Chapter ten is thankfully more pleasant then chapter nine. Sorry all you Koga fans. I do hope you read my warning on the story. It did say Kagome's father was nuts. Thankfully there will be no blood in this chapter. Enjoy.

-Randall Flagg2

(1)

She awoke slowly. For the first time in her life, she woke up without being afraid of what the day would bring. Ah, it felt good to be away from her tormentor. Kagome knew in her heart she had made a good decision to run away. Now she could finally have a chance at a normal life, not having to live in fear of somebody. Even more, she was with her life long friend and there was no doubt she could trust him. So, for the first time, she got out of her bed (Inuyasha had given her the guest room bed) without any fear and went to get her suitcase to change.

"Ah what a day." Kagome thought. "For once, things are going to go my way. It's good to be free." She had gotten out of her pajamas and was just slipping into her panties when the door burst open.

"Hey Kagome what do you..."

All was silent for a few seconds.

Then with a shriek, Kagome scrambled back under the bed covers.

"You pervert! Don't you believe in knocking?!!" Kagome yelled. Inuyasha's face had turned bright red. He would never admit it, but he sometimes wondered what she looked like under those clothes of hers. At last his thoughts (and secretly his hormones) on this subject could be satisfied.

"I um... uh I was just... uh..." he began.

"You what?!"

"I just... wanted to know what you wanted for breakfast..." he replied hesitantly. He was still in shock over his little sighting.

"Um, just could I just have some eggs?" she said, a bit more calmly.

"Sure. I'll go tell Sesshomaru."

When he left, Kagome finished dressing. This was going to be a good day. She knew it.

(2)

Downstairs, Masaki Sesshomaru was busy cooking eggs in a pan. He looked much similar to his kid brother Inuyasha but his face more stern looking and his eyes were much colder. He was much older then Inuyasha, about twenty seven years of age, but he still had his good looks. He was cold in personality, but not necessarily mean. He did secretly care about his brother, just not as much as he cared about himself. If only his parents had not died so long ago, he wouldn't have been burdened with the job of watching over his brother as if he were his own child. Sesshomaru had been tempted just to put his brother up for adoption, but something had compelled him to take over where his parents had left off. It wasn't kindness, but it wasn't just for the sake of it either. Either way, he didn't really care. As long as Inuyasha didn't do anything wrong, he didn't mind taking care of him.

"Morning Sesshomaru." Inuyasha said walking down the stairs.

"Hello Inuyasha." Sesshomaru said coldly. "Is your friend alright?"

"Yeah, she's fine. She wanted eggs for breakfast. Do we have anymore?" Inuyasha asked.

"Yes. I heard her from upstairs. I'm making some for her now."

"Thanks bro." Inuyasha sat down at the table and picked up the newspaper. As always, he headed straight for the comics.

"Inuyasha, do you ever bother to read the front page?"

"Why? What are you saying Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha grunted.

Sesshomaru sighed. "What is the point of reading the paper if you only read the funnies? It is designed so that a person can learn about what happened in the world and yet you just skip right to the comics. I just don't see the point in that."

"Well to each his own as the saying goes." Inuyasha snorted. "You should try not being so serious all the time and try laughing for once. You used to be more pleasant."

Sesshomaru glared at his younger brother. He was tempted to say a few choice words, none of them pleasant, to him but then declined. He definitely had no love for his brother, heck he didn't even like him, but that did not mean he was not willing to take care of him. He was not mean to his brother, but he wasn't exactly what you would call nice either.

Kagome walked down the stairs at that moment. Instead of her school uniform, she wore jeans and a red blouse. "How's breakfast coming?" she asked. Sesshomaru did not respond. He only continued cooking the eggs. Kagome had only seen Sesshomaru a few times in her life, but she had seen him enough to know that he was not very social. Kagome didn't mind. It was kind of funny the way he and Inuyasha were so different. They were like Yin and Yang. She giggled slightly at that thought.

