"So, what are you planning?" Miroku asked, eyeing his friend.
"I don't know. She's already hurt so I shouldn't play too rough with her."
"Whatever you say man, but I have go home, my uncle is going to kill me." Miroku said glancing at the old grandfather clock behind Inu Yasha.
The phone suddenly rang, and Miroku picked up the cordless phone. After a brief exchange of words, he handed the phone to Inu Yasha, with a strange look on his face.
"Hello?" Inu Yasha nearly barked out.
"It's me." A sharp and seductive voice replied.
"Kikyo…" He stuttered, she hadn't called him for ages, and the last time she did call was when she had cancelled a date with him for 'family reasons'.
"What do you want?" He said, quickly changing his tone, and at the other end of the line, he heard a growl, different from her cousins and friends. She told him to wait a moment and he heard some shuffling noises on the other side, apparently, she had covered the receiver.
He heard gigging before the phone was uncovered.
"Oh, um, Inu Yasha, you know how much I care about you and all, but I have to tell you something." The voice in the background faded and all he could hear was Kikyo, but what was she getting at?
Meanwhile, Miroku was debating with himself whether or not to sneak into the kitchen to listen in.
"Hey Inu, gonna be off for a sec." Miroku said, striding into the dining area.
Inu Yasha barely noticed his friend walk by him.
"Well, I've been thinking a lot lately and It's…well it's not you but it's me, I think we should start seeing other people." She quickly finished, releasing a breath of air; this was easier than she had thought it would be.
"Kikyo, I- don't understand, why would you-" He was confused, why so suddenly?
"Look, its not you, it's me, ok? I just don't want a serious relationship, that's all, no hard feelings, alright? I've got to go now, see you around." She said rather rushed.
"No, don't hang up!" He yelled desperately into the phone.
Click
He redialed her number but no one picked up, he tried again, and again, for several more times before throwing the phone across the room, nearly panting with anger.
Right on cue, Miroku came into the living room, eyeing Inu Yasha pitifully; he had heard everything, but was surprised that Inu Yasha apparently cared so much for Kikyo when he usually seemed so indifferent.
He was just about to say something when he heard someone else coming down the stairs.
"What's with all the commotion?" It was Sesshomaru, he had came out of his room when he heard the noise downstairs, at first he thought that the two delinquents were playing a video game, but Inu Yasha never got to the point of breaking the sound barrier because of an alien destroying a spaceship.
He reached the bottom of the stairs and saw the new Sony cordless phone lying beside the pale pink wall. He walked over to the spot and kneeled down, examining the damage with his fingers and eyes. There would be a dent here and there, and the phone was broken, he concluded as he picked the remains up, thus, another object to add to the pile of things his brother had broken in the past year.
"Next time you decide to break something, try something that's yours, this was the phone to replace the last one you broke. What made you to perform something so stupid?" He demanded, walking up to Inu Yasha, who seemed to be shivering. Sesshomaru finally noticed his brother clenching and unclenching his fists.
"Hey-" He slowly began, his voice less harsh, and gently laid a hand on his brother's shoulder.
"Don't touch me!" Inu Yasha yelled, slapping his brother's hand away, he repulsed at the touch, he hated him, hated him and the whole damn world with an empty burn.
"What's wrong?" Sesshomaru tentatively asked, eyeing his brother strangely, something bad had happened; the only other time he was like this was when their parents had died…
"You don't even care, do you? All that's important to you is your stupid studies and your work, its all your fault that dad died and you know it, it's all entire fault!" Inu Yasha harshly hollered into his brother's face. Inu Yasha had been holding this in since the day of his father's funeral, hating, revolting, and disgusted at the mere presence of his brother, and everything that had to do with him.
Silence, all the streetcars stopped honking and beeping, the homeless and the poor stopped whimpering from hunger, and violence, and even the guard-dog's outside seemed to stop barking.
That was when Sesshomaru lashed out; his fist slamming into his brother's face, knocking him against the wall where Inu Yasha had threw the phone. Sesshomaru towered over his slumped body for a second before walking back up and stairs and slamming the door to his room shut.
