Don't Look Back!
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha!
A/N: Warning! There is mention of abuse in this story!
"I think the baby did a stinky." Kagome said from the passenger seat of the car. She didn't look at her boyfriend of two years, she just kept looking out the window at the scenery of a huge corn field and what looked to be a farmhouse in the distance. It hurt to talk with the new darkening bruise forming along her jawline to add to the rest of the collection, her head pounded in agony, and it hurt to breathe.
"I don't smell anything." Kagome's boyfriend huffed out.
Kagome sighed but didn't dare comment as memories of earlier that day came to the surface.
It was just like any other day; Kagome was in the kitchen just getting started on dinner while her boyfriend was at work. He'd be getting off in about an hour in a half and liked to have his dinner hot and already on the table when he got home. Kagome sighed as she remembered what happened the first time she didn't have his dinner ready for him. It was about a year ago and he came home right as she was putting the finishing touches on dinner. He yelled and berated her before punching her in the face and throwing all the hot food on her giving her horrible burns on part of her face, chest and arms refusing to take her to the hospital saying that maybe next time his dinner would be on the table when he got home. That was the first time that he had hit her, sure he was emotionally abusive, but he never hit her until that day. She remembered that she had gotten up and ran to the bedroom preparing to pack her things up and leave knowing for sure that she didn't want to be in this relationship anymore! He had crossed the line this time by striking her and burning her and she wasn't going to put up with it!
"What do you think you are doing?" He said as he came into the bedroom.
"I'm leaving! I'm not going to put up with this! It's bad enough that you constantly downgrade me by calling me names and just being mean. This, however-" Kagome said gesturing to her face. "Has crossed the line and I'm done!"
Hojo, her boyfriend, sighed and came into the room and grabbed a fistful of her raven locks yanking it back harshly reveling in the painful wince that came from her. "You are not going anywhere, you stupid bitch!" He yelled in her face before beating the shit out of her leaving bruises all over her body that she remembered took almost three weeks for all of them to heal all the way and she had scars from the burns on her left cheek down her neck, both her arms and on the upper part of her chest.
Ugh, the burns! The burns took about a month, maybe longer - she couldn't remember, to heal all the way and the process was agonizing. The burning, the scabs and the itching seemed never ending! It was torture!
Kagome flinched as the memory vanished and sighed vowing to always have his dinner ready from now on. She was terrified of every little thing now - he had gotten so much worse since then. Now the house had to be absolutely spotless with nothing out of place, dinner had to be ready, she had to wear a sexy maid outfit, with high heels, at all times and their four-week-old baby boy had to be content and not crying or upset in anyway. She was scared to leave knowing that he'd end up killing her if she tried. She sighed as she finished cutting up the vegetables just as the front door opened and closed.
'Shit!' She thought to herself as she heard Hojo walk into the kitchen. Kagome turned around to face him with wide frightened chocolate-colored eyes and saw him eyeing the table with a frown.
"H-Hojo, you're home early." Kagome tried to keep the shaking out of her voice but failed miserably.
"Indeed." He agreed easily then sent cold deadly eyes her way. "Where's my dinner?" He asked calmly.
Kagome wasn't buying the calmness in his voice knowing, with him, that the calm always came before the storm, and she knew without a doubt that the storm was coming as he started walking her way.
"I-I was m-making it. Y-you're home early so I d-didn't have enough t-time to finish it." Kagome stuttered while looking at the ground.
Hojo stopped right in front of her but didn't say anything, the only thing Kagome felt was the back of his hand as he backhanded her across her face making her fall to the ground. As she was trying to get up, she felt Hojo's steel toe boots connects with her stomach stealing the breath right out of her lungs and his fist come down to make hard contact right between her shoulder blades. As she laid there gasping and coughing Hojo sneered at her in disgust.
"That's no excuse!" Hojo spat at her. "Now, get up and get Kogee ready - I have a business meeting at a restaurant in the city in a couple hours. I'll allow you to change into some jeans and a shirt for this dinner." He demanded before turning around and going into the bathroom to take a shower.
She didn't dare question him why he even cared if dinner was completed or not if he was going to have a meeting at a restaurant. Hardly anything this man did ever made any sense to her. As she tried her hardest to breathe right and get up off the floor, though, it took her well over ten minutes to be able to pick herself off the floor.
Kagome sighed quietly as the memory faded. She noticed the farmhouse getting closer and the corn field still stretched on for another mile or so ahead of them.
She let out an alarmed gasp as a loud pop rent the space and the car rocking violently before Hojo got it to the shoulder of the road and stomped on the breaks.
Hojo sent a murderous glare Kagome's way before backhanding her again causing her nose to instantly bleed and a painful cry to escape passed her lips as her hands came up to cover her nose.
"Great!" Hojo yelled throwing his arms up and slamming his hands against the steering wheel. "Just what I didn't need! A fucking blown tire!" He turned cold hard eyes Kagome's way again. "If I miss this dinner meeting, you'll be sorry."
Kagome didn't know how this was any of her fault but kept her mouth shut knowing better than to question him. At that moment Kogee started to fuss and Hojo's eyes grew colder. "Change the fucking baby." He said before exiting the car.
Sighing Kagome opened her door to step out then she opened the back door and laid out the blanket she kept folded up in the car for moments like this one. She leaned in to unhook Kogee from his car seat and laid him down on top of the blanket. She was about to take off Kogee's pants when a voice sounded in the back of her head making her gasp.
Run.
Kagome froze as her heart went to her throat.
Run!
Kagome didn't give it any thought as she looked on the other side of the car and saw Hojo at the back tire on the driver's side - she was on the passenger side. He ran faster than her but maybe if she got a good enough head start then maybe she'd be able to make it to the farmhouse to beg for help.
