Author's Note: I saw a show that inspired me to dig this old story up... I tried before to write it, and it just got a little too personal for my liking. But, here I am trying again, and this time, I intend to finish it. It's a little dark, and it may overstep a few people's boundaries, and if so, I advise you to either skip the parts that do, or not to read this. I do intend to finish The Prince and I (I'm working on the last chapter and the sequel now...), so I don't plan to just cast that aside... I love it too much. That said; let's get on with the main event! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Does it look to you like I own InuYasha? I thought not.

No Sanctuary

Chapter One: Touchy

"What's wrong with him?"

"How should I know?" A gasp resounded. "He's got paws!"

"And a tail," the first voice suddenly said, "He's a youkai!"

A little girl screamed loudly.

These were the voices that woke Shippou as he lay among the bushes. The memories of how he'd gotten there were groggy at best; it was most likely better that he didn't remember anyway. Two little kids, maybe five years old, were standing stock-still in front of him, their eyes wide in fright and awe.

"What do you two want?" Shippou asked grouchily.

At the sight of his fangs, having grazed over his lips when he talked, the kindergarteners ran back to the playground and away from the few trees. All the better for the kitsune. Shippou stretched lightly, and found a sharp pain shoot up his back.

"What the--?" He muttered to himself as he tenderly felt what he could of his back, trying to assess what damage had been done.

Unfortunately at that moment, the memories of the night before came flooding back into his mind.

"Shippou... What have I said about seeing her?"

A startled glance in the direction of his mother. He backed against the door as he closed it, answering, "Um... not to—uhh, I mean... not to see her..."

Shippou shuddered.

Through this is mother was deadly calm. So calm, in fact, that he wondered if she even cared at all for him.

"You disobeyed me, son. This is your punishment."

A chair... how had he gotten on the ground? He couldn't remember that part. His mother... with the chair, towering over him as he lay on the ground, panting and frightened. His side stung. Even though his mother was just a human, and he a powerful youkai, he was frightened of her. He didn't dare fight back.

Instantly suppressing those memories on reflex before everything came back to him, he brushed himself off. Leaves clung to his tail, hair and clothes, and even a few to his paws. Looking around, Shippou saw his shoes lying at the base of a small tree. They were soaked through, obviously ruined, and caked in mud.

"Good as gone," Shippou murmured.

The kitsune glanced around the park casually, noting exactly where he was, and began the walk to anywhere. Anywhere was better than his home.

Kouga quickly by-passed a couple of officers who were 'needing' to talk to him on 'important' matters. The police station was particularly busy today. Apart from a new murder in town that was both gruesome and tiresome, there were more teenage tantrums involving spray-paint and other vandalism, and even more thefts by old law-breakers. But at least he had special interest in what he was working on now, even though the father of the kid knew how to push his buttons.

Kouga gestured to the father anyhow, knowing that the guy didn't bother him as much as he pretended. "Hey,"

"Well? Have you found him yet?" Inuyasha asked quickly, the undertone of a growl lacing his words.

"Always this impatient?" Kouga smirked. But he knew that finding Inuyasha's kid was an important case. "We have a few leads, and if you want... I should rephrase that. If you behave like a good doggie, I'll take you with me to explore them."

"Let me rephrase that for you. You're letting me go with you because you realize that if I don't find my kid and it's your fault that I'll rip out your guts and store them in my kitchen." Inuyasha growled menacingly.

Geeze, was this hanyou scary when it came to his kid. "Alright, alright. Do be a little mindful that you're standing in the middle of a police station, would you? It costs a lot to bail someone out."

"Keh," Inuyasha muttered.

Kagome was comfortable. She was snuggled in her comfy double bed; perfect for just her but room enough for the occasional special someone who came along. That was why she was extremely irritated when someone rang her doorbell. With a glance at her clock to find that it was almost midnight now, she got up slowly. Whoever it was sure seemed impatient, because they rang the bell three more times before she'd made it downstairs.

"I'm freaking coming already!" Kagome practically growled as she looked through the peephole. With a startled sort of squeak, she realized it was someone familiar. She threw open the door.

"Hey Kagome," He said, shaking slightly, "sorry I--."

Kagome cut him off. "Shippou, what happened this time?"

She gestured him in and he followed, closing the door behind him. It was clear that it was going to take a bit of coaxing to get the newest incident out of him. Kagome sighed; that meant an even longer night.

"Would you get off my back already?!" Kouga shouted.

Inuyasha growled a warning. Kouga ignored him. The impatient hanyou and been badgering him all day as they drove around in Kouga's car looking for Shippou. The police radio that was installed hadn't said much of anything about more news of Shippou. Apparently no one had seen hide nor hair of the kitsune since he'd gone missing yesterday evening. That particular part was fast becoming a point of interest for Kouga.

"So..." Kouga said hesitantly. If he even so much as hinted the wrong direction, Inuyasha would never tell the reason Shippou hadn't been home. "What's been going on with the wife?"

Inuyasha looked at Kouga sulkily through the corner of his eye. "Kikyo's the same as always."

'Duly noted,' Kouga thought before saying, "Did Shippou happen to tell her where he was going...?"

Of course, Kouga knew that Shippou was most likely not missing. The little kit had been an off/on disappearing act since he'd been old enough to pull a Houdini. This was later than most people thought, for a demon child. Apart from that, Kouga also knew that Kikyo had plenty of bad habits around the house. One particular bad habit had been drinking. The wolf demon had known Inuyasha and Kikyo in their high school days, and she'd had the telltale signs of becoming an alcoholic then, too. But now whenever he saw her she was sober to the bone, though he knew that it was not the case the majority of the time.

