Chapter Four: You'd Better Run
"Yeah, he just showed up, shoved her into me, then walked off! Can you believe that!"
Inuyasha was explaining what had happened to Kikyou. She was the only one that he had managed to find.
"Kouga's in the house right now watching her."
Kagome heard Inuyasha's voice mention Kouga being in the house. 'That means that I can go.'
She stood up and walked out. She caught sight of Inuyasha and Kikyou.
"Hey!" She ran to catch up with them.
"Well, well, look who decided to crawl out of her hole," Kikyou sneered.
Kagome scoffed.
"I bet you heard Inuyasha say Kouga's name so you bolted right outta there."
Again, Kagome scoffed. "I'm just wondering what happened at the house…"
"Riiight…" Kikyou rolled her eyes.
"Well, Rin's here."
"Rin? You mean Sesshoumaru's Rin?"
Inuyasha nodded. "Like I said, all he did was come, drop her off, and leave."
Kagome pondered for a while. "Hm, that's weird… I never thought that he would leave Rin…"
"Me neither…" Kikyou added.
"Hey, where are Sango and Miroku?" Inuyasha looked around to see whom else he could round up.
"Probably off in some dark corner…" Kikyou muttered under her breath.
"What was that?" Inuyasha hadn't heard Kikyou's remark, but Kagome did. She snorted and laughed.
"Well, there's the spazz." Kikyou pointed in front of them, where Ayame was getting ready to enter the house.
"Hey guys!" she said enthusiastically as she opened the door. "What's up?"
"Um, Ayame," Inuyasha stopped her from entering the house.
"Hm?"
"Before you go in, you should probably know…"
And again, Inuyasha explained what had happened.
"You're kidding!" Ayame gasped. "Sesshoumaru would do that?"
Inuyasha shrugged. "I guess." He pointed towards the doorway. "Kouga should be inside watching her right now."
"Oh really?" Ayame's enthusiasm returned as she opened the door. Her face fell as she saw Kohaku sitting on the table facing Rin.
"Kohaku!" they all said at the same time.
Kohaku looked at the four of them in surprise, not expecting so many people at once. 'I don't see Sango though…'
"When did you get back?" Kagome asked.
"Just a few minutes ago."
"Where did Kouga go?" Inuyasha looked around.
Kohaku shrugged. "He just told me to watch her," at this, he pointed at Rin, "then he left."
"That little jackass… I can't rely on him for anything…" Inuyasha mumbled angrily.
"I know how you feel…" Kikyou patted Inuyasha's back.
'He left?' Kagome looked out the window, hoping to spot Kouga right then and there.
"Yes, you have permission to go look for him, Kagome." Kikyou caught Kagome staring out the window.
"What are you talking about?" Kagome said in a rather high and loud voice. Her face was also turning a slight pink. "I-I don't want to look for him…"
Kikyou rolled her eyes. "Honestly… You never give up do you…"
"Hey, where's Sango?" Kagome looked around innocently, trying to change the subject.
"I answered that question for you earlier."
Kagome pretended to look confused.
"She's off in some corner with Miroku."
"She is not. I bet she's in her room or something." Kagome wanted this to go on as long as possible. She knew that once it got back to the subject of her, Kouga, and their feelings, then it would never end.
"What have you heard of my sister?" Kohaku chimed in. "I haven't seen her all day."
"She's fine, Kohaku," Kikyou said calmly. "Don't worry about her. Miroku's with her."
"Are you sure that's a good thing…" Kohaku mumbled as he turned back to Rin.
"I-I'm going out for some fresh air…" Kagome stepped outside the doorway and shut the door behind her.
"Of course she is…" Kikyou rolled her eyes again and sighed. 'This is going waaay too slow…'
Kagome strolled around outside and stopped right in the middle of the vast field. She took in a deep breath.
'Ahh… This feels nice… Away from everything, away from all the stress, all the questioning, all the… pressure…'
Back in the house, the four of them remained there. Kikyou poked Inuyasha playfully.
"What was that for?" Inuyasha looked back at her with an awkward smile on his face.
"You look stressed. I just thought that you could have some of it relieved or something."
"Ohh…" Inuyasha was another one who didn't detect flirting. He knew the concepts of love better than Kouga, but he was still hopeless when it came to recognizing the signs of a flirty girl. He turned so many heads anyway, that he had grown used to the fact that almost every girl goggled over him. He thought that was the way all girls acted. Nevertheless, he had a feeling deep inside of him. A sort of fond feeling. A fond feeling for someone. That someone was Kikyou, though she didn't realize it. Inuyasha never really made it obvious whom he liked. People only knew that he did like someone.
Suddenly Kouga burst through the door again.
"There you are! You little—"
Kouga put his hand up to stop Inuyasha. "Calm down. Let me explain. I only let Kohaku watch over Rin because I needed to get food for everyone. You're all hungry aren't you?" He brought out a plastic bag of take-out food in one hand, and the other held drinks in styrofoam cups with lids on them.
Inuyasha scoffed. "It still doesn't give you permission to leave two kids around the house like that! What if someone had broken in and kidnapped them or something?"
"Kohaku's a big guy," Kouga said coolly. "And besides, if it weren't for the fact that none of us had eaten anything all day long, I wouldn't have gone out. You know you can rely on me for anything most of the time."
"Yeah… 'Most of the time'… How about 'Never'?
Kouga slowly made his way towards the kitchen, carefully stepping over boxes and bags along the way. "Oh, come on, you know that I—"
Kouga tripped. He hadn't seen a cord that lay in the middle of the ground, and he stumbled. Thankfully, none of the food or drinks had spilled. All except for one. A single cup had managed to break free from the cup holder when Kouga tripped, and now it was soaked into Kikyou's clothes.
"Oh crap…"
"'Oh crap' is right!" Kikyou screamed. "What the hell are you doing? Not only are you unreliable, but you're clumsy too!"
"I-I'm sorry!" Kouga stammered.
"You'd better run." Inuyasha stood there looking at the scared Kouga and the fuming Kikyou.
Kouga bolted out the door.
"That little bastard!" Kikyou raced out after him.
It was true that Kouga was faster than Kikyou, but it didn't stop him from pushing himself to run as fast as he could anyway. He was ahead of her for quite some distance. 'I think I'm okay… She'll grow tired eventually…'
Kagome, who was still standing in the middle of the field, heard approaching running footsteps. 'What's that?'
Kouga kept looking back to see if Kikyou gained on him at all. He could see her approaching fast, and every time, he would speed up, but so would Kikyou. It seemed impossible to lose her.
Kouga looked ahead and saw someone. He wasn't sure who it was. He was running so fast that everything he saw became a blur.
He looked back one more time to see if Kikyou was there. She still was, and she was still keeping that same distance in between them. Kouga looked straight ahead again, and this time he saw who it was who was standing there. It was Kagome.
But it was too late. He was running too fast, and he couldn't stop himself. He rammed himself straight into Kagome.
Kagome: Wh-What's the meaning of this! H-How dare you make Kouga run into me like that! -twitches-
Kyo-chan: -sighs-
Kikyou: Oh come on, you know you want it.
Kagome: -grumbles- You little... How dare you...
Sango: Hey, where DID I go?
Kyo-chan: I'll bring you and Miroku back in the next chapter. Don't worry -smiles-.
Kikyou: Like I said, Sango was in a dark corner with Miroku...
Sango: -glares- I was not! ...Was I? o.o;;