"What's so funny?" Sesshomaru asked, his voice as cold as ice.

"Oh nothing. Just thinking about something." she replied. Sesshomaru gave her a distrustful glance, and then returned to cooking breakfast. Kagome sat down at the table next to Inuyasha.

"So how did you sleep?" Inuyasha asked, glancing between the newspaper comics and the girl.

"I feel a lot better then when I was... you know..."

"Don't worry Kagome. You're safe from that sick fuck now."

Kagome sighed. "You don't know him the way I do Inuyasha. My father can be very stubborn. He doesn't stop until he gets what he wants. And even more, he doesn't care about what happens to him. As long as he gets what he wants, he doesn't care if he lives or dies."

Inuyasha decided he would keep that in mind. A person who was that stubborn could be dangerous. Inuyasha had known people like that. People who were willing to die just to fulfill their own selfish desires. Oddly he thought of Haruko is FLCL snarling "Don't get in my way or you'll regret it!!"

A new thought came into his mind. A thought which bothered him to no end. He remembered Kagome saying her father was not just abusive but dangerous. What if he wanted her back? What if Kagome running away drove him further over the edge? Worst of all, what if he wanted Kagome dead? If he did, then he would have to be extra cautious. Abusive parents were all over today's world, but ones which were murderous were not. If Kagome's father was the second type, then he would have to be careful. Nutcase parents were nothing to mess with.

"Breakfast is ready." Sesshomaru said, interrupting his thoughts. Inuyasha's older brother went to the table and set down their eggs in front of them. Both of them ate in silence. For a time that was.

(3)

When breakfast was finished, Kagome left the room to take a shower. Inuyasha was just about to turn on the TV when Sesshomaru walked up to him.

"May I speak to you for a moment?"

"Sure." Inuyasha said, although inside he could sense his brother was angry at him for something. When Sesshomaru said he wanted to "speak to him for a moment" that meant he had done something wrong. Not that he was scared or anything. Inuyasha had never feared his brother. Disliked him maybe, but never feared.

"What did I do this time?" Inuyasha said, a bit irritably.

"I want to talk to you about taking Kagome in." Sesshomaru sighed. "I don't think it was a good idea."

Inuyasha widened his eyes. "What the heck do you mean?! It was a great idea taking her in!"

Sesshomaru shook his head. "Maybe to you it was, but in retrospect it was not."

Inuyasha began to grow angry. "It was I tell you! She's been my friend since I was little!"

Sesshomaru sighed again. He had his own reasons for what he was saying and he would reveal them soon to his brother. "That doesn't make a difference. This was a bad decision."

Inuyasha lost his temper and jumped to his feet. "Well what was I supposed to do, huh?! Just let her suffer under that bastard's hand?! From what she's told us about him we don't know how far this guy might go!"

Sesshomaru looked his brother directly in the eyes. "That is why this is not a good idea."

Inuyasha blinked. "Come again?"

"It's as you said Inuyasha. We do not know how far her father will go."

Inuyasha crossed his arms and glared at his older brother. "Be more specific brother o' mine. I hate it when people use vagueness."

Sesshomaru decided he would have to explain things more if he wanted to get his point across. So he cleared his throat and spoke.

"What I mean Inuyasha is that I'm wondering if she is right. She said her father was nuts, right? Well what if he actually is insane? That makes him much more dangerous then if he were just abusive. People who are both abusive and insane are, in my opinion, the most dangerous type of people. Because a person who is abusive and has also lost his or her mind might hurt others besides their friends of family. Suppose for instance, her father is this type of person, not only abusive but crazy as well. This kind of person might not care who they hit. They might hurt everybody who crosses their path. Even more, what if they enjoy hurting people? That they take pleasure in beating others? Then you've got somebody truly dangerous. From what Kagome has told us, Isamu might be this kind of person."

"Isamu? That's his name?" Inuyasha asked. "How do you know his name?"

