Wow, sorry it took so long to update. I wrote the whole chapter and when I tried to open it to upload it caused an error every time. So, I re-wrote it and here it is. Thanks for all the reviews you people gave me! This chapter was a bit slow, but I'm promising LOTS of action and angst in the next one!

Draga - I never liked him either, it hard to write about them because he's so OOC in my story. Hard to imagine Hojo doing those things ^_~

fame'n'fortune - There'll be plenty of time for rescues later on.

IllusionaryExistence - Heh, thanks! I don't consider myself a good writer, I'm trying to improve so any suggestions are welcomed.

Anubaka - Well here it is! Hope you're semi-satisfied with it.

A - Lol, I want to see his ass get kicked too, but can't have things like that happen to early in the story or I won't have a decent plot! But, I'm sure it'll come soon.

PeachesDani - He is evil. Thanks for reviewing ^_^

My italics didn't show up last chapter, therefore like so many other writers, when the characters are thinking it looks like '..' and when they talk it's in "."

Enough ramble, to the chapter!

Kagome stood there shocked. She grabbed the doorknob. Hojo slapped her hand away. She began to walk backwards away from him until she bumped into the table in the Kitchen. With every step she made he made a step closer to her.

"Wh-what are you going to do with that?" she asked, pointing toward the gun that dangled carelessly at his side.

"You're not as bright as you look, huh? What else would you do with a gun?" he simply tossed the gun back and forth in each hand as if it was nothing more than a mere toy.

"Even if you wanted to use that, you wouldn't get away with." she stopped, unable to bring herself to the words.

"Killing you?" he finished, "Ah, my dear Kagome. You truly don't know a thing about me. If I wanted, I could get away with it. I have my connections." he laughed loudly, making Kagome's skin crawl. "But let's not get off topic shall we?" He moved toward her, tightly holding the gun in his right hand. With the other he reached up to Kagome's face and stroked her soft skin. She closed her eyes, trying to resist the temptation of slapping him across the face.

"I don't understand why do you keep doing this? Your nothing like the Hojo I know." She said, edging backwards away from him.

"I've told you already, it's because, I," he paused for a moment, "I love you, Kagome and you belong to me. No one else."

Kagome began to protest, but the thought left as fast as it came after seeing him fiddle with the trigger of the gun. "You know, a person's love is not something you should do by force," she said with a quivering voice.

"It is if the person is too thick to realize who they should love, especially when they see him every damn day!"

Noting the anger in his voice, she decided to back down, "sorry."

Hojo took the gun and opened it. He inserted a bullet shaped object into the chamber of the gun. The cartridge was clear and had purple liquid inside. Snapping the gun back shut, he turned his gaze toward Kagome. He smiled evilly and pointed the gun toward her.

"What are you doing?" She said, unable to take her eyes off the gun. "You're not going to actually shoot me, are you?" She said, feeling uneasy. The image of getting blasted with a bullet wouldn't leave her mind. She began to feel sick.

"Oh yes, I do plan on shooting you," he said carelessly, moving the gun inches away from her stomach.

"But why? Why would you- I haven't done anything to you!" She hastily took a step backwards, away from the gun. Her ankle twisted and she slipped on the coke that was previously spilled by her. Before she could retreat back to her feet, a loud bang was heard and she felt pain in her stomach. She then lay there, motionless on the cold, wet floor.

~~*~~

"She'll be fine. Strangely enough the bullet didn't make contact with her organs, and it's a type of bullet I've never came across before. I'll take it to the lab and see what contents it consists of."

"Thank you, Doctor. I'm just glad she's all right."

"You didn't see who shot her?"

"I saw a man run out of the house, but I didn't take a good look at him. I was too concerned about Kagome. I think I saw black hair, though."

'No, he didn't have black hair. It was Hojo who shot me.'

"Well, it's a good thing you found her. If you had been any later she probably would have died from blood loss."

Kagome's eyelids twitched. She let out a low grunt and slowly opened her eyes. A doctor clad in white, and a short, stout woman hovered over her with concerned eyes. "Oh Kagome, you're awake!"

"Aunt Yukishi? What are you doing here?" She said, blinking heavily.

