked down to see Sango waving at her with both hands. She yelled something, but Miroku didn't understand, so he went down the same way Sango did and crossed the water, splashing it everywhere as he tried to pick up his feet.
"They're not dead, are they?" Miroku gulped. He couldn't see either of them breathing, so if they were alive, their breathing was very shallow. Sango shook her head.
"No…Inuyasha's just unconscious and I think Kagome's sleeping…" It was Miroku's turn to nod now. "We've got to get them to an emergency room quickly! Inuyasha's loosing blood fast…" she paused. "…I think he protected her from the rocks, and took the pain instead of her."
"This only proves that he has feelings for her. He wouldn't have done that for Kikyo. I'm positive about that, even though if you were to ask him, he'd deny it." Miroku sighed as he carefully picked his friend up and onto his back. "Don't worry, buddy, I got you."
"Did you get Tokuno…" came a slurred question. Miroku looked at him and sighed.
"Sorry…" he replied, grinning when Inuyasha's head drooped a little. "He's still out there, but I doubt if he'd come back…alive. I was able to stick an arrow in his back with Kagome's bow. I think he'll bleed to death out there…and he'll deserve it," Miroku joked with his friend. He saw a weak smile spread across Inuyasha's face.
"What about…Kagome," he coughed out her name along with some more blood. Miroku winced.
"She's fine, thanks to you. But will you be able to make it until we reach our classmates? We have to find them now, even though it's dark." Inuyasha ignored him as he continued to speak.
"Is she cold? Give her my jacket again…" Inuyasha fell unconscious again. Miroku looked at the jacket Inuyasha was wearing…it was blood stained.
Sweatdropping, he motioned with his hand for Sango to grab Kagome and follow.
"Let's go find our classmates."
"What about Shippo?" Sango asked. "We can't just leave him, but our teacher wouldn't let us bring him home either…" Shippo sighed.
"That's okay, I'll be fine on my own…my dad taught me everything I need to know to survive here…" he paused. "I'll be fine."
"Don't be silly…you can come home with me. And I'm sure you could stay with Inuyasha too," Miroku suggested to the little fox.
"But his parents would freak out…I mean I don't exactly look human, do I?" Shippo said, taking a quick look at himself.
"No, but Inuyasha's a hanyou. His father's a demon, and his mother's a human…" Miroku explained as Sango almost dropped Kagome from shock, causing Miroku to smile. "He'll let you live with him, Shippo. And I'm sure we can sneak you onto the bus somehow."
"Really? That would explain his ears and claws," Shippo grinned. Sango's eyes widened even more.
"INUYASHA'S A HANYOU???" She choked out, almost dropping Kagome again. Miroku just grinned and continued on his way to where he thought the others might be, making only one stop along the way to tie his jacket around Inuyasha's side to clog the blood a bit.
*******
By daylight, they could hear voices far off from where they were.
"Sounds like our teach is at it again…I think she's yelling at Kikyo," Sango nodded.
"That bitch should go to hell," Sango said bitterly, referring to Kikyo. Miroku didn't say anything as he tiredly walked out of the forest and looked around at each of the surprised faces of their classmates. Shippo was hiding in Kagome's bag that was slung across Sango's shoulder.
"OH MY GOD!!!" yelled an annoying voice. "What did you bitches do to my poor Inuyasha???" Kikyo ran over to them and grabbed Inuyasha from Miroku's back. She laid him onto the ground.
"Take it easy, Kikyo! Be gentle with him. He's lost a lot of blood!" Miroku said. Sango laid Kagome right next to him because she needed to stretch out her back.
"Take that disgusting filth away from Inuyasha this instant! Go on!" Kikyo scoffed at Sango, but she disregarded her comments.
"That 'filth' is mine and Inuyasha's good friend, Kikyo," Miroku said with distaste. The teacher pushed him and Kikyo out of the way to get to Inuyasha and Kagome before she could say something back.
"Oh my word! What happened??" She looked up at Miroku and Sango and waited for an explanation.
"They were walking on some slippery rocks and fell off the waterfall…" Sango vigilantly explained with a nod from Miroku every now and then.
"You guys should never have gone off on your own! I'm going to have to call your mothers for this!" They winced, but sighed in defeat.
'I should have known that was coming…'
The teacher pulled a cell phone out of her pocket and dialed three numbers.
"Hello? 911? This is Lisa Simpson speaking. We have an emergency here in the forest at the entrance gates. Two children are badly injured and need help right away…yes, yes. These are two of the children out of the five missing…we got all of them back but one…The ones that need help? Both are bleeding badly and…yes, I understand…" With that, she hung up the cell phone.
"I thought we weren't allowed to bring cell phones on this trip…" Sango stated quietly to Miroku.
"Doesn't that look like Kikyo's cell phone?" he asked. "She must have brought it and that's what she and the teach were arguing about." Sango suddenly went into a fit of giggles, and caused Miroku to do the same thing. Neither knew exactly why they were laughing, but it made them feel good…and that's all they wanted for a long time. To feel good…
Miroku wrapped his arm around her neck and pulled her head down for a noogie. She pulled out of his headlock and punched him lightly in the arm. It felt so good to be fooling around with her, so he smiled, a nice, genuine smile. His laughter subsided, and Sango turned to him.
"What? What are you looking at? Do I have something on my face?" Sango walked over to the bus's side mirror. Miroku just laughed. He stared at her for a moment longer.
'God she's beautiful…'
An ambulance's sirens sounded off in the distance, growing closer and closer with each passing minute. Sango ambled over to Miroku and sighed.
"Is there anyway we could go with them?" She rubbed her eyes. The sandman had finally came to visit her. She started rocking back and forth and then collapsed right into Miroku's arms. He picked her up and brought her under a tree, laying her down beside it.
"Sango?" he questioned, but she was already asleep, a smile on her face. "Sleep well...I think we all deserve to now." He sighed as he watched the medics come and pick up their friends on stretches.
"Hey, were you the two that were with them?" one of the medics said. Miroku nodded. "Then you need to come with us." He motioned for him to follow with Sango. "Bring your girlfriend."
Miroku blushed, but did as he said without a word. Jumping into the ambulance, he waved to a distressed Kikyo and teacher.
"Get that girl out of the same van as MY Inuyasha!!" she bellowed after them, but the sirens drowned her out. Miroku sat silently next to Inuyasha and two medics who were checking him out. He and Kagome had oxygen masks over their mouths.