Kagome nodded in resolve as she wrapped Kogee up in the blanket and picked him up cradling him to her chest. She could change him once she was safe. Without thinking any more, she turned her back on the car and faced toward the corn field. Taking a deep breath, she started running as fast as she could, not seeing as Hojo poked his head over the car just in time to see her disappear in the corn field.
"Fucking bitch! Get the fuck back here!" Hojo shouted before rounding the car and giving chase after Kagome.
Kagome let out a chocked sob as the voice in the back of her head spoke again.
Faster!
Kagome pushed her legs harder.
Don't close your eyes! Don't trip.
Kagome opened her eyes - when had she closed them? Focusing back in front of her trying not to trip up too bad. The blood pounding in her ears made it almost impossible to hear Hojo chasing and yelling at her to fucking stop.
Don't stop! The voice told her, and Kagome listened - running even faster.
Kagome wanted to look back to see how far away Hojo was from her but before she could the voice yelled at her again.
Don't look back!
Gasping out a cry Kagome listened as she continued to run even though her legs ached, and her lungs burned.
Just keep running! Don't look back!
Kagome didn't know how much further the corn field ran but she hoped she was almost to the end. She didn't know how far behind Hojo was and desperately needed to see, so desperate that she forgot the voice's warning. She was just about to look back when-
Don't look back! Don't trip! He'll get you and kill you!
Don't look back!
Chocking out another sob, Kagome listened and pushed her legs even harder. Kogee wailed in her arms as she tried to protect him from the harsh slaps of the corn stalk leaves.
Finally, after another ten minutes of running, Kagome emerged from the corn field and onto the huge yard of the farmhouse. Letting out another sob of desperation, she didn't stop she just kept running as fast as she could. She could hear Hojo behind her demanding her that she stopped right this second, but she didn't listen.
Five minutes later Kagome ran up the steps to the large wrap around porch, and not listening to Hojo's calls for her to come back, she reached for the doorknob - not wasting anytime with knocking - and hoped the door was unlocked. Turning the doorknob and sob in relief to find it unlocked before slamming the door opened and running in the house and down the hallway, quickly finding the bathroom slamming the door shut before jumping in the tub and closing the curtain.
-X-
Inuyasha had his best friend since kindergarten and said best friend's fiancé over to watch the football game. The coffee table was packed with game day snacks such as chips, all kinds of dips, hot wings, BBQ wings, a large tray of mini sub sandwiches, a couple pizzas, soda and beer.
"Go! Go! Go!" Inuyasha and Miroku chanted, and Sango shook her head but not without a fond smile.
"TOUCHDOWN!" All three of them shouted jumping to their feet and fist bumping the air when their team scored a touchdown. They all sat down after completing their victory dances and Inuyasha handed out beers to his friends only for a minute later to almost jump through the roof with shock at the sound of the front door slamming open. They all turned in time to see a woman carrying a crying baby run as fast as she could down the hallway and the sound of a slamming door was heard a second later. They all shared a concerned look before Inuyasha and Miroku went outside to see if anyone was chasing her, and Sango walked down the hallway to knock on the bathroom door.
Not receiving an answer, not that she was really expecting one, Sango turned to doorknob and gently opened the door before walking in. She walked carefully towards the shower and lowered herself until she was sitting crisscross on the tile floor. Her heart broke as she listened to the baby crying and the woman trying desperately to quiet the baby with soft shhh's and whispered it'd be okay's. Knowing something horrible must have happened and it made her blood boil at not only did someone hurt either the woman or the baby but also at not knowing how to help or what to say.
"Um." Sango whispered but clamped her mouth shut at the terrified shriek the woman on the other side of the curtain let out. Taking a deep breath and letting it out she tried again. "A-are you okay?" She whispered and absolutely wanted to bash her own head against the wall at the small scoff that sounded within the tube.
How stupid. Sango chided herself. Of course, she's not okay!
Taking another deep breath Sango tried once again. "My name is Sango and I'd like to help in any way I can, if you'd like me to." She whispered trying to sound as reassuring as possible.
The only thing Sango heard was the cries of the baby and at first, she didn't think the woman was going to answer her. She wiggled around trying to get more comfortable, content on staying on the bathroom floor for however long the woman needed to regroup herself enough to be able to tell her what happened. However, she was pleasantly surprised when a minute later she heard a small meek voice replying to her.
"I'm Kagome." Kagome whispered but didn't move to open the curtain that separated the two women from each other.
Sango smiled a small smile as she thought about what to next. "Kagome? That's a nice name." She made sure to keep her voice low as not to scare the poor woman hiding in a stranger's bathroom. "Can you tell me what happened? Maybe I can help."
"You can't help me." Kagome whispered really regretting the decision to run she should've just stayed and dealt with the abuse. "I've messed up and is as good as dead." She said as she looked down at her still whimpering baby and a thought came to her. "But maybe you could help my baby." She whispered with tears gathering in her eyes, she took in a shaky breath. "His name is Kogee, and he really is a good baby. Could you take him and hide him somewhere away from me and protect him?" Tears was running unchecked down her face as she spoke, just the thought of being separated from her baby broke her heart but she didn't see any other way - especially if she was going to die.
Sango didn't know what to say, she wanted to do something to make the woman feel better, but she didn't thing that included taking her baby away from her. Was she in danger? Was someone after her?
"Is there someone coming after you?" Sango asked keeping her voice low, she heard Kagome take in a shaky breath.
"Yes, and he's probably outside right now. Please, can you take Kogee and hide him?" Kagome begged as more tears dribbled off her chin.
Sango didn't want to take her baby away from her, but she also didn't want to deny her anything in her fragile state - so with a sigh she agreed to take her baby. She watched as Kagome slowly opened the shower curtain and gasped when she saw Kagome's face. The poor girl's face was covered in bruises, her left eye was almost swollen shut, her nose looked like it was recently bleeding, but only dried blood was left behind and there was a nasty looking bruise that painted her right jawline. She was wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans, but Sango was almost positive that the woman's bruises didn't end at her face.
