A/N: :D Sesshy in 05? Interesting…well, here's the next chapter. I got especially bored today, so I figured why not? This chapter will focus on events in the modern era. Let me know what you think!

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My Only Hope
Chapter Thirty-Two

Sesshoumaru frowned, his usual proud look plastered on his face. "I see no reason why you should not be able to walk freely amongst the rest of the world here if you are hanyou or not. That should not matter. You both are half inu-youkai, and you should be able to carry that identity wherever you go with pride." He paused. "I refuse to hide my true identity."

"Demons and hayou alike are extinct in this time, Sesshoumaru." Kagome explained. "As far as everyone here is concerned, the demon activity during and before the feudal era is nothing but elaborate myths…made up stories…"

Sesshoumaru's eyebrow rose. "Obviously, Kagome, we are not myth." He retorted. "And as I said before, I refuse to pretend to be something I'm not just because we happen to be here."

Kagome sighed. "They'll arrest you…and murder is illegal in this time. You can't slice people in half if they insult you. You have to remain levelheaded at all times without killing anyone. Do you honestly think you could manage that here?"

"What could they possibly do to me with their feeble weaponry?"

"I don't know." Kagome shrugged.

"If I go anywhere, I will be going as I am. My job is to protect you and Inuyasha. I will not stray from the duties I promised my father I would fulfill. If they have anything to say to you…"

"You have guts." Inuyasha smirked.

"Are we leaving, or not?" Sesshoumaru suggested.

Kagome shivered.

Her grandfather cleared his throat. "You actually expect them to go outside the shrine like that?" he yelled.

"But he's right, Gramps. We ought to be proud of who and what we are. We shouldn't have to hide it. We don't have to hide it in the feudal era. Demons may be extinct in this time, but that doesn't mean we have to hide who we are…"

"You're okay with that, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked.

"Are you?"

Inuyasha nodded. "That hat you made me wear made my ears itch…" he laughed.

Kagome sighed. "We won't know how bad of an idea this is until we try…" She gulped. "…To the mall?" she whispered.

Sesshoumaru looked confused, but when Inuyasha picked up one of the twins and headed toward the door, he slowly nodded his approval. Yuka cleared her throat, and quickly followed Sesshoumaru to the door.

"I'm coming, too." She smiled.

Kagome picked up Toku. "What do we need?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "I don't know. You forget I'm new to these 'mall' things. You can decide for us. I trust you."

Kagome nodded. "Well, are we walking?"

Sesshoumaru nodded his agreement. "What other way would we get there?"

"You don't want to know…" Inuyasha answered, his face screwed up in a look of horror.

"We're going to be the top story on the news…" Kagome frowned. "It certainly ought to make this week very interesting…"

"I just hope they don't think we're going to hurt them or something." Shippo sighed. "Mommy, what's a mall?"

"A really big market," Kagome explained. She looked around. They had yet to make it all the way down the shrine steps, and hadn't run into any actual people yet. She sighed with anticipation.

Inuyasha yelped. "Ah! Since when do two week olds have teeth?" he whined, glancing suspiciously at Taka as she smiled up at him.

"You had teeth at that age…" Sesshoumaru shrugged. "You just can't remember being that small is all."

Inuyasha nodded in sudden understanding. "Oh…well, that explains it, I guess…"

"She bit you?"

"Yeah."

"That's so cute." Kagome smiled.

Inuyasha's eyebrow rose as he stepped down the last few steps. "Really? It's only cute because it didn't happen to you."

"Exactly."

They rounded the corner. Many people were walking hurriedly down each side of the sidewalk. Kagome felt as if she was shrinking…as if, suddenly, she was somehow only six inches tall. Many people screamed. Some just stopped to stare.

Others pointed at the group, while still, others paid them no attention, or just plain ran away.

Kagome took a calming breath, took a hold of Inuyasha's hand, and pulled her shoulders back. She was determined to do as Sesshoumaru had suggested. She was going to be herself…and to hell with anyone who didn't like who or what she was.

Sesshoumaru, who was walking alongside Yuka, seemed to have no qualms with the way people were reacting to him. As usual, he seemed completely indifferent. There was no way to read any type of emotion on his face. He chatted idly with Yuka and walked down the sidewalk as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

"We're here…" Kagome announced. "And attracting far too much attention."

"Don't even worry about it." Sesshoumaru coached.

Kagome nodded, and the group entered the mall quickly. Many other people inside the mall had the same reactions as those outside that were walking down the sidewalk.

