Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews! My bio class finally ended today so I'll have lots more time to write this story. Yay! Now onward with chapter five!

Oh, and I do not own Inuyasha.

Guns and Roses

-Chapter Five

Kagome opened her eyes and gazed sleepily at the living room clock. It was five past seven and her grandfather, mother and brother were still not home. Kagome frowned. They really should have been home by now… Wondering where her family might be, she untangled herself from the blanket wrapped around her body and headed into the kitchen. Inuyasha will probably be hungry when he wakes…she figured, so she turned on the stove and heated up some ramen soup. It smelled good as it boiled and frothed in the pan. Along with the soup, Kagome made some green tea and poured it into two cups and put some bread smothered with strawberry jam on a plate. It wasn't a great meal, but Kagome was too tired to care. She had fallen asleep nearly five hours ago on the living room sofa and now it was getting quite dark outside. Kagome sighed. It doesn't seem like I've slept at all.

Careful not to spill the tea and soup, Kagome carried a wide platter crowded with the loaded dishes up to her room and fumbled with the doorknob. It opened and as she entered the dark room Inuyasha suddenly bolted up in bed gasping for breath. He looked at the girl with wild golden eyes, his pale face illuminated by the hall light dripped with perspiration.

"Inuyasha, what's wrong?" Kagome asked worryingly. He didn't look any better than before, in fact he looked worse.

"Something isn't right…" he gasped weakly. He was shaking slightly under the blanket, clutching the fabric tightly in his claws. Kagome noticed that Tetsusaiga was lying next to him and she nearly dropped the platter. It was glowing…a bright toxic green color that pulsated with Inuyasha's heartbeat. Inuyasha gasped as if in pain and laid back drown, clutching at the nearly healed wound at his shoulder.

"It…it hurts…" he ground out through clenched fangs.

Kagome quickly put the tray down and rushed to his side. Tetsusaiga felt hot under her touch as she placed her hand upon the surface. Its horrible green color began to fade, then disappear and Inuyasha stopped shivering. He looked up at Kagome and the fog from his eyes cleared somewhat.

"You…you made it stop…" he said weakly. Kagome frowned and released the sword sheath. It remained a normal color and Kagome felt some of her fear ease away. I wish I knew what was going on here… she wondered desperately.

"How do you feel?" she asked while helping him sit up again. He groaned from the effort.

"Like hell."

Actually, Inuyasha had never felt so badly in all his life, and that was saying something. His whole body pained him whenever he moved and the bullet wounds burned like fire. The pain had been a lot worse before he'd woken up, but somehow Kagome had erased it when she'd touched his sword. Tetsusaiga…he though darkly, there's something wrong with it…

"I gotta go back…" he said gruffly and began to rise but Kagome pushed him down. It surprised her how weak he'd become in only a few hours; He hardly put up a fight at all.

"You aren't going anywhere mister!"

"Back off women!" he cried underneath Kagome's arms. "Hey come on, let me up!"

Kagome rolled her eyes. And here I thought he was on his death bed…oh well I guess this is a good sign that he's feeling better… She allowed him to sit up and noticed that he was still breathing hard and was flush with fever. No…dummy what are you thinking?..he's still sick……

Kagome brought the tray of food around and set it before Inuyasha, who turned his nose up at it moodily. The fever was making him even more cranky than normal. All he wanted to do was go home and get the hag to make him feel better, and maybe the flea could tell him what was going on with his father's sword. Kagome's world had been nothing but a pain in the ass since the moment he'd step foot in it. He was never going into that damn city again after this. That was a promise.

"Inuyasha I brought you some food, do you feel well enough to eat?"

Inuyasha sighed. He really wasn't that hungry, but maybe eating would make him feel better.

"What do ya got?"

"Ramen and----"

Inuyasha's dog-ears perked as he grabbed the bowl and started to gulp the noodles down with a ferocity Kagome had only seen in hungry…well...dogs.

With resolved calmness she sipped at her tea and watched Inuyasha finish off his soup, then he hungrily gobbled up the bread with jam.