"So, will you fill us in on what happened and how you guys got separated from your group?" A woman asked as she sat down next to Miroku…jumping immediately back up and walked to the other side of the ambulance, glaring at him.
Miroku just grinned.
"They were walking on some slippery rocks and fell off the waterfall's edge," Miroku replied, repeating Sango's words. "And we ran off…that's about it. Nothing more, nothing less." The woman snorted at him, but accepted his explanation.
"I see," was all she said.
"Well…" the guy medic trailed off.
"Miroku." The medic nodded.
"Well, Miroku, your friends are in critical condition. For how long have they been like this? Any ideas?"
"Since last night," carefully answered Miroku. "We've been carrying them back all night to the camp." He knew that doctors played mind games on you, trying to get some answers without directly asking the questions they wanted answered. It drove him nuts as a little kid…and still even.
"My, that was a pretty big waterfall…I know it well because I use to play there as a little kid." Miroku bit his tongue. He wanted to scream out 'so what's you're point??' but thought better of it. "…any ideas how they could have survived?"
'Yeah…they wouldn't have if Inuyasha wasn't a hanyou and he didn't protect Kagome from those rocks…'
Miroku just smiled.
"Shouldn't we just be glad they're okay and still alive?" he asked innocently. The medic hesitated before agreeing.
"So what's up with you and the girl? What did you guys do out there?" He raised an eyebrow before Miroku grunted.
"I don't know…" he saw where the medic was coming from, but refused to answer his question truthfully...not the way he suspected either. "We were just playing around…tag…you know…" Miroku couldn't think of any excuses anymore…he began to fold under the pressure.
"We wanted to get out on our own and not be with that bitch we left back there. She was annoying all of us, and we just HAD to get away from her," Sango added in, waking up. Actually, she had been awake since they'd gotten into the van, but didn't want to move because she felt so safe in his arms. Seeing that he needed help though made her change her plans. The medic just smiled and laughed.
"You must be talking about that girl…I can understand," he joined in. "She was yelling at us the whole time while we loaded you kids in here. Something about her Inuyasha?" he joked around.
Miroku and Sango grinned.
"Yeah, that's Kikyo."
*******
"Finally at the hospital, kids," said the man. He quickly unloaded Inuyasha and Kagome with the woman's help and pointed to a waiting room to the left. "You two need to be checked out before we let you go. You guys were gone for two whole days. Go wait over there while we help your friends."
"Will we be able to see them soon?" Sango wondered aloud.
"I think so." They watched as their friends disappeared around the corner before taking a seat. Since there was no one else in the room at that moment, they talked to each other about what happened.
"So is Tokuno out of the picture for good? He's not going to come after her again, right?" Miroku shook his head.
"No…I got him with Kagome's bow and arrows…I heard him collapse to the ground."
"But you didn't SEE this, did you?" Sango's eyes widened with apprehension.
"No, it was too dark out. I couldn't even see my own hands in front of my face. Besides, you called me and I thought you needed my help."
"You should have at least looked!!"
"That's a little hard to do when it's DARK out, Sango!!" Miroku retorted.
"Well then you could have at least kicked around in the dirt a bit and feel around for him!"
"And have him grab me and pull me down with him??"
"Well if you got him then it wouldn't have been a problem, right???" her voice began rising, but they still only whispered to each other.
"He might not have been dead yet!! What if he wasn't and had a knife?? I'd be laying right next beside him right now then!! And then where would we be???"
Sango was about to answer him, but a clearing of the throat let them know another person was in the room.
"One less pervert in the world...I think that's an improvement, don't you?" Sango whispered half-heartedly.
"Excuse me, but you two need to follow me this way," said what appeared to be a nurse. "I'm new here, so please forgive me if I get a little lost…" They wandered around a bit until they came to a halt by a door labeled, "113 B, here it is! The doctor will be right with you." She left them to talk. They walked in and sat down, Miroku taking the spinning chair. He spun around in it, annoying Sango until she finally pushed him across the room on it, ending up with him falling face first on the floor.
"Why'd you do that??" Miroku pouted. Sango scowled, but answered him.
"Because." Miroku frowned for a second until she came over and helped him up, sighing.
"Sango, I have a serious question to ask you…" he trailed off as Sango glanced quizzically at him. "You might want to sit down for this." She did as he requested and took a seat.
"What's the question?"
"Will you bear my child??" Miroku blurted out, gazing into Sango's shocked eyes. They soon turned to anger as she slapped him across the room.
"YOU PERVERT!!" Miroku coward as the last hit sent him flying against the door. Miroku put on an innocent grin.
"So is that a yes?" He brought his hands up to protect his head, hearing a deadly rumble coming from Sango's direction. Luckily, the door opened to reveal the same nurse as before.
"Uh, sorry for interrupting, but I forgot my pen in here…" she calmly took then pen and bowed towards them. "Sorry," she repeated, gasping when she realized Miroku holding her hands.
"Will you bear my child?" The nurse's mouth formed an 'O'.
"Wh-w-what?" she stuttered. Sango grabbed the guy by the ear and dragged (or more like tossed) him into the corner.
"STAY!" she screamed as the nurse slid out of the room unnoticed. "You don't just go around asking people to bear your child, pervert!" Miroku pouted again.
"Well you said no so I thought maybe SHE would have been willing to…" he mumbled as Sango slapped him upside the head. "Fine…alright, I won't do it again. Besides, you're the only one for me." He grinned.
"ARGH!" Throwing her hands up into the air, Sango plopped down in the chair next to him. "Playboy…" she muttered, turning away from him.
She looked a little hurt, according to Miroku, and he knew he cause the pain.
"Sango…" he couldn't seem to form the words in his mind. "…I-"
"Hey, don't worry about it. I won't bother you anymore once we get out of this mess and Kagome and Inuyasha's okay, alright?" her voice was a little shaky, but she got up and walked over to the window. Miroku just wanted to run over there and take her in his arms, but something held him back, something called doubt.
'She doesn't care about me…not like I do her, at least. She wouldn't tell me to go away if she felt the same way…'
Sango gazed out the window as a tear slid down her cheek.
'He's not disagreeing…that only proves he doesn't…care…'
"Well, how are you kids today? You cause quite a racket when you and your friends went missing." Sango wiped the tear from her face and turned to face a man with dark brown hair and a toothy smile. "Nice to meet you, I'm Doctor Smith." He held out his hand and Sango timidly took it. "Now I have a couple of questions for you. First of all, there were five of you that left your teacher, but only four returned. Think you could tell me why?" Miroku was the first to jump in.