Kagome walked into one of the stores, a bright one full of large fluffy objects and baby items. Inuyasha blinked several times.

"Please…don't hurt us…" the cashiers shook.

Kagome cleared her throat. "We won't…hurt you…" she said the words softly. "We're only here to shop…"

The cashiers stood slowly, nodded, and bowed, but did not leave their place behind the counter.

They managed to make their purchases, which included blankets, pacifiers, bottles, and several small pajama outfits for the twins. They were leaving the store when Kagome saw something that made her blood run cold.

"Television…cameras?" she squeaked.

"What's that?" asked Sesshoumaru.

"Really bad…" Kagome managed.

"There they are!" screamed the reporters, running at Kagome and Inuyasha.

"Oh, no…" Kagome frowned. Inuyasha blinked in confusion.

"Kagome, what do they want?"

"They're going to put us on television…" Kagome replied.

"What's a…" began Sesshoumaru, but the wide-eyed look on Yuka's face told him that this telly-whatever it was could not possibly be a good thing. "What do we do?"

"Stand our ground. If we try to fight them the cops might show up. If we try to run away, they'll only follow. The reporter is a modern day parasite, Sesshoumaru." Kagome educated him. "We'll answer their questions, and then we'll leave this place as soon as we can…"

"What exactly are you guys?" demanded one reporter.

Kagome looked hurt for a moment, but she pulled her shoulders back proudly. "What am I?" she repeated. "Well, I am trying to shop…" She paused. "Besides," she growled under her breath, "you wouldn't believe me if I told you the truth…"

"What was that?"

"We're youkai." Shippo said quickly, and Kagome hurried to place a hand over his mouth.

"Shippo!" she yelped.

"Kagome…" Inuyasha frowned.

"Youkai?" the reporter gasped. "Truly?" The reporter stopped to think for a moment. "This is all an elaborate joke, isn't it? Halloween is not a popular holiday around these parts, you know, and even if it was, you're several months too early to be celebrating it."

"We are celebrating nothing." Sesshoumaru snapped. "We were just trying to pick up some items for my niece and nephew, when you annoying people showed up. Do you have a problem with youkai? I could fix that problem of yours quite easily…" he threatened, cracking his knuckles.

"Sesshoumaru, don't…" pleaded Yuka.

Sesshoumaru stopped.

"You! Girl! How come you aren't all caught up in this little prank?" the reporter asked of Yuka.

Yuka frowned. "Have you not been listening? This is no prank. Do you think they would be so upset that you had cameras out here in their faces if they were doing this for attention? It's who they are, and it can't be changed. You're just trying to exploit them for being different, and that makes you awful excuses of people." She defended them.

"If they are really youkai as they claim, then what are they doing hanging out with a normal person such as yourself? Our stories say that many youkai would much rather have a human for breakfast than for company…"

Sesshoumaru snarled. "Your stories are wrong!" he snapped, taking a threatening step forward. "Only the lowest and most desperate of our kind would stoop to such a level…" his eyes reddened over in anger, but then quickly returned to normal.

The reporter screamed. "What the hell just happened?"

Yuka wrapped her hands around Sesshoumaru's arm once more. "Sesshoumaru…calm down."

"Good luck on that one." Smirked Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha…we need to go…" Kagome whimpered.

"Don't let them scare you." He retorted.

"They don't. They do." Kagome pointed to just outside the mall, where a large group of police and several special operations officers had gathered. Kagome gulped.

Yuka paled, and turned angrily toward the reporters. "You see what you did? They don't deserve this! They are good people, and now there are people outside with guns, all because you had to butt your nose into their business!"

"What's a gun?" whispered Sesshoumaru.

The twins began to cry, and Kagome felt her panic level rising. Taka placed a barrier around herself and her family. Several of the reporters and people who had gathered to watch the events unfold jumped back in surprise. As Taka cried, a brighter and brighter blue light surrounded the small group.

Kagome heard a sound like a firecracker. She thought the barrier would protect them. She gasped, and glanced down. She couldn't feel the pain just yet, but her side was bleeding profusely.

Clutching Taka protectively, Kagome fell to her knees. "Inuyasha…they…I…"

"Kagome! You're bleeding! What happened?" Inuyasha demanded, dropping to his knees.

"Take Taka…" Kagome groaned.

"Don't fire on them!" screamed Yuka. "They aren't hostiles! Please! Don't hurt them! They mean no one any harm!"

The reporters turned, signaling to the police to back off.