"Your Mother told me to come over and let you know she was going to be late, and when I walked into the Kitchen."

"Did you get a look at the attacker?" the doctor interrupted.

Kagome knew she couldn't hide it anymore. Him going to the extent of wanting to kill was too far; she had to let them know. 'But what if I did tell them and Hojo came up with some clever lie to get me in trouble. After all he did say he had "connections" I'm sure he has a plan, why else would he shoot me and expect to get away with it, maybe I should just tell Inuyasha and let him handle it.'

'No way, there's no way I can tell Inuyasha! He'd hunt Hojo down and kill him if he knew what he did to me, and he'd cuss me out for not telling him sooner. If I had told him sooner, I wouldn't be lying here right now. If I don't tell them who shot me, I'd only be protecting Hojo, and not myself.

"Dear, did you get a look at the attacker?" he asked again, scribbling notes on his clipboard.

"Yes," she said, "It was Hojo"

"Oh hon, you must be delirious," she stated, feeling her forehead. "There is no way it was Hojo. That man I saw was definitely not him. Besides Hojo has been at my house for the past four hours. He was even there when I left to go to your house." She said looking up at the doctor as if the thought of it being him was absurd.

"What are you talking about? I know it was Hojo, I'm sure of it. And what would he be doing at your house anyways. I've only introduced you to him a couple of times," she raised her head from the pillow and sat up straight to look her Aunt directly in the eye.

"Listen, many people disguise themselves when they are going to attack, therefore no one will recognize them. And what better person to be disguised as than an innocent, young man who would never even harm a fly," The Aunt said, more angrily now.

"You can't tell me I didn't see what I saw!" she yelled, clutching her stomach with pain. She had no intentions of backing down. Aunt Yukishi was one of her worst relatives. All that her personality consisted of was contradiction, and she always seemed to pick on Kagome. Her mother on the other hand saw Yukishi as a role model, and wished Kagome would look up to her. "She doing it in your best interest," Her mother would always say when Yukishi hurt Kagome's feelings. "Even if you were telling the truth, what would be doing over at-"

"Don't stress or you might-" But it was too late, Kagome had fainted, and feel back down on the bed, "pass out," he finished.

"I'm telling you Doctor, it wasn't him," Yukishi said, determined.

"Yes, I believe you. But I'll still have to tell the police," he cleared his throat and shuffled through some papers, "Kagome will be able to leave tomorrow morning. When will her mother be returning?"

"Possibly sometime late tomorrow."

"And you will take care of her until then?"

"Of course."

"I stress the word, do NOT let her do any strenuous activities of any sort, mentally and physically. If she does she'll end herself up right back in the hospital with a worse condition than she already has.

~~*~~

"What a wonderful plan you have come up with, Inuyasha. Pouting around hoping Kagome will return, and taking out your anger on people smaller than you," Miroku said, as he bandaged Shippou's bruised head.

"Shut up, Monk. He had it coming." Inuyasha said looking out the window of Kaede's hut with his arms crossed.

"I only asked you one question," Shippou said rubbing his head.

"And that one question you've asked me about a hundred times. I don't know when Kagome is coming back, it's not like I keep track of that wench," He said turning around.

Miroku stood up and cleared his throat, "Don't keep track of her? You practically live by the well." Shippou jolted out of the hut since Miroku was finished. Just in case fists started flying, he didn't want to be pelted again with Inuyasha's claws. Despite the fact Inuyasha let out a growl, the determined monk continued, "Don't kid yourself Inuyasha, it's obvious you want her back. Why not just go and tell her your sorry."

"Sorry? Sorry for what? She won't tell me anything about the person who cut her face. She obviously doesn't trust me and wants me to leave her alone. So, why shouldn't I just listen and leave her alone."

Miroku sighed at the hanyou's stubborn attitude, on the other hand he was thankful. Inuyasha had actually replied to his question instead of cursing at him and flying off into the trees, "You never listen to Kagome, why the sudden change?"

"Don't you get it? She doesn't trust me anymore. Apparently she feels more safe over in her era with her stupid little friends, why else did she run away from me here," at those words he felt a jolt of pain tug at his heart.