Inu Yasha lay sprawled against the wall, head bowed and breathing in deeply. Miroku, a shaky bystander to the incident, slowly approached his fallen friend and offered his hand.
Just as slowly, Inu Yasha raised his head to meet Miroku's concerned eyes, but he didn't need the help, didn't want it, he just wanted to be alone, and so he needed to leave. He brushed off the hand and steadily stood up with the wall as his only support, and staggered out the door. He too, slammed it shut on his way out.
Miroku only stared at the closed door, his hand still lingering in the empty air where his best friend had been.
Kagome stood shocked at what she had seen in that last few moments. She had heard yelling and loud noises downstairs, so she poked her head out the door to investigate, even though Sesshomaru had told her to rest. And what she saw was pure horror, Inu Yasha had yelled something at his brother, and Sesshomaru just slugged him in return. She could not have put it in simpler words.
She had suspected that Sesshomaru was strong, but not how easily angered he could get. She stared awe struck as Inu Yasha crashed into the wall and slid down limply. It was then that she heard the thumping coming up the stairs; Sesshomaru was coming back up. She quickly closed the door and waited for him to pass by her room, when the coast was clear; she opened her door again and looked back out.
Miroku was now beside Inu Yasha, and offered his hand, which to Kagome's surprise; Inu Yasha gave no heed to, stood up on his own, and walked out of the house.
Only Miroku stayed where he was looking at the door with his still outstretched hand. Amidst her shock, she realized that she should not have been peeking into any of this; so she abruptly pulled her body back inside her room, but accidentally bumped into the desk near the entrance.
"Ouch," She almost cursed; but once more, she heard someone coming up the stairs, and it could only be Miroku… She quickly closed the door, careful reached the bed, and hastily went beneath the covers, feigning sleep.
She closed her eyes just as Miroku opened the door. He stood at the doorway for a moment, and Kagome felt his eyes trained on her face. She didn't dare move a muscle as he walked towards the bed where she 'slept' and sat next to her on the bed.
"You saw everything, right?" Miroku asked, twirling a strand of her hair around his fingers.
She tried to ignore him, but then his other hand wandered somewhere else.
"Lecher," She sat up quickly slapping him, but in the process, the sharp pain she felt in her back reminded her that she was still injured.
"Easy there, I was just checking to see if you were really asleep." He said winking at her and helping her sit up against the bed planks.
"I didn't mean to overhear, I just came out to see what was going on..." She said apologetically, she felt strangely guilty for seeing everything down there.
"I know, I know but listen to me, please." Said Miroku clasping onto her hands, and she lifted her face up to meet his.
With a sad smile, Miroku continued. "Please, don't ever mention what you saw to anyone." He pleaded, staring into her eyes.
"But he hit him! That's child abuse, you know, even though Inu Yasha isn't much of a child anymore, but he didn't deserve to be treated like that!" Tears seeped from eyes, she understood how it felt to be neglected, misunderstood, and it must have been how Inu Yasha was feeling.
However, Miroku's suddenly cold voice broke through her sobs. "It's not your place to say, leave here tomorrow and never let out a word about what happened tonight, or else..." He ended, once more twirling her hair in his fingers.
For a minute, that was all he did, play with her hair. But almost as an afterthought, his hands left her hair and gently held her face, as he slowly brought his mouth to her trembling body and whispered, "You wouldn't want to get hurt again, would you?" and inhaled a whiff of her sweet scent. He leg go of her then, and getting up from the bed, sauntered to the door and held the knob. He watched the motionless Kagome for a few more seconds before he blew her a kiss, "Good night."
He closed the door, and walked over to Sesshomaru's room; he stood there for a moment, gathering his courage, should he knock?
"Come in" Replied a steely voice as soon as Miroku placed his hand on the doorknob.
He hesitated before entering. The lights in the room were turned off so he couldn't really see anything; the only source of light was the moon streaming in though the glass window. Sesshomaru himself sat in a large black lounge chair facing the interior of his room. Miroku could barely make out the silver head hovering above the large chair.
Miroku opened his mouth, "Inu Yasha, he-"
"He left, I know, so follow him. I think I know where he's heading to." Sesshomaru said, turning around to face a very solemn Miroku.