"Oh Kami." Sango whispered as tears filled her eyes and her blood boiled. She wanted to kill the bastard that dared hurt this woman so badly. How dare him!?
-X-
Right as Inuyasha and Miroku ran outside Hojo was sprinting down the lawn with murderous anger seeping off of him.
Stopping in front of the porch Hojo glared at the two men that stood on the porch staring back at him.
"Send that fucking bitch out now! I'll fucking kill her!" Hojo shouted with a crazy look in his eye.
Inuyasha and Miroku shared a look before looking back at the deranged guy in front of them.
"Dunno what you're talking about, but I suggest you leave the same way you came from." Inuyasha said, the warning in his voice not easily missed.
"Fuck you asshole!" Hojo spat. "I'm not leave until I have my fucking property!"
"Property?" Miroku questioned he could feel the anger building up inside him and was almost positive that Inuyasha had the same feeling as him, if not more so.
"Yes! My property!" Hojo screamed. "So, if you don't want to get hurt, I suggest you sent her the fuck out!"
Simultaneously Inuyasha and Miroku started down the stairs taking great pleasure as the fuck-tard took a couple steps backwards. They figured he'd probably run, but if he didn't then he'd be a good subject to take out their growing frustrations on. Neither one of them could put their fingers on it but something about this man didn't sit right with either of them.
"What are you doing?" Hojo question and neither Inuyasha nor Miroku missed the fear laced in his voice.
Neither one of the men said anything as they continued down the stairs never taking their eyes off the punk that was still backing up. When they made it to the bottom step, like they knew he would, the wimp ran away.
"This isn't the end of this!" The coward yelled over his shoulder. "I will be back!"
"Keh." Inuyasha huffed out. "Figures, what a pussy."
"Very much so." Miroku agreed.
Sighing and shaking their heads they both turned around, climbed up the steps and went back inside to sit on the couch and wait until Sango could calm the woman down. They didn't doubt that she couldn't do it, Sango always had a nice, calming spirit - though - when pushed to the limit she turned into a scary psycho lady.
A few moments later, Sango walked into the room with the still whimpering baby in her arms and asked them if they could watch him before depositing the infant in Miroku's arms and walking back down the hallway once again.
"Sango?" Miroku called out before she could get too far away and watched as she stopped and looked his way. "How is she?"
Sango looked between both men in front of her and saw the concern on both their faces clear as day. She sighed, closed her eyes and shook her head. "It's not good." She said simply before continuing her way down the hallway.
Both men stared at the bundle in Miroku's arms as the whimpering slowly turned to evened out breathing, indicating the little baby must have cried himself to sleep.
"Poor thing." Miroku murmured. "The things he must've saw and heard."
"Yeah." Inuyasha agreed. "Luckily he's just a small pup so he won't remember any of this."
Inuyasha looked down at the boy and felt a weird tugging at his soul and a strange sense of urge to protect this little boy no matter the cause. It was rather odd to him, and the feeling caught him off guard, but he just chalked it up to he was a baby, and it was only natural that someone would want to do whatever it took to keep an infant safe. Letting the thoughts and feelings drop for now, Inuyasha turned back to the screen and finished watching the game half-heartedly.
-X-
Kagome watched as Sango came back into the bathroom and started rummaging through the drawers attached to the sink. She hadn't moved from the bathtub; she just couldn't move - she felt completely empty ever since her baby was removed from her arms. She felt numb, she felt cold, she felt nothing. That should've been very alarming for her, but she couldn't bring herself to care - she didn't have the strength to care about anything at the moment. She's been dealing with this type of abuse for a little over a year now and she was tired, too tired to feel anything.
Finding what she needed Sango emerged from the sink cabinet holding a washcloth she turned on the water to dampen the washcloth. With the rag wet she turned towards Kagome and knelt down before her to gently clean the dried-on blood on Kagome's face. Kagome barely noticed as Sango was murmuring words of reassurance, but she didn't reply to any of them. She couldn't get herself to speak anymore, at this point she was surprised she even remembered to breathe because she was so tired! She's never been this tired before, she felt like she could sleep for a whole week and would still be tired when she woke up.
"I have some pajamas here for when Miroku and I spend the night and I also some extra clothes that you can wear if you want to spend the night. Though, I'm afraid I don't have anything for your baby, and I'm thinking you didn't grab anything when you ran for it." Sango said and at Kagome's shake of her head continued with. "I'll have Miroku go to the store and get him some things. What size of diaper and clothes is he in and what formula does he drink? We'll also need to get him a crib so he can sleep safely."
Surprised at this woman's kindness, Kagome stared at her with wide eyes. "Oh, you don't have to go through all that trouble." She whispered.
"It's no trouble at all, besides he needs to eat and have a diaper change right?" Sango asked.
Kagome looked down, sighed and nodded. "He wears size one in diapers and zero to three months in clothes. He drinks A.R formula."
Sango nodded. "Do you need anything?" She asked as she gestured for Kagome to follow her.
"Oh no! I-I'm okay." Kagome said shocked that this lady was still being so kind to her, she didn't understand it - no one was ever nice to her.
Sango nodded, not at all surprised that she turned down the offer of them getting her anything. She pilfered through the closet Miroku and her had claimed, for when they stayed the night, in the guess bedroom and pulled out some shorts and a tank top and handed them to Kagome.
Kagome looked at them in horror, knowing full well that her bruises and scars would be visible for all to see, and she wasn't sure if she was ready for that.
"Um, I-I'm sorry but d-do you have any pants and a long sleeve shirt?" Kagome muttered.
