Chapter 5: Lost Souls
"What are you doing?" Kagome said slamming her pen down onto the coffee table.
"Getting some food. I need a break." Inuyasha said, already halfway across the room.
"You just had a break you ass!" Kagome felt her rage growing.
They had been working for a few hours, and they had plenty of breaks. Inuyasha just seamed incapable of sitting still for very long tonight. Kagome just wanted to get the project done. She loved poetry, but she had a feeling that she would be trying to decode poems in her sleep.
"Well I need another one." His voice drifted through the doorway.
"Agh!" Kagome buried her face in her right hand.
She sat still like that, taking deep breaths to call herself. They were so close. Only a little longer, then she could leave. Then it hit her. What was she in a rush to get home for? For all she knew her mother was drunk again and waiting for her. Her black eye was still fading, a reminder of the irrational thinking her mother was subject to in her inebriated condition. Not to mention her newest addition to the collection of bruised that adorned her body. Last night she was escaping, she almost made it away with a few minor bruises to her arms and side. But then she was slipping through the door when she managed to catch up. Her left arm wasn't the whole way through the doorway when her mother grabbed it and pulled. Kagome's body had slammed back against the door and slammed it onto her wrist. It was a nasty shade and hurt like hell. She had been moving it as little as possible all night.
"Got you one too." Kagome opened her eyes and Inuyasha was holding a soda in both hands.
"Oh. Thank you." Kagome said holding out her right hand.
"Catch."
The next thing Kagome knew the can was flying towards her, she threw up both hands to catch it. She felt it fall into both of her palms, then pain. Blinding, horrible pain. She had given into a natural instinct, and had used her hurt wrist. She dropped the can onto the floor and grabbed her left arm in her right, gasping in pain. She sucked in a breath through her clenched teeth and waited for the pain to dull.
"Kagome! Are you alright?" Inuyasha dropped down onto his knees next to her.
"I'm fine." Kagome said turning her body away from him, holding her wrist to her defensively.
"You're not. Let me see." He said reaching slowly for her wrist.
"No. I'm fine, really."
"What is wrong with you?" Inuyasha let his arm drop. "You don't act like that for nothing."
"You're overreacting."
"And you're hiding something."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Just let me see your arm Kagome."
"I just slammed it in a car door. That's all." Kagome said, changing her tone, trying to stop the fight.
"Fine." Inuyasha said still sounding angry as he sat back on his heels.
"Look I think I can finish this last part on my own. I'm just going to go." Kagome said gathering her things into her right arm and standing up. "See you on Monday."
"Whatever." Inuyasha flinched as the front door slammed shut.
Inuyasha sat stunned in the aftermath of the moments that had just passed. Kagome was as stubborn girl, and it was both of their strong wills that go them into their petty fights. But that was different. Something was wrong with Kagome. He didn't blame her for not confiding in him, even though he wished she had. He had never been very kind to her. He always tried to keep people distant from him. It had always been like that. Most people did avoid him, they didn't like his surly disposition. But Miroku knew it was all a front. Then there was Kagome. She was different somehow. She was more like him. He let down his guard on a few occasions because of her. He knew she was angry because he was always fighting with her, but she didn't realize how much of a miracle it was that he was nice to her as often as he was.
Why do I act this way?
Inuyasha sighed and ran a hand through his white hair. He knew the answer. He didn't know why he always asked himself that question. His father had never been the nicest man. His mother had been the only one that had acted like she cared. But she had died when he was just a child. Once she was gone there was no one to save Inuyasha from his father, his brother was ten years older than him and was away at school. His father screamed, his father hit. Inuyasha was never sure which was worse, the beatings, or the words. By the time he reached elementary school his confidence had been shot. He was quiet, and angry. Only Miroku had tried to befriend the surly youth. He'd always had a gift for seeing the good in people.
Inuyasha wasn't freed from his hell until he was in middle school. His father died from a heart attack one night. His brother was just out of college and took Inuyasha in. Inuyasha guessed it was just too make up for not being there to help when he was younger. After all he could have gone to live with his grandmother. She helped out too, sending Ses money now and then.
Inuyasha shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts of his past. He started cleaning up the mess he had made. There were soda cans and food everywhere from Inuyasha's many breaks. Then he saw it. Kagome had been in such a rush that she had left her backpack. It seamed a strange thing to leave. She had only gathered her English work and left. She must have been really distracted. Inuyasha felt guilt twist his stomach into knots.
She was going to need it to finish the rest of her homework. Inuyasha made up his mind to take it to her right away. He should apologize for upsetting anyway. He dropped the trash and swept up the backpack. He snatched his car keys and was out the door before he could have any second thoughts.
He was relieved when he pulled up in front of her house and found the lights on and two cars parked out front. He hadn't even thought to call ahead to see if anyone was home. Inuyasha was just getting out of his car when he heard a loud crash. He looked up and saw Kagome practically fall out of her front door. Her feet had barely hit the pavement before she started running.
Inuyasha ran around his car as fast as he could. She was heading for her car when he caught her. She flailed for a minute in his arms as he tried to calm her down.
"Let go of me!" She shouted in a panicked voice.
"Kagome!" He shouted holding her tighter, at the sound of his voice she stopped thrashing.
She peered up into his face. He saw the tears streaking down her face, her beautiful brown eyes were red, her lids heavy and swollen. He loosened his grips but didn't release her, her body was started to tremble.
"What's wrong?" But he never got her response, someone in the house started shouted.
"I need to get out of here!" She shouted, now frantically trying to break away again.
"Get in the car." He said releasing her and rushing to get back into the drivers seat.