"Five? Well if there were five, we didn't take off altogether. We never saw a fifth person, sir. He might have gotten lost…"
"We have a search team out there right now looking for him." Miroku froze, but shook it off. Did anyone else know that Kagome had been carrying her arrows? She'd get into a lot of trouble if they found Tokuno laying there with an arrow stuck in him, dead.
He shot Sango a glance, and her lips grew thin.
"Anyways, let's concentrate on the here," he said, walking up to Sango and checking her heart rate, blood pressure, and just doing a regular check up. He moved on to Miroku. "Hmmm, everything seems fine."
"Then can we go see our friends?" Sango asked with anticipation. He chuckled, but nodded.
"Alright, follow me. They're in stable condition, so I see no harm." They tagged along behind him, and he led them into a big room with a curtain in the middle of it. He left the teenagers alone.
"Kagome!" Sango gasped, and rushed to her side as Miroku went to Inuyasha's. "Are you okay? Feeling any better?" Kagome slowly turned her head towards her friend and gave a weak smile.
"I'm doing better, now, thanks…" she coughed and Sango handed her some water that was placed next to the bed. Kagome carefully sat up and took a sip, placing it back on the table. "Please, pull back the curtain so I can speak to Inuyasha…" Sango looked puzzled, but smiled.
"Alright."
"Inuyasha, can you hear me?" her voice was still weak. She watched him as he breathed. Miroku sighed.
"He's still sleeping. He lost a lot of blood, and most of it ended up on me," he told her. "Remind me to tell Inuyasha he owes me some new clothes when he gets better." He snickered as Kagome giggled.
"Go to hell, Miroku," snorted Inuyasha halfheartedly.
"I see you're awake now…so tell me, how does it feel to be a hero-wait, let me rephrase that…how does it feel to be KAGOME'S hero?" He laughed as a hospital's fluffy, white pillow smacked him in the face. Miroku just grinned dumbly.
"Ask the doctor when we'll be getting out of here. Tell him I want to leave now," Inuyasha demanded.
"Where's Shippo??" Kagome asked suddenly. A little head popped out of Kagome's bag, and smiled.
"KAGOME! INUYAHSA!! You're alright!!" He leaped into Kagome's arms and gave her a big hug. Kagome remembered when Tokuno told her that he was the one to kill the kitune's father.
"Shippo…"
'Maybe I shouldn't tell him…at least not yet. Besides, that reminds me…Tokuno mentioned something about a hanyou…what was it again?'
Her eyes slightly widened.
"Hanyou!" Inuyasha's ears perked up and he turned to her.
"What d-do you m-mean?" he asked, putting on his best confused face. "That was random…"
"You're a hanyou, Inuyasha…aren't you?" Inuyasha turned away from her.
"Feh, I don't know what you're talking about…"
"Playing dumb, buddy?" Miroku laughed. "I told Sango, but I swear I didn't tell her. She wasn't even awake when I told Sango."
"Tokuno…told me…" Kagome replied slowly, taking in Inuyasha's reaction.
"By the way," Inuyasha said, trying to get off subject, "did you tell Kagome what happened to him?"
"Oh, well…" Miroku silenced Sango by cutting in.
"Don't worry, he's taken care of." Miroku sauntered towards the door, waving to them. "I'll go ask the doctor if we can leave now." After a minute of silence, Kagome looked at Inuyasha again.
"Thank you, Inuyasha, for saving me. I don't know what to say…it's so hard to believe that you are the same person as the one at the football game…"
"Feh, girl, just get some sleep…you look like you needed it," Inuyasha responded lightheartedly.
'Maybe I have changed…could Kagome have brought about it, though? Or was it just the situation…'
"ALRIGHT! Home we go! I had to pull a few strings to make them let you go, Inuyasha, but I did it. So don't say that I don't do anything for you!" Miroku helped Inuyasha up and over to the door.
"What do you mean, 'pull a few strings'?" Sango quirked an eyebrow. Miroku just scratched his nose.
~~~FLASHBACK~~~
"Hey Doc, we want to get out of here, is that going to be a problem?" Miroku asked.
"No good, I'm afraid. Your male friend, Inuyasha you called him, lost way too much blood, and we don't have any blood to give him. He's got an unusual blood type and to tell you the truth, I would like to keep him here to study it."
"Well I'm not leaving unless it's with him," Miroku said out of loyalty. He slid over to the wary nurse from before, pretending to trip, and 'groped' her. The nurse let out a shriek, and slapped him away, causing the doctor to sigh.
"Please, Dr. Smith, I think they'll be JUST fine!" she glared at Miroku as she brushed herself off. The doctor hesitantly nodded.
"Okay."
~~~END FLASHBACK~~~
"That really doesn't matter, does it? I mean we're allowed to leave, right?" Sango looked at him suspiciously, but gave in with a sigh.
"Whatever…just how are we going to get back? We don't have a car…"
"Leave that to me," Inuyasha limped over to a payphone. "Hello? Yeah, it's me dad…could you come pick me and my friends up at the hospital?"
~*~*~*~
A/N: Hope you liked it…REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!! I spent a LOT of my time writing this chapter, so PLEASE review!!
Anyways, for those of you who didn't see the last notice, I will be e-mailing anyone who wants me to when I post a new chapter. Just leave your e-mail in a review and say something like 'e-mail me next chapter'.
There's even a lot of I/K and M/S…hope you like ^________^
~*~*~*~
CHAPTER 9: Sunrise, Sunset
Kagome slowly awakened to find herself tied down at her ankles and wrists. She pulled at the ropes, but it was no use.
"Sango? Miroku? Inuyasha!!" Desperation crept into her voice as she realized her fate was left up to them.
"Now, now, Kagome…I'm not THAT bad, am I?" Tokuno taunted her as he stepped out of the shadows. Kagome growled at him.
"Let me go or I'll-"
"May I remind you that you are the one tied down and helpless? And that I am the one calling the shots?" Kagome bit her lip. She knew it.
"Not for long. Sango will be here soon!" She struggled beneath the ropes again, but to no avail. Finally giving up, breathing heavily at her efforts, she laid her arms back down. "This is just like right out of a horror movie…can't you at least think of something better?" Kagome complained heatedly, but Tokuno ignored her.
"Say what you want, but your friends will soon be joining you. What they don't know is that I built another room even deeper than the last one, hidden from view. They won't be able to find us."
Kagome tilted her head in the direction of the door, only a couple of yards away. She wished she could just get free of her binding, but it was too strong.
