Disclaimer- See Ch 4.

A/N- This CH will have switching POVs. (I like to change things around…) Also, there will be an original character here. She's not a major character though, so don't worry. Also, I kinda took demonspawn666's way of setting her chapters, with the changing POVs… I hope it's okay! And it's just for this CH…

A/N (2)- I'll tell you right now, there is a slight torture scene in the beginning. I don't think it's as bad as some I've read, but if you get squeamish easily, don't read it.

ALSO- Kag'sBF: I be so sorry I didn't reply to you! I feel really bad now… (I deserved it…) And your ideas where cool, but I don't know if I could fit them in the story… Maybe the one where Sess talks to Inuyasha though, that has definite appeal! So, if I can, I kinda want to put that in… And again, I am so sorry, please forgive me?

CH 16- Danger

Sango was folding laundry, one of her favorite chores. Well, her ONLY favorite chore. She liked how it was soothing and relaxing, it didn't require any thinking, so it cleared up your mind to think of other pressing matters. Right now, it was Sesshomaru and Kagome.

Sesshomaru was so like his brother in ways. They weren't completely alike, God no, but they had similarities that ran farther then the way they looked.

They both had protective streak miles long. She had felt it in the way Sesshomaru looked at Kagome. She had seen it in the way Inuyasha had looked at Aya. She wondered where Aya was now…

Sango missed Inuyasha. They'd fought all the time, but he had still been her best friend. They'd talked about the band, about the latest action movies, about martial arts. She'd always been a tomboy, wasn't ashamed to admit it.

Sango started to hum as she thought about him. Aerosmith, of course. He hadn't been able to get enough of them… Went to their concerts, had all their CDs, made all of them listen to them during rehearsals… It was sweet.

She heard the front door slam. She smiled.

"Sango? Where are you?"

"I'm in the laundry room. How was your day?"

"Hellish. I'm not going back. Where're the boys?" " Miroku came and kissed her hello.

"Friend's houses again. I swear, they're trying to get away from us. And you say that everyday, then just end up going anyways."

"I know. I love my job. And yeah, they probably are trying to get away, I know I tried to get away from my parents." Miroku flashed her a grin. He hugged her. And of course, his hand went wandering.

"Hey!" Sango slapped him on the shoulder. "Hands to yourself."

"Aw… I've always had a secret fetish about laundry rooms…" he leaned close, "…and you…" he kissed her neck. She shivered. "…and no clothes whatsoever…"

Sango blushed and shoved him away. "Later. I have clothes to fold."

He brightened. "Seriously, later?"

Sango blushed again before nodding quickly.

"Yes!" Miroku skipped back into the kitchen and started pulling out some food from the refrigerator, singing a little song she didn't recognize. "High school girls, high school girls, all for me, high school girls!"

She would've been angry if she didn't already know how harmless he was.

She went back to folding clothes. She was thinking about what to make for dinner when she heard a yell form the kitchen. She walked to the door, and then stood stunned.

Miroku was being pushed around, his arms failing, but there was nobody there. It was like he was fighting an invisible opponent. A cut appeared on his forehead, and it snapped her out of her trance. "Miroku!"

She dashed forward, but then hit something, like a wall. She fell to the floor. She looked back up, only to fall back down.

Inuyasha was… right in front of her. He looked like he always had: torn jeans, band shirt, scruffy Converse, long hair pulled into a low ponytail.

"Inuyasha…."

Kagome and Sesshomaru sat together in his room, just enjoying each other's company.

"Sesshomaru?"

"Yes?"

"What do you wanna be when you grow up?"

Sesshomaru lifted an eyebrow at her. "I am grown up."

"Yeah, that's what you think. But seriously, what do you want to spend the rest of your life doing?"

Sesshomaru didn't answer for a minute, just staring off into space. "I… I don't know. I never really thought of it, just that whatever I was going to do, I would be wonderful at, and I would get lots of money."

Kagome rolled her eyes at him. "You are so arrogant. And greedy. What if whatever job you got, paid a lot, but you weren't happy with it?"

He shrugged. "It wouldn't matter. I would just keep going at it, until I had enough money to do what I really wanted."

