Disclaimer: I think you all know that I don't own Inuyasha.
A/N:D Sorry this took me so long but I'm having a dreadful time trying to finish this up. -Sigh- but probably only a chapter or so left.
Well I redid my profile. Check it out because I put some lyrics to a really snazzy song on there.
Oh and I joined a band. We're debating between being called Cinders for Smiles or Impalers of Whalers. :D What do you guys think?
Cigarettes and Lavender
Chapter 21-The Worst is Over
Bi Polar
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year had come and gone and had made no impact on Inuyasha once so ever. Now it was Groundhog's Day and he was sitting in front of the television watching the movie about the holiday where the small town of Punxsutawney gathered around a small rodent to see whether it would be cold for another 6 months.
He liked this holiday even though it was completely pointless. It meant that there were only three more days until his birthday. The thought had finally dawned on him early this morning when he checked his calendar.
The movie had ended, and he frowned. What was there to do now? He sighed and lifted himself up from the floor to head upstairs and into his small dark bedroom. Maybe he would take a nap. He was sure that he could find something to do up there.
'Three days, three days, just three more.' He chanted over and over again in his mind.
Recently, late at night Sango and Miroku would meet him at the park where they would spend hours talking and planning for the future. He would smile knowingly and thanked the heavens for his two good friends.
They promised to wait for him by the park on his birthday in Miroku's old car; he made them swear on the graves of their ancestors that they would not come anywhere near his house and they agreed. He would get out; he would get out and leave this joke of a home.
Inuyasha was in his room, and nothing there looked appealing. So he laid down in his usual place on the floor and closed his eyes, hoping that everything would go as well as possible.
When he woke the next morning it was so frightfully cold that he felt like he could feel his toes gathering ice. He slowing brought himself up to a sitting position and rubbed his feet with his slightly warmer hands. Inuyasha snatched the dirty, moldy blanket from his bed and wrapped it around his thin frame.
'Only two more days, only two more days, only two more days.' He chanted in his head. He let out an almost relieved sigh, but it wasn't over it yet.
He had school today, but didn't feel like going. He didn't really feel like doing anything lately; but Inuyasha knew that if he didn't go Sango and Miroku would worry and he didn't want to cause anymore problems than he already had with the two of them. Thanks to him they were missing quite a bit of work in all six of their classes and were failing two of them because of it.
He felt guilty for not caring about school because after all the hard work Sango and Miroku put in to find him, he didn't even have enough determination to sit through one more day of it for their sake. He knew how much they worried over them; he could see it in their eyes and the way they talked to him. He loved them for that.
Inuyasha didn't bother changing for hi classes he just grabbed his backpack and left the house glancing into the kitchen searching for his father or mother. There was his mom, drinking again. She waved and beckoned him in; he shook his head and left the room. His father hadn't been home for 3 days. It didn't matter, he'd be home soon enough; might as well enjoy the peace while he could.
School was…well…school. For the past seven months people were giving him strange questioning glances and some even dared to come up and ask him about his big debut on the six o'clock news. He didn't answer most of them but sometimes when Miroku felt like the brown-noser had gone too far he would tell him or her to piss off which Inuyasha was very thankful for.
Declining a ride home from Miroku Inuyasha opted for a nice walk through the neighborhood. 'But don't take too long.' He reminded himself. 'If dad comes home and finds you're out and about you'll be nothing but ashes in the morning.' It was cold, cold as ever and he zipped up all 3 of his coats.
The inside of his house did not offer any warmth and he shivered as he closed the front door. He ran upstairs threw his backpack aside and took up his old withered blanket to wrap it around his shoulders, still keeping his jackets on as well.
He wondered if Groundhog Day was still on but threw the thought away when he heard the front door slam shut. 'Dad's home.' He thought grimly. He was walking to his door and locking it making sure that it was secure before curling himself up on the ground and closing his eyes again.
'One more day and I'm out of here, one more day and I'm out of here, one more day and I'm out of here.' This was his chant for today. He knew he could probably get away with leaving today…well…he would have been able to. But his father was home and that meant that he was going no where anytime soon.
That didn't stop him from packing. He took his ratty leather bag out and laid it out on his bed putting whatever he thought he would need inside of it. Inuyasha's stomach gurgled and growled the whole time he packed and 2 hours later he finally listened to it and left his room.
His father was watching a soccer game on the television, an ice cold brewskie in his hand. Inuyasha knelt down and crawled quietly behind the couch biting his lip and praying to God that his father would not notice.
Inuyasha was safely in the kitchen now and was making himself a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich with expired jam and stale bread. He was content.
When he finished he crawled stealthily back up the stairs. He stood there at the top of the staircase afterwards staring at the door which hadn't been opened in over four years. He wouldn't be coming back to this house…it was his last chance.
Inuyasha walked cautiously to his brother's bedroom door. He looked back behind his shoulder as if he was expecting to see some sign posted up warning him not to go inside. But nothing was there, nothing was keeping him from opening the door, nothing was keeping him from going inside.