"Inuyasha is on his way here. I can sense him getting closer, but there's nothing I need to worry about. Not even he can find this place. I built it that way. Not only do objects block the entrance, but the walls are thick and soundproof."
'Why does he keep mentioning Inuyasha like he's the only one that can find me…there must be some reason. I'll just have to go with that, for now.'
"INUYASHA!!! HELP ME!!" Kagome cried out and once again started to fight the ropes. "INUYASHA HURRY!!!" Kagome didn't stop resisting even when the ropes dug into her skin. She noticed Tokuno cringe every time she mentioned his 'cousin's' name.
"Shut up! It's not like he can here you anyways," Tokuno scolded her as he caressed her cheek.
"Why are you so afraid of him?" Kagome whispered as her body went limp.
"Afraid?" Tokuno questioned. "Me…afraid of the hanyou?" Laughter filled the musty air, and Kagome trembled.
"Hanyou? But that's a…" Kagome suddenly came to realization.
"Do you know that this forest is full or demons, Kagome? Didn't you ever wonder why my dad picked this place?" Kagome shook her head slowly. "Inuyasha's mother had come here camping, just like you and Sango had. She had met another human here…or so she thought. Soon enough the demon fell in love with her and they were married, of course. The woman must have suspected something, because she told him no man could ever be so perfect. That was when he told her of what she was. She just smiled and kissed him…because she had fallen in love with him to. She didn't care what he was, as long as he was with her."
"But how do you know all that?" Kagome ventured carefully. She wanted answers, but wasn't sure if she would get all of them.
'Inuyasha is half demon? But that's impossible…there's no way…demons aren't real…but that would explain his ears.'
A little voice in her head repeated a name in her head. "Shippo," it said.
'That's right…Shippo said he was a demon, and he can't be human, there's just no way. But why didn't people know about the demons before? Were they hiding it? Maybe the demons look mostly like humans, and that's why no one has been able to tell.'
"Inuyasha's father told me," Tokuno answered, interrupting her thoughts.
"INUYASHA!!!!" Kagome screamed once more. A hand was placed gently over her mouth.
"Stop it you wench!" Kagome winced at his words. "Anyways, I think it's time that we leave this place and go to a more suitable place. You're too pretty to die in a torture chamber…and there's this large waterfall not too far from here."
*******
A/N: Okay, so I know there's no waterfalls in forests…wait a minute, I take that back. ^_^;; I've seen one before. It wasn't THAT big, but it was still pretty big…think of this place as a mountain forest, I guess…just work with me, please?
*******
"So what, you're going to throw me off of it?" Tokuno smirked.
"If that's what you want. There's a lot of sharp, jagged rocks at the bottom…but you probably already know that, huh?"
"INUYA-"
*SMACK*
"Stop it now, you bitch!!!" Tokuno's eyes were wide and terrifying. They narrowed slightly when he saw her panicked face. "Why do you keep yelling for him?"
"None of your business…" Kagome whispered hotly, turning her eyes away from his. Tokuno bent down so his face was close to hers.
"Are you saying that you love him?" Kagome could have sworn she saw hurt flash in his eyes.
"No." She rejected the idea of having him as her only chance of survival, but beggars can't be choosers, right? Kagome glared defiantly into his eyes.
"I see," was all he said. They sat there in silence for what felt like hours until Tokuno reached for her ropes. "It's time to go. It is night now so it will give them a hard time if they follow us." With that, he untied the ropes and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her to her feet. He tightened his grip on her when she took a step back.
"What makes you so sure that I won't try to escape?" Kagome scoffed at him.
"Who said I thought that?" Tokuno grinned at her, and Kagome cautiously walked with him as they walked out of the door and into the dark passage.
"INUYASHA! SANGO! MIROKU!!" Kagome yelled down the hall, but they were no longer there. Tokuno's smile extended. They had been in that room for over four hours. There was no way that Inuyasha was still hanging around. They had probably left to go look around outside, and are still around. When they reached the room, Tokuno grasped a roll of duck tape.
"Just to make sure that you don't scream outside…" he placed a piece over her mouth and sealed the air out. "Breathe through your nose, alright?"
'Like he needs to tell me twice…'
They walked out of the room and down the hall quietly.
"Miroku! Did you find anything yet?" came Sango's worried voice. Tokuno and Kagome hid in the shadows of the hall listening. He cursed himself for being wrong. He had thought that all of them would have left by now.
'I need to make some sort of noise! They're right there!'
Kagome tried to say something, so it could come out as a muffled cry, but the tape was way too thick. When she tried, almost no sound came out. She tried again, louder, but it was no use. There was no way they would here her. She tried to stomp her foot on the ground, but Tokuno saw and forced her to the ground. He held her still why the two went on talking.
"What if he…what if Tokuno…What if she's d…" Sango couldn't bring herself to say it. Miroku looked sadly at Miroku as he wrapped his arms around her to comfort Sango.
Kagome tried to force her head up so she could hear what they were saying and see what they were doing, but she could do neither. All she heard was some muffled voices and all she saw was the carpet on the floor.
"We'll find her, Sango. Inuyasha's looking outside for her with Shippo. She's bound to be around this place somewhere." Miroku had always known about Inuyasha being a hanyou, but didn't really care. In this case, the demon part of him would be able to help them find Kagome…hopefully before it was too late.
"This is all my fault…I shouldn't have made Kagome go out on a date with him…I just wish that it was me instead of her, because if she dies, I will-"
"Shhh…" Miroku gently placed his finger on her soft lips. "It's not really you're fault. I mean he's Inuyasha's cousin and Inuyasha didn't notice anything out of the ordinary until now. Inuyasha is probably going to kill Tokuno when he gets a hold of him. And if, for some reason, we don't get there in time, Inuyasha will be blaming himself more than anyone else about it…Sango, I think he loves her." Miroku blurted out.
Sango turned away from his hug and blushed slightly when she realized how long they had been standing there in an embrace.
"Yeah, I know," she whispered as a tear streamed down her cheek. "I just don't know if Kagome feels the same way…"
"I'll go look around here some more, and you can look upstairs in those doors. If you see something, scream, and do whatever you can to get away…"
"Alright, Sango agreed.
'There must be some sorta secret door or something. There just has to be…'
She and Miroku went their separate ways again and continued to look for their friend. Tokuno quickly pulled Kagome and himself into one of the rooms closest. He cracked the door a bit to see Sango jogging up the stairs and into the room across from theirs. The door wasn't shut, but he figured that they could sneak by her.
