Chapter 4
Okay. This was getting really old, the eavesdropping hanyou decided, snorting indignantly as Miroku began sweet-talking to Sango yet again. It was probably the fourteenth time that day, but Sango never seemed to grow tired of it.
Women. Go figure, the hanyou shrugged lazily. But it was starting to wear out his nerves. Please talk about something else, Inuyasha begged, bored to tears. They could talk about anything they damn well wanted, as long as it didn't involve Miroku's stupid pick-up lines.
Inuyasha growled. Hurry up and change the topic already!
And to his surprise, as if he was working on some silent telepathic command, Miroku said, "So do you think something happened the last time Kagome was here that made her want to leave?"
Inuyasha sighed in relief. Finally. An interesting topic. He was eager to know the response to this question, of course, being that he was growing worried about Kagome. She hadn't been back for a long time, and he had been nervous, figuring that he had, in some unknown way, offended and angered her. He had replayed their last conversation over and over, trying to comb out anything that might have made Kagome mad.
But honestly, he didn't recall anything in particular.
He was innocent. Really!
His ears flickered as he awaited Sango's reply.
The demon slayer shook her head. "I don't recall her being angry before she left. I'm sure that if anything had happened, she would have told us by now. She's probably very busy back in her own time. Kagome rarely gets to go back, after all. She has a family there. Perhaps we are being inconsiderate of her other life, Miroku. She's not from our world, and we should take that into consideration."
Wow. Inuyasha had never stopped to think of it like that. He sighed, feeling guilty. This whole mess might be his fault after all. Maybe he had been pushing Kagome too hard to search for the Shikon shards. He grimaced. He had really tried backing off, remembering how many arguments his insistence had resulted in, and how many lonely nights he had spent in guilt. And the reason most significant of all- he wanted Kagome to stop thinking of herself as only a shard detector. She was so much more than that to him, although too dense to realize it.
Kagome was his friend. He shifted uncomfortably, trying not to think about the deeper feelings he possessed for her. Feh. Feelings. Drifting back to his earlier train of thought, he wondered if Kagome had still felt pressured to keep coming back to his world.
It had been very selfish of him not to consider the double life that she led. Kagome was constantly complaining about all the tests she had to take back home. Inuyasha couldn't imagine wasting his life studying whatever she was learning about. He had taken a quick peek at one of her textbooks when he had been over in her time and hadn't understood a thing. He knew that Kagome received good grades in school, though he couldn't figure out how she managed to balance her top marks while spending so much time in the feudal era.
The truth was, Inuyasha thought to himself, he hadn't cared so much that she was freaking out about her grades because he had always kind of assumed...
That she would be staying here.
In his time.
He wasn't exactly sure if he meant this in the romantic sense; he just meant that he couldn't imagine what life would be like without Kagome. The hanyou had just kept making assumptions about the future without really bothering to map it out. Kagome belonged here with the rest of them; she belonged here with Miroku and Sango, and especially Shippo, who considered her his mother.
And she...
Inuyasha scowled.
...belonged here with him, too.
He hastily broke off his train of thought, turning back to the other three's conversation in an effort to distract him from admitting too much to himself.
"I'm telling you! It's Inuyasha's fault!" Shippo was yelling, hopping up and down.
Fury stabbed Inuyasha's happy mood. What the-? Did he just say what he thought he just said? Why that little brat! Inuyasha's temple began to throb at that comment. But he did his best to remain perfectly still. He would wait until he heard the remainder of the conversation before pounding Shippo into pulp.
Miroku sighed audibly. "What proof do you have of that, Shippo?" Inuyasha couldn't help snickering softly to himself. He knew Miroku would back him up, and besides, the little ball of fluff didn't have any proof of-
Well, he didn't do anything anyway, damn it!
"Well..." Shippo said, thinking carefully. Then he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Look at him! He's a total idiot!"
Inuyasha growled.
"Hmm. That's a very good point, Shippo," Miroku agreed.
What?! Inuyasha felt his brow twitching.
"Yeah! What more evidence do you need?" The kitsune huffed. "He's got a serious temper problem, and he never says the right things around Kagome! She's always getting mad at him and stuff, isn't she?"
The hanyou stiffened angrily. What the hell? He did not have a tempter problem! What the hell was that stupid little pipsqueak talking about? Damn that dumb runt! If he ever got his hands on the kit, he'd kill him! Damn fox!
Damn him!
Meanwhile, the other two were nodding in visible agreement with Shippo's statement.
"Well, I suppose he does have a temper," Miroku noted thoughtfully. Inuyasha twitched again. Just because he killed a few demons every now and then out of anger did not mean that he had a temper problem. Sure, he had been known to hurt people- especially annoying little fur balls and hentai monks- every so often, did that really justify the claim that he had a serious problem?
Hell no! He should be getting a medal for it, in fact!
"Indeed. Remember the last time they got into an argument because of Inuyasha's thoughtlessness?" Sango asked. She sighed loudly. "Honestly. I don't understand men sometimes. They can be so ignorant."