"I'm sorry but I don't. Would you like it if I told Miroku to grab you pants and a long sleeve shirt from the store?" Sango asked in a quiet understanding voice.
"N-no. I-it's okay." Kagome stuttered.
Sango nodded. "Would you like it if I left while you get dressed?"
"No, it's fine, you can stay." Kagome whispered not really wanting to be left alone. She laid the clothes on the bed and took her shirt off and noticed for the first time that it was stained with her blood. Wrinkling her nose, she made a mental note to throw it away later but for now she tossed it on the floor. She also didn't miss the surprised gasp from Sango as she no doubt noticed all the bruises and scars that riddled her body.
"Oh Kami." Sango whispered as tears stung her eyes.
Kagome sighed as she put the tank top on that did not cover the bruises or scars on her arms and upper chest, though, it did cover the ones on her back and stomach - which she was a little happy about because those were the worse ones. As she was putting the shorts, she had a bad dizzy spell come upon her and she quickly had to brace herself against the bed in order not to fall on the floor.
"Kagome, are you okay?" Sango asked in alarm.
Kagome didn't answer for several minutes, trying to breathe through the dizzy spell and once it passed, she stood up right and continued to put the shorts on. "Yeah, I'm fine." She answered even though she knew she was anything but fine. But she couldn't help the hard wired in answer because if she ever told Hojo any different than she was fine he'd beat her, so it only made sense that would be the answer that automatically came out with everyone else as well.
Sango didn't look to convince but nodded regardless as her eyes flickered towards Kagome's legs, and sure enough, they were covered in bruises. Her heart broke for the poor woman in front of her, how could anyone ever do something like this to anyone else? She didn't understand but found that she really wanted to help Kagome with anything and everything that she might need.
"Where's Kogee?" Kagome asked needing to be close to her baby to really know he was safe and sound.
"I gave him to my fiancé to watch and protect him. I know that both Miroku and Inuyasha would put their lives on the line for him." Sango said with a nod as her eyes came back up to meet with Kagome's. "Come, follow me and we'll go get him. I have to tell Miroku to go to the store for him anyway. Oh, the one with the dog ears is Inuyasha and the one with the black hair is Miroku."
Kagome sucked in a deep breath at the thought of being around any man and her heart jumped in her throat closing any chance of air getting in or out. However, she nodded anyways - needing her baby boy in her arms at the moment. As they walked through the hallway Kagome kept her head bowed really not ready to see anyone but her baby at the moment but didn't voice her thoughts because she knew every time she did it never ended well for her, and she was tired of being used as a punching bag, so she'd be a good little girl and be quiet.
Walking into the living room Kagome stood as close to Sango as possible as they stood there with Sango telling them that Kagome wanted her baby. Of course, Kagome heard the surprised gasp of both men in the room - she expected that, she looked horrible. Bowing her head even more to try and disappear, however, a second later her head shot up and her eyes grew wide at the sound of growling - now that was something she wasn't expecting.
When the woman lifted her head up Inuyasha ceased his growling and felt his throat close up as his eyes widened to the size of saucers. Her face was covered in bruises and scars, and he wondered if she could even see out of her left eye - her arms and legs were covered in them as well and he felt his heart twist in anger. That strange tugging at his soul that he felt when he looked at the baby came back only this time was one hundred percent stronger, and he had to resist the urge to get up and wrap his arms around the tiny slip of a woman. However, he did jump to his feet and began growling again, though, he immediately regretted it because the woman jumped, looked back at the floor and coward further behind Sango.
"That bastard! I'll fucking kill him!" Inuyasha growled making the woman shoot her head back up and stare at him in fear, but Inuyasha could tell there was some wonder deep in her eyes as well.
Miroku stood up as well, but before Kagome could really focus on him and see what he was doing another dizzy spell came on and this one was worse than the last one. Black spots filled her vision and she felt herself falling, the last thing she heard was Sango calling her name then blackness then nothing.
Inuyasha saw the woman start to fall and sprang into action, catching her before she fell to the floor. Gathering her up into his arms he ran out the door with Miroku and Sango following him, Kogee still cuddled in Miroku's arms.
Sango got in the back seat and cradled Kagome's head in her lap, she was so worried for this woman she'd just met as she ran her fingers through her hair.
Inuyasha sped through the town, not caring about anything but getting the woman Sango called Kagome to the hospital as quickly as possible.
Arriving at the hospital Inuyasha barely had his truck in park before he jumped out and had Kagome out running her inside to demand someone help her.
"Someone! I need help now!" Inuyasha screamed out as he entered the building. He saw as the nurse behind the desk immediately pick her phone up and request that a gurney be brought out at the main entrance.
A few moments later several nurses came out wheeling a gurney and Inuyasha promptly laid Kagome on it and watched them wheel her away. He noticed a nurse stayed behind and turned to face her knowing she was about to fire off questions.
"What's her name?" The nurse asked.
"Her name is Kagome I don't know her last name. I was sitting in my house with my friends watching the football game when she came running inside my house so she could hide from her boyfriend, I guess he is, my friend and I" Inuyasha said as he gestured towards Miroku. "Went outside to see what was going on and the guy was standing in my yard yelling that he was going to kill her. We chased him off and he ran away, I don't know the guy's name only that he had light brown hair and brown eyes."
The nurse nodded as she wrote all the information down then looked back at the group. "Thank you for that information, if you would like to sit here and wait, I'll come back out periodically to update you on her condition. Do you know if she has any family?"
"We don't know anything but her name and that she was trying to run for her life." Sango said sadly.
The nurse nodded again and wrote something else down on her notepad then looked back up. "I'll come back soon to update you on how she's doing."
The group nodded and sat down, and the baby started to fuss again. Inuyasha's nose twitched then scrunched up as he tried to block the smell away. "The baby is poopy."
