Life has been hectic. I just can't believe how time has flown by. I'm sorry for not updating...I hope this long chapter will make up for my absence. But I have been busy, and things aren't going too well....

I'm such a melodramatic person. Ignore me.

Disclaimer: Inuyasha owns me. (If I can't own him, heck, he could own me. =D)

Anything But This

Chapter 7

A Cry for Help

Flaming, hot, red pain. That licked over his entire chest, and even paralyzed his waist down.

The knife.

Damn his foolishness. It was absurd, ridiculous. How could he have abandoned the thought that the boy was stupid enough to hold his hand out to defend himself? Well he had, and now the knife, despite the handler's clumsiness and lack of thought, had shot through his right stomach like a bullet, and had buried to the hilt. A flap of fabric and skin were both loose, and he could see the strands of his white hair brush against the blood. Absent-mindedly, too shocked and pained at the same time to think clearly, his hand unconsciously strayed down to his stomach, gripping the knife weakly.

Then his gaze rose to the boy, a gaze that was utterly indescribable. Disbelief, surprise, anguish, confusement, agony, aggravation. Absolutely flabbergasted. Each red drop that oozed down his stomach in a stream and dripped to the floor represented the same tainted feelings he was feeling.

And then he focused on one emotion only. Anger. Rage. Fury. A bitter animosity he had brushed aside thinking this boy would simply be a minor annoyance.

He just didn't care. It was more specific to say he had just not thought it over. His arm rose, to give one powerful plunge straight through the head, and his mouth opened to bellow out a cry. Arms from behind him restrained him, thwarted him from removing the challenge. The opponent. The enemy.

And then his head spun, a wild fever pounced upon him quickly, hotter and thicker than flames and suffocated him. A bloodstained hand reached to rest itself on his stomach, but even that small twist of his arm was very painful, and the attempt to cease the bleeding was futile. He could withstand this of course...

But...

It was almost twenty minutes past six, and the sun was already setting.

But what struck his curiousity was the oh so familiar shape of the moon across the horizon. No crescent, no gibbous. Just a round, full moon, sick and pale with grief.

Damn it all.

What if his parents found out? No, that could not happen. He wouldn't let it happen. But they'd know about the new moon subject, or rather, they most likely wouldn't, and would send Higurashi home.

As much as he hated to admitt it, the girl was a necessity for his survival. Both injury and family wise.

He hadn't realized he had been shoved into a van his companions drove around, and didn't even check to see if they had strapped his motorcycle on too. He hadn't even been able to discern that he had passed out, and what he was thinking was between sub-consciousness.

He. Needed. Help.

Oiy, those weren't the particular words in that same order that came out of his mouth everyday. Nor was it even a thought.

Help.

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For the past two or three weeks she had simply meandered around his room with an inquisitive mind. If he ever talked to her again she'd have to point out that the pictures hanging about his room were mostly soccer players. She was intrigued, and wondered why Inuyasha seemed to have a high interest in it. Most importantly she ambled about because she had absolutely nothing to do, having to pretend Inuyasha was there. A maid had even come up to bring up a tray of tea and crackers, but she politely refused the crackers and sipped the tea. During that time, she had had to construct a huge plushie into a general humanoid shape, and have it lean against the bathroom door. "Inuyasha is doing his business." She had said softly, with a fake discreetness. She had then put a finger to his lips, to avoid any further conversation or questioning between them.

It was safe to say the plushie wasn't too convincing, as it wasn't made of plush, but more of dirt stuffed into manure sacks. Or potato. She really didn't want to investigate further. Whatever it was it held up surprisingly well, and with her haste and lack of time she could only draw, cut and color a simple one.

Among the trinkets and pictures in her room, she had found something especially interesting. She knew it could have been illegal to just dig through one's things and then take it (because then that would be stealing) but it seemed it didn't much matter to Inuyasha anyway.

When she had first come, she had thought she'd seen many, many younger pictures of him. But it wasn't so. And this particular picture had a little boy, his white hair uncombed and in a wild tangle around his shoulders. The edges were worn by time, and there were no colours but black and white and hues in between. But it was unmistakably Inuyasha. She could clearly imagine the cold, sharp golden eyes even with the drab shades. She guessed the picture had been filtered.

It has been a photograph discarded in the far corner of his expansive closet, she had lingered there because of the exotic perfumes and fragrances drifting from his clothes. Thank the lord she hadn't discovered any inappropriate underwear of any sort. It had been torn up, and she had pieced them together gingerly. Her hand had closed upon shredded paper and crumpled up balls, and thinking they might have been secret notes passed between lovers (or something), her sneaky self had withdrawn them to see the picture.

There still was the ears, she had gotten used to seeing them so much but still questioned herself incessantly, and as she fingered the surface of the paper, she noticed a detail she hadn't noticed before. Clutching the picture tenderly in her hand, she crawled to the oh so familiar window and leaned against the wall below it for a more comfortable spot.

Like all photographs, there was a waxy thin sheet to protect the picture, but she was able to see a curling edge. She peeled it off of one strip, taking all the small shreds into her hands and pulling the sheet from it.

Same picture, and not at the same time.

It was an exquisite painting.

And in it. Something she couldn't see before.

Behind Inuyasha...

She screamed.

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She screamed.

Something had just grabbed her left shoulder. Wet, warm. She turned her head hesitantly, fearfully. Blood!

