You are all about to finally understand how much more there is to this plot than just Naraku beating Kagome and she leaving him because of it.

Edited: 7/13/2011

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.


Dashed Hopes

Chapter Twelve: The Getaway


It was a very still and quiet night. Kagome woke with a start, her heart racing and beating hard against her chest. At first, she struggled to remember where she was and why she was there; to remember that she was safe. Moonlight glowed softly behind the shades covering the large window in her bedroom, reminding her that she should be sound asleep. With a sigh, she crawled from her bed and came to the window, lifting the shades until light poured in. Once she could see the moon, Kagome dragged over an armchair and curled up in it; she pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Thoughtful blue eyes scoured the sky as she calculated in her head.

She had been in Tokyo for two weeks.

Kagome shook her head roughly, trying to force the bad memories away. They crowded around her tighter, suffocating her in the nighttime. It felt like everything—everything—had begun two weeks ago, on that awful Sunday, but if she were to be honest with herself, her life hadn't been good for a long time. It was only on that Sunday that she'd finally made the decision to change her future. Hopefully for the better, but that remained to be seen.

A sigh escaped her lips. It had been—still was—difficult to keep her emotions straight. Just living a day-to-day existence was hard, and Kagome struggled to keep her act together around her new friends. Acting cheerful didn't come as naturally as it once did. Sometimes, she was just so angry that she lashed out. More often, she was just so scared that she wanted to crawl inside herself and hide there until the end of the world.

Unable to fight it anymore, Kagome's thoughts drifted to the event that had happened two weeks earlier that had been the catalyst for everything that had followed.

An annoying, constant beeping filled the room as an alarm clock vibrated across the side table. A slim hand slithered out from between the covers and whacked the alarm clock mercilessly until the infernal beeping stopped.

"It's too early on a Sunday," a groggy female voice growled from beneath a pile of pillows and blankets. Crawling out from her warm nest, Kagome stretched and heard several audible, satisfying cracks as her joints popped.

Tip-toeing on slender bare feet, the young woman made her way down the hall to the large bathroom to take a steamy shower. Wiping down the clouded mirror, Kagome took a long look at her creamy skin. No scars had formed from the "accidents," and Naraku hadn't touched her for weeks. There wasn't a single bruise anywhere on her.

It didn't take long for her to get dressed. Feeling like that day was going to be a great day, she slipped into an emerald pencil skirt and her favorite white blouse. A glance in the mirror told her that the outfit she'd chosen was flattering, and it made her look mature and sophisticated. She slid on some black high-heeled shoes and collected her still-damp hair into a low ponytail at the base of her neck. Brushing on some quick mascara and lip-gloss, Kagome set out to do the impossible.

"Souta! Wake up and get dressed, lazy bones. We leave in ten minutes." Hearing a groan of anger from the lump under the covers and taking that as a sign that her brother was awake, she moved on to wake up her adopted son.

As she turned the corner into his room, Kagome was surprised to find the boy already dressed and ready to go. "Morning, Mom!" he chirped, bouncing on the bed in excitement.

"Good morning! Hey, do me a favor?" At his agreeable nod, Kagome said sweetly, "Will you go make sure Souta stays awake and gets ready, please?"

"Aye, aye, captain!" Shippou announced with a salute and scuttled out to do his mother's bidding.

Sighing, Kagome descended the staircase to make some good, old- fashioned coffee to force her brain cells awake, still a little groggy. The phone rang shrilly, startling her enough that Kagome spilled coffee on the counter. Wiping it down hurriedly, and wondering who would call so early on a Sunday morning, Kagome reached to answer it. "Hello?"

"Kagome," someone said without greeting her back. It was a feminine voice, a very familiar drawl, but Kagome couldn't place it. "You can't keep this up."

"What?" she asked, very confused, scouring her mind to identify the owner of the voice.

"You know this isn't right," the woman continued, hushed as though someone might be eavesdropping from the next room. "Not for you or the boys."

"Who is this?" Kagome demanded sharply, spinning around on her heel to scan the room, as if caller was in the room with her. She was, of course, alone.

"Who is this?" the voice echoed. "Your last warning… before it's too late. Listen to me and get out of here!"

Suddenly, there was a man's voice in the background of the phone call followed quickly by the dry click of the caller hanging up and then the drone of the dial-tone. Kagome chewed her lip and pondered the situation, wondering just how worried and suspicious she should be. Having no solid explanation for the call, Kagome decided that it had to have been a wrong number. After all, there had to be several other Kagomes in a city as large as Kyoto, right?

