DISCLAIMER: Nope, I don't own Inuyasha or anything to do with it.
You're not Alone
By: Of Memories Past
Part XIII
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A sudden crack and Sesshoumaru came crashing through the door with his wife and oldest daughters in his arms.
"Sesshoumaru, what the hell?!" Inuyasha only had enough time to react and catch Rin when she was flung at him. He looked down at her bloodied body and torn clothing. It was a miracle she was conscious. "What's going on?!"
"No time," Sesshoumaru breathed, flinging Hana and Sakura at Kouga and Shippou.
The two demons caught the girls, getting their breath knocked out of them in the process, just in time to see Sesshoumaru disappear outside again. He returned moments later with five other pups clinging desperately to his back. Their wide eyes and terrified faces spoke books about the horrors they had seen, and it was only confirmed when the twins dragged themselves in behind their father. One of them leaned on the other, his leg twisted into a mutilated position. The other reeked of the blood he was covered in.
"What's going on?" Kagome jumped up to help the twin with a broken leg onto the couch. "Are you alright?"
The seemingly teenage boy only smiled half-heartedly in return as he allowed her to lower him onto the couch and prop his wounded leg up on the coffee table. His twin hovered over him, the constant repetition of "are you okay?" ringing in his ears.
"Maro, I'm fine," he snapped at his other half. But even as the words came out of his mouth, he winced in pain.
"Well, excuse me for being worried, Matsu," Maro snapped. "Next time glowing bullets fly by, I'll try not to be concerned."
"Stop it."
The two boys turned to their father and lowered their eyes. Sesshoumaru did not look happy.
Of course there were no reasons for him to be. Rin clung to consciousness as Kirara attempted to clean her up and apply ice to the forming bruise on the side of her head. Sakura and Hana were obviously shaken as they sat with their uncle, Sakura tucked under his right arm and Hana planted firmly in his lap. Luckily they had received no more than a few bruises.
But his little pups were terrified. With two tucked under each arm and Katsue in his lap with her thumb fixed in her mouth, Sesshoumaru could only hope that his wide-eyed children would be able to recover from seeing their other family members thrown about and shot.
"All arguing will stop now. Matsu, go and get that looked at by Kirara when she is done with your mother."
"Keh, it's just a bullet, Papa."
Kagome looked up when she heard the "keh" and suppressed a smirk. It seemed that Uncle Inuyasha had passed on a few of his nicer habits.
"Bullet or not, it's coming out!"
Everyone one in the room fell silent at Sesshoumaru's outburst, knowing full well that if the demon lord was upset, there was a fairly good chance that all of them would be sometime soon also. It was best to keep him calm.
"Damn," Sesshoumaru breathed, running a hand through his bangs. He quickly scooped up his five youngest and motioned for the others to follow him. Matsu, who had just had the bullet painfully removed and cauterized by the fire-cat, hobbled along with the aid of Maro. Sakura and Hana reluctantly left their uncle, kissing him on the cheek simultaneously as the hurried off to follow their siblings.
"Aw, how adorable are they?" Kouga teased Inuyasha.
Inuyasha, who had been smiling at his nieces' backs, whirled on the wolf. "Shut up, Kouga."
"Okay," he held his hands up in relent. "But Sesshoumaru's putting them all in your room."
Amber eyes seemed to register what was said only for a moment before he was chasing after his brother and his pups. "Sesshoumaru, no!"
Everyone left watching giggled, even Rin in her beat up state.
"Just keep Katsue out of the tub," Inuyasha muttered, returning with his brother to the living room.
Shippou left for a moment while everyone settled down and returned with seven glasses of ice water. Rin and Sesshoumaru downed theirs immediately.
"What happened?" Kagome asked, crossing her legs and setting her water down. Glancing to the side she saw Rin put her glass down and grasp the sides of her head.
Ice headache.
Sesshoumaru took a deep breath before answering. "Kikyou, and this time she almost got my family."
"Kikyou did this?" Inuyasha asked, seeming surprised, and Kagome felt anger rise up in her.