"I thought I was smelling something." Miroku said as Sango walked up to the front desk. A few minutes later she came back with a few diapers, wipes and a bottle of A.R formula. She gestured for Miroku to hand the baby over and he did without complaint, and she disappeared inside the lady's bathroom. Several minutes later she came back out with a freshly changed baby and sat back down beside Miroku to feed the hungry baby.
About four hours later the nurse from earlier came back out and all three of them stood up and walked towards the nurse.
"Is Kagome okay?" Sango asked in concern.
"Well, she had broken her two bottom ribs which one of them pierced her liver causing severe bleeding. The tissue around her upper spine was very badly bruised but not broken so that's a good thing. Those are really the only things that are that badly damaged, everything else is superficial and is not a cause for concern." The nurse explained. "We got the bleeding to stop, reset and screwed her ribs back into place but there's nothing we can really do for her bruised spine except give her pain meds. She's resting comfortably."
Sango and the others nodded. "Can we see her?" She asked.
The nurse looked unsure for a moment wondering why complete strangers to the girl wanted to see her but decided it might be a good idea letting someone sit with her so she didn't have to wake up alone so she nodded and led them to the room the young woman was staying in.
Walking in the room they noticed there was only one chair and the nurse excused herself only to come back in a few minutes later with two more chairs.
Sitting comfortably next to the still sleeping girl, Sango still holding Kogee that had fallen asleep again, the group passed the time with the discussion of what they were going to do about Kagome.
"Do you think she has any family?" Miroku whispered.
"Don't know. She didn't say anything about having a family." Sango whispered back. "I wonder if she has a phone. Her clothes that she was wearing are in the guest bedroom."
Inuyasha fished his keys out of his pocket and handed them to Miroku. "You go check." He said, he couldn't say for sure why he felt as he couldn't leave, but he didn't want to be away from this woman until he knew for sure that she was going to be okay. He didn't understand the feelings that were blossoming in his chest. All he knew was that he regrated letting that fucker run away without beating his ass to a blood pulp. He barely noticed as Miroku left and most certainly didn't realize that he was growling until Sango put a hand on his arm making him jump slightly and look at her.
"Are you okay?" Sango asked but only got a 'keh' from Inuyasha and his focus off of Sango and back on Kagome. She sighed but didn't try to push him any further as she also looked back at Kagome.
Almost an hour later Miroku came back with a smart phone in his hands. "Found this in her pants pocket." He sat down in his chair as he turned the phone on - the first thing everyone noticed was how badly the screen was cracked - and unlocked the password less screen and went right to the contacts. However, dreed crept in each of their hearts as they saw the only contact she had was Hojo but knew that with his phone number the police might have a better chance at finding him.
Exiting out of the contacts Miroku went to the app page to see if she maybe had any social media apps. Seeing she had the app for Facebook he quickly tapped on it to open it up. As the app opened up, they found out that her last name was Higurashi and Miroku went to quick work on going to her friends list but found no one on her friends list except for a Hojo Akitoki. Shutting down the app and powering down the phone as their only hope at finding anything out went up in smoke.
Kagome didn't wake up until the next morning and spent the next three hours talking to the doctors and police about everything that had happened and stated that she wanted to press charges and that she wanted a restraining order against him - she gave the police his address and the type of car he drives. She also told them that she didn't have any family stating that her father died when she was a baby, and her mother passed a few years ago from cancer - shortly after her mother's passing was when she met Hojo.
The doctor told Kagome that he wanted her to stay at the hospital one more night just to monitor her and make sure she was recovering well.
When the doctor left Kagome looked down and played nervously with the edge of the sheet. "Thank you for staying with me." She whispered taking a shaky breath as she felt tears prick the corners of her eyes and she looked up and met all three eyes. "I'm scared." She admitted as the tears started to escape her eyes.
All three of their hearts cracked as they looked at the broken woman in front of them not knowing what to do.
"Kagome." Inuyasha spoke up and waited for Kagome to look at him and when she did, he continued. "You don't have to thank us, but you are welcome, and as far as you being scared - of that I have no doubt - and I know that no matter what I say it won't change that fact but just know that as long as you're with us, we will protect you no matter what."
Kagome's eyes grew wide, and she gasped and looked back down at the bed sheet. "I don't understand, why are you being so nice to me?" She whispered.
"Because no one deserves what you've been through, and we want to help you as well as be your friends." Sango answered easily. "Will you let us?"
Kagome peeked at the three others from the corner of her eye. First at Sango, then at Miroku but her eyes flicked and stayed on Inuyasha. She couldn't understand why but she just felt this pull that pulled her towards him, she found herself wanting to be wrapped - safe and sound - in his arms which scared the crap out of her. You'd think after the hell she'd just gotten out of that she'd want to stay away from everyone, especially men. Her eyes landed on the two fuzzy triangles on top of his head that were his ears, cracking just the slightest of smiles when she saw them twitch. The next thing she took in was his long silver hair and she just wanted to run her fingers through it, next were his eyes - that she was sure was more golden than the sun - and she was sure if she wasn't careful, she'd get lost in them.
Shaking her head to get rid of those very dangerous thoughts she looked back a Sango. "You really want to help me?" She whispered.
Sango stood up and placed a comforting hand on Kagome's shoulder. "Yes, we really do."
Fresh tears ran down her face. "Thank you."
The next morning Kagome was released from the hospital and Inuyasha and the others took her back to his house. Standing outside Sango walked up to Kagome and placed her hand on the woman's shoulder.
"Miroku and I have to leave now. Will you be okay?" Sango asked.
"Yes, I think I'll be okay. Thank you." Kagome said with a genuine smile as she lightly bounced Kogee in her arms, even though it hurt immensely to hold him she needed to feel close to him at the moment.