Ten minutes later, Kagome, Souta, and Shippou climbed into Kagome's green Lexus just as the horizon began to lighten with the rising sun in the distance. Zooming along, they arrived at the company in downtown Kyoto quickly; because of the early hour, Kagome easily found a parking space right outside the entrance.

"Where are we going?" Shippou asked, crawling out of the backseat after Souta.

"To pick up Naraku, so we can go to the zoo!" Kagome answered in an overly-chipper tone, fighting to overcome the sleep still clouding her voice. The phone call that morning has set her on edge, but not enough to wake her all the way up.

Shippou's eyes shined at the mention of the zoo; he'd always liked the foxes.

Riding the elevator the fourth floor, they entered the area where Naraku's small company was set up; it only used four rooms on the entire floor. Kagome left the boys by the elevator bank and instructed them to keep quiet while she went ahead to find her boyfriend. Kagome walked quietly, thankful that the carpet muffled the sound of her heels, in order to surprise her "better half." Stepping through Kagura's office, Kagome peeked through the crack in the doorway that led to Naraku's office.

Inside were several arguing men and one woman: Kagura herself.

The tension that filled the room was unsettling, and Kagome was fairly certain that she wasn't interrupting a regular business meeting. Part of her wanted to turn back and gather up her brother and Shippou, taking them to the zoo by herself, but she was too curious to walk away without listening in just a little bit. Naraku had never been very open and talkative about his company, so it seemed like a good chance to get an idea of what exactly her boyfriend did for a living.

"I'll pay no more than I promised," Naraku's calm voice penetrated the yelling. When silence descended on the room, it seemed eerie after all the shouting. Although his voice was calm, it also sounded dangerous. As Kagome watched, Naraku held up his left hand—and secured between two of his fingers was a very large jewel. It was a cloudy pinkish-purple and was threaded on a crystal chain. In the dimness of the office room, under the flickering florescent lighting, it seemed to radiate light.

"No, you'll pay more!" someone snapped at Naraku; he was tall and thin, young and attractive.

"Exactly! Hiten is correct," a fat and balding young man said supportively.

Hiten, the handsome stranger, continued as if he had not heard the other man. "Do you know how much Manten and I had to go through to get that damn jewel, Naraku? Security was tighter than we've ever seen, and we almost got mauled by German shepherds!"

Naraku answered in his cool, collected voice: "I paid for you to steal the Shikon no Tama so that I could get out of debt for my… hobbies. I don't really care what you had to go through to get this," here, he gestured at the pink jewel, "but I will only pay as much as we agreed upon."

From her hiding place, Kagome stifled a gasp. The "hobbies" Naraku was talking about probably didn't mean knitting and needlepoint; instead, she was certain, he was referring to the white powder in clear, plastic bags that she had stumbled across several weeks before. Sure that they were illegal drugs, Kagome hadn't said anything. But stealing to pay for them? That was even worse. Kagome, before she could stop herself, gave an indignant squeak.

Naraku spotted her spying through the open door. Within two strides, he was right in front of her; he reached through the gap and grabbed her arm, yanking her into the room. Pulling back his right hand, he backhanded her hard enough to force her head to snap back and into the edge of the door. Blood flowed freely from her temple, but her numb skin didn't register the pain.

"Damn it," Naraku snapped, shoving Kagome by the shoulders until she slammed into the wall.

Wide-eyed, Kagura took a step forward, but stopped herself. She'd been trying to save the stubborn girl; had it been her phone call that had drawn Kagome to Naraku's office?

Hiten and Manten whirled to face Naraku, fury overtaking their expressions "You asshole!" Hiten shouted, shaking his fist Kagome's enraged boyfriend. "You were going to sell us out and use the girl as a witness to put us behind bars!"

Naraku glanced down at the young woman sprawled on the ground, not even looking a little regretful as she peered back up at him with scared, tear-filled eyes. Reaching into his jacket pocket with his right hand, the one not holding the jewel, he pulled out a handgun. "Not exactly," he muttered, turning the muzzle of the gun on the other men. The unbelievably loud cracks of gunshots caused both Kagome and Kagura to wince. Manten hit the ground first, a gaping hole in his head. Hiten, who had been hit once in the neck and once in the chest, followed soon after, bleeding out slowly.

"N-Naraku?" Kagome whispered pathetically, her voice shaking.

