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Chapter 3: Meal Deal

Just as promised, Inuyasha arrived back in Kagome's room at noon. He found her sitting in the corner, still humming.

"Have you been humming since I left?" He put one tray on the table and then walked over. "It's pretty. What is it?" No answer. He set the other tray down and pulled out his knife. He cut the tape and walked back to his own meal. He started eating, assuming she would do the same. It had been almost 2 days since she'd last eaten. After a few bites, Inuyasha noticed that Kagome still hadn't touched her food. She was just sitting there, still humming that same tune, quietly and to herself. The only change since he had walked in the room was now her arms were clasped around her body.

"Kagome, eat," Inuyasha ordered. There was still no change. "I know you're hungry. I can hear your growling stomach from here." He saw a small shake of her head in her lap.

"What's that? You aren't hungry?" asked Inuyasha. There was a small nod this time.

"That's a lie. I know how long it's been since you've eaten." There was another shake. "Do I need to feed you?"

"No! I just don't want to eat any of your disgusting food!"

"That's uncalled for. I'm a decent cook, thank you very much. You're just being stubborn." Inuyasha had a stubborn side, too. If she didn't want to eat, then fine, he wouldn't make her. She would eat eventually. Hunger is a powerful motivator when it comes to eating. That didn't mean Inuyasha couldn't have his fun and help motivate her.

"You know, this soup is really good." He took a sip. "The herbs really add flavor." He saw her glance at the bowl. Soup was a good food choice. It didn't require knives or forks or any other utensil with sharp edge. He exaggerated a slurp from his own bowl.

"Yum. It's delicious, honestly. It's like a parade in my mouth."

"Could you shut up?" Kagome moved her hands to cover her ears. Inuyasha took a sip of his drink. He usually had a variety of drinks at his disposal. Tonight's choice was sweet fruit punch.

"And this fruit punch is so sweet! In fact, I think I might contract diabetes from the sugar in this drink." As he lifted his bowl, he saw her reach for her bowl. Hah, I know she would eat. Inuyasha took another slurp from his bowl. He put his bowl down just in time to see Kagome's bowl flying through the air at his person. He leaned heavily to the side just as it met the space where his head had previously been. It smashed against the wall, sending splashes of soup and pieces of bowl flying. In a slight state of shock, Inuyasha rebalanced himself.

"What the hell did you do that for!" he shouted. Kagome just glared at him, as if he should know what his transgression was. Inuyasha bent down and picked up the largest pieces of the broken bowl. Dumping them on his tray, he stalked over to her. He roughly grabbed her wrists and pulled them behind her back. Holding them together, he tied the tape around them in the usual manner. He left her without another word, taking the trays with him as he left. This time, Kagome did not feel lonely. She was too angry to feel much of anything else. She could not believe that Inuyasha had the gall to taunt her like that!

Upstairs, Inuyasha slammed the trays down on the counter. He threw the pieces of broken bowl in the waste basket underneath the sink.

What the hell was that about? He thought irritably to himself. This girl was so enigmatic. She seemed like a very independent person, but she was doing everything in her power to get herself restrained. He was being more than generous with her. He let her use the bathroom in private, he hadn't taken advantage of her immobility in any way, and he even untied her so she could feed herself. And she repaid him by throwing her bowl at him. Granted, she had a right to be angry with him; he was holding her against her will after all. However, he was performing many good acts to balance out that one bad action. Why did life always try to screw him over?

Several hours later, Inuyasha returned down to the basement with dinner. He had learned his lesson however, and this time dinner came in the form of a cheeseburger on a paper plate. Kagome was not humming this time. As soon as the door opened, she locked his gaze with her most anger-filled scowl. Inuyasha seemed unperturbed by this. Putting his food down on the tray table, he walked over to her. He put her food in front of her and untied her.

"Don't look at me like that. I could just as well not bring you food. I know how long it's been since you've eaten. You can't keep up with this juvenile hunger strike forever," Inuyasha said. Kagome stuck her tongue out at him. He shrugged and walked back to his seat. He started eating and watched as Kagome rubbed vigorously at her legs, presumably to get feeling in them again. When she finished, her legs were a bright red because of the rough nature of the bandages covering her hands and arm. Kagome seemed to realize this, and started to unpeel the bandages.

"Come on now, don't do that," insisted Inuyasha through a mouthful of food. Kagome ignored him and continued to un-wrap the bandages. Pulling them away, she looked with horror at her arms. Her once perfect, blemish-free skin was now cluttered with scabs and bloody residue. Tears prickled at the corners of her brown eyes.

"You ruined me!" she screamed at Inuyasha, waving her arms at him. "I can't go into public like this! Everyone will think I'm a freak!"

Inuyasha swallowed before replying, "Well, it's good that you probably won't be in public before those heal then. Aren't you lucky? Why not eat something. It will make you feel better."