Kagome smirked over her teacup. Well at least he has a healthy appetite… she thought as bits of food flew everywhere. She glanced over to her bedside clock. It read 7:45PM and she felt a pang of worry. Her mom and the others really should have been home by now…what in the world were taking them so long? It was pitch black outside her window and a brisk wind was beating against the house. Some low rumbles of thunder could be heard overhead. Great…a storm…just what I needed…Kagome pushed her fears aside. Inuyasha needed her now and her mom would definitely be home soon, she hoped. When Inuyasha was finished he laid back into her pillow with a satisfied groan and patted his stomach.

"Wow…that was really good Kagome." He muttered sleepily.

"Glad you liked it." She calmly cleared away the dishes and pulled the blanket up to his chin. "I want you to stay here until morning, do you hear me?"

"Yeah yeah…fine." Inuyasha said as he clutched Tetsusaiga to his side and snuggled deeper into Kagome's blanket. Within seconds he was fast asleep. Kagome brushed his long bangs away and noticed that his skin was still alarmingly warm. The bullet wounds were definitely healed by now, but whatever was making him ill just simply refused to give up and this worried Kagome. Before she knew what she was doing, she had leaned in and kissed him tenderly on the forehead.

"Please be all right Inuyasha…" she whispered through her lips.

An hour later found Kagome sitting on the living room couch in front of her TV, flicking through channels quickly to find the weather station. The storm was picking up in intensity. Blue lightning flashed across the boiling black sky and ferocious wind and rain lashed against the windowpanes. Kagome finally found the right station as a weather person came on screen. The women looked somewhat frazzled as she announced that a very severe storm was heading directly for Kagome's area.

"Anyone caught in the path of this storm should seek shelter immediately…"

Kagome sighed. Could this day get any worse? A crash of thunder announced the arrival of the storm and she nearly fell off the couch. It felt like the whole house had been struck as the walls shook from the thunder. Kagome looked at the digital clock on the DVD player. It read 8:30PM. Where was her mother? Kagome couldn't help but feel worried now. It wasn't like her mom not to call if there were going to be late like this. Could something have happened to them? More thunder rumbled angrily. Kagome put her head into her hands and rubbed lidded her eyes. All she wanted to do was go to bed and forget this horrible day… Suddenly the phone rang. It rang again. Kagome picked it up on the third ring, dreadfully afraid of who might be on the other line.

"Uh…Hello?"

"Hello? This is Tokyo police station. Are you Ms. Higurashi's daughter?"

Kagome felt a stone of dread drop into her stomach.

"What happened?" she asked numbly, feeling sick to her stomach. "Is my mom ok?"

"Yes, your mother is fine, but I'm afraid I have some bad news…"

"What?…where are Souta and Grandpa?!"

"They are fine, don't worry. However their car was involved in a minor crash this afternoon and this has been the first time we've been able to contact you. I'm afraid it will be a few hours before the hospital allows them a phone call. Your brother suffered from a mild head injury, which required a few stitches and your mother insisted we call you personally so you would not worry."

"So they are ok?" Kagome's heart was racing. She knew something had been wrong. But at least they were ok. Poor Souta…

"Yes they are fine. Are you alone in the house?"

"Uh…yes…" Kagome twisted the phone cord around her fingers. Her thoughts went up to Inuyasha. It had been at least an hour and a half since she'd given him dinner. She wondered if he was doing ok.

"Ok then, we have sent a squad car to your house to check up on you. I hear a bad storm is heading in your direction and we didn't want you to be alone."

Kagome gripped the phone tightly.

"But…but…you don't have to---"

"Oh no need to thank us, they should be there shortly. Good night." And he hung up.

This was too much for one girl to take. Kagome slammed the phone down and ran her hand through her bangs. She wasn't sure when her mom was coming home from the hospital…and Inuyasha had to get out of her house before the cops came. If they found him…no, she didn't want to think about that. The warrant out for his arrest from earlier was surely still in effect. She would just have to drag him out to the well as fast as possible and hope that lady Kaede could take care of him until she got the cops to leave.

Just as Kagome rose to go upstairs, the front doorbell rang. From beyond the door, a man's voice yelled over the din of the storm.

"Miss Higurashi? Open up! Its the police!"

To be continued…