Kagome dropped on the bed and stared up at the ceiling, her legs dangling from the edge. "I wouldn't be able to do that. I'd quit that job. Life is so precious, I wouldn't want to spend it doing something I don't like." She turned her eyes to him, to find him staring down at her. "But then, there's always the fact that I probably won't live to see my next birthday, nevermind picking a career."

Sesshomaru grabbed her wrist and pulled her up and toward him. "Don't talk like that. I won't let you. You won't die, you'll live. You'll graduate form high school, college. You'll get married, have kids. You'll die in your old age, when you've gotten to do everything you've always wanted. I won't let you not have that."

Kagome rested her forehead against his chest. "I'm scared Sesshomaru. I'm scared I won't be able to do those things. I want to do them, I want them."

Sesshomaru held her close. "You will, you will."

Suddenly, Kagome shot straight up. "Oh my god… What is that!" She clutched at her chest.

"Kagome? What is it?"

Kagome started to gasp. "Something… something is wrong, really wrong… Something really bad is happening!"

"Where Kagome, tell me." Sesshomaru held her shoulder, and tried to keep her from falling over.

"I can't tell! I just… something! Ah!" Kagome started to shake, and her eyes rolled to the back of her head.

Sesshomaru held her down, afraid out of his mind. He'd never seen Kagome do this before.

"Kagome? Kagome!"

She'd fainted.

Sango watched as her best friend grinned at her. There was something…. off… about him.

"Hey Sango. Who you killin' today?"

It was the same voice, the same greeting he'd used during junior high and high school.

"M-Maybe y-y-you… if you d-d-don't s-shut up…" Her same answer, if a bit stuttered.

Inuyasha smiled at her. "It's nice to know you're the same. How's life been? For me, it's been cool. But then again, I'm dead, so it's not like I can complain. Tell me, do you ever think of me? Or am I just "that boy I went to school with that got killed"?"

His words hurt. "That's not true! I think of you everyday! You were my best friend, do you think I'd just forget you!"

Inuyasha nodded. "Well, yeah. I would've if you had been the one who died."

Sango stared at him. He noticed. "C'mon, it's not like you were my family or anything! Why would I remember you?"

'No… no, that can't be Inuyasha… It can't.'

"So, you and Miroku are together. Tell you the truth, I never expected it. I always thought you hated his guts. But, I guess I was wrong. I think he's a bit of a pansy actually." He gestured to the prone Miroku, lying unconscious on the kitchen floor. "Didn't take much to knock him out."

Sango finally realized what was wrong with this Inuyasha. There was a manic gleam in his eyes. They were just different. It wasn't the same Inuyasha, obviously.

"Okay, Sango, so, you're next." Inuyasha laughed and rubbed his hands together.

"W-what? What'm I next for?"

"Pain. Really, it wasn't that subtle." Inuyasha made a gesture with his hand, and something grabbed at her.

Something struck her face, her stomach, She cried out.

Inuyasha looked like a kid watching Santa hand him everything he wanted on a golden platter.

Something grabbed at her wrist. Sango watched in a kind of shocked clarity as her wrist started bending back, the wrong way.

"Ahhhh…" Tears fell from her eyes.

Her wrist kept going, then suddenly, it was snapped back.

She screamed. Oh god, it hurt, how much it hurt.

Inuyasha grabbed at her ankle. "Here, lets do this one too." He grinned at her as her started to twist her ankle.

Sango watched, eyes wide. Then it started to hurt.

Inuyasha didn't change his pace, didn't suddenly snap it, just kept going at that slow, leisurely pace. She could hear bones crack.

She knew she was screaming, even if he curiously didn't hear anything. The last thing she saw before blacking out was a second Inuyasha behind the first one, crying.

POV

I stood wacthing the couple on the bed, one fainted and the other frantically calling her name. It was sad to watch, the lives of such young kids torn apart. But, in the end, it would come to a good end….

Would it be good for them, that was the question.

I have no doubt, nothing will be the same before. Well, that's pretty obvious. I wish it wouldn't be this way, but it had to. Lives of innocents balanced on whether Kagome was strong enough.

I knew she was, but still… She had to believe it to, or it wouldn't matter.

I think though, I should give them a break. I'll probably be punished for it, but sometimes, you have to sacrifice.

I leaned over Kagome's body and whispered into Sesshomaru's ear.