"Inuyasha, I'm sure she still trusts you. I think she is afraid to come to you with her problems though, after all that you said to her. Calling her weak, pathetic and always running away, why else would she try to take care of the predicament herself? I assume those words she took to heart," he said, nodding in agreement with his theory.

"I didn't mean what I said-"

"Then go tell her," he interrupted.

Inuyasha turned back and narrowed his eyes on Miroku, as if searching for a hidden motive. With a simple "Feh" he flew out of the hut.

~~*~~

Kagome lay in her comfy bed, staring up at the ceiling in a daze. She had been there all afternoon long. Her Aunt wouldn't let her get up and strain herself. The thought of her Aunt rummaging through their house made Kagome uneasy, but even if she wanted to get out of bed, she couldn't. Her stomach would cause too much pain. So, she lay there, depressed.

'I can barely move because Hojo shot me. My Worst relative is now walking freely around my house. On Doctor's orders I'm not allowed to get out of bed for the rest of the week.' She sighed. 'I don't see how this day could get any worse. At least Mama should be back sometime tonight.'

Yukishi bustled into the room, "Good grief, child. It's freezing in here!" she walked over to the window and slammed it shut.

"No, don't shut the window,"

"The window needs to be shut, or you'll catch a cold. Now remember stay in bed."

"I know," Kagome said rolling her eyes as Yukishi walked around her room humming. "I like listening to the wind, please keep it open." She cursed herself silently for the real reason she wanted to keep the window open, just in case Inuyasha came back.

"Would you rather listen to the wind and have a chance for the attacker to come back, or keep the window closed and be safe?"

"I-" the phone rang downstairs.

"You stay right there." Yukishi said pointing toward Kagome. As soon as Kagome heard her Aunt's footsteps downstairs, she raised herself slowly. Clutching her throbbing stomach she lifted herself off the bed. She staggered over toward the window and re-opened it. The cold wind whipped her warm face. "I wish you would come back, Inuyasha. I would do anything right now just to see you." She walked slowly back to her bed, thinking of him. No matter how hard she tried to deny it, she missed him. Kagome put her head back down on the pillow, feeling more depressed than before.

~~*~~

Inuyasha stood crouched over the well, peering deep into its darkness. 'Kagome, I want to see you. I want to make sure you're all right. But I don't want you to be mad at me for coming back, how am I supposed to know if you don't want to see me anymore?'

"You still haven't left!" A voice shouted from behind him.

Inuyasha lost his balance and fell backward. "Damn it, Shippou!"

"Did I scare you Inuyasha?"

"Feh."

"Why haven't you left yet?"

Inuyasha jumped down the well, to avoid Shippou's questioning. He leaped out of the well, and walked slowly over to Kagome's home. 'Damn, what is wrong with me. Why the hell should I be nervous? I'm just visiting that stupid wench.' He looked up at her opened window; the curtains were wavering in the wind. He flew up and landed on the windowsill and looked over at Kagome's sleepy body. He restrained his smile; he hadn't seen Kagome a while, and he was happy to see her resting, and safe.

"Kagome?" he said quietly.

"Inuyasha?" she said wiping the sleep from her eyes, thinking she had dreamed the voice. She opened her eyes and looked over to see him sitting on the windowsill. "Inuyasha! You came back."

Rising from the window he stood in front of her bed. He knew she was waiting for him to say something, but the thing he wanted to say wouldn't come. Instead he stared deep into Kagome's brown glassy eyes. Wind swept into the room from the window leaving a cold atmosphere in the air.

"Why haven't you came to see me-us lately?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Inuyasha. I've been..uh busy."

Yukishi walked in the room, interrupting their conversation, "whom on earth are you talking to?" after looking at Inuyasha she screamed so loud that he stumbled backwards and fell, covering his ears. She picked up a CD player on Kagome's desk and pelted it toward him. "Get out of here! I won't let you hurt Kagome again!" She then began picking up more things to toss his way.

"Hey! That's my stuff!" Kagome screamed, while Inuyasha had regained his balance and began to lazily dodgedthe flying items. "Aunt Yukishi STOP!"

"Don't you dare lay a hand on her." Yukishi said, furiously. She ran over to Kagome's bed and grabbed her shoulder. "Come on let's go get the police."