Sango nodded as she turned to get in Miroku's car and Kagome watched as they drove away.
Inuyasha studied the woman standing in front of him and noticed the slight shaking of her hands.
"You okay?" Inuyasha asked in his gruff voice wincing as she jumped at the sound of his voice.
Turning to look at Inuyasha. "Y-yes, I'm fine."
Inuyasha took a few sniffs in her direction and his nose wrinkled at the distinct smell of deceit. "Liar."
Kagome gasped and her eyebrows furrowed. "I am not lying!" How dare this man accuse her of lying - it didn't matter if he was right, just how dare him!
Inuyasha scoffed and tapped the side of his nose a couple of times. "The nose don't lie, darlin'. However, you are." He said as he pointed at her.
"Darlin'!?" Kagome asked getting really irritated with him at this point. "My name isn't darling, its Kagome - Ka Go Me - and your nose must be broken, bub, because I am not lying! I am fine!"
"It's okay not to be fine, Ka Go Me." Inuyasha said in a mocking tone. "You don't have to lie to me."
"I know it is! And I'm. Not. Lying!" Kagome said between clenched teeth. What's wrong with this man? Why wouldn't he just drop it!
"C'mon! Just let it out. I can take it." He said with a smirk and Kagome noticed a sharp fang glistening in the sunlight.
"No!" Kagome said, partly out of stubbornness and partly out of fear. She always had to be fine, to be happy, otherwise she'd get beaten.
"Kagome." Inuyasha said with a slight growl.
"Fine!" Kagome yelled finally caving. "You wanna know how I really feel!? I feel like death, like I have no life left within me! Hojo stole everything from me! My light, my happiness and my sanity! I have no one other than Kogee and I'm fucking pissed at Hojo for everything he's done to me! I feel like I'm going crazy! Here I am freshly freed from my abusive boyfriend yet here I am with a complete stranger and believing that he'll protect me! How crazy is that!? I want to crawl under a rock and never come back out! I want to cry at everything that's happened! But, then again, I was to smile and laugh because I'm finally free after two fucking years! But here I am with you probably putting myself in another abusive situation! The smart thing for me to do right now is run far away from you right now! But do you wanna hear something that's absolutely in-fucking-sane? I don't want to run because I believe that you really will protect me, and I strangely feel safe around you." By the time Kagome was finished with her rant she was breathing heavily as she looked with wild eyes, with tears running out of them, at Inuyasha waiting for him to do something, anything - hoping beyond hope that she didn't just royally fuck up and pissed him off enough to beat her. However, she looked at his face and he seemed calm, and a slight smile was curling his lips.
"See? don't you feel better now that you got all of that out?" Inuyasha asked and smiled even wider at her slight nod. "Kagome, I won't promise you that I won't ever piss you off and I won't pretend that you won't ever piss me off. I can't promise you that we won't ever have a fight, however, I can promise you that I won't ever lay a finger on you with the intention of hurting you. You never have to hide how you feel because I want to know every emotion that runs through your body. I can't even start to explain why but I want you and your son to stay here so I can protect you both. I only have one spare bedroom but it's big enough for the both of you, however, we will need to go get a crib for the baby but that won't be a problem. Kagome, I want you to feel safe here for as long as you want to stay here."
Kagome gasped at the raw sincerity she heard in his voice and felt as the tears come out even harder and a water laugh escaped passed her lips. "You mean that?" She asked with hope. "I can really stay here?"
"Keh, course I do. Now, I need you to write down everything you and Kogee need so I can go to the store." Inuyasha said as he started walking inside with Kagome following him.
"Okay." Kagome whispered.
With the list in hand Inuyasha was just about to walk out the door when he turned to take one last look at Kagome. "You sure you'll be okay here alone?"
Kagome sent him a small but genuine smile. "Yeah, I'll be okay."
Inuyasha nodded and left through the door.
Two hours later standing in the checkout lane Inuyasha rechecked the list again. "Size one diapers, check. Size zero-three months clothes, pajamas and socks, check. Slow flow bottles, check. A.R formula, check. Diaper rash cream, check. A crib, check. And a car seat, check." That's all Kagome had put on the list and with a shake of his head, he took it upon himself to grab Kogee some toys, a changing table, to make things easier for Kagome, a diaper genie and a baby swing. For Kagome some clothes and pajamas - hoping he got the right size for her - a brush, toothbrush, socks, shampoo and conditioner, body wash, shavers, shaving cream and stopped by the pharmacy to grab her prescription he had sent there for her pain.
After paying for the items, he left the store to put everything in the bed of his truck before hopping in and leaving the parking lot. Ten minutes later he walked in his house, with each of his hands holding five bags each, only to stop short at the sight that greeting him, and without his permission, a fond smile curled his lips. Kagome happened to find his blanket stash and made Kogee a pallet on the floor so he could take a nap comfortably and safely while Kagome was curled up on his couch fast asleep. He had to admit that it felt good knowing that Kagome was pilfering through his house looking for stuff and making herself at home. With a smile he continued on his way to the guest bedroom to deposit the bags in there until Kagome woke up to look through what he got for her. He then went to go get the rest of the things out of his truck then sat about putting the crib, changing table, diaper genie and baby swing together. He ended up placing the baby swing in the living room for when Kagome and Kogee wasn't in their room.
About an hour later Kagome moved and winced, the pain in her ribs instantly waking her up. The first thing she saw as she woke up was the baby swing and her eyes stung with the tears the welled up. She turned and saw Inuyasha sitting at the table in the kitchen eating a sandwich and some chips. She got up and walked to the kitchen and sat down on one of the chairs around the table.
"You know." Kagome said with a small smile. "I don't remember writing a baby swing on the list."
"Keh, I got more than the baby swing that wasn't on the list." Inuyasha said with a half-smile.