"Come on," he whispered to Kagome. As they passed by Sango, Kagome tried to drag herself and Tokuno into the room with Sango, but Tokuno was easily stronger than her. On the way down the stairs, Kagome kicked her shoe off and it started falling towards the uncarpeted floor. Tokuno cursed when he noticed what she was doing.
"Stupid bitch," his voice rang through her ears as he picked her up bridal style and ran down the flight of steps and out the door.
"KAGOME!!!" She heard Miroku call after her. She glanced over his should to see Miroku chasing after them. "Sango! Hurry!!!" Miroku didn't seem to be as fast as Tokuno, even with Kagome in his arms.
Kagome tried kicking her feet to slow him down, but he held her legs together and her arms were held with the other hand.
"Inuyasha! Tokuno's heading your way!" Miroku screamed out into the woods. Tokuno said some more colorful words and dashed towards the waterfall. It really wasn't too far away, but he needed to get there fast, before Inuyasha was on his tail (not literally -_-;;).
"Sorry, but since you seem so eager to die, I'm going to have to make my goodbye short, and then be on my way." Tokuno leaped over some rocks, and came to a stop at the top of a giant waterfall. Kagome's eyes widened when she saw how big it was, and how many rocks were at the bottom, waiting for her. Tokuno quickly removed the tape and threw it into the water. They watched as it was overtaken by the rapids and then fell over.
"Tokuno, can't we talk? I mean there must be SOMETHING I can do so you won't kill me…" Kagome pleaded while trying to rationalize with him. Tokuno shook his head and grinned.
"Sorry, but my father wanted this, and he was all I had before. I want him to be happy where he his, and him to be proud of me when I see him again in heaven." He started walking towards the edge of the waterfall.
"Stop it Tokuno! She doesn't deserve this!" Inuyasha called behind him, Shippo by his side. Both of their claws were sharpened and out. Kagome shuddered.
'I never knew he had claws…he's just like a dog.'
"Leave her alone you big jerk!" Shippo shouted.
"You don't deserve her either, cousin," he scowled, ignoring Shippo's request. Inuyasha took a step closer, but stopped when Tokuno held Kagome over the edge. "I wouldn't come any closer, if I was you. You wouldn't want to be the one responsible for her death." Inuyasha growled at him.
"Let her go," Inuyasha demanded anxiously.
"Why's that? Why do you want to save her?" Tokuno mocked. Inuyasha saw where this was headed, so he tried to get around it. He wanted to avoid this as long as possible, and had steered clear of it himself and refused to think about it.
"Because I'd feel bad if she died and I didn't do everything I could to save her, just as I would if it was anyone else," he answered warily.
"Why don't you tell her how you REALLY feel…" Tokuno smirked. Inuyasha growled again.
'Damn him!'
"Tell her before you lose your chance."
"Tell me what, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked quietly. He refused to look at her, and instead concentrated on Tokuno.
"Tokuno, leave the girl alone, or I'll-"
"Kill me?" he chuckled. "You underestimate me." Inuyasha was about to lung at him, but Tokuno predicted it and pretended to drop Kagome, watching the panic in his cousin's eyes, before catching her again. Kagome started to shriek.
"INUYASHA!" she yelped, "I said help me you bastard, not cause me to fall to my death SOONER!!!" She noticed Sango and Miroku coming up behind him.
"Kagome!" Sango cried out and rushed past Inuyasha, only to be thrown back by him.
"Think before you act. He'll throw her over if you get too close," Inuyasha stated. Sango looked up at him, then to Kagome. She took a step back and Miroku put his hand on her shoulder.
"He's ruthless!" Shippo added.
Tokuno peered into the darkness for an escape route.
'If I throw her over now, they'll be too worried about her that they'd forget about me for a moment. I'll use that to my advantage and escape.'
Tokuno glanced at Inuyasha, and leaned over to kiss Kagome. He pried her lips open with his tongue and busied them, all the while looking at his cousin. Kagome tried to pull away, but found it difficult.
"Let her go!! Kagome!!" shouted Shippo, but it was no use. Tokuno deepened thee kiss. When he saw the jealousy in Inuyasha's eyes, he pulled away with a satisfied smirk.
Inuyasha growled again, Tokuno held Kagome over the waterfall.
"Goodbye, Kagome," he said as he let go. Kagome's eyes filled with terror when she realized that her weight wasn't being supported by anything anymore.
"INUYASHA!!!!: She cried out, not really thinking, as she fell in slow motion…she saw Inuyasha dash towards her and reach out to her…
"KAGOME!!!!" a hand grabbed hers, but it was not pulling her up, instead, she continued to fall with that hand. She looked up to see Inuyasha pulling her close to him and into an embrace. Up above them they faintly heard their friends calling out their names.
"Inuyasha…" Kagome whispered, but it was too late, they had hit the water…and the rocks…
*******
"Kagome!" Sango watched helplessly as they plummeted to the bottom before hitting.
"Inuyasha! Kagome!!" screamed Shippo in agony.
"Inuyasha!" Miroku peered over the edge, but seeing that there was nothing he could do, he bellowed to Sango behind him as he ran, "I'm going after Tokuno!!!"
He was enraged…his best friend and his newest friend were just sent to their death, and this thought gave him speed equal to Inuyasha's. He continued to run in the direction Tokuno left, his sense on their highest alert. There was no way he was going to let Tokuno get away now. Inuyasha would want him to go after and take care of him.
*******
Sango and Shippo went around the waterfall and raced down into the knee-high water, searching frantically for her friends. Shippo climbed onto her should.
"Kagome, Inuyasha…where are you?" Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something move. Walking towards it, she realized it was Inuyasha, crawling up with what looked like to be Kagome in his arms onto the other side of the bank. "Inuyasha! Is Kagome alright???" She rushed over to him only to see blood staining his side and lip.
He was cradling her in his arms, and when Sango tried to take Kagome father away from the water, he clutched her tighter.
'He's totally out of it…'
Sango checked Kagome for a pulse, and froze.
"Is she alright??" Shippo whimpered and climbed off of her shoulder.
"No pulse…" answered Sango. She forcefully pulled her away from the weak hanyou and started to pump the water out of her lungs. She breathed into her mouth, and then pushed on her chest (Not that way, you perverts!). After a long time of doing this, Kagome spit up some water, going into a coughing fit.
Sango began to wipe away the blood that stained Kagome's forehead and shoulder.
"Kagome…" Inuyasha crawled towards her again.