"This isn't him. Inuyasha is my friend," Kagome said.

After seeing the old woman take hold of Kagome's arm, Inuyasha walked closer to the bed, "get your hands off of her, wench!"

"You're in denial again, child. This is him, This is the attacker. I can feel his negative energy. Stay here if you wish," she said narrowing her eyes on Kagome. "But I'm getting the police."

Kagome jumped out of her bed, wanting to follow. She began to run out of her room, but retreated. The pain in her stomach overwhelmed her and she stepped back toward her bed holding her wound.

She turned back toward Inuyasha, "You better go."

"I'm not leaving you with this psycho." His eyes gazed down toward Kagome's hand that was gripping her waist, "Someone hurt you again. Was it her, did she hurt you?" Inuyasha started toward the door growling.

"No. Inuyasha please don't run." She said as she sat down on the end of the bed, in pain. Inuyasha knew she was hurting, and unable to follow him. He turned around.

"Then who did it? I told myself I wouldn't let anyone hurt you again, and they did."

"Inuyasha, please go before-"

"I'm not leaving you Kagome. I'm not letting you out of my sight anymore." 'Someone is obviously out for you. I've neglected protecting you two times now. You've managed to get away alive, but there's no telling what he'll do to you next time. I just can't stand to see you in pain anymore.'

"I'll come see you tonight. I promise I'll be fine until then. That woman is just my Aunt. She would never hurt me. Please Inuyasha."

Inuyasha tightened his hands into fists. 'I don't want to leave you again. Why don't you want me to be with you anymore?'

"I'll tell you everything when I come visit you, okay?"

He gave her a nervous glance; he didn't want to leave but he knew if he stayed she would get upset, "fine." He left.

~~*~~

Kagome managed to convince the police it was a false alarm, her Aunt on the other hand continued to tell them that was the man he saw attack Kagome the previous day. Yukishi told them the man was wearing red, baggy clothes, with long white hair, and plastic cat ears on his head. Though, they looked at the woman with disbelief and not even having his name they still didn't neglect adding him to the accused people. So, they left reassuring them that next time he showed up, he would be arrested.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to visit someone!" Kagome shouted, still angry from the recent events. "I can't stand being in this house any longer with you. You know Inuyasha didn't attack me, I don't know what your problem is."

"Your mother should be here within a couple of hours, don't you wish to greet her when she arrives?"

"I'll be back after she arrives. Like I said, I can't stand to be alone with you a second longer," Kagome said combing her hair roughly in the bathroom. She tried to make her appearance look the best she could, yet she failed. Her eyes were weary and red, her hair was messy, over all she was a total wreck."

"What is your problem? I haven't done a thing to you," Yukishi said blocking the doorway of the bathroom.

"You know what my problem is, you tried to get Inuyasha in trouble! Now move."

"Ah yes! That's his name," she said running over to some scrap paper to scribble it down. "I'll let the police be aware of his name, it's a very rare name, I've never heard of it before, they should find him in no time."

Kagome rushed into the living room as fast as her wound would let her, and out the front door letting Yukishi's voice trail off. She was furious with her Aunt.

Once she arrived at the well house, she darted down the well without a second thought. After being engulfed by the familiar lights she looked up. "Inuyasha are you up there?" she called hoping he would be present, to help her up the wall. She began climbing, until familiar claws appeared in front of her face. She grasped it and Inuyasha helped her out.

Kagome looked at him with a slight blush. She wasn't sure at all what to tell him, she had nothing planned. She cleared her throat and sat down beside the well, peering off into the setting sun with strokes of purple, pink and orange. Inuyasha planted himself right beside her, also peering off into the sun.

Kagome cleared her throat again. "I'm...I'm sorry Inuyasha."

"Sorry? Sorry for what? You didn't do anything wrong, I'm the one who neglected protecting you...it's my fault you're hurt."

"No..It's not. It's all my fault. I wouldn't have been hurt if I would have just told you what happened to me. I had to be stubborn and keep everything to myself."

"It's not your fault. I shouldn't have called you pathetic. I know you're not weak, Kagome."