"Who else would produce bullets that glowed?" she hissed.
"I didn't mean it that way," Inuyasha bit back
"You—"
"We don't have time for your bickering," Sesshoumaru interrupted, fixing the arguing couple with a glare. He turned to the wolf demon. "Kouga, what do you have for us?"
"Well," Kouga answered, opening his briefcase and pulling out some files, "as if obvious, Kikyou is no longer with our department."
Kagome held Inuyasha back from strangling him.
"Tell us something we don't know!" Inuyasha shouted when Kagome somehow managed to pull him back.
"Just hold on a second." Kouga dug through his briefcase for a few more minutes, sending papers and pens and pencils of all sorts scattering across the coffee table.
Rin stared with wide eyes when he managed to pull out a mini boom box and set it aside also.
"Ah, found it!" Kouga exclaimed and pulled out another paper.
"Amazing," Inuyasha drawled, and Kagome elbowed him in the ribs.
Kouga shot the Inuyoukai a look. "Okay, we know that Kikyou is working at the school now since Shippou made his little discovery in class today—"
"Yeah," Shippou muttered, folding his arms, "do you know how many people in the world are infected by sexually transmitted diseases?"
"Don't go there, Shippou," Kagome warned, slightly sickened at the sudden change in topic. She found herself rather glad that she had missed class today.
"Anyhow," Kouga cleared his throat, "These guys are our dearly missed Shinitachi. And they are not cute, little soul swimmers anymore either." He handed out file to each of them and then turned to Kagome. "They're the reason you can't just skip out on your Health class and attend all your others. They've decided to fill in as substitutes all over the place."
"They huge," Kirara mused, her fiery gaze fixed on the pictures of the burly men—or rather, concealed youkai.
"And strong," Kouga added. "Matsu was lucky that it was one of them that shot him. If it had been Kikyou, he probably would have been a goner."
"Or turned completely human," Inuyasha said.
"Possibly."
"Then why did she go after you guys?" Kagome asked Rin.
"We help protect you," Rin answered quietly, a small hand grasping Sesshoumaru's. "She wants the Jewel to restore her life, and to get that she needs to get to you, Kagome. If everyone protecting you is gone, it will be easier."
"That settles it," Shippou piped in. "This fox will not be going back to school."
"We can't afford to head out again anytime soon," Sesshoumaru spoke up and turned to Inuyasha. "We'll need to stay here for a while."
Inuyasha nodded in consent, and the room grew silent as everyone sat and contemplated what they had just been told. Kouga began collecting his files and shoving his never-ending pile of junk back into his briefcase. Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha both pensively stared down at the floor, looking up at each other every once in a while. The women in the group sat rigidly, Rin clinging to Sesshoumaru, Kagome sitting by Inuyasha, and Kirara coming up with numerous ways to keep the walking clay pot away from her friend.
Everyone jumped when the ringing phone broke the room's silence.
"Stupid phone," Inuyasha mumbled.
"I'll get it!" Shippou leapt up and ran for the phone in the kitchen, glad to have a moment of relief. The tension in the living room was a bit too thick for his liking.
But a minute later, he returned with a grimace. "It's for you, Kagome."
A smile of thanks crossed her face as she accepted the phone from Shippou. "Hello? Oh, Mama! Yes…yes, everything is fine…no, I'm not going to tweak his ears right now…"
Inuyasha sent a prayer of thanks above.
"Yes, Mama…you what?!…no, this is not a good time…what do you mean they're on their way?…no no no, stop them!…you can't? Oh no…yes, Mama…okay…bye bye."
"What's wrong?" Inuyasha asked, curious at her worried face.
"We're having dinner guests tonight," Kagome muttered, dropping the phone to the floor. This was just not their day. "Apparently some people will not go without checking on me anymore."
"Who's coming?" Kirara asked.
A serious look crossed Kagome's face. "Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi."
A/N: And the friends are back! But it will not be typical…oh no. But stay tuned for our next episode of You're not Alone! God Bless, and tell me what you thought! ~Of Memories Past