Here's another chap of .45. Hope it stands to par.
Chap: coming home to you
Inuyasha paced in the living room of Kagome's house. "Dammit, isn't that school over yet?!"
"Inuyasha, your language," Mrs. Higurashi warned. He had come through the well half and hour earlier to come get Kagome. The lady of the house had eagerly welcomed him, interrupting her laundry. She had been sitting in front of the tv watching the news when he'd arrived.
The hanyou ducked his head in reflex. Kagome and her mom sounded a lot alike sometimes. He was pretty sure that one day Mrs. H would try sitting him and somehow it would work. He shook his head before asking, "So, how much longer will she be? We've got shards to find."
"She should be along any minute now. Hmm," the mother frowned in thought. "Actually, she should be home by now----"
"----school shooting at Suirinken Junior High School today. We come to you live from the school with our correspondent---"
Inuyasha was stunned to see the blood drain out of Mrs. H's face as she whirled to face the talking box. "What's wrong?"
"Th-That's—"-she stammered. She seemed to be trying to shake her head, to deny something, that image on the screen---"Kagome's school."
"What's a—"
"A shooting is where"—she lost her train of thought, watching the television screen as several stretchers were wheeled out of the school's front doors---"oh, gods."
"What? What is it? What's happening?!"
"Its—its—oh gods!!" She shouted as two of the stretchers came out the doors, completely covered.
"What?!" He shouted, scared by the way the woman was acting. He grabbed her by the arms, shaking her. "What's going on?!"
"A—a shooting is when someone comes into a building and uses a gun on the people in there." He knew what a gun was, Kagome had told him about them and showed him one on TV. She'd also told him what they could do to a human body. "They hurt people and sometimes kill them. Those bags the men are carrying," she pointed to the screen, finger shaking, "are for the dead."
Inuyasha froze, staring at the screen, processing all this—"At her school?"
"Yes," she said woodenly.
"Two people are dead?"
"Yes."
"Kagome's late?" He asked as if to confirm what he already knew.
This time it came out as a disbelieving whisper. "Yes."
He was out the door like a shot.
%%$$##
He slammed on the brakes as soon as the shrine's steps came into view.
Kagome was coming up the stairs. He could see the top of her head, her black hair softly blowing back from her face. Blowing her scent away from him, so he couldn't sniff out her injuries. More of her came into view as she slowly rose from the steps. A white bandage stained red in the center was on her left cheek. But what really made his heart pound, then almost stop altogether---
Her shirt, the white blouse with the green collar and red ribbon, and her skirt, ruffled green cotton, both were soaked. Even her socks were wet and stained, matching the thin red stuff that had dripped down her legs, into her shoes. Her clothes were soaked in awful red, slowly drying to a dull stiff brown---
"KAGOME!!! Are you alright?!" He shouted, leaping towards her. She barely reacted to his presence, just stopping where she stood. Her eyes were staring at the ground where her feet were, not really paying attention. He lifted her chin up to see her eyes, startled by what he saw there. They were empty. Dazed and hollow. Oh, gods, why hadn't he dragged her back sooner----
His hands ghosted over her as he sniffed her clothes, checking for the source of blood. Gods, he hated the smell of blood---
He breathed a huge sigh of relief. Most of it wasn't hers. But some of it was. Enough to still worry him damn near to panic mode. She made no sound as he scooped her up into his arms, running back to the house. He slammed the door open and hollered for Mrs. H before laying her down on the couch in the living room.
She came running from the kitchen, then right back in again after one look at her daughter. She brought out the first aid kit as Inuyasha finger- combed the hair out of Kagome's face, to try and rouse her.
"Kagome? Kagome, can you hear me?"
"She's in shock, Inuyasha," her mother said hurriedly. "Can you tell if she's injured?"
"Most of the blood ain't hers, but some of it is. State she's in, wouldn't react to somethin' if it did hurt," he said worriedly. He asked the question that was on both their minds. "Where the hell'd all this blood come from?"
He received no reply as her mother unbuttoned her shirt. Inuyasha blushed red, "Um, maybe I should"—
"Go and get me a towel from the bathroom upstairs, and a couple of cloths from under the sink there," she ordered. She saw him still standing there beside her blushing, "NOW, INUYASHA!!"
He sprinted to do as he was told.
The mother anxiously examined her daughter. The girl's color was pale, her skin cold. Her eyes were still open and dazed. 'She's probably been on autopilot on the way home,' the woman thought to herself. 'It's a miracle she got home alright.'
She stripped her child of her blouse, throwing it on the wooden floor. No other injuries marred the girl, except for the huge amount of blood that had soaked her skin. The woman carefully looked her over for any other injury as Inuyasha came back downstairs, clothes in hand. He flushed again at Kagome being almost naked in front of him, but handed the things to her mother.
"Thank you, Inuyasha," the lady said distractedly. She started to wipe away some of the blood from the girl before glancing at the clock. "Oh, no."