"No." Inuyasha answered shortly.

He knew what Kouga was trying to do. Kouga mentally cursed himself.

"Do you think we have a chance of finding him at some of the same places?" Kouga asked lightly.

"I'd try Kagome's if I were you." Inuyasha suggested, staring moodily out the window with sharp eyes, trying to find his son anywhere on the empty streets.

Shippou's hand shook as he accepted the juice quietly. This was the way it had always been. The poor kitsune would encounter his drunken mother when he got home from school, do something minor that pissed her off, and run off to Kagome's after a certain amount of time. Every single time he'd been taken back, and Shippou still had not the urge to let Kagome tell someone about Kikyo.

"Shippou, please tell me what happened." Kagome said soothingly.

The kitsune involuntarily shivered. "Mom was drunk again."

Kagome sighed. "I don't understand why you just don't overpower her. This shouldn't be as hard as it is for you." Shippou didn't say anything, so Kagome drove on with her small reprimanding. "You are a demon, and a damn powerful one at that. Kikyo is just human."

"I know..." He said quietly, clutching his juice but not drinking it.

Kagome sat silently. So he wouldn't tell her voluntarily. Gently, she nudged him. "Show me the new wounds."

Shippou looked up at her with startled eyes, but then softened them somehow. He gingerly lifted his shirt. Kagome noted that this time there were dozens of bruises and a five-fingered gash on his side that didn't look deep.

"How drunk was she this time?"

He shrugged. "I came home as usual, forgot to take off my shoes and that was all it took."

Kagome stood up and went to the bathroom. "What'd she use?"

God, how insensitive that was! It was like she was talking about some poor sod she'd heard about on the news and not the gentle kitsune sitting at her kitchen table with bruises over his demon body. Speaking of, how come he wasn't healing those bruises? Other youkai she knew healed instantly when they bruised, yet Shippou healed as a human did.

"A lot of things," Came his answer. "First it was just her hands, and then... she grabbed whatever was in reach."

Kagome grabbed the first aid kit from under the sink and returned to the kitchen to find him picking at the finger gouges. No doubt in Kagome's mind that Kikyo hadn't used whatever was in reach when she made those. "Have you thought about telling your father about this?"

The reaction she received was instant and expected; Shippou jumped up, scooting towards the nearest exit with fearful eyes. "I can't tell dad what she does! He loves her too much to believe me!"

Kagome sighed, slumping her shoulders as she set the box on the table. "Alright, so we won't tell your father..."

He relaxed again, sitting down on the table instead of in a chair so she could dress the wound on his side. There was nothing, unfortunately, that she could do for the bruises that marred his back and chest. "What if we told my cop friend?"

Shippou gave her a look. "Don't you mean 'boyfriend'?"

"No, I don't mean boyfriend. Kouga's just an old friend from high school." Kagome said, clicking her tongue impatiently.

It wasn't a discussion. It was an argument... and a stupid one at that.

"I will not!"

"Will too!"

"She's not even my girlfriend!"

"Doesn't mean you didn't wish she was!"

"I'm on the goddamn job, how do you come off thinking I'm going in for a shag instead?!" Kouga was furious.

Inuyasha was worse. "Because it's Kagome! You're always a stupid half-ass around her!"

Kouga snorted. "Like you're any better."

Inuyasha crossed his arms huffily. The car was parked in front of Kagome's small but well-kept blue house, its white trim adding a soft tone to it overall. There was a light on in the kitchen and both men saw two shadows dimly moving about. There was no getting past this argument.

"Well we could always both go in..." Kouga suggested, but the words came out in a voice that suggested Inuyasha stay in the car.

"No way in hell I'm sending you in there to get distracted from finding my son," Inuyasha said, grudgingly stepping out of the car.

Kouga didn't say anything. Getting Inuyasha to agree was the best he could do at the moment. Apart from being touchy about his son, he also happened to be touchy about his high school crush. Kouga's new flame for the moment.

"Would you please not push me away?" Kagome said as he once again veered sharply to the side to avoid her pressing fingers.

Shippou mumbled a sorry, but Kagome didn't have time to respond, as the doorbell rang.

"Coming!" she called out, and turning to Shippou, said, "You stay right there, mister."

Kagome put down the bandage and Neosporin before going to the door. As she had earlier that night, she looked anxiously through the peephole. What she saw made her even more nervous, but at the same time she was partially relieved. This way it wouldn't hurt her conscious or make Shippou believe she was betraying his trust.

And Inuyasha wasted no small talk. "Kagome," He gave a small nod in greeting, his eyes full of serious and straight to the point. "Is Shippou here?"

"Yes. He got here around midnight."

Kouga felt as if he were being left out of the conversation and completely unacknowledged. But there was something indescribable, something that Kouga couldn't quite comprehend, that had passed between Inuyasha and Kagome. Kagome stepped aside, letting Inuyasha in. Kouga stepped just inside the door, letting the hanyou have his say with his son.

Inuyasha froze in the doorway as soon as he entered.

Shippou looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Previously the kitsune had been poking gently at the discolored purple bruise on his shoulder, oddly resembling a circle. Inuyasha raked his eyes over his son's body, seeing all the bruises and, with slight alarm, seeing the gouges that resembled his wife's fingers.

Of course, Inuyasha had always known that Kikyo had a tendency to get drunk on more than one occasion. He'd know since high school, when Kikyo touched her first drink at a party with their friends. But right now, the full effects of this information truly hit home. Though Kagome didn't understand the lack of healing from the demon teen, Inuyasha understood fully.

To be able to heal a beaten and broken body, his beaten and broken heart had to be healed first.

To Be Continued...