"Hey!" Miroku exclaimed. He shut up after she shot him a deadly glare.
"I remember what you're talking about!" Shippo interrupted, saving Miroku from losing further self-respect. "Kagome didn't come back for a long time! And it was all because Inuyasha said something stupid!" he exclaimed. He scrunched up his face in mild thought. "Wait, I take that back."
Inuyasha softened his glare. Maybe Shippo wasn't so bad after all.
But then the kitsune continued, "Everything Inuyasha says is stupid."
Miroku tried to refrain from grinning, but Inuyasha could tell that it wasn't working. The monk laughed along with the young fox demon. "Indeed, Shippo. Another excellent point!"
At least Sango wasn't laughing with-
Was she smiling at that comment?
That was it.
He moved with stealth, sneaking up behind Miroku and Shippo, his golden eyes intensified in a murderous glare. Then Inuyasha tapped them both on the shoulder. Miroku and Shippo turned around, their faces paling instantly.
Inuyasha twisted his lips into an evil grin. "Guess who?" he asked dryly. He clobbered both of them with his fists.
"You should really control your temper, Inuyasha," Miroku remarked, rubbing the newfound bump on his skull. The hanyou grit his teeth as Shippo snidely added, "Yeah, baka!"
"That's...it!" Inuyasha hissed through clenched teeth. He swiped Miroku's staff, chasing the two in a circle around Sango. Round and round they went, Inuyasha determined to make his two companions hurt.
But Sango put a stop to all that as she innocently stuck her foot out and tripped all three of them. Inuyasha crushed Shippo with his weight, and Miroku conveniently bowled over into Sango, landing on top of her.
Ooh. Ouch, Inuyasha grinned as Miroku received the beating of his life. He should've left the torture up to Sango all along. It would've saved him time and energy, at least. And it was definitely more interesting than the routine smack down that he administered to Miroku when he aggravated him.
"You're worried about Kagome too, aren't you, Inuyasha?" Shippo asked quietly after prying himself out from beneath the hanyou's body.
The hanyou was taken aback. He scowled. "What makes you think that?"
"She's been gone for a while. Who knows if she's even coming back?" Shippo murmured. Inuyasha blinked. This was some pretty deep stuff, especially coming from a kid.
"She'll be back," Inuyasha replied gruffly. But there was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. What if Shippo was right?
"I think you should go check on her, Inuyasha," Miroku commented out of the blue. Sango nodded her agreement.
"What? Why me?" It wasn't as if the hanyou minded, but it was suspicious, seeing as how they all agreed that he should be the one to return to Kagome's time. Did they suspect something was going on?
"Because, idiot. You're the only one who can go through the well." Miroku rolled his eyes.
Oh yeah.
"We don't know that for sure," Inuyasha retorted. "You've never even tried to cross over to Kagome's time!" He blinked at the three unnerving glares shot in his direction. He was secretly thrilled that they had recommended him on this little journey, since he had been searching for an excuse to find her without forfeiting his pride. He was a half-demon, after all. He had to have pride, and who could blame him?
"Fine. I'll go," the hanyou muttered, trying his best to sound reluctant. He couldn't wait to see Kagome. As he leapt into the well, he thought heard Miroku mutter, "Finally. You know he's been dying to go back."
And then Sango chuckled. "Indeed."
It had only taken him a matter of seconds to reach the other side of the well and to clamber over the top. Too eager to surprise Kagome, the hanyou didn't waste time trying to stay out of sight.
Leaping onto one of the tree branches located next to Kagome's window, Inuyasha balanced himself onto her windowsill, peering inside. He couldn't help the fleeting look of disappointment that he displayed after realizing that Kagome was not in her room.
Maybe she went out.
With his claws, he expertly pried the window open stepped gingerly into the room. Her scent was still fresh, but there was almost a taint to her flowery scent. Confused, the hanyou wrinkled his nose, cocking his head inquisitively. And then his eyes widened in alarm.
It wasn't...
Couldn't be.
Yet, it was.
The smell of Kagome's blood was definitely there, though quite faint. Following the distasteful odor, Inuyasha came to a dead halt in front of Kagome's dresser, where he noticed that her mirror was missing.
What the hell? Why would she get rid of her mirror?
The hanyou stood there trying to make sense of it all, concerned with the fact that Kagome was bleeding. By the scent, he gathered that she had only lost a small amount of blood, hardly something to be worried about. But Kagome was bleeding, and that was all he cared about. It didn't matter how little blood she lost.
She was bleeding, damn it!
The afternoon sun began streaming light through the windows, causing Inuyasha wince as the light reflected off something right into his eye. He moved closer to the dresser and gingerly picked up something between his fingers.
A mirror shard? Had the mirror broken somehow? He sniffed the shard. The faint scent of Kagome's blood lingered on the fragment, puzzling him even further. He scratched his head, trying to use logic to figure it out.
The door swung open suddenly, startling Inuyasha. He cursed, nearly dropping the shard as he turned to find Kagome's kid brother staring at him in shock. Souta's expression quickly melted from surprise to unsuppressed anger, which greatly unsettled the hanyou.