Kagome's eyes widened and she gasped. "But you didn't have to do that!"
"I know I didn't, but I want you both to be comfortable here. How are you feeling?" Inuyasha said.
Tears of happiness started to leak from her eyes. "Thank you, Inuyasha, I really appreciate it. And I'm okay just my ribs hurts."
"Keh, you're welcome. I got your pain meds; they are in one of the bags that I put in the spare bedroom - make sure you have something to eat before taking one." Inuyasha said.
"Okay." Kagome said. "Is it okay if I make me a sandwich?"
"You don't have to ask me if you can have anything, as long as you're here just make yourself at home." Inuyasha said.
"O-okay, thanks." Kagome said as she got up and looked around for everything that she would need to make herself a sandwich.
Inuyasha nodded and sighed. "I got called into work today, it's supposed to be my day off." Inuyasha said with a roll of his eyes before focusing once again on Kagome seeing her slight smile as she spread some mayonnaise on her bread. "Will you be okay on your own? I could see if Sango could come back over."
"No, no, it's okay. I'll be fine." Kagome said with a shake of her head not bothering to look up from putting some lunch meat on her sandwich before walking back to the table and sitting down.
Inuyasha took a couple sniffs towards Kagome and nodded in approval when he didn't smell any sign of deceit. "Okay, I wrote my number down on a piece of paper and put it on the fridge - if you need anything please don't hesitate to call me."
Kagome nodded with a small smile. "Thank you."
Inuyasha nodded before standing up. "Okay, then I'm out. I'll be back later."
Kagome nodded and watched as he left, sighing she started eating her sandwich. Once she was done, she went to go check on Kogee, changed his diaper and made him a bottle to feed to him. When Kogee finished the bottle, she put him in his new baby swing and turned it on. She looked at her baby's face and smiled a real smile - the kind of smile that she hasn't smiled since Hojo and her had first gotten together. That was two years ago, a year in a half it's been since she smiled a real smile.
"We're safe, baby." She whispered as she ran her fingers through his fine hair. Giving Kogee one last smile she turned around to go to the spare bedroom to put the things that Inuyasha bought for them away, getting chocked up at seeing everything he got. Making quick work of putting her and Kogee's new clothes and other things away, finding her pain killers along the way and stopping for a quick second to take some before getting back to work at putting the rest of her new things away.
Once everything was put away, Kagome walked out of the room looking at the clock that was hung up in the living room she saw that it was just past noon. She poked around to find everything that she would need to tidy up while Inuyasha was at work. Once she found everything, she walked into the kitchen to tidy up the already tidy room. She rinsed the two plates that her and Inuyasha had used for their lunch, wiped down the cabinets, swept and mopped the floor and found some steaks in the freezer that she sat out to thaw. With that done she walked to the living room; dusted, picked up the blankets that she had put on the floor for Kogee to sleep on and vacuumed the carpet in the living room and hallway before spraying some air freshener that she had found in the bathroom cabinet. She then walked into the bathroom and made quick work of cleaning the toilet, sink and bathtub before sweeping and mopping the floor in there. She stood outside of Inuyasha's door unsure of whether or not to go in and check to see if his room needed to be cleaned. Taking a deep breath, she sighed before grabbing the doorknob and opening the door. Stepping in his room she looked around seeing that he didn't make his bed, so she went ahead and made it before dusting and gathering up his dirty clothes, lastly - she vacuumed his carpet before leaving and shutting his door and went to find the washer and dryer. Once she found them, she quickly threw his clothes in the washing machine, put some detergent and fabric softener in and started it.
Walking back into the living room Kagome saw that it was now two and Kogee was starting to get fussy, so she made a bottle, turned on a show that she liked and walked over to pick Kogee up and sat on the couch crisscrossed her legs and started to feed her baby while she watched some TV. After he got done eating, she laid a blanket back on the floor then laid her baby on them on his tummy for tummy time and laid some of the toys Inuyasha had bought for him around him turning them on so that they made noise. Sitting back on the couch to watch the rest of her show and maybe one more before getting up to start cooking dinner.
After watching a couple more episodes of her show Kagome turned the TV off, picked Kogee up off the floor to put him back in the baby swing then went to go put Inuyasha's clothes in the dryer. She then walked into the kitchen to start preparing dinner. Kagome put some broccoli and butter in a pot to let that steam, she had peeled and chopped up some potatoes while she watched her show, so she put some water in a pot and dumped the potatoes in it and put it on the stove to boil. She then seasoned the steaks and put them in a pan to sear them before putting them in the oven to finish them off.
As she was putting the steaks in the oven, she heard the front door open and close again and her heart dropped in her stomach. Shutting the oven door, she stood up-right and turned around as Inuyasha walked into the kitchen.
"Hey." Inuyasha greeted but wasn't expecting Kagome to have a full-blown panic attack.
"I-I'm sorry I d-don't have dinner ready!" She stuttered out and tears quickly filled her eyes.
Completely taken aback Inuyasha's eyes grew wide. "Kagome." He tried but Kagome didn't seem to hear him.
"I-I p-promise to do better t-tomorrow!" Kagome promised as Inuyasha clearly saw her start to shake.
"Kagome." He tried again but Kagome interrupted him.
"I-I cleaned the house a-and did y-your laundry." Kagome rambled hoping that since she cleaned the house that maybe he'd overlook her not having dinner ready.
Inuyasha sighed as he felt his heart crack - what had happened to her that she'd have a panic attack just because she didn't have dinner ready? He walked over to stand in front of Kagome and placed both of his hands on her shoulders feeling like a complete asshole as she flinched and tried to get away from him. He pulled into a hug to hopefully calm her down as he tried to make his words reach whatever hell that she was in right now. He waited until she stopped trying to get away from him and just held onto him for dear life as she tried to regulate not only her breathing but also her heartbeat.