"Sango and Miroku… You should call them…"

It was funny how fast he looked up and glanced around the room. He stared into space a bit, looked down at Kagome, then raced into his room for his cell phone.

Smart kid.

Sesshomaru waited while the phone rang. "C'mon, c'mon, pick up, damnit!"

He wasn't sure why he was doing this, but something had whispered it to him, and since meeting Kagome and finding out what she did… well, he didn't want to take any chances and ignore it.

Sango's phone didn't pick up, neither did Miroku's. He tried the home phone again, still nothing.

'They just went out, nothing serious. I can't overreact. But, what about the whisper?'

He didn't want to leave Kagome here by herself and go to their house…

"Sesshomaru!" he spun to see Kagome sitting up, panting. "It's Sango and Miroku, they're hurt! We've gotta go help them!"

Sesshomaru grabbed her, pulled her tight, gave he a quick kiss, and dragged her out the house and into the car.

Kagome thought over the visions she'd had when passed out. It had all be really vague, but she had been able to make out Sango and Miroku's faces, and a really ominous feeling from it all. It didn't take any smarts to realize they were in danger.

Sesshomaru pealed into Sango and Miroku's driveway. He didn't even bother turning off the car, just yanked open the door for Kagome, whipped out the spare key Sango had given them for any emergencies, and dashed inside.

Kagome gasped. 'Oh no…'

Miroku was on the kitchen floor, a big, long gash on the forehead. There was a bruise forming on his cheek. Kagome ran to him and checked for his pulse. She wasn't exactly sure what she was looking for, just that people did it in movies. His pulse was going, so that meant he was okay… She thought.

"Where's Sango?" she asked, not looking up from Miroku.

"Over here," Sesshomaru answered quietly. Kagome didn't like that tone of voice. She got up from Miroku and went to stand by Sesshomaru, who was standing by a little door that led from the kitchen and into the laundry room.

"Sango…" Kagome took in her friend's body.

Sango bruises on her face, and cuts. One of her hands was bent at an unnatural angle, and so was one of her ankles. Her shirt was ripped, and Kagome could see cuts underneath. But the way her body was… that was the stunning thing.

Sango had been propped up against the washer. Her knees had been pulled up and apart, and her undamaged hand had been placed between them.

Kagome knew instantly she hadn't been raped, it was meant to be degrading. Just like the monster that had tried to kiss her. Sesshomaru's face was unreadable as he gently lowered Sango's body on the floor and withdrew her hand.

"Who was it?" Sesshomaru asked her.

"I think… I think it was the shades… I think it was them…"

"But you said they were good."

"Maybe I was wrong. This just doesn't seem like a regular human did it."

"Then what's this mean? Why did they attack Sango and Miroku?"

"To get at me, I suppose. Only reasonable explanation…" Kagome turned away from her friends' bruised and battered bodies. "I guess you were right when they killed Shiro. I guess they weren't as good as I thought… But why? Why are they doing this?"

Sesshomaru looked down at Sango. "Maybe they're just angry, confused. They were killed when they were our age, they can't be stable."

"Yeah, but why're they attacking me and my friends? I'm trying to help them!"

"I don't know Kagome. But we'll think about it later, right now, I think we should call an ambulance. Miroku seems like he's okay, but Sango's breathing seems forced. Like there's something inside her that's broken. She could've broken a rib."

"God, I forgot… yeah, I'll call them."

As they got home much later, they were still preoccupied with what had happened.

"Y'know, we've got school tomorrow," Kagome said as they raided the refrigerator.

"I know. I'm looking forward to it."

"Why?"

"It'll be good for something to take your mind off all of this."

Kagome smiled. "I guess it would. I'm glad Sango and Miroku are okay. And so glad that Shippo and Kohaku weren't there to be hurt like them."

"Yeah, they are lucky. Well, c'mon, time for bed."

Kagome looked at Sesshomaru. "You say that like we're sharing a bed."

"We are."

"Sesshomaru, really. We've got school tomorrow."

He shook his head. "You've got a dirty mind Kagome. Really, I don't want you to sleep alone. They've gotten to you before while you were sleeping, I don't want to take the chance of that happening again."

"Alright," Kagome answered. They went up to bed.

'I'm so lucky I have him. And he's actually worried about me. When's the last time that happened?'

Okay, so there it is 16. I can't believe my story's gotten so long1 Please, review!