"What is it?" he started, his voice worried. "Is she hurt?"
"No, no, she's fine, just in deep shock. Some sleep will cure that, its just that Souta's school will be letting out soon. He'll have heard about what happened on the bus and come running here. Can you keep him distracted while I take care of her?"
"Uh, sure thing. Want me to go get the kid and bring him here?"
The woman looked up from where her daughter lay, Inuyasha just now seeing the tears that were silently rolling down her face. "Yes, please. I'd feel better knowing that he had you to protect him on the way home." The boy almost smiled in the pride that sentence gave him before going out after the boy.
(&%&$
Mrs. H had roused Kagome enough to get her upstairs and in the bath before the boys got back. Souta hadn't heard anything yet about what happened, so Inuyasha filled him in. The boy's reaction startled Inuyasha. He completely freaked out. "Oh, no!! What happened!? How many were hurt?! Was anybody killed?! Oh, gods, where's Kagome?! Is she okay?! Is she alright?!"
"Gah, brat, quit screamin' in my ears! She'd just got some cut on her cheek, but she's home and fine. Hell, kid, you honestly think I'd leave her if she was hurt?"
Souta sagged against the older boy's shoulder as they jumped through the skyline of Tokyo. "Oh, thank the gods. Thank the gods."
"Kid? Not to be an insensitive prick," (a phrase Kagome had used to describe him often enough as for him to understand its use), "but she sees death and guts all the time. Why's this so bad? What's a shooting so bad for?"
Souta started before the thought came that in Inuyasha'a world, death was far more common. Especially bloody deaths. "Well, a shooting isn't all that uncommon, really. What makes this so bad is that it was in a school. Everybody's kids are there. You send them there cuz it's a safe place to go learn. And then one of those kids goes and takes a gun to school, killing people that he's known for years."
"Why would he go and do that?"
"They just snap, I guess," the boy said. "School's hard on lots of people. Some just can't take the pressure and go nuts."
Inuyasha frowned. "You mean with all those tests and stuff?"
"Yeah."
'note to self (another phrase Kagome taught him): in future, don't bug Kagome about studying for tests anymore.'
"They say nobody's the same after something like this," Souta said quietly. Inuyasha could smell the tears beginning in his eyes. "When somebody breaks trust like that, it shakes everything you've ever thought about people. It'd scare me to pieces. (sniff)"
(&$%#)
please let me know what you think and review!!!
Chap: coming home to you
Inuyasha paced in the living room of Kagome's house. "Dammit, isn't that school over yet?!"
"Inuyasha, your language," Mrs. Higurashi warned. He had come through the well half and hour earlier to come get Kagome. The lady of the house had eagerly welcomed him, interrupting her laundry. She had been sitting in front of the tv watching the news when he'd arrived.
The hanyou ducked his head in reflex. Kagome and her mom sounded a lot alike sometimes. He was pretty sure that one day Mrs. H would try sitting him and somehow it would work. He shook his head before asking, "So, how much longer will she be? We've got shards to find."
"She should be along any minute now. Hmm," the mother frowned in thought. "Actually, she should be home by now----"
"----school shooting at Suirinken Junior High School today. We come to you live from the school with our correspondent---"
Inuyasha was stunned to see the blood drain out of Mrs. H's face as she whirled to face the talking box. "What's wrong?"
"Th-That's—"-she stammered. She seemed to be trying to shake her head, to deny something, that image on the screen---"Kagome's school."
"What's a—"
"A shooting is where"—she lost her train of thought, watching the television screen as several stretchers were wheeled out of the school's front doors---"oh, gods."
"What? What is it? What's happening?!"
"Its—its—oh gods!!" She shouted as two of the stretchers came out the doors, completely covered.
"What?!" He shouted, scared by the way the woman was acting. He grabbed her by the arms, shaking her. "What's going on?!"
"A—a shooting is when someone comes into a building and uses a gun on the people in there." He knew what a gun was, Kagome had told him about them and showed him one on TV. She'd also told him what they could do to a human body. "They hurt people and sometimes kill them. Those bags the men are carrying," she pointed to the screen, finger shaking, "are for the dead."
Inuyasha froze, staring at the screen, processing all this—"At her school?"
"Yes," she said woodenly.
"Two people are dead?"
"Yes."
"Kagome's late?" He asked as if to confirm what he already knew.
This time it came out as a disbelieving whisper. "Yes."
He was out the door like a shot.
%%$$##
He slammed on the brakes as soon as the shrine's steps came into view.