'He's in much worse shape than Kagome…I can't believe he jumped after her. Kagome, he saved your life…'
Inuyasha hacked up some blood and fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Inuyasha!" Sango exclaimed as she scrambled towards him. He was still breathing, but very slowly and lightly. She pulled him up to where Kagome rested.
"MIROKU!!!!!" Sango yelled at the top of her lungs. She need him here now.
*******
"MIROKU!!!" He stopped when he heard his name called. Giving one last glance back to where he was headed, he sprinted back towards Sango.
'I shouldn't have left her alone…what if Tokuno had doubled back after losing me and went after Sango?'
Suddenly a figure jumped in his way and pushed him to the ground. Miroku quickly jumped back up and reached for the bow and an arrow from Kagome's pack he was carrying. Inuyasha had given it back to him when he had left to search outside for Kagome and Tokuno.
"You're not so tough without your hanyou friend to protect you, huh?" the figure laughed evilly.
"Tokuno…" Miroku breathed. He couldn't make out where he was, but could hear well enough to point the arrow in a direction. He shot it, and heard a sharp, pain filled cry in the direction he heard the voice. The he heard someone collapse onto the ground. Satisfied, he ran towards Sango.
Miroku reached the edge of the waterfall and then looked down to see Sango waving at her with both hands. She yelled something, but Miroku didn't understand, so he went down the same way Sango did and crossed the water, splashing it everywhere as he tried to pick up his feet.
"They're not dead, are they?" Miroku gulped. He couldn't see either of them breathing, so if they were alive, their breathing was very shallow. Sango shook her head.
"No…Inuyasha's just unconscious and I think Kagome's sleeping…" It was Miroku's turn to nod now. "We've got to get them to an emergency room quickly! Inuyasha's loosing blood fast…" she paused. "…I think he protected her from the rocks, and took the pain instead of her."
"This only proves that he has feelings for her. He wouldn't have done that for Kikyo. I'm positive about that, even though if you were to ask him, he'd deny it." Miroku sighed as he carefully picked his friend up and onto his back. "Don't worry, buddy, I got you."
"Did you get Tokuno…" came a slurred question. Miroku looked at him and sighed.
"Sorry…" he replied, grinning when Inuyasha's head drooped a little. "He's still out there, but I doubt if he'd come back…alive. I was able to stick an arrow in his back with Kagome's bow. I think he'll bleed to death out there…and he'll deserve it," Miroku joked with his friend. He saw a weak smile spread across Inuyasha's face.
"What about…Kagome," he coughed out her name along with some more blood. Miroku winced.
"She's fine, thanks to you. But will you be able to make it until we reach our classmates? We have to find them now, even though it's dark." Inuyasha ignored him as he continued to speak.
"Is she cold? Give her my jacket again…" Inuyasha fell unconscious again. Miroku looked at the jacket Inuyasha was wearing…it was blood stained.
Sweatdropping, he motioned with his hand for Sango to grab Kagome and follow.
"Let's go find our classmates."
"What about Shippo?" Sango asked. "We can't just leave him, but our teacher wouldn't let us bring him home either…" Shippo sighed.
"That's okay, I'll be fine on my own…my dad taught me everything I need to know to survive here…" he paused. "I'll be fine."
"Don't be silly…you can come home with me. And I'm sure you could stay with Inuyasha too," Miroku suggested to the little fox.
"But his parents would freak out…I mean I don't exactly look human, do I?" Shippo said, taking a quick look at himself.
"No, but Inuyasha's a hanyou. His father's a demon, and his mother's a human…" Miroku explained as Sango almost dropped Kagome from shock, causing Miroku to smile. "He'll let you live with him, Shippo. And I'm sure we can sneak you onto the bus somehow."
"Really? That would explain his ears and claws," Shippo grinned. Sango's eyes widened even more.
"INUYASHA'S A HANYOU???" She choked out, almost dropping Kagome again. Miroku just grinned and continued on his way to where he thought the others might be, making only one stop along the way to tie his jacket around Inuyasha's side to clog the blood a bit.
*******
By daylight, they could hear voices far off from where they were.
"Sounds like our teach is at it again…I think she's yelling at Kikyo," Sango nodded.
"That bitch should go to hell," Sango said bitterly, referring to Kikyo. Miroku didn't say anything as he tiredly walked out of the forest and looked around at each of the surprised faces of their classmates. Shippo was hiding in Kagome's bag that was slung across Sango's shoulder.
"OH MY GOD!!!" yelled an annoying voice. "What did you bitches do to my poor Inuyasha???" Kikyo ran over to them and grabbed Inuyasha from Miroku's back. She laid him onto the ground.
"Take it easy, Kikyo! Be gentle with him. He's lost a lot of blood!" Miroku said. Sango laid Kagome right next to him because she needed to stretch out her back.
"Take that disgusting filth away from Inuyasha this instant! Go on!" Kikyo scoffed at Sango, but she disregarded her comments.
"That 'filth' is mine and Inuyasha's good friend, Kikyo," Miroku said with distaste. The teacher pushed him and Kikyo out of the way to get to Inuyasha and Kagome before she could say something back.
"Oh my word! What happened??" She looked up at Miroku and Sango and waited for an explanation.
"They were walking on some slippery rocks and fell off the waterfall…" Sango vigilantly explained with a nod from Miroku every now and then.
"You guys should never have gone off on your own! I'm going to have to call your mothers for this!" They winced, but sighed in defeat.
'I should have known that was coming…'
The teacher pulled a cell phone out of her pocket and dialed three numbers.
"Hello? 911? This is Lisa Simpson speaking. We have an emergency here in the forest at the entrance gates. Two children are badly injured and need help right away…yes, yes. These are two of the children out of the five missing…we got all of them back but one…The ones that need help? Both are bleeding badly and…yes, I understand…" With that, she hung up the cell phone.
"I thought we weren't allowed to bring cell phones on this trip…" Sango stated quietly to Miroku.
"Doesn't that look like Kikyo's cell phone?" he asked. "She must have brought it and that's what she and the teach were arguing about." Sango suddenly went into a fit of giggles, and caused Miroku to do the same thing. Neither knew exactly why they were laughing, but it made them feel good…and that's all they wanted for a long time. To feel good…
Miroku wrapped his arm around her neck and pulled her head down for a noogie. She pulled out of his headlock and punched him lightly in the arm. It felt so good to be fooling around with her, so he smiled, a nice, genuine smile. His laughter subsided, and Sango turned to him.