Inuyasha pealed out the second her door was shut. He slowed down to a legal speed when they got a block away from her house. He kept silent and kept glancing at Kagome out of the corner of his eye. She was sitting stiffly in her seat, gripping her left wrist in her right hand. Something was wrong, and this time he was going to find out. But he couldn't take her to his house, Sess would ask too many question. He needed to talk to Kagome alone first.
He turned into the park entrance and started slowly driving through the trees until he reached his destination. It was his favorite spot. There was a really beautiful place in the back of the woods where the thick trees parted and revealed the creek. He pulled over into the grass by the road and turned the car off.
"Come on." He said starting to get out of the car, but Kagome pressed herself up against the car door and watched him nervously. "I'm not going to hurt you or anything. I think we need to talk."
He sat down under a tree and watched the water rush by, waiting for her to join him. After a few minutes he finally heard her door open and shut. Then he felt her standing behind his shoulder, as if she were debating if what she was doing was right. In the end she sat down next to him, keeping her back to the tree.
"There's nothing to talk about." She said in a quiet voice, barely above a whisper.
"Stop lying to me Kagome. I'm not as stupid as you think. You came running out of your house crying."
"I was just fighting with my mom. Don't you ever fight with your parents?"
"Not anymore, they're dead."
"I'm sorry." Kagome said after a moment of silence.
"Don't worry about it. That's not what we're talking about." Inuyusha said shifting so that he could see Kagome. "Does she hit you?"
"What?" Kagome said in an offended voice that wasn't very convincible.
"Does-she-hit-you?" He said enunciating each word as she moved closer to her.
"How can you ask me that?" Her voice cracked, and Inuyasha knew.
"Because you come to school with a black eye, you always cover as much skin as you can, you wear sweaters in August for Christ's sake! Then when I bring any of it up you get panicked and make up some bullshit story about having an accident. So either someone is hurting you, or you have enough accident's to get you into the Guinness Book of World Records."
"I told you I'm just clumsy." Her voice was started to rise with her anger.
Inuyasha was done. He grabbed her left arm at the elbow with one arm and yanked up the sleeve of her sweater with the other. The bruise on her wrist was atrocious, and the rest of her arm was spotted with more. He remembered the way his arms used to look, the nights he had spent alone in his room, crying himself to sleep.
He woke from his daydreams when he heard a faint whimper. Kagome's arm was limp in his hand, her head bowed. Her silky black hair covered her face, but Inuyasha didn't need to see beyond that raven curtain to know that Kagome was crying. He felt a dear hit his forearm, he released her and sat back a little further.
"Why don't you do anything about it? There are people you can call."
"What do you know?" Kagome screamed suddenly and stood up, her fists clenched at her side. "You don't know anything about my life!"
"You're wrong. I-"
"And if I called? Where would I go? To some foster home until I turn eighteen? I HAVE NOWHERE TO GO! She is all I have!"
"She hurts you Kagome! What if one day it goes to far?" Inuyasha stood and grabbed her by her shoulders.
"IT ALREADY HAS!" She screamed, then her voice dropped to a weak whisper. "It already has."
"What do you mean?"
"My brother." She whispered as tears began pouring down her face, her body wracking with sobs. "He fell. She hit him, and he fell down the stairs. He was dead before we even had chance to call an ambulance. I stayed all that time for his sake. Now I just want to finish school with my friend and then I can leave and live my own life."
"Kagome..." He started, but her head snapped up again.
"Why do you even care Inuyasha? You hate me!"
Inuyasha could only look at her sadly. He could only imagine her pain. They had so much more in common than either of them could have guessed. They had both lost the person they cared the most about. They both had been abused. They both still bore the scars. But Inuyasha had been freed, he had someone who cared about him, even if he didn't show it that often, to look after him. But Kagome, she was alone.
"Don't look at me like that. I don't need your pity!" She tried to get out of Inuyasha's grasp.
"Listen to me!" He said, not letting go of her. "I know how you feel. I do pity you, you're right. But it's because I know! My father used to hit me, my mother was the most precious thing in my life, and I lost her like you lost your brother. And I never told anyone either. I know now I should have. Let me help you. I don't hate you, Kagome."
Kagome could barely speak. She just sagged, her knees buckling. Inuyasha pulled her to him and his buried her face in his chest. He could feel her body shaking against him. Her sobs muffled as she cried into his shirt. He laid his head on top of hers, his cheek against her silky hair. He slowly rocked her back and forth like a parent does when comforting a child. When she finally started to calm down he pulled back.
"Let me take you to Sango's for tonight. It's still pretty early. Just tell her you got into a fight with you mom. At least it won't be a lie."
Inuyasha had Kagome call on their way over, there wasn't any reason for Sango to know Inuyasha was involved. It would only raise suspicion. When he pulled up in front of her house Kagome sat still for a few moments. Inuyasha patiently sat in silence and watched her gather herself together. He knew she would be alright for tonight. She had been hiding for many years, and she had become a skilled actress. He wondered if Sango had ever seen the side of Kagome that he had seen tonight. The scared girl who wasn't afraid to let someone see her cry. The one that just needed to be held, and told that everything would be alright.
"You have a good heart after all Inuyasha. Why do you hide it?" Kagome said as she peered into the car, holding her door open.
"Goodnight Kagome." He said, leaving her question unanswered. He didn't think she really intended for him to answer it.
"Goodnight Inuyasha." She said, managing a smile, then shut the door and was gone.
It felt strange to Inuyasha, leading this poor, lost soul. After all, he was just a lost soul himself.
So that's one of my favories chapters because I love the end . I know that sounds bad, saying I love my own writing haha but I'm really not trying to sound cocky or anything. What next? Let's see shall we.