"I am weak, I couldn't even protect myself."

"You're not weak!" Inuyasha argued, now looking at the side of her face.

"I am too!"

"No you're not!" Inuyasha yelled, then realized what he was doing. He was fighting with her again. "Sorry." He looked back at the sun.

Kagome now looked at the side of Inuyasha's face, "You're sorry?" she said with a slight smile.

'Damn it! I knew I shouldn't have said sorry, now I'm the one that looks weak. She's not going to let me live those words down'. "Don't get any ideas, I just didn't mean to scream at you. That's all. Kagome looked away to conceal her smile. "Are you going to tell me about this attacker your Aunt was talking about?" he said, hastily changing the subject.

"Oh, Well, it was Hojo."

"Hojo? That weakling? I thought it was a demon,"

Kagome blushed at the words, she had made a big deal about being attacked, and even Inuyasha was unimpressed, "Yeah it wasn't a demon, just a regular high school student, one that I couldn't defend myself against."

Inuyasha stood up suddenly, gripping Tetsusiaga's handle. Kagome noticing this, "But Inuyasha, you can't attack him or try and sniff him down. You can't do anything like that. The police are out looking for him. If you interfere they'll have you arrested."

"What are you talking about? He hurt you! Don't you want him killed?"

"That's not the point. My era is different from yours you can't go around killing people." Inuyasha growled and set back down, cross-legged. Assuming it would be best to find out more about this "Hojo".

"Why did he even hurt you? What did you do to him?"

"I don't even know all the answer's myself, he called me on the phone the other night and told me he was 'coming to claim what was rightfully he is'. I assume he was referring to me, but I don't under-"

Inuyasha's possessiveness kicked in and he jumped up once again, unable to control himself. He looked over at the well, longing to jump down it and kill the bastard, but he knew he couldn't. He remembered Kagome had been ill earlier, he asked, "What else did he do to you?"

Kagome realized she couldn't say anymore, this is exactly what she had expected from Inuyasha. "Nothing..." she said unable to come up with a logical excuse.

"What else did he do to you?" he repeated, knowing she was lying.

"Inuyasha, you're already really upset," she said standing up to look at the angry hanyou.

'Calm down, Inuyasha. She finally is coming out and telling you what's wrong, don't upset her.' He drew in a deep breath. "I won't let him hurt you again, Kagome. I promise."

Kagome blushed. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, she said," I better get back. Mama should be home by now."

Inuyasha look at her, "What are you talking about? You can't leave."

"I have to leave, Inuyasha. I really wish I could stay. But Mama is going to be worried, and I left my Aunt alone in the house. I should hurry back before she fills her with an untruthful story."

"Why would she tell her lies?" Inuyasha asked, trying to buy some time for her to stay longer.

"Because that's what she does, lie. I hate her. I told her Hojo is the one who hurt me and she won't listen. And after you showed up earlier, now she's convinced you're the attacker."

Inuyasha felt uneasier, he didn't want to leave Kagome's side anymore because he didn't want Hojo hurt her again. And now there is a devious woman living in her house.

"I'll come back tomorrow, Inuyasha."

"Why are you leaving me? How do you expect me to protect you if I'm not with you?"

Kagome wanted to argue, though, in her heart she was unable. Her week had been terrible. She couldn't trust anyone; her mother had sent her worst relative over to visit. Hojo had backstabbed her, she couldn't confide in her three friends at school for support without them blabbering the information off to anyone who would listen. And her Aunt was a totally different story, and here stood Inuyasha. The one person she could always trust. He would never tell everyone her problems. He would keep them to himself and come up with a way to help, he was the one person who always put Kagome's protection and problems in front of his own, even if he didn't show it. (Heh, I wonder if I gave him too much credit there ^_^;; ) "Oh Inuyasha! She flew herself into Inuyasha's arms." her heart was overwhelmed with emotion. "Thank you."

I know, I know! You're probably thinking "This chapter was crap =(" But I had to get some stuff out before getting into the good stuff ^_~ I promise the next chapter at the VERY beginning will be more action. So, just because I didn't end with a cliffie doesn't mean you can't review. Next chapter will be up very soon, that is if I get a couple of reviews! Arigato!