"What? What are you looking at? Do I have something on my face?" Sango walked over to the bus's side mirror. Miroku just laughed. He stared at her for a moment longer.
'God she's beautiful…'
An ambulance's sirens sounded off in the distance, growing closer and closer with each passing minute. Sango ambled over to Miroku and sighed.
"Is there anyway we could go with them?" She rubbed her eyes. The sandman had finally came to visit her. She started rocking back and forth and then collapsed right into Miroku's arms. He picked her up and brought her under a tree, laying her down beside it.
"Sango?" he questioned, but she was already asleep, a smile on her face. "Sleep well...I think we all deserve to now." He sighed as he watched the medics come and pick up their friends on stretches.
"Hey, were you the two that were with them?" one of the medics said. Miroku nodded. "Then you need to come with us." He motioned for him to follow with Sango. "Bring your girlfriend."
Miroku blushed, but did as he said without a word. Jumping into the ambulance, he waved to a distressed Kikyo and teacher.
"Get that girl out of the same van as MY Inuyasha!!" she bellowed after them, but the sirens drowned her out. Miroku sat silently next to Inuyasha and two medics who were checking him out. He and Kagome had oxygen masks over their mouths.
"So, will you fill us in on what happened and how you guys got separated from your group?" A woman asked as she sat down next to Miroku…jumping immediately back up and walked to the other side of the ambulance, glaring at him.
Miroku just grinned.
"They were walking on some slippery rocks and fell off the waterfall's edge," Miroku replied, repeating Sango's words. "And we ran off…that's about it. Nothing more, nothing less." The woman snorted at him, but accepted his explanation.
"I see," was all she said.
"Well…" the guy medic trailed off.
"Miroku." The medic nodded.
"Well, Miroku, your friends are in critical condition. For how long have they been like this? Any ideas?"
"Since last night," carefully answered Miroku. "We've been carrying them back all night to the camp." He knew that doctors played mind games on you, trying to get some answers without directly asking the questions they wanted answered. It drove him nuts as a little kid…and still even.
"My, that was a pretty big waterfall…I know it well because I use to play there as a little kid." Miroku bit his tongue. He wanted to scream out 'so what's you're point??' but thought better of it. "…any ideas how they could have survived?"
'Yeah…they wouldn't have if Inuyasha wasn't a hanyou and he didn't protect Kagome from those rocks…'
Miroku just smiled.
"Shouldn't we just be glad they're okay and still alive?" he asked innocently. The medic hesitated before agreeing.
"So what's up with you and the girl? What did you guys do out there?" He raised an eyebrow before Miroku grunted.
"I don't know…" he saw where the medic was coming from, but refused to answer his question truthfully...not the way he suspected either. "We were just playing around…tag…you know…" Miroku couldn't think of any excuses anymore…he began to fold under the pressure.
"We wanted to get out on our own and not be with that bitch we left back there. She was annoying all of us, and we just HAD to get away from her," Sango added in, waking up. Actually, she had been awake since they'd gotten into the van, but didn't want to move because she felt so safe in his arms. Seeing that he needed help though made her change her plans. The medic just smiled and laughed.
"You must be talking about that girl…I can understand," he joined in. "She was yelling at us the whole time while we loaded you kids in here. Something about her Inuyasha?" he joked around.
Miroku and Sango grinned.
"Yeah, that's Kikyo."
*******
"Finally at the hospital, kids," said the man. He quickly unloaded Inuyasha and Kagome with the woman's help and pointed to a waiting room to the left. "You two need to be checked out before we let you go. You guys were gone for two whole days. Go wait over there while we help your friends."
"Will we be able to see them soon?" Sango wondered aloud.
"I think so." They watched as their friends disappeared around the corner before taking a seat. Since there was no one else in the room at that moment, they talked to each other about what happened.
"So is Tokuno out of the picture for good? He's not going to come after her again, right?" Miroku shook his head.
"No…I got him with Kagome's bow and arrows…I heard him collapse to the ground."
"But you didn't SEE this, did you?" Sango's eyes widened with apprehension.
"No, it was too dark out. I couldn't even see my own hands in front of my face. Besides, you called me and I thought you needed my help."
"You should have at least looked!!"
"That's a little hard to do when it's DARK out, Sango!!" Miroku retorted.
"Well then you could have at least kicked around in the dirt a bit and feel around for him!"
"And have him grab me and pull me down with him??"
"Well if you got him then it wouldn't have been a problem, right???" her voice began rising, but they still only whispered to each other.
"He might not have been dead yet!! What if he wasn't and had a knife?? I'd be laying right next beside him right now then!! And then where would we be???"
Sango was about to answer him, but a clearing of the throat let them know another person was in the room.
"One less pervert in the world...I think that's an improvement, don't you?" Sango whispered half-heartedly.
"Excuse me, but you two need to follow me this way," said what appeared to be a nurse. "I'm new here, so please forgive me if I get a little lost…" They wandered around a bit until they came to a halt by a door labeled, "113 B, here it is! The doctor will be right with you." She left them to talk. They walked in and sat down, Miroku taking the spinning chair. He spun around in it, annoying Sango until she finally pushed him across the room on it, ending up with him falling face first on the floor.
"Why'd you do that??" Miroku pouted. Sango scowled, but answered him.
"Because." Miroku frowned for a second until she came over and helped him up, sighing.
"Sango, I have a serious question to ask you…" he trailed off as Sango glanced quizzically at him. "You might want to sit down for this." She did as he requested and took a seat.
"What's the question?"
"Will you bear my child??" Miroku blurted out, gazing into Sango's shocked eyes. They soon turned to anger as she slapped him across the room.
"YOU PERVERT!!" Miroku coward as the last hit sent him flying against the door. Miroku put on an innocent grin.
"So is that a yes?" He brought his hands up to protect his head, hearing a deadly rumble coming from Sango's direction. Luckily, the door opened to reveal the same nurse as before.
"Uh, sorry for interrupting, but I forgot my pen in here…" she calmly took then pen and bowed towards them. "Sorry," she repeated, gasping when she realized Miroku holding her hands.
"Will you bear my child?" The nurse's mouth formed an 'O'.
"Wh-w-what?" she stuttered. Sango grabbed the guy by the ear and dragged (or more like tossed) him into the corner.
"STAY!" she screamed as the nurse slid out of the room unnoticed. "You don't just go around asking people to bear your child, pervert!" Miroku pouted again.
"Well you said no so I thought maybe SHE would have been willing to…" he mumbled as Sango slapped him upside the head. "Fine…alright, I won't do it again. Besides, you're the only one for me." He grinned.