The door was so old and unused that it creaked loudly when he opened it. He cringed and waited for a moment to see if his father heard it over the soccer game. Inuyasha continued to push it open and gaped at the room before him, a room that hadn't been viewed in years. He had forgotten how much he loved his brother's room.
He loved everything in there…except the ceiling fan…he had the sudden urge to tear it down and throw it to the ground. That wretched wooden fan, where he had found his brother swinging, swinging back and forth, back and forth. He took the blanket he was wearing off and threw it up over the fan. There…that was much better.
Inuyasha sat down on his brother's bed and pulled the comforter around him. It smelt of Sesshomaru, and he felt his eyes water. Near the one window the room had there sat a desk, the desk where Sesshomaru would sit and do his homework when Inuyasha was too afraid to be alone. And how his older brother would look at him and sigh and tell him he was being stupid and that there was nothing to be afraid of, that soon they would both be safe. And how they would escape together and live in a large house with big windows to let the sunlight in.
And how Inuyasha held onto those dreams like life lines when he was younger.
"There's nothing to be afraid of…" Inuyasha whispered to himself, closing his eyes and clutching the blanket to him.
The sun was setting when Inuyasha got up off the bed. He had gone through his brother's bedroom without guilt or panic. After all there was nothing to fear. Inuyasha looked through his brother's old clothes, CDs, and possessions and took what he remembered. They would keep his belongings company at the bottom of his leather bag, the leather bag his brother gave him one year for his birthday.
Inuyasha took his brother's blanket and left his covering the ceiling fan in the old unused room. He took one last look and closed the door behind him. There would be no more regret.
Today was the day. There was no need for a chant. He knew today was it. There was only one more thing he wanted to get. Only one more thing and he could leave and see his Kagome. But he had to be careful if he wanted it.
He grabbed his bag and left his room. Standing in the hallway he listened very carefully, trying to decipher where his father might be. There was no sound throughout the entire house. This made him more nervous than ever but he gathered up his courage and marched down the hallway into his parent's bedroom. He opened the door only a little bit and peeked through it. No one was there and he let out the breath he had been holding.
It was in the closet, well, it was last time he had seen it. There were boxes everywhere, boxes that had been neglected to be unpacked when his father and mother had first moved here. He opened all of them one by one and near the very end he stopped at stared down at the treasure he had been seeking.
There in the box lay an old Polaroid camera with several pictures of him and his brother. He smiled down at it and let a few stray tears fall down his cheeks. But there was no time to waste and he took the camera and pictures and tucked them safely into his backpack which was filled to the brim with other memories.
Inuyasha had left his parents room and was walking down the creaky staircase when he froze in his tracks. His chest physically hurt, it felt like something was slowly slicing his heart to pieces. This couldn't be happening.
Inuyasha's father's voice rang throughout the empty hallways of the house.
"Rock a bye baby,
On the tree top
When the wind blows,
The cradle will rock" His voice was low and filled with venom.
He remembered this song, every child knew it, but Inuyasha remembered when his father had "sung" it to them when they were younger.
They had only wanted to see if would work. Hardly any of the film was gone and it's not like he used it anyway.
"Oh boys, where are you?" Sei called out sweetly.
Inuyasha clung to his older brother whimpering with dread. Sesshomaru stood there waiting for it. He didn't cry like his younger brother, and he wouldn't. Inuyasha's eyes were flowing with silent tears and his leapt with terror when he heard his father climb the stairs.
"I see you two had some fun with my camera."
They only wanted to see if worked, they only wanted to see!
"Well, that's not a toy, my dear little boys." Inuyasha shook harder and harder and Sesshomaru pushed his brother behind him in their father's closet where they were hidden. They weren't expecting him home, they weren't expecting him to find out about them using the camera. But he did, how could he not? The pictures lay strewn out across the living room floor for viewing pleasure.
"Oh my dear, dear sweethearts, why, oh why, did you have to play with daddy's toy?" His voice was laced with hidden malice but sugared up to sound like a child playing hide-and-go-seek. Inuyasha slid down the wall and held his knees to his chest, rocking back and forth, crying quietly. Sesshomaru stood in front of him, waiting patiently for them to be found.
"Oh I've got a brilliant idea children, let's sing a song. I'm sure you know this one." He called throughout the house.
"Rock a bye baby…" His singing was chilling and just when Sesshomaru thought his brother couldn't cry any harder he was proved wrong and Inuyasha was wracked with uncontrollable sobs that were much worse than before.
Sesshomaru turned around to comfort his younger brother. "There's nothing to fear Inuyasha." But as he said this Sei's disturbing singing became louder and louder.
"When the bow breaks
The cradle will fall…AHA! Gottcha!" Sei threw the closet door open and Sesshomaru turned to face him while Inuyasha rocked back and forth, back and forth.
"And down will come baby
Cradle and all…" Sei finished in a deep whispered, he knew Inuyasha was there. He sat in the same chair that he was in when he greeted Inuyasha the night he had returned from Kagome's house seven months ago.
He turned to greet his son with empty eyes. "Going somewhere?"
Inuyasha took a deep breath trying to regain his senses. "I'm going home." He answered curtly.
