Chapter 22: Past and Present Collide—Or do they?
Kouga growled, startling everyone around him. He bounded out of the wooden hut and vanished into the woods. Inuyasha quickly followed, muttering something about wimps and Kagome. Sesshoumaru instructed Rin to stay and behave and followed after the two young men.
Miroku looked after them, then stared at the ground again.
"Lady Kaede, will you please look after all the children? I am going out to help." Sango glanced at Miroku and walked out, lifting Kirara onto her shoulder and hefting her boomerang onto her back.
Three small figures crowded the downcast monk. "Miroku, why don't you go help? Mama may be in danger!"
"Kagome has all the help she needs, Shippou."
"Come on, Shippou, We're going." Hoonomei made his way to the door, closely followed by Shippou.
"Stop, both of you! Sango said you're not supposed to leave here!" Miroku stood. "Fine, fine. I get it. I'll go. But you have to promise to stay here and take care of the ladies." Both boys nodded. Miroku patted their heads and left the hut. All three kids grinned at each other, exchanging thumbs-ups. Lady Kaede hid a smile.
*****
Kagome held herself very still as she thought about what was going on. The assailant was taking her somewhere deep within the park. She looked around in the dim light, trying to figure out where she was.
The energy she had sensed earlier was still close by.
The assailant finally stopped at the dilapidated children's playground and dropped her. She stayed down and waited, covertly watching the man for any signs of recognition. She memorized his unkempt appearance, his wild blond hair, and his twitching face with the crooked nose, all the while conscious about the energy moving closer and suddenly stopping.
"Empty out your pockets. Now."
"I don't have any…" The man slapped her. "Liar! Empty them now!"
Kagome wiped her lip. "I said, I don't have any pockets."
The man growled. "Take off your clothes then."
Her hands automatically clutched at her shirt collar. "No!" If he dares to touch me, I'll kill him! But not unless I have to…
"Take them off now!" One of his hands shot out and grabbed her arm. His fist reared back and came at her. Shutting her eyes, she waited for the blow to come.
When nothing happened, she peeked out of one eye. And gasped.
Thomas had grabbed the assailant's fist and had pulled it back.
The man's twitching eyes were staring at Thomas. He suddenly dropped her and turned his attention to the newcomer. He tried to connect punches several times, but a smirking Thomas kept dodging them. Where have I seen this before? Kagome paled in recognition. This is just like when Inuyasha and Kouga fight!, Kagome thought as she backed away from the two males.
The man's punches had slowed down. Thomas grinned, a feral smile that made Kagome shiver. "Taking advantage of defenseless women, aren't you?" Kagome crossed her arms and glared at Thomas. Defenseless my foot! I was taking my time!
Thomas smirked again. "I'll teach you to pick on my friend!" He swung at the man, connecting with his jaw. As the now unconscious man went down, Thomas turned to Kagome, grinning. "Well, I'm glad my nightly run took me through the park tonight. So, are you ready to go home?" Wordlessly Kagome nodded.
Thomas went up to her and handed her the sketchbook and pencil case, then hugged her. "Did he hurt you, Kagome-chan?"
She shook her head. "I'm so glad to see you, Thomas." As she hugged him back, he hefted her over his shoulder and ran off in a whirlwind.
*****
Miroku found the others congregated around the well, arguing loudly. "I'm going!"
"Oh, no you won't! She's MY woman!"
"Will you two shut up? It doesn't matter WHO goes, just go already!"
"You two are acting like immature children. Rin behaves better than the two of you."
"What seems to be the matter, Lady Sango?" Sango turned to Miroku. "Inuyasha and Kouga are at it again. Neither wants to go, yet neither wants the other to go."
"Since when can Kouga use the well?" Sango shrugged. "I don't think he understands where Kagome is."
"In that case, I'll go." As he moved towards the well, it glowed. The bickering parties stopped arguing and turned to watch the light coming from the well. Seconds later, it vanished. Four noses sniffed the air. Two voices yipped and a third squeaked.
After throwing her backpack over the low wall, Kagome climbed out of the well a minute later, freezing under the scrutiny of the group of people she clearly was not expecting to be around the well.
The demon lord bowed at her when she glanced his way. "Welcome back, Kagome-sama." Sesshoumaru turned to Sango. "I'll be at the old woman's home." With that, he was gone.
Kagome slowly finished climbing out of the well. As soon as her feet touched the ground, her eyes watered up. "I'm so happy to see you!" She ran past everyone and straight into Kouga's startled arms. When he realized what had happened, Kouga grinned triumphantly at everyone.
Inuyasha and Miroku growled at the scene, startling Sango. Inuyasha bounded off into the woods, tearing up everything in his path. Miroku stalked off towards the village, muttering darkly. Sango stared after the monk, her face scrunched up in confusion. What was THAT about?
*****
Kagome made her way back to the village, still clutching Kouga's arm, and still gazing at him with an adoring look. Which made Sango feel extremely uncomfortable and very angry. "Kagome-chan, what happened?"
She shook her head. "My hero…" And nestled herself in Kouga's arms. Kouga grinned and held her tighter, winking at Sango. "See? She does want to be my woman. Why doesn't the puppy understand that?"
Kagome giggled. "Oh, Kouga, don't be silly. Just because you rescued me doesn't mean I'll be your woman."
Kouga stopped. Rescued? "But—but—"
"Besides, you even called me defenseless because I took too long to take care of the problem myself." Kagome released his arm, frowning. "Now that I think about it, you behaved just like…" Her frown deepened. "…Just like Inuyasha! Oh, you chauvinist pig! SIT!"
From deep in the forest, the sound of something thumping hard onto the ground echoed.
Sango burst out laughing as Kagome gasped and took off towards the thump
sound. Kouga stared after her. "What in Kami's name just happened?" Sango
linked her arm with his and went towards the village.
*****
© 12/12/03, M.A.R.
New Voice: Hello again, readers. The author was unable to make it back in time, so the job fell onto me. It is my job to offer any insight here in the space designated as author's notes. As you can see from today's chapter, the relationship between Kagome and Thomas seems to be heating up. Which is sure to lead to trouble later. But I digress. Please make sure to review the chapter--it makes the author happy. And we all know that a happy author writes more.
On a side note, I would like to post a quote from a recent anime I happened to catch. I don't know if it's any relevant...
Mario: They say that love had the power to overcome any adversity.
Beatrice: That is illogical. It must be some sort of mythological
folktale.
--from Geneshaft
(More or less) Permanent A/N: *sweatdrops…* Ehehe…
First fanfic… If nothing else, it's a test run, since this will be my first
real fanfic posted anywhere. I don' really know where it's going though,
so please bear with me. Reviews are welcome, and flames will be used on
undead mikos who refuse to leave our heroes alone. :o)