Something terrible had happened in this room.
Kagome...
Souta crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes. "What do you want?"
"Where's Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, trying to ignore the boy's glare. "She hasn't returned to my world for a while and we've been worried about her."
Souta stiffened. "She's not here."
"Oh." Inuyasha blinked. Maybe she was out with her friends again. "Then where is she?"
"She's been missing for a week." Souta's voice with tight with anger, and the hanyou gazed at the boy's clenched fists with bewilderment, barely registering the news.
"She's missing?!" Inuyasha cursed silently. No wonder she hadn't been back for such a long time. The carefree mission that he had initially set out on to find out why Kagome hadn't been back had suddenly taken an unwelcome turn. "Where the hell is she, Souta?" he snarled.
"If I knew, she wouldn't be missing, now would she?" Souta replied icily.
That was it for Inuyasha's temper. Fighting to keep his emotions in check, he snapped, "What the hell is your problem, kid? Your sister's missing, and all you can do is sit there and glare at me?" It was unethical to hit a little kid, Inuyasha kept trying to remind himself as he sat through another one of Souta's glares.
Finally, the younger boy spoke. "It's because of you that she's missing. You and your Kikyo." Angry tears splashed down his cheeks. "You never could understand that my sister was different from Kikyo. It was because of you that Kagome had those nightmares! Did you know that she screamed and cried herself awake every morning? You could never know how much you made Kagome suffer because of your ignorance. You never cared about her!"
Missing?
Nightmares? Him and Kikyo? His mind tried to make sense of all the jumbled words that had fallen out of Souta's mouth. It all started to dawn on him a second later. So Kagome had been having nightmares about him getting back together with Kikyo? Is that what this whole thing was about? The hanyou probably would have laughed, if the situation weren't so serious.
But he felt himself growing frenzied with anger, hurt, and worry. How many times had he told Kagome that he didn't consider her Kikyo's image? He understood that they were two different people. Kagome was entirely different from Kikyo, and that was what he liked about her. Why did she continue to doubt him? He thought she was over that by now, and he hadn't a clue that this was still troubling her so deeply. He growled in frustration. Why was that girl so stubborn?
Now he was really worried. Worried enough not to have noticed Souta kicking him for a good three minutes. He picked Souta up by the scruff of his shirt. "Look, Souta. I understand that you're worried about Kagome. I am too. I had no idea that this was going on. I need you to help me find her, so calm down."
Souta crossed his arms, but stopped struggling to get free. Inuyasha set him down gently. "Is there anything that you know about Kagome's disappearance that might help me find her?"
"Her bows and arrows are missing..." Souta commented thoughtfully, adding, "So she probably went back to your time."
She...
"There's no way that Kagome came back there! We haven't seen her for weeks!" Inuyasha protested.
Souta shrugged, frowning. "Maybe she didn't want you to see her."
"But then where would she go?" Inuyasha snapped.
Where the hell would she go? Please don't let her have done something stupid...
Like wander off by herself.
Inuyasha's eyes widened. Oh no...
"I think I might know where she is," the hanyou stated, not knowing how scared he looked at that very moment. He thanked Souta for the information, told him not to worry, and departed from the room through the window.
As Inuyasha raced towards the well, Souta's farewell message kept playing over and over in his mind.
"Please...find my sister before it's too late," Souta had whispered.
Inuyasha had to find her.
He had to.
(A.N. To all of my wonderful reviewers, good news! I am still alive! I apologize for this extremely long delay! I am nowhere near where I want to be in posting this story! I am very sorry in having made all of you wait so long, and my only excuse this time is that I'm a senior in high school this year. I've finally finished SATs and college applications; only I'm taking 4 AP classes.
I had honestly planned to continue writing this year, but I haven't had the time. I really took on more than I could handle, so I'm doing my best to keep up in school, and it's really taking up all my time. I'm sorry that all of you out there have to suffer with me, but I promise I'm doing my best to make things right!
As you may or may not have noticed, I took down Chapters 5-8. DO NOT PANIC! If you reread Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4, you will realize that I have rewritten them. Why, you ask? Because I recently looked over my work and realized how much I hated what I wrote. So I did a little revision, and Miroku, Sango, and Shippo will be more involved in this story.
Don't worry, though! These revisions will not alter the story's direction (too much). Ahem. I'm nearly done with my revision of the other chapters, so when I find time, I will update ASAP. I know you guys have heard that several times from me before, but I really mean it.
I hope you don't hate the revisions too much- they were just something that I felt I had to do. OCD, you know. But before I go, I wanted to make one thing clear. I continue- and PROMISE- to see this story out til' the end. And unless I'm in some freak accident or something, this story will finish! I am not going to stop writing this story for any reason, although my updates will probably face some delays.
In the meantime, please keep reviewing, and please, please, please, e-mail me with any comments/suggestions. I love hearing from you all! Please be patient with me! Thank you for all of your support!
P.S.: If anyone has any "How to survive Senior year/College" tips, they'd be really appreciated- no joke! Thanks!)
-Xi