She screamed, and the hand covered her mouth. It was a strong hand, and she bit into it as hard as she could. The person attached to the hand cursed. She now knew who it was.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome gasped, now breathless, her stomach clenching. She was suffocating.

"Oiy, shut up bitch! You'll wake my parents--..." She saw him shudder and groan, saw the blood streaming down the wall and seeping from his fingers. Despite being terribly revolted, she reflexively went to grab his shoulders and hug him.

"Inuyasha, how, what, where were you??" She sputtered incoherently, crying into his hair. Inuyasha felt her warm embrace, and sank into it absent-mindedly for a few seconds, before realising in what position they were in. He slapped her away.

"Can't you see I need to get inside you stupid girl?!" He gritted his teeth, speaking in a harsh whisper.

"Oh!" Kagome gasped, seemingly noticing what was happened for the first time that night. She clutched his arms, and half-pulled, half-dragged his heavy body over the window. Wasn't she a strong girl... Inuyasha cried out, and so did Kagome, as she fell to the ground with him on top of her. They both groaned, Inuyasha nearly falling unconscious and Kagome closing her eyes in exhaustion. A few seconds passed and she opened her eyes, pulling her arms out from under his considerably weighty body. She could feel his stomach muscles twist, see his face spasm in pain. Seeing her bloody hands, she started panicking. "Blood! Blood!"

Shoving Inuyasha unceremoniously off her, she became frantic, staring at her hands fearfully. "Blood!"

And fainted.

Inuyasha woke a few minutes later, feeling hair tickling his nose. The foolish wench just had to make a big deal out of it all. The black hair that fell around his shoulders seemed foreign, and he could feel a pain he could normally shrug off very badly. Crawling over to Kagome, he shook her awake, grunting and clutching his stomach.

"Hey, girl.." She stirred slightly, and he shook her more fiercely, desperately. "Higurashi!" She woke then, jumping up and making a show again. After realizing where she was, she began to overturn tables and books, screaming about murder. "Higurashi!!" He said angrily, glaring at her dangerously. He could feel himself weakening from lack of blood. He hated this puny body...

She stopped running about, looking at him with fear. Suddenly she grabbed a book and whacked his head repeatedly with it. "WHO? ARE? YOU? AND? HOW? DO? YOU? KNOW? MY? NAME??" Each word was followed with a blow of the hard textbook. She could swear it had been Inuyasha who had been bleeding, and who she had pulled in. But this person had very, very black hair, and she could see no distinctive twitching ears.

"Oiy, bitch, that hurt!" He whipped out a hand, grabbed her ankle and made her fall to the floor. "It's me!! Are you blind?" She blinked stupidly at him, hair in a messy tangle. His blood was all over her hands, and some had smudged her nose. He couldn't help but thinking how cute that pose seemed.

"Inuyasha...?" A hand, a beautiful red hand, each finger curling seperately came towards his hair. Then his face. He felt nervous, even her face was inching towards him. They blinked. ........ "Did you dye your hair?"

Dear lord she was slow. Could she not see his wound? "NO! I mean..YES! Now just, help me, please..." For the second time that night Kagome was terribly late in realizing the gravity of the situation and within ten minutes she had discovered the first aid box Inuyasha kept without screaming about blood.

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Kagome tenderly unfurled the long bandage cloth, and began to wind it around his chest and stomach. She had already done the best she could with the cut, carefully stitching it together. Inuyasha bit down his cries of pain and disgust. Seeing a needle enter and sew through your skin wasn't the best experience. He wondered how Kagome could take it, when she had nearly died at the sight of blood. But she still did it, cooly and with care. But inside he could tell she was trembling. At one point he had taken her hand and directed her, he had to show her how to do it. The girl was no doctor.

He flinched, cursing. "Can't you be a little careful??" She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, sweating from the tension. With his remark, she purposely bound the bandage a little tighter, ignoring his cry. "Can't you be a little less rude?"

Working around his body, she admired the soft, pale tan of his skin, the muscles and flawless flesh. Inuyasha, however, thought this process was taking too long, and snapped from impatience. "What's taking you so long??" Kagome could understand his irritation, but retorted sharply. "I was just wondering how you could be such an ugly fat ass." Definitely false, and not too cutting, but it proved successful when it came to shutting him up.

When she was done, she marveled and was proud at her stiches, whereas Inuyasha jerkily tried to pull on a shirt. "You could do better you know..." He grumbled, prodding them as he grabbed for some clean clothing.

"Well, I was taught be you..." He eye twitched, and then she sighed seeing him fumble like a small toddler with his shirt. "Here, let me help..." He brushed her away.

"I can do this by myself. I'm no baby like you." Kagome scoffed, wrinkling her nose. She crossed her arms and sat on the couch. A few minutes later, Inuyasha came up to her precariously, trying to keep his dignity even while asking for more help and having his arm through the waist area, and his head very crookedly trying to peep out of an arm hole.

"Uhm.." He stammered mildly, but Kagome took pity on him and slipped his shirt on, head through neck hole and all. Having pulled down his clothing while he was sitting down, she found herself in his lap, looking up at his eyes.

Their heads were centimeters away from colliding with eachother.

A violet haze washed over her as Inuyasha seemed to come closer.

Violet...?

I am sooooooo messed up. xx Bad chapter!