Author's Note: Thanks for the encouraging reviews! Okay guys, there's gonna be some actual plot-like action in this chapter, and it's not as happy-go-lucky as the last one. Hope you enjoy! ^_^
Mistaken Identity
Chapter 10
Running Away
Kagome blinked. Once, twice. It was still very dark inside and out of the farmhouse she had grown so attached to. Stretching, she rolled off of the bed and waited for her eyes to become accustomed with the inky blackness surrounding her. Glancing at the neon green numbers of the digital clock, Kagome did a double take.
"Three thirty…?" she groaned. Kagome was one of those girls who awoke at ten and begged for just five more minutes. Three thirty was an ungodly forbidden time to be up and about. But by now her eyes were open and all of her sleepiness had left her. Now wide-awake, Kagome noticed how cute Shippou and Inuyasha looked.
Inuyasha had argued that Shippou should sleep outside or at least stay on the couch, but Kagome wouldn't have any of that. In the end, he had gotten to snuggle in between the two of them. Since Kagome had left, Shippou had curled into a tighter ball and moved closer to Inuyasha's warmth. Giggling, Kagome left the adorable duo to it.
"Hmmm, it's too early for breakfast," she mused to herself. Wandering aimlessly, she soon found herself outside. Surprisingly, no wave of cold was there to greet her; it was strangely warm. Lying down on her back, Kagome spread her arms and legs out as wide as possible, gazing up at the twinkling stars and full moon.
The stars had always fascinated Kagome. It amazed her how something so huge could appear as miniscule as a few grains of sand. Holding her thumb up, she covered the moon before sighing and rolling over onto her stomach.
Everything always looked so different at night. It was as if a magic spell had transformed reality into a spirit world full of shadows and mystery. When she was little, Kagome used to sleep in a tent in her backyard with her cat, Buyo. She would make up stories about exotic princesses being captured by evil demons. The princess would be taken to the ghastly king and be saved from death in the nick of time by prince charming. Buyo wasn't the best listener, but he was the closest thing she could ever get to an audience.
Her mom was always too busy with Kikyou, who relished all of the attention. Sure, her grandfather usually had spare time, but all he wanted to do was give her a history lesson on every person, place, or thing she ever mentioned. Souta, well, he was a little brother. He was fun to play with on occasion, but mostly he was off with his own friends.
"Snap out of it, Kag!" she ordered herself. Pushing off the grass, she hoisted herself up and to her feet. It was still very dark out, and Kagome wasn't hungry yet. She strolled up to the chicken coop, and peeked inside. All of the remaining chickens were still sounds asleep. Miroku had been cleared up and left with Sango last night.
Kagome smiled at the memories, she hadn't had that much fun in ages! She felt like she had known them all for ages. Sango, Miroku, and…Inuyasha…
Thinking about him, her heartbeat seemed to double and she felt her face burn. Kagome shook her head and quickly left the coop. She didn't want to think about her feelings right now; it would only leave her feeling confused and unloved.
Looking up, she saw that she had ended up at the stable. Naraku, the dark, temperamental horse, shoved his head over his door and glared angrily at her.
"Why are you always so mad?" she asked him sadly. "I just want to be your friend…" Her only response was for the horse to lift his lip to display his strong teeth, but this didn't faze Kagome. She took a step towards him. Naraku reared back on his hind legs and waved his hooves wildly, hate evident in his eyes. Kagome faltered, but still took another step forward.
"Let me help you," she told the horse calmly. Shaking his head, Naraku backed up into the solitude of his stall. Curious, Kagome walked the remaining paces to the stall door. "Are you there?" she called quietly, half-hoping he wasn't. Placing her hands on the swinging door, she leaned in a little. "Nar-," she was cut off by an angry whinny.
Kagome leapt back in fright, but wasn't quick enough. The right cuff of her nightshirt and a bit of her wrist had caught in Naraku's snapping teeth. Yanking backwards, she began to panic and ripped away from the horse, part of her pajamas hanging from his mouth as he followed her movements with an angry stare.