Naraku turned on her, pointing the gun in her direction; she flinched. "You bitch," he snarled.

Determination replaced the look of fear in Kagome's eyes as she steeled herself, set off by his insult, but he missed it easily; instead, he was focused on her cowering position, her quivering hands, her trembling bottom lip. Glancing quickly at the jewel in Naraku's hand, Kagome braced herself against the floor. In one swift, fluid movement, the girl shoved off from the ground and snatched the jewel from Naraku's stunned grasp. Spinning on her heel, Kagome dashed out of the open door and quickly passed through Kagura's office.

"Run!" she screamed at the two stunned boys by the elevator. Souta did as he was told and made straight for the stairs, refusing to wait for the elevator; Kagome swept a stiff Shippou up into her arms and cradled him to her chest "Hurry!" she pleaded, tripping down the steps after her brother. They burst through the door four floors down and onto the pavement outside. Kagome's heart was beating so wildly that she wasn't sure if there were footsteps close behind.

"Get back here, bitch!" Naraku shouted, but his voice sounded far away.

Kagome snatched up her brother's cold hand, and they ran through the nearly deserted streets of Kyoto, wishing she wasn't in a mostly abandoned business distract on a weekend. Expertly, she led them through a maze of back streets and alleys until they reached a vacant building. Moving aside the loose metal sheet that she'd used many times before during her childhood exploring the city years ago, the woman shoved her brother through the gap before shutting the opening behind her.

They climbed an old, dusty staircase, her memory guiding them. There was a room in the back of the upper level, which is where she, Souta, and Shippou crouched down, awaiting their fate. Frantically, all three tried to calm their ragged breathing; it sounded loud in their ears.

It was this building, an abandoned fabric factory, that Kagome had gone to when she little when she'd first learned about her father death after a long, drawn-out battle with cancer. It became a haven to her during her pre-teen years.

There were scraps of fabric all over the floor. Kagome looked around before finding a dark piece of velvet; she used it to wrap the jewel in, and then she tucked it into the bottom of her purse.

"Kagome?" Souta asked in a small voice, still panting from their mad dash through the streets.

"We'll get out of this, I promise," Kagome responded sternly, hugging both of them to her chest. "Whatever happens, don't tell anyone what you saw today. None of it."

Shippou nodded and looked at her with eyes wild with fear; he whimpered and snuggled against her tighter. Meanwhile, Souta, who was a lot brighter than his sisters sometimes gave him credit for, looked away. He'd always known Naraku was bad news, and while he didn't fully understand what was happening between the man and his sister, Souta knew it was something that needed to be stopped.

They waited several hours, holding their breath and trying to come to an understanding with what had just happened. Near noon, Kagome finally decided it was time to make their move. Smoothing out the wrinkles in her clothes, she led them down to the streets. She kept alert as they worked their way back to a busy street.

Kagome hailed a cab and paid the man to bring them to a train station, the most out of the way, less-traveled one in hopes that Naraku wouldn't be staking it out. He didn't take her for much, Kagome realized. Naraku expected her to have a mind that only worked when he told it to work and never any other time.

At the train station, Kagome purchased their tickets with cash for their best chance of survival: Tokyo, one of the most crowded cities in the world. It would be like finding a needle in a haystack, even for someone with as many connections as Naraku. Once there, all she had to do was find the perfect place to stay and wait it out until everything was smoothed over. At that moment, she was still envisioning a future where Naraku was "fixed." It didn't even dawn on her just how wrong things were.

Looking through the large phone book once they arrived at the Tokyo station, Kagome located an abused women's shelter. Just what we need right about now, Kagome thought sullenly.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, only asking for directions once.

Two weeks later, curled up in the armchair in her new bedroom in an almost stranger's house, Kagome finally let the all the frustration and confusion take hold. The weight of the situation hadn't fully hit her yet until that moment—she hadn't let it. Now, however, as she cupped her hands over her face and fought off the sobs, she started to realize just how messed up her situation was.

Her abusive boyfriend, a drug user, had stolen an invaluable jewel and murdered two men.

Struggling not to hyperventilate—because the jewel was right there in the room with her—Kagome failed to notice that Inuyasha was standing silently in the doorway, watching her break down with something like pity on his face. His heart tugged when he heard her cry. Afraid to say something since when he talked, he tended to make things worse; Inuyasha instead walked into the room and approached the armchair. With only the slightest hesitation, he scooped Kagome up into his arms and sat back down again, cradling her against his chest, squeezing her tighter with every sob. He didn't say anything.