"I don't want to eat! Your disgusting face makes me lose my appetite!" Kagome pushed the plate away from her. Inuyasha shrugged at her. Kagome was lying though. Kagome was secretly happy that she had company at her meal times. She felt very lonely during those long hours when Inuyasha left her alone while he worked. There was absolutely nothing to do but sit and think.

Being kidnapped was not nearly as glamorous as she had imagined it would be. There was no information to be torture for; no threats on her life. She wasn't even bound and gagged except at her wrists. There would be no exciting and death-defying stories to bring back and share with her family and friends. Simply put, her experience so far was boring. Kagome sighed inwardly to herself. She didn't even know the reason behind her kidnapping yet. She should probably ask Inuyasha at some point. It wouldn't prove useful necessarily, but it would at least give her a better understanding of her situation. She could guess how desperate they were to reach their goal if she knew. She suddenly felt pressure in her bowels.

"Hey, I need to use the bathroom."

"Okay, thanks for the information." Kagome was confused.

"Aren't you going to come with me?"

"What, you don't know how to go by yourself?"

"That's not what I meant. Aren't you worried that I'll try to run off?"

"No. Should I be?"

"…" Kagome was confused again. On TV the kidnapper followed their victim everywhere. Her loins won out over her confusion though and she stood to walk to the bathroom. As she passed by, Inuyasha reached out and caught her by the arm, well above her scabs.

"If you won't eat, then let me give you some food for thought. One: I'm faster than you with only a little effort. Two: It's not as easy to do as you think." The last thought was somewhat cryptic, so Kagome ignored it. Inuyasha was probably just trying to scare her. She walked through the doorway and stopped. The bathroom was to her right…but there were stairs in front of her. At the top was a door. Kagome glanced behind her. Would Inuyasha really be able to catch her? She started sneaking up the stairs. She, by some rare miracle, got to the top of the stairs in silence. She grabbed the door handle and tried to turn it. It wouldn't budge. No wonder Inuyasha had seemed so confident. He had locked the door so there was no way that she could escape. Defeated, she walked silently back down the stairs and into the bathroom. She took care of her bodily functions and then drank some water from the sink. She also tried to wet her hair in the sink, hoping she could make it a little neater. Currently, bits of it stuck out at odd directions and it looked like there was a nasty knot in one place. Giving up, she walked back to the room.

"I told you it wasn't that easy," said Inuyasha as she entered. From somewhere he had managed to materialize new bandages and Neosporin. Waiting until Kagome was seated again, Inuyasha walked over and dressed her arms as he had the previous day.

"Last chance to eat," offered Inuyasha.

"No." Inuyasha tugged her hands behind her and secured them. Wishing her a good night, Inuyasha carried the plate with Kagome's once again un-eaten dinner upstairs. Kagome settled onto her rag pile and tried to get comfortable. Sleep came soon enough.

Kagome slept through most of the next morning. There was nothing to do during the day, so as a cause she had no reason to be up at a certain time. When she finally woke up, it was almost noon. She felt like her skin was crawling; it had been days since she last had a chance to bathe. Inuyasha seemed reasonable enough; maybe she could negotiate a shower out of him. She would have been almost satisfied if she could just get him to dump a bucket of soapy water over her. He seemed inclined to let her do basic things for herself at least. She shuddered at the awkward thought of him helping her bathe. Her stomach growled. Maybe it was time that she ate something. It just annoyed her the way Inuyasha acted as if she should be grateful to him after he had kidnapped her! Just as that thought finished running through her head, Inuyasha walked opened the door wearing his usual smug grin. That grin itself was enough to completely erase all of her previous thoughts of cooperation.

"It's about time you got up. How long were you planning to sleep anyways?" Inuyasha asked.

"Don't you ever shut up?" Kagome countered as Inuyasha released her.

"Afraid not. Lunch today is delicious, home-cooked pizza. If you're only going to eat once, you might as well eat this." Inuyasha placed a plate in her hands. Kagome just stared at it as if it might jump up and try to eat her at any second.

"Why do you always look at my food like it's poisoned? You're going to hurt my feelings if you keep that up much longer," said Inuyasha playfully. Kagome yawned as she put the plate on the floor. She noticed that every day she had a little less energy. Not eating was beginning to take its toll on her. Inuyasha, prick that she though he was, did not let this go unnoticed.

"See? You're tired from not eating. Just one little bite and I'll be happy. Just one." Although he made sure to keep a playful attitude in his voice, in his mind he was beginning to get worried. He didn't understand why she wasn't eating, so he couldn't think of how to persuade her otherwise. She had a listless look about her, and it may have been his imagination but it looked like she had lost a significant amount of weight. If she tried to keep this up any longer he would probably have to force feed her. He didn't want her starving herself to death simply because of her own foolish pride. Of course, once again, Kagome refused to eat her meal. Instead, she leaned weakly up against the wall and closed her eyes. When Inuyasha finished his own meal, Inuyasha picked up her plate.