"Kagome, you don't have to do any of that - though I do appreciate it - I'm not going to get mad just because the house is messed up and dinner isn't ready. I told you I wanted you to make yourself at home, not to become the housemaid but for this home to be your safe haven and for you to heal from whatever hell you've been through. I am not expecting you to have everything perfect by the time I step through the door, so please don't think you have to please me by having the house cleaned and dinner ready, okay?" Inuyasha said with sincerity dripping from his voice.
Kagome gasped as she leaned away from him with wide eyes, searching his face to find any sign that he wasn't telling the truth and not finding any sign that he was lying her heart skipped a beat as hope bloomed in her chest. "R-really?" She whispered.
Lifting a hand to tenderly wipe her tears away Inuyasha sent her a reassuring smile. "Really, really."
Smiling a watery smile, Kagome leaned back against Inuyasha's chest and hugged him tighter. "Thank you, Inuyasha."
-One Month Later-
Kagome was healing, it was slow, but it was happening - she was healing - and it was all because of Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku. She wasn't one hundred percent yet, and that most likely wouldn't happen for quite a while, but she could tell a difference within herself. She still cleans the house up, but that was just common courtesy to clean a house that you were living in while the homeowner was at work. However, she wasn't panic cleaning like she was with Hojo - she wasn't on all fours with a toothbrush scrubbing in between the tiles in the bathroom, she wasn't mopping down the walls every day, she was just doing the normal cleaning that everyone else does. She also still tries to have dinner either completed or almost completed by the time Inuyasha does come home, though, she's no longer having panic attacks if it wasn't done by the time he stepped through the door - and more times than not, he'd help her complete dinner and wasn't that just a fun experience.
Kagome and Inuyasha were getting closer, their casual touches that they shared becoming more and more risqué and though they haven't gone all the way yet, it wasn't a secret that Inuyasha enjoyed her, and it definitely wasn't secret that Kagome enjoyed Inuyasha. Oh yeah, she really enjoyed him and his touches and his kisses and really everything about him. She sighed as she finished doing the dishes and put them away, turning around and walking into the living room to play with Kogee only to stop dead in her tracks and her heart freezing in fear. Right outside in the yard Hojo was standing there staring at her with deadly eyes.
Acting on impulse Kagome ran to sweep up Kogee in her arms and grabbed her phone off the table before running and locking herself and her baby in the master bathroom. Quickly dialing Inuyasha's number, that she had programmed into her phone weeks ago, she put it to her ear and begged him to pick up.
"Hey, what's up?" Inuyasha's voice sounded from the other end of the phone and Kagome sobbed with relief that he'd answer. Instantly on high alert because of her sob he had a sinking feeling in his gut. "Kagome, baby, are you okay?"
"Y-Yasha, I'm scared." Right as Kagome said that there was a crashing sound from somewhere in the house and Inuyasha heard her scream.
"Miroku!" Inuyasha called to his best friend and co-worker. "Call the police and send them to my house, now! Kagome's in trouble." He demanded as he straightened up from under the hood of the car he had been working on and started running towards his own car. "Kagome, baby, I'm on my way - just hang on and stay on the phone with me."
"P-please hurry, h-he's in the house." Kagome whispered as she heard the engine of Inuyasha's car come to life.
Where are you, bitch!? Inuyasha heard from somewhere in the house along with more crashing noises. I'll fucking kill you! You hear that bitch!? When I find you both you and your baby are fucking dead! Inuyasha could hear Kagome whimpering trying to stay as quiet as possible in her terrified state. Then his blood ran cold as he pulled up to his house - ten minutes later - he heard the door that she had been hiding behind get kicked in and her scream of fear tore at his heart. Not even bothering to shut his car off he threw it in park and ran inside as fast as he could and used his nose to find out where they were. Running as fast as his legs could carry him Inuyasha ran through his room and into the bathroom connected to the room before grabbing the back of the prick's shirt and throwing him backwards smashing him into a wall effectively knocking the little shit out.
With Hojo out of the picture, Inuyasha quickly turned towards the terrified Kagome before walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her murmuring that everything would be alright as he heard police sirens in the distance. Pulling away from Kagome and grabbing her hand to lead her out of the bathroom and into the living room to answer the door for the police. Pointing to where the dickwad was Inuyasha stayed with Kagome so she could take comfort from him as she gave her statement. Thirty minutes later the police left with Hojo in their custody and Inuyasha and Kagome sat on the couch in each other's arms while Kagome still held onto Kogee.
Inuyasha was whispering reassuring words to her to help calm her down and Kagome was holding on as tightly to Inuyasha as she could with the baby being sandwiched between them.
About twenty minutes later Kagome finally calmed down, not that Inuyasha was complaining about it - he knew that this was very traumatic for her, and he was content on staying here with her in his arms for however long it took for her to be okay again.
Pulling away from Inuyasha, Kagome looked into his eyes with all the love she felt for him pouring out from her eyes and Inuyasha's breath hitched in his throat. "Thank you for coming for me." She whispered.
Inuyasha smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Silly woman." He said with affection. "Don't you know that I'd do anything for you? I love you, Kagome, with all of my heart. I love Kogee as well - I'd do anything for you guys, you just say the word and I'll do it."
Kagome gasped then her smile widened. "Oh, Inuyasha! I love you too!" She said before grabbing a fistful of the front of his shirt and pulling him down for a heated kiss that would be remembered for all eternity.
Pulling away Kagome smiled as she looked in Inuyasha's eyes. "I am so glad I didn't look back when I was running through the corn field."
"mmm, me too." Inuyasha murmured as he pulled her in for another kiss.
Hoped you liked it! Please review and let me know if you want to see a part two for this one shot!