When Kagome's sobs finally began to subside, she pulled away from him, peering up at his face and trying to make out his features through the tears and dim moonlight. Having finally, finally, accepted just how bad it all was and actually crying over it, Kagome felt better. It was almost like she had a clean start because of a better perspective on things.

She nodded her thanks and silently climbed from his lap, patting his arm in a distracted, but friendly, sort of way. Too tired to crawl back under the sheets, Kagome just collapsed on top and fell immediately to sleep.

Thinking over the past two weeks, and how much trouble he'd been put through over that girl, Inuyasha drifted off into a deep slumber in the armchair.


When Kagome finally wandered into the kitchen the next morning, completely exhausted, she found Souta on a bar stool at the counter, knocking his head against the heard surface and muttering about being hungry. Shippou, meanwhile, sat off to the side and watched his uncle in a slightly concerned, mostly amused kind of way. Too tired to scold her brother, Kagome slumped down in the seat next to him.

"I take it Higurashis are not morning people," Sesshoumaru commented nonchalantly to Shippou as he entered the room, Rin riding piggy-back on his shoulders. Together, they were so tall that he had to duck under the doorway to avoid hitting the little girl's head on the doorjamb.

"Their grandpa is like that, too," Shippou admitted, grinning up at the man. It didn't even bother him that Sesshoumaru's face remained completely emotionless. "But Mrs. Higurashi—my Higi-bachan—is always in a good mood no matter what time of day. Then again, I guess she wasn't a Higurashi until she married her husband…"

"Ah, so it is a genetic Higurashi trait," Sesshoumaru concluded, pouring cereal for himself and the two adopted children.

Seeing his nephew eating, Souta finally stopped what he was doing and fetched breakfast for himself. Kagome, meanwhile, crossed her arms on the counter in a makeshift pillow and promptly fell asleep on top of them.

Ten minutes later, Inuyasha stalked into the kitchen with a distracted expression before creeping immediately back out, having said nothing and done nothing that required his being in the kitchen.

"No work today," Sesshoumaru commented to no one in particular.

"Yet that won't stop you from finishing up all that paperwork," Kagome murmured sleepily, her eyes still closed and still, if physically possible, snoring softly.

Sesshoumaru very nearly chuckled. Luckily, he caught himself just in time.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Tokyo, Miroku was having a much less pleasant morning back at his apartment.

"Oh, Mi-ro-ku," his fiancée, Koharu, whined in such a way that made his name sound like it was three different words. "Please?"

"No," Miroku muttered impatiently, rubbing the back of his head nervously. His very cool, calm personality was becoming very quickly unraveled.

"But… why?"

"You really need to leave, Koharu," the man told her sternly. "I'll speak with your parents over the phone to tell them you are coming home." Silently, he added, and tell them that I want out of this arranged marriage business.

With a pout, Koharu ran from the room.

Thankfully, it only took him a few minutes to track down a phone number belonging to someone with Koharu's last name in a little town not too far outside the city. He dialed the number while shutting the door to keep his unwanted guest out.

"Mr. Iwatsubo?" Miroku asked when an older man's voice answered after several rings.

"Yes, who is this?"

"Hello, my name is Miroku Houshi. I'm calling to speak with Koharu's parents?"

"I'm afraid her parents are no longer with us," the old man explained in a sad, slow voice. "I am her grandfather. Miroku… Miroku… you are Koharu's fiancé, yes?"

"That's what I'm calling about. I want to end this engagement."

A long stretch of awkward silence filled the line before Miroku could hear Mr. Iwatsubo clear his throat forcefully. "That is impossible."

"But," Miroku started, beginning to sound very desperate, "Arranged marriages are so… so… feudal era!"

"I'm sorry, but this marriage was arranged by your parents well over eight years ago! It's too late to back out now," Koharu's grandfather snapped almost impatiently.

Miroku's mind raced, really starting to panic. "What if— what if I was already engaged? To someone else, I mean."

"Excuse me?"

Not for the first time in his life, Miroku was extremely happy he was a very good, well-practiced liar. The story started to come easily to him now, lies and truths fitting together in just the right way that he really thought he could pull it off. "I didn't want to tell Koharu," he said, edging his voice with a fake hint of regret, "But I'm already engaged to a lovely young lady. My parents never mentioned this arranged marriage to me before they passed on, so I had no idea that I couldn't propose to another woman."