Kagome was coming up the stairs. He could see the top of her head, her black hair softly blowing back from her face. Blowing her scent away from him, so he couldn't sniff out her injuries. More of her came into view as she slowly rose from the steps. A white bandage stained red in the center was on her left cheek. But what really made his heart pound, then almost stop altogether---
Her shirt, the white blouse with the green collar and red ribbon, and her skirt, ruffled green cotton, both were soaked. Even her socks were wet and stained, matching the thin red stuff that had dripped down her legs, into her shoes. Her clothes were soaked in awful red, slowly drying to a dull stiff brown---
"KAGOME!!! Are you alright?!" He shouted, leaping towards her. She barely reacted to his presence, just stopping where she stood. Her eyes were staring at the ground where her feet were, not really paying attention. He lifted her chin up to see her eyes, startled by what he saw there. They were empty. Dazed and hollow. Oh, gods, why hadn't he dragged her back sooner----
His hands ghosted over her as he sniffed her clothes, checking for the source of blood. Gods, he hated the smell of blood---
He breathed a huge sigh of relief. Most of it wasn't hers. But some of it was. Enough to still worry him damn near to panic mode. She made no sound as he scooped her up into his arms, running back to the house. He slammed the door open and hollered for Mrs. H before laying her down on the couch in the living room.
She came running from the kitchen, then right back in again after one look at her daughter. She brought out the first aid kit as Inuyasha finger- combed the hair out of Kagome's face, to try and rouse her.
"Kagome? Kagome, can you hear me?"
"She's in shock, Inuyasha," her mother said hurriedly. "Can you tell if she's injured?"
"Most of the blood ain't hers, but some of it is. State she's in, wouldn't react to somethin' if it did hurt," he said worriedly. He asked the question that was on both their minds. "Where the hell'd all this blood come from?"
He received no reply as her mother unbuttoned her shirt. Inuyasha blushed red, "Um, maybe I should"—
"Go and get me a towel from the bathroom upstairs, and a couple of cloths from under the sink there," she ordered. She saw him still standing there beside her blushing, "NOW, INUYASHA!!"
He sprinted to do as he was told.
The mother anxiously examined her daughter. The girl's color was pale, her skin cold. Her eyes were still open and dazed. 'She's probably been on autopilot on the way home,' the woman thought to herself. 'It's a miracle she got home alright.'
She stripped her child of her blouse, throwing it on the wooden floor. No other injuries marred the girl, except for the huge amount of blood that had soaked her skin. The woman carefully looked her over for any other injury as Inuyasha came back downstairs, clothes in hand. He flushed again at Kagome being almost naked in front of him, but handed the things to her mother.
"Thank you, Inuyasha," the lady said distractedly. She started to wipe away some of the blood from the girl before glancing at the clock. "Oh, no."
"What is it?" he started, his voice worried. "Is she hurt?"
"No, no, she's fine, just in deep shock. Some sleep will cure that, its just that Souta's school will be letting out soon. He'll have heard about what happened on the bus and come running here. Can you keep him distracted while I take care of her?"
"Uh, sure thing. Want me to go get the kid and bring him here?"
The woman looked up from where her daughter lay, Inuyasha just now seeing the tears that were silently rolling down her face. "Yes, please. I'd feel better knowing that he had you to protect him on the way home." The boy almost smiled in the pride that sentence gave him before going out after the boy.
(&%&$
Mrs. H had roused Kagome enough to get her upstairs and in the bath before the boys got back. Souta hadn't heard anything yet about what happened, so Inuyasha filled him in. The boy's reaction startled Inuyasha. He completely freaked out. "Oh, no!! What happened!? How many were hurt?! Was anybody killed?! Oh, gods, where's Kagome?! Is she okay?! Is she alright?!"
"Gah, brat, quit screamin' in my ears! She'd just got some cut on her cheek, but she's home and fine. Hell, kid, you honestly think I'd leave her if she was hurt?"
Souta sagged against the older boy's shoulder as they jumped through the skyline of Tokyo. "Oh, thank the gods. Thank the gods."
"Kid? Not to be an insensitive prick," (a phrase Kagome had used to describe him often enough as for him to understand its use), "but she sees death and guts all the time. Why's this so bad? What's a shooting so bad for?"
Souta started before the thought came that in Inuyasha'a world, death was far more common. Especially bloody deaths. "Well, a shooting isn't all that uncommon, really. What makes this so bad is that it was in a school. Everybody's kids are there. You send them there cuz it's a safe place to go learn. And then one of those kids goes and takes a gun to school, killing people that he's known for years."
"Why would he go and do that?"
"They just snap, I guess," the boy said. "School's hard on lots of people. Some just can't take the pressure and go nuts."
Inuyasha frowned. "You mean with all those tests and stuff?"
"Yeah."
'note to self (another phrase Kagome taught him): in future, don't bug Kagome about studying for tests anymore.'
"They say nobody's the same after something like this," Souta said quietly. Inuyasha could smell the tears beginning in his eyes. "When somebody breaks trust like that, it shakes everything you've ever thought about people. It'd scare me to pieces. (sniff)"
(&$%#)
please let me know what you think and review!!!