Choking on a sob, she stumbled out of the farm area and bolted in a random direction. Running blindly, tears hampering her vision, she just kept on going, not caring where she would end up. It wasn't that the pain was so intense; she just wanted to leave all of her problems behind. The evil horse. Her unloving family. Her growing feelings for a certain hanyou. It was all becoming too much for her to bear.
A cramp began to develop in her side, but Kagome didn't stop until she had tripped over a rock jutting out of the ground. Whimpering from physical and emotional pain, Kagome leaned back against a nearby tree and drew her legs up against herself. Huddled in a ball, exhausted from her run and worn out from crying, she finally drifted off into a fitful sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Inuyasha groggily registered in his mind that pale sunlight was streaming through the window. Rolling over, he reached to put an arm around Kagome. He had grown used to having her around and had even begun to enjoy her company. It seemed second nature that they slept together now. However, his arm groped around and came up with…nothing. Just the mussed blankets and Kagome's cool pillow, her body heat long gone from it, but her gentle smell still clinging to it from many nights of use.
"Mmmm," he groaned tiredly, "She's probably making ramen…or something…" It was then he felt the tiny bundle squished up against his side. Looking down, he spotted the auburn hair tied back with a blue bow.
"YOU!" he cried angrily, leaping back and falling off the side of the bed. Cursing, he tried to untangle his feet from the blankets that had followed him onto the floor. A pair of sleepy green eyes peered down at him.
"Goo' mornin'," mumbled Shippou, almost incoherently.
"Where's Kagome, you little twerp?" he asked irritably.
Shippou looked left and right before shrugging, "I dunno."
Inuyasha growled, "Whatever." Getting to his feet, he strode off in the direction of the kitchen. "Kagome?" he called into the empty room. Trying not to get worried, he sped out the front door.
"KAGOME!!!" he shouted loudly, before pausing to listen for a response with strained ears. He began pacing back and forth in front of the house. "Where the hell is she?!" he ground out. Sniffing around, he tried to catch her scent, but the whole yard was already saturated with it and wouldn't give him and leads. Springing to action, he began checking all of her favorite outdoor places.
Racing to the chicken coop, he stuck his head in and called for her; but all that got him was a bunch of white feathers flying into his mouth from the suddenly aroused, squawking chickens. Spitting out the feathers, he checked behind the house, up the big tree in the front yard, and even thought about running down to the lake before noticing one last place on the farm he hadn't searched yet: the stable.
Like a mad man, he ran to the stable door and forcefully shoved it open. "Kagome?" he asked the almost-empty room. Naraku stuck his head over his stall door and flung his ears back at the sight of him. A loud whinny escaped Naraku's throat, startling Inuyasha who turned around and glared angrily at the horse.
"You just shut-up you stupid horse!" Inuyasha yelled. The horse only neighed again and went back on his hind legs, bringing his front ones crashing down into the wall, causing more noise than ever. Naraku then looked at Inuyasha in a way that said, quite plainly, 'Make me!' in a mocking sort of way.
Inuyasha slowly turned toward the horse and his claws extended. "Do not mess with me right now," he warned, his bangs hiding his eyes. Naraku snorted and his front foot pounded the ground as if to say, 'Bring it on!'
Inuyasha leapt to the door and bounded into the stall, his nerves on end. Just as he was about to take a swipe at Naraku, he spotted something white in the horse's mouth and froze. It was a piece of Kagome's nightgown. It was then that Naraku decided to attack. Bucking his hind legs, he lashed out at Inuyasha who barely managed to dodge.
"I do NOT have time for this!" he growled furiously and leapt out of the stall door. Once out, he caught sight of a red splotch on the ground near the stall. Crouching onto all fours, he took one whiff and recognized it as Kagome's. A few more drops could be seen leading out of the stable and into the nearby forest.
Turning back to Naraku, "I'll deal with you when I get back, you monster! If you hurt her…," he threatened before bounding off. Finally, he had her scent! Sprinting off, he was halfway to the forest when he remembered something. "Aw shit!"
Making a speedy u-turn, Inuyasha ran back to the house at top speed. "SHIPPOU!!!" he called as he skidded into the house. Shippou, who was currently digging through the food supply, cocked his head at Inuyasha curiously.
"Did ya find Kagome?" he asked.