"I don't think so."
"And why not?" Inuyasha's anger was slowly rising. He wanted out.
"Because the first thing you do when you get 'home' is to go to the police." He said "home" mockingly while he stared at the golden eyed teenager.
"…yes." Inuyasha wasn't going to deny that fact.
"Too much trouble to go through." He said as he got up off his worn in chair.
"I just want to leave." Inuyasha moved away but stepped right back as a glass bottle shattered against the front door spraying glass pieces all over the room. Inuyasha turned his back to it closing his eyes wishing all of it to go away and to return to Kagome's. He was so close but he just couldn't escape.
"No." Sei laughed at his son, who looked so broken standing there with a desperate look on his face.
Inuyasha, suddenly, clenched his teeth together and put his backpack down on the stairs. "What do you want from me?" He asked furiously.
"I don't one word to leave you mouth…ever again."
"Why do you hate me so much!" Inuyasha yelled.
"Because you represent everything that I've lost!" He was staggering over to the younger boy.
"That isn't my fault." Inuyasha stared him straight in the eye.
"It might as well be."
"You're a very sad man…"
They were face to face. He was staring into his father's face with defiance and his father with a hopeless look about him.
Without any notice once so ever his father lifted his fist and slammed it into Inuyasha's jaw. There were several other blows where Inuyasha was too shocked to do anything. But it only took a short time for him to react. He threw his hands out and shoved his father back against the couch.
He wasn't taking anymore of this.
Sei sat in shock but recovered quickly and brought his hand up to hit his son again, but Inuyasha was determined to leave. He didn't care if he was hit, he kicked and punched blindly in front of him and prayed to God that he might hit something.
His father wasn't striking him anymore but Inuyasha didn't care he just kept throwing punches. He could feel his knuckles bleeding; it was soaking through into his sweatshirt and dripping onto his shoes and pants. The side of his face was sticky and he knew that it must have been cut or something. He ached everywhere.
Inuyasha grew tired. He stepped back and his father groaned and slumped against the back of the couch. The teenager stared without remorse. Sei breathed hard but would be fine in a day. It was nothing compared to some of the things he had done to his son.
The bruised and battered boy turned his back on his father grabbed his bag and left the house. He slammed the door on his way out and began to run down the street to the park where he would meet up with Sango and Miroku.
He was crying but he didn't know why. It didn't matter anymore. Up ahead he saw Miroku leaning against his ancient car and Sango sitting atop it. They saw him running up and leaped forward to greet him but Inuyasha ignored them and jumped into the back seat. Miroku and Sango gave each other quick worried glances but hopped into the car as well.
Miroku started the car but turned around to talk to Inuyasha. "What's the matter?"
"Just go." The silver headed boy said quickly.
"Okay." Miroku sped off towards Tokyo and Inuyasha's heart jumped with excitement and anticipation.
"The worst is over." Inuyasha said from the back seat. "The worst is over…" He smiled, his first real one in months.
A/N: I'm doing my happy dance right now! 344 reviews! Yay! Well, I want to thank you all. You're all so sweet and encouraging. :D Thank you, thank you, thank you.
HayLin4: That's okay, I forgive you. Hehe. I hate viruses, they suck ass. I've had to reboot my computer twice. Urg. Anyways, thank you for the review. :D
Whitewolf33: Yes, they're lovely; happy endings. Thanks.
Peoplekityo: Hehe, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. :)
DemonSaya: Haha, I know I just put everyone in the worst situation. I'm so mean! Thank you for the review.
KInasha14: Did I really scare you? Haha. I promise not to make Miroku do that again. :D
Kasandra: Well, Inuyasha's in this one! Yay for Yasha!
Akina315: Oh it's a lovely song. I hope you like this chapter.
Hanako Horigome: Hehe, thank you for the review.
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Inashosetai: Yes, but Inuyasha beat Sei up in this one so Yay! Thank you!
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Lonelylulaby: Sorry it took me so long to update. Bit of trouble with school and stuff. But I hope you like this chapter.
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Caitlyn: Hehe, I'm so honored to have such a high opinion. Thank you.
Angelic lily: I promise they will be reunited in the next chapter. Cross my heart hope to die.
Blacklillygurl: Haha, I thought we all might need some Sango Miroku fluff, we don't get much of it now a days. Hehe.
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Xianora: Hehe, I'm sure it will end happy. I actually have a crush on the guy that plays Ron…I'm kind of a nerd. Haha. :D Thank you!
Amanda Trinh: Haha, next chapter there will be fluff with Inuyasha and Kagome. Haha, I like pocky too. It's really addictive. :D
AnimeAngelz: Ew…that's nasty. :P Thank you for the review.
Inuyashasgirl1517: Haha, yea he is pretty damn sexy. :D
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Creature of the light: That's really beautiful. :D You're such a charming person, I'm so thankful that you're step-father didn't do anything to you. Thank you so much for your kindness. I told Huy (my friend) about you and he thought it was one of the sweetest things a stranger has done for him and he thanks you and so do I. :D
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