"I must meet this woman," the elderly man insisted after a pause. "If what you say is true, then I will let you out of this arrangement."

Well… crap. "Of course!" Miroku agreed, a bit too loudly, running over all the women in his life that he could possibly convince to pretend to be his fiancée. For a ladies' man, the list sure was short. "I will call you back with the details… after I confirm her schedule, I mean."

"Alright," Mr. Iwatsubo said warily. "I'll look forward to hearing from you again."


"Please, please, please Sango!" Miroku pleaded with the brunette. The four friends were sitting in Sango's living room later that afternoon, their tea and snacks momentarily forgotten because of his story. Inuyasha and Kagome both looked extremely amused.

"No!" Sango snapped, for the eighth time, obviously still very angry with him. Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest, and she had her head turned away as though she could even look at him.

In defeat, Miroku sighed and turned instead to Kagome. "What about you?"

"What? No!" Inuyasha snapped a little too quickly and a little too angrily, but he didn't seem to notice. "You aren't using Kagome for this."

Quirking an eyebrow at Inuyasha, a little bemused over his adamant refusal on her behalf, Kagome only spared him a short curious glance before aiming a smile at Miroku. "You know what? Sure, Miroku, I'll do it."

"Seriously?" all three best friends said at once, although each with a different tone of voice: Miroku in happiness, Sango in surprise, and Inuyasha in outrage.

"You can't do that!" Inuyasha insisted roughly, gaping openly at Kagome.

"I can, and I will. Miroku needs my help," Kagome explained patiently, still smiling. "You guys have all done so much for me; I'm happy to do something to start returning the favor."

Inuyasha began to fume silently, because he didn't like it. One: Miroku was a complete pervert and couldn't be trusted. Two: Didn't Kagome have enough trouble with men already? And three: He just really didn't like it.

That very night, Kagome opened Miroku's front door and bowed politely to the elderly couple waiting just beyond that. "Hello," she greeted cheerfully, stepping away from the door and making a big, sweeping gesture. "Please come in!"

"Good evening," the old man, Mr. Iwatsubo, greeted, scrutinizing the pretty young woman. "It is a pleasure to meet you, I'm sure. If you don't mind, we would like to ask you a few questions to make sure you really are Miroku's bride-to-be."

Kagome and Miroku glanced at one another nervously, having not planning on playing twenty questions to prove their little farce. On the other hand, how on earth could Koharu's grandparents know for certain whether Kagome had the real answers? All she had to do was answer quickly, without obvious hesitation or stress, with her best guess; if she seemed confident, wouldn't she get the seal of approval? Kagome nodded her consent, forcing her smile to remain relaxed.

"What is Miroku's favorite color?"

"Purple."

"Worst habit?"

"Keeping his hands to himself."

"Favorite food?"

"Rice cakes."

"Favorite drink?"

"Sake."

Silence descended as the old couple peered at Kagome closely, as if they could look hard enough and see the word "liar" written directly on her forehead. Apparently happy, Mr. and Mrs. Iwatsubo nodded and excused themselves.

"Thank you for your time," Mrs. Iwatsubo told Kagome and Miroku politely. "Koharu is waiting in the lobby. We will take her directly home."

With one last polite bow, Miroku's ex-fiancée's grandparents left. Once they were out of sight, the liars gave one another a high five.

Miroku grabbed Kagome by the waist and lifted her in the air, spinning around with a celebratory, "Yes!" Setting her down on the ground, Miroku wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Well, dear, how do you want to celebrate?"

"What was that?" Inuyasha snapped, stepping into the room from where he was hiding in the kitchen with Sango. Honestly, they'd been expecting this charade to fail miserably, giving everyone a good laugh. Stomping over to the pair, he unwrapped Miroku's arm from around Kagome's waist with a glare. Unfazed, Miroku continued to cheer happily, going so far as to do a little dance where he stood.

Kagome laughed openly at Inuyasha—who seemed grumpier than usual—and shrugged off his odd, over-protective attitude.

"Since we're engaged, does that mean I can do this?" Miroku asked innocently, reaching out and grabbing Kagome inappropriately. She slapped his hand away just as Sango walked up behind them and cuffed Miroku on the ear.

"Do it again, and you'll lose that hand," Kagome warned with a finger-wag, still smiling because they'd pulled off the plan.

Koharu was officially out of the picture.

Next Chapter: What Have I Done?