"Once when I came to pick you up from Kagome's house I had a short discussion with him. He told me his name and a few other things. I'm surprised you haven't learned his name after all these years."

"Just go on."

Sesshomaru continued. "As I was saying, Isamu might be the kind of person I have described. Abusive, crazy, and above all else, violent towards others. Personally I think he was crazy before Kagome even told us the truth about him."

"What makes you say that?"

"When I conversed with him I always kept looking into his eyes. There was something in his eyes that I distrusted from the beginning. Something dark and ominous. Like he was nice on the outside but he was a sadist within. Even more on that same day, the longer I talked with him the more anxious he seemed to become. Both of his hands were working as I talked with him. With his left hand he was scribbling on a piece of paper with a pen and with his right he was squeezing a stress ball. The longer I talked with him, the more furiously his hands worked. By the end of it he was writing on the paper so hard the paper had torn and he had squeezed the stress ball so hard it had burst. And his eyes weren't just odd looking but worried. Like he really wanted me to leave before something happened. I'm guessing he was afraid of what I might find out."

"Well what do you expect? When your abusive you can't take a chance that somebody is gonna find out about what you do."

"Inuyasha, that's not the point. What I'm saying is I'm worried about what might happen if Kagome's father is insane as well as abusive. What if he wants his daughter back? What if he comes after us or finds out about how we're trying to protect her? All I'm trying to do is prevent further injury and possible bloodshed."

Inuyasha was silent for a few moments. Sesshomaru was right. What if Kagome's father was even worse then they thought? And what if he did try to come after them? It was unlikely, but it was still possible. Inuyasha would not let himself believe it was possible though. All that mattered to him was Kagome's safety.

Inuyasha got up to leave. "I'm gonna hit the grocery store. We're running low on food. You want anything from the store?"

"No thank you. My wallet is on the counter."

Inuyasha left the room. He would keep the warning in mind.

(4)

Inuyasha felt a bit more at ease. Kagome had decided to come with him to the market. He felt a bit more comfortable with her at his side. He had also decided if anybody tried to hurt her, there would be hell to pay.

He was still in his own world when Kagome exclaimed "What the heck is that?!"

Inuyasha snapped back to reality and saw something odd. There were police cars outside of the Kasamatsu house. There was also an ambulance. Deciding to see what was going on he went with Kagome towards the house. Just as he came on the lawn a stocky looking detective stopped him.

"Sorry kid but I can't let you through here. Something happened here last night."

"Define something!" Inuyasha replied.

The detective sighed. "Were you familiar with the Kasamatsu family in any way?"

"Yeah I knew Koga. Why?"

"He was found murdered last night. Somebody broke into his house, beat the shit out of him and then cut his throat. We're looking over the house now to see if we can find any clues or anything."

Inuyasha was too shocked to speak. He wanted to feel joy but instead he felt sadness. He had hated Koga from day one, so why would he be feeling sorry for the loudmouth? God may knew, he did not.

Two people came out of the front door with a stretcher. It was covered by a white sheet, stained with crimson. From beneath the sheet dangled an arm. Inuyasha thought of a David Bowie song that went "Poor soul. Spit upon that poor soul. He never knew what hit him. And it hit him so."

From behind him, Kagome began to weep. "Inuyasha." she whispered. "We're in trouble."

"Why do you say that?"

"He was killed after learned about my father Inuyasha, and I told you my father was dangerous didn't I? You don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out the situation."

Inuyasha felt realization and a wave of fear wash over him. He remembered what Sesshomaru had told him too.

Masaki Inuyasha wondered for the first time if he had gotten in over his head.

To be continued...

WARNING!!! WARNING!!!! YOU MUST READ THIS!!!! The next chapter is going to be on Isamu again and from how dark the next one is going to be I might have to up the rating from PG-13 to R. Keep that in mind when the update comes. If you can't find it in the PG-13 section, look in the R section. You have been warned.

-Randall Flagg2