"I'm about to. You stay here. Don't leave the house and don't touch anything!" he ordered. Shippou pouted.
"You mean you lost her?!" he called in a panicked voice after Inuyasha, who had just left the house. He liked Kagome, she was nice to him. "And you're leaving me all alone?!" he wailed. Shippou was about to shout something else, when it dawned on him. He was in a warm house with a real bed and shelves full of yummy food! He smiled happily. Life was good!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kagome shivered and wondered why she was so sore. 'Must have fallen off of the bed…,' she thought to herself. Kagome reached to pull herself back into the bed. When her hand reached nothing, she forced her eyes to open and was immediately blinded by the bright sunlight. Quickly throwing her hands over her eyes, she patiently waited for the flashing color splotches to disappear before removing her clamped fingers.
Squinting, she looked around herself and failed to recognize where she was. Leaning against an enormous tree, her head was propped up on a curved tree root. A squirrel snatched an acorn a few feet from her tree and chattered at her possessively.
"Just take the stupid acorn! Not like I wanted it…" Kagome muttered to herself. She had a pounding headache and it hurt to think why she was here. After a few minutes though, she remembered. Now that she thought about it in broad daylight, it suddenly seemed childish of her. She had just let everything come at her at once, and hadn't been ready for it. Now, with a clear mind and sunshine, nothing seemed as bad as it had that morning.
Standing up with her usual smile, she stretched and yawned. "I'll just head back to the farm and…" she trailed off as something clicked into place. She didn't know where she was!!
Frowning, she turned around in a circle, trying to guess at which direction would take her to the farmhouse. "S'pose I'll just have to guess…" she shrugged while deciding to just go straight. Hopefully she would be right.
~~~~~ A Few Hours Later ~~~~~
Kagome panted. She was parched and very hungry. "I shoulda eaten something before running off like that," she grumbled under breath. Not only that, but her wrist was pounding dully from the horse bite Naraku had given her. Even if it had stopped bleeding, it still didn't look so good and it continued to hurt.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she thought she caught a glimpse of a moving shadow. Quickly turning her head, she tried to see what it had been. But if there had been anything there in the first place, it was gone now. Shrugging, Kagome continued, singing softly to herself and putting a slight skip into her step.
It wasn't long before she saw another shadow and heard a rustle in the leaves above her head. Kagome froze. Someone or something was following her. Quietly, she slunk backwards until she was behind a nearby tree.
Desperately trying to think of something, Kagome just decided to bolt and try to lose them. Dashing along as fast as she could, she did a few zigzags in an attempt to shake them off her trail.
Now, she wasn't sure if it was her imagination or not, but she was almost certain that she had heard a snicker somewhere to her left. Gulping, she was about to speed up even more, when one of the shadows dropped down in front of her.
"Well, well, well! What have we got here?" asked a cocky voice. Kagome's eyes grew round as she looked the person blocking her path up and down. He had long black hair tied up in a high pony-tail. Bright blue eyes glinted under a brown headband which allowed a few wisps of hair to poke through. Brown fur and grey armor decorated his lean, muscular body, showing off his strong arms and legs. In the back, a tail swished back and forth in what Kagome could only guess was amusement.
"Erm…could you move please?" Kagome asked in a shaky voice. The man in front of her only smirked and she heard laughing voices from every direction.
"I don't think so," he shook his head before darting forward at an unbelievable speed and grasping her around the waist, flinging her over his shoulder. Someone next to this guy knocked her head twice and Kagome's conciseness slowly faded. The last thing she thought before blanking out completely was, 'Please don't be mad…Inuyasha…'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, Inuyasha was racing after Kagome at an alarming rate. He wasn't thinking about the money he would lose if he didn't catch her, or that she could tell the police. All he was thinking about was Kagome. Kagome. Sweet, happy Kagome
"Stay safe Kagome. I'm coming!" he promised her. She was his only chance at life right now, and he didn't plan on losing that. Not if he could help it.
Author's Note: Wow! This has got to be my fastest update ever!! Pleeeaaase read and review!! My exams are in one week so don't expect an update for a little while. However, if I get tons of reviews then you might just see a chapter sooner than you thought! Love you guys!! ^_^