Inuyasha gulped. "You hit her…and she was holding my daughter…" he whispered. "You hurt my wife…while she was holding my daughter…"

"Inuyasha…we have to call a hospital. Even if she is a hanyou, it would be bad if she healed while that bullet was still inside her. It could kill her…" Yuka explained.

"How do we call one of these hospitals?" demanded Sesshoumaru. "My brother and his mate can not die like this! I made a promise to my father!"

"We need a cell phone!" Yuka yelled. "Someone please lend me a cell phone!"

"What did he mean his brother and his mate?" the reporter demanded.

Sesshoumaru cleared his throat. "If Kagome dies, Inuyasha will die as well. As mates, they are bonded to one another, both physically and emotionally…so, if she was to die…"

The reporter gasped. "What have we done?" she whispered.

"Exactly the question I was going to ask you." Yuka spat.

Three minutes later, an ambulance showed up and rushed Kagome, Inuyasha, and the others to the nearest hospital. Grandpa Higurashi was already waiting for them at the hospital when they arrived.

"How did things get out of hand like this?" he asked Yuka.

"One minute there were reporters…the next minute, the cops showed up, and they shot at her…" Yuka explained. "It made no sense."

Gramps nodded. "You're right. It doesn't make sense at all."

"They're lucky I didn't dispose of them myself…" Sesshoumaru cracked his knuckles. "These humans are absolutely the most ridiculous creatures I've ever encountered."

"Um…excuse me? You are with Ms. Higurashi?" asked the doctor.

Inuyasha shot up. "How is she?"

"She's fine. We did some blood work to check on everything else. You guys…you really aren't human, are you?" the doctor whispered, and Inuyasha shook his head. The doctor cleared his throat. "I see. I believe that may have contributed to Ms. Higurashi's survival on the operating table." He told them. "Where are the children?"

"None of us are hurt." Growled Shippo. "The only one who got hurt was my mommy, and you should feel really bad about that. My mommy is a good person, and she uses her miko powers to help people all the time. Why did you have to hurt her?"

"I'm sorry about this, child. If it makes you feel better, here…let me turn on the television for you…" The doctor grabbed the remote, and clicked on the television.

"This is a news 12 special report." Said the woman on the television. Sesshoumaru scrunched his nose up. This woman was familiar…the one from that mall place where all this horribleness had taken place.

"Today, this reporter learned something new about our world. If you haven't already heard, yes, my friends, demons do indeed walk among us. This reporter has the exclusive report."

Inuyasha scoffed. "Of course she does. She had the camera in Kagome's face right up until she was shot."

"Keep watching," the doctor waved. "You'll see…"

"What's that mean?" demanded Yuka.

"We bombarded the group of demons as they were coming out of a store in the mall," the reporter said seriously. "The demons were not hostile…in fact, they were calm. These are not the kind of people to fear. They were just simply trying to get their shopping done. What happened today at the Main Place mall should never happen to anyone."

The reporter paused. "This reporter was there when the female demon among the group was shot…for nothing. The female, who we learned was a girl named Kagome Higurashi, was home visiting her grandfather at the Higurashi shrine, and was shot inside the mall while holding her baby, which can not be more than a couple weeks old…" The reporter trailed off for a moment.

Gramps sighed. "Nosy reporters…" he smirked.

"Hold on…there's more…" Yuka quieted him.

"This recent development has caused a rather interesting phenomenon. Since this newscast first aired two hours ago, this news station has gotten several reports of demon sightings throughout the nation. Yes people, there are many demons among us, hiding as humans, and this terrible event has helped many of them to come out of their shells…"

"I told you so!" Sesshoumaru announced. "I told you there was no way that we were extinct in this time period!"

Inuyasha's eyebrow rose. Not only was Sesshoumaru very right, but Kagome was walking through the double doors at the end of the hallway…

"Kagome! Are you all right? I don't think that you should be walking around!" he frowned.

"I'm fine. Tell them I don't want any of their drugs. I just want to go home." She whispered. "We need to get back there…"

"Not until you're healed." Kagome was surprised that it was Sesshoumaru who said this. "You can't defend yourself while you're injured. You'll be safer if you stay here for a couple of days. We all will…"

Kagome growled. "But I…"

"No. Way." Inuyasha replied sternly. "No one is going to mess with us anymore. We're taking you home, and you're going to rest…"

"What do you mean, no one will mess with us? They shot me." Kagome smirked.

"They won't. Trust me…" Inuyasha pointed to the television.

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A/N: Hey, I'm leaving it there for now. Please review, and I will update as soon as possible, k? School ends soon! Yay!