"No more of this hunger strike, Kagome. Tonight you're going to eat something," reprimanded Inuyasha.

"Mmm. You could just let me go home," Kagome replied quietly and sleepily. Inuyasha tied her back up and left. He couldn't let her go. It really wasn't his decision to make. It would be so much easier if she would just put aside her pride and cooperate. She wouldn't be the only one in trouble if they thought he was allowing her to starve. She was going to eat tonight, whether she liked it or not.

Kagome felt so tired. She drifted in and out of sleep all day. She knew her crazy attempt at release through starvation wasn't working, but she couldn't bring herself to admit it. It was the only thing she could think of to do. At least Inuyasha seemed somewhat concerned. She vaguely remembered him confidently saying she would eat tonight. It gave her something to do to think of all the ways that he might make that certainty happen. She found that she didn't even have the strength to bother trying to sit up anymore. She just spent her time lying down on her rag pile watching the second tick by on her clock while she was awake. It was almost time for dinner. She started to wonder what her family was eating, but that only made her hungry, so she tried to think of something else. At this point though, no matter what she tried to think about, her mind related all of it back to food somehow. Was her pride worth it? Part of her answered "definitely", but there was a growing part that whispered "I'm not so sure."

Meanwhile, Inuyasha was up in the kitchen trying to figure out what to serve for dinner. It had to be something that she could easily eat herself, but at the same time something he could easily force her to eat. At first he had only been angry that she was trying to play her little game. Now though, she was taking it to a dangerous level and he was growing worried. The girl barely had enough energy to stay awake during lunch. He was really hoping he wouldn't have to force-feed her. It wasn't exactly the most endearing action he could think of. The positive sides to her lack of energy were that he no longer had to worry about bowls flying at his head and she, in particular her arms, was a lot easier to care for. He decided to settle on serving soup. It wouldn't take a lot of energy on her part to consume, and he could very easily make her eat it if he had to. It didn't take long to make, and soon he and the tray were on the way downstairs to where his "guest" was.

He opened the door and put the food tray on his tray table. He then shut the door, not that he expected her to run away during this particular visit. Very carefully, he brought over her bowl and set it down in front of her. Pulling out his pocket knife, he cut through the duct tape and pulled her, with little resistance, up into a sitting position. Putting her hands out in front of her, he picked up the bowl and gave it to her. He watched as she just looked wistfully at the soup. He hoped as he walked away that it was because she was going to break down and eat.

"Eat your soup, Kagome. No playing games," he told her sternly as he started to eat his own dinner. He quickly ate, just in case he had to..."help" her eat. He was prepared to do it, however much he didn't want to. He had made sure to wear an old, already stained shirt. He had brought extra paper towels down with him, and he even brought down an old t-shirt to put over her clothes in case of spills. He was sending prayer after prayer up towards the heavens. Please let her eat. Please let her eat. Apparently Inuyasha had fallen out of favor with the gods, because as he sat there, he watched Kagome set the bowl back on the floor and lie down again.

"Damn it, Kagome!"

-End

Author Notes:

1.) I'm not one of those lame-o people who believes in "No review, no updates."

2.) On the other hand, that doesn't mean I don't want reviews. I love them. They make my day, even if they're negative. Questions are always welcome, too.

3.) I hope you'll come back for the next chapter!

4.) Update times: Honestly, this chapter took about…forever…to complete. See Chapter Notes #2.

5.) Content Policy: Again, I'll update whether I get reviews or not, but reviews are helpful. They allow me to make the story better. Perhaps if you have the time, you'd like to share what you're favorite part of the chapter was? Your least favorite part?

6. ) I DO NOT DO LEMONS. Don't even ask.

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Chapter Notes:

1.) This chapter took a little longer to write then the others. I had trouble with a transitional passage in the chapter and then…

2.) My creative well dried up for this story. I couldn't remember what I wanted to do with it. Now I'm going to try and get back to it though! However, after this chapter, there definitely won't be an update until after the weekend at least. I have to go home and get last semester's math notebook. It's where I wrote most of my notes and ideas for this story. Much sorry-ness!

3.) I want to make this story interesting. If you have any suggestions for something you'd like to see in the story, please tell me! I can't guarantee it will happen, but it will give me something to consider! However, I will ask that you respect A.N. #6 and keep the rabid fan girl-ness to a minimum.

Good examples: I want Kagome to stab Inuyasha in a desperate escape attempt!

Make them have a heart-to-heart! They can share secrets!

She's got to smack him! At least once!

whistles innocently what? Me give away future events? Why ever would you say such a thing?