"ARGH!" Throwing her hands up into the air, Sango plopped down in the chair next to him. "Playboy…" she muttered, turning away from him.
She looked a little hurt, according to Miroku, and he knew he cause the pain.
"Sango…" he couldn't seem to form the words in his mind. "…I-"
"Hey, don't worry about it. I won't bother you anymore once we get out of this mess and Kagome and Inuyasha's okay, alright?" her voice was a little shaky, but she got up and walked over to the window. Miroku just wanted to run over there and take her in his arms, but something held him back, something called doubt.
'She doesn't care about me…not like I do her, at least. She wouldn't tell me to go away if she felt the same way…'
Sango gazed out the window as a tear slid down her cheek.
'He's not disagreeing…that only proves he doesn't…care…'
"Well, how are you kids today? You cause quite a racket when you and your friends went missing." Sango wiped the tear from her face and turned to face a man with dark brown hair and a toothy smile. "Nice to meet you, I'm Doctor Smith." He held out his hand and Sango timidly took it. "Now I have a couple of questions for you. First of all, there were five of you that left your teacher, but only four returned. Think you could tell me why?" Miroku was the first to jump in.
"Five? Well if there were five, we didn't take off altogether. We never saw a fifth person, sir. He might have gotten lost…"
"We have a search team out there right now looking for him." Miroku froze, but shook it off. Did anyone else know that Kagome had been carrying her arrows? She'd get into a lot of trouble if they found Tokuno laying there with an arrow stuck in him, dead.
He shot Sango a glance, and her lips grew thin.
"Anyways, let's concentrate on the here," he said, walking up to Sango and checking her heart rate, blood pressure, and just doing a regular check up. He moved on to Miroku. "Hmmm, everything seems fine."
"Then can we go see our friends?" Sango asked with anticipation. He chuckled, but nodded.
"Alright, follow me. They're in stable condition, so I see no harm." They tagged along behind him, and he led them into a big room with a curtain in the middle of it. He left the teenagers alone.
"Kagome!" Sango gasped, and rushed to her side as Miroku went to Inuyasha's. "Are you okay? Feeling any better?" Kagome slowly turned her head towards her friend and gave a weak smile.
"I'm doing better, now, thanks…" she coughed and Sango handed her some water that was placed next to the bed. Kagome carefully sat up and took a sip, placing it back on the table. "Please, pull back the curtain so I can speak to Inuyasha…" Sango looked puzzled, but smiled.
"Alright."
"Inuyasha, can you hear me?" her voice was still weak. She watched him as he breathed. Miroku sighed.
"He's still sleeping. He lost a lot of blood, and most of it ended up on me," he told her. "Remind me to tell Inuyasha he owes me some new clothes when he gets better." He snickered as Kagome giggled.
"Go to hell, Miroku," snorted Inuyasha halfheartedly.
"I see you're awake now…so tell me, how does it feel to be a hero-wait, let me rephrase that…how does it feel to be KAGOME'S hero?" He laughed as a hospital's fluffy, white pillow smacked him in the face. Miroku just grinned dumbly.
"Ask the doctor when we'll be getting out of here. Tell him I want to leave now," Inuyasha demanded.
"Where's Shippo??" Kagome asked suddenly. A little head popped out of Kagome's bag, and smiled.
"KAGOME! INUYAHSA!! You're alright!!" He leaped into Kagome's arms and gave her a big hug. Kagome remembered when Tokuno told her that he was the one to kill the kitune's father.
"Shippo…"
'Maybe I shouldn't tell him…at least not yet. Besides, that reminds me…Tokuno mentioned something about a hanyou…what was it again?'
Her eyes slightly widened.
"Hanyou!" Inuyasha's ears perked up and he turned to her.
"What d-do you m-mean?" he asked, putting on his best confused face. "That was random…"
"You're a hanyou, Inuyasha…aren't you?" Inuyasha turned away from her.
"Feh, I don't know what you're talking about…"
"Playing dumb, buddy?" Miroku laughed. "I told Sango, but I swear I didn't tell her. She wasn't even awake when I told Sango."
"Tokuno…told me…" Kagome replied slowly, taking in Inuyasha's reaction.
"By the way," Inuyasha said, trying to get off subject, "did you tell Kagome what happened to him?"
"Oh, well…" Miroku silenced Sango by cutting in.
"Don't worry, he's taken care of." Miroku sauntered towards the door, waving to them. "I'll go ask the doctor if we can leave now." After a minute of silence, Kagome looked at Inuyasha again.
"Thank you, Inuyasha, for saving me. I don't know what to say…it's so hard to believe that you are the same person as the one at the football game…"
"Feh, girl, just get some sleep…you look like you needed it," Inuyasha responded lightheartedly.
'Maybe I have changed…could Kagome have brought about it, though? Or was it just the situation…'
"ALRIGHT! Home we go! I had to pull a few strings to make them let you go, Inuyasha, but I did it. So don't say that I don't do anything for you!" Miroku helped Inuyasha up and over to the door.
"What do you mean, 'pull a few strings'?" Sango quirked an eyebrow. Miroku just scratched his nose.
~~~FLASHBACK~~~
"Hey Doc, we want to get out of here, is that going to be a problem?" Miroku asked.
"No good, I'm afraid. Your male friend, Inuyasha you called him, lost way too much blood, and we don't have any blood to give him. He's got an unusual blood type and to tell you the truth, I would like to keep him here to study it."
"Well I'm not leaving unless it's with him," Miroku said out of loyalty. He slid over to the wary nurse from before, pretending to trip, and 'groped' her. The nurse let out a shriek, and slapped him away, causing the doctor to sigh.
"Please, Dr. Smith, I think they'll be JUST fine!" she glared at Miroku as she brushed herself off. The doctor hesitantly nodded.
"Okay."
~~~END FLASHBACK~~~
"That really doesn't matter, does it? I mean we're allowed to leave, right?" Sango looked at him suspiciously, but gave in with a sigh.
"Whatever…just how are we going to get back? We don't have a car…"
"Leave that to me," Inuyasha limped over to a payphone. "Hello? Yeah, it's me dad…could you come pick me and my friends up at the hospital?"
~*~*~*~
A/N: Hope you liked it…REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!! I spent a LOT of my time writing this chapter, so PLEASE review!!
Anyways, for those of you who didn't see the last notice, I will be e-mailing anyone who wants me to when I post a new chapter. Just leave your e-mail in a review and say something like 'e-mail me next chapter'.
