Summary: Looking at Kagome Higurashi, you'd never know that she carried a secret storm. Her therapist suddenly quits on her, and she must go to find someone else to help her. She struggles to keep her new therapist out of her life. She tells him the best of her is gone. Why won't he believe it? Kagome's POV.

"Talking"
"Sign Language"
Flashbacks

Best of You
Chapter 5: Shadow

Maybe I'll be able to do this. Starting tomorrow, I am going to keep up to what I told Mr. Taisho I'd do. I'm going to try to trust people with my past. Most of them aren't gonig to try to hurt me, like they did. I can at least trust the world with that. Trusting people is the least I can do, if I don't want to talk.

That's, if, they deserve it...

- - -

Today's been unnerving. We're starting our day-club today. So, now there won't be just night-noise radiating from my club. We run 24-hours now.

Of course, Miroku still gets his sleep. He's not here yet. Neither is Sango. So, I'm greeting people on a Saturday morning. I'm hardly away myself, but I'm trying to trust them to at least wave to them or whatnot. Like I promsied myself, I'm going to at least be nice to people from now on. Naturally, I avoid my crowd most times.

I approach the main chef, Kaede. She's really nice and will work any hour of the day that I ask her to. Being that she's a little old, I don't like to ask her to work TOO much. That'd just be rude to ask of her.

I look at what she's making. It's some type of cake batter. I take some on my finger and stick it in my mouth. I give her a thumbs-up, then go out to my growing crowd. Even though it's light outside, a lot of party-people are having fun in my club. I'm the only club who stays open through daylight hours now.

Which is good for business. I guess it's good for my therapy homework, too. I make my way through the large crowd that's taking over the dance floor. Miroku offered to come in at ten in the morning. It's late, but he's tired after going to bed at midnight. Sango will be in around nine, since she's more of a morning person.

I bump into people, trying my best not to go upstairs. I'm dressed, and ready for public. There's nothing to go upstairs for...

"Don't touch me! Did you honestly think that you were good enoguh to put your filthy hands on me? Stop crying, you pathetic baby! You're not worthy of anything! Get away from me!" He shouted at me. I cried hard, trying my best to ignore the harmful words that he spat out at me.

I stare off into space. It takes me a while to realize that I'm not moving anymore. I look aruond me, realizing that I'm still on the dance floor. I walk to the other side of the building and sit on one of the beanbag chairs. I try to relax, by my mnd won't let me.

"Mommy, he's being mean to me..." I told my mother. She gave me a long look before she began to cry.

"I'm so sorry, Kagome. There's nothing I can do..." She told me. I touched her hand, trying to tell her that I was worried for her.

"Mommy, can't you make him go away?" I asked her. She looked at me before looking back down.

"I can't. It's too late to change anything, Kagome... He's going to get custody of you when I die." She told me. I blinked, not understanding exactly what she had just said. My mother wouldn't die when I was a little girl. She always said that she'd be with me to watch me get married to the man who deserves me.

"What's custody, mommy?" I asked innocently. Being a six-year-old, I didn't understand too much.

"That means... It means that, when I die, he'll be your daddy." She said.

"He can't be my daddy! Daddy's going to come back, you told me so!" I cried.

"Daddy won't be coming back, Kagome..." She told me pitifully. I shook my head then ran outside. There was no way she'd die and leave me alone with this man. He was mean to me, and she knew it... He was even mean to her...

I realize that someone's been standing in front of me for a while. When my eyes refocus, I notice that it's one of the waitresses. She looks worried as she kneels down in front of me.

"Kagome, what would you like to drink?" She asks me. I know that she only knows the alphabet in sign language, so I signal to her slowly.

"C-a-p-t-a-i-n... M-o-r-g-a-n." I signal to her. She smiles then places a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"More of those flashbacks?" She asks in a near-inaudible tone. I nod my head slowly, feeling ashamed that she knows what's wrong.

"Well, just so you know... There's a very sexy silver-haired man in a beanbag chair somewhere behind you. He came here around the same time as you, and he's been writing in something the entire time. I'ev never known someone to come here and write..." She says. I glance over my shoulder discreetly.

I wish I could tell her to relax, and that it's just my therapist. I don't want to spell all of that out for her, though. Besides, it's my thing to worry about, not hers. I wave my hand off, trying to signal to her that she doesn't need to worry. She nods her head then goes off to get my rum for me.

Naturally, I'm not a drinker. I have no interest in alcohol on most days. Today isn't most days, though. Most days, I don't rememebr this much of my past at once. Most days, I don't have my therapist stalking me... And most days, my club isn't still open.

Perhaps this is going to be most days, though. maybe there's a new trend that's going to start here... Although, I do have to admit that I don't want it to be. If this is what most days will be like, I should get a lot more Captain Morgan for my club to keep stocked.

Soon, the waitress returns with my clear rum. I take the water-appearing liquid over to where Inuaysha sits. I sit down next to him and take a sip. Even though the alcohol burns my throat a little bit, it's relieving. I set the stuff down on a coaster and look at Inuyasha. When he looks up at me,I smile.

"What are you here for?"I ask slyly. He looks down at his tablet then closes it. He sets it down, along with his pen, then turns to face me entirely.

"Had to make sure that you'd keep up to your promise." He tells me.

"How do you know which club I work at?" I question harshly. I'm glaring at him, but I doubt it makes a difference. My hands are doing my talking.

"I did some research. Found out from one of my friends that you worked here... Turns out that he works for you." Inuyasha tells me. I look at him for and open my mouth. I slowly close my mouth, deciding against it.

"Who's your friend that works for me?" I question. Inuyasha shakes his head with a smart smile on his face.

"I'm not telling. You may fire him for helping me. I doubt you would, from the way he speaks of you... But I wouldn't want to risk it." Inuyasha tells me. I take another drink of my rum then set it back down.

"Can't imagine you drinking water." Inuyasha points out.

"I usually drink soda." I signal calmly.

"Today special?" He questions. I shake my head, hoping that he won't realize that I'm lying. He takes my drink them smells it with his demon smell. He glares at me then sets it down.

"Have something to be drinking down with that stuff?" He asks. I nod my head before realizing my mistake. I set my hands down, and Inuyasha smiles.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to pry you for information you're not willing to give. You're not ready to tell anyone, so I won't try... At least I know that there is something I'm going to have to deal with." He tells me. I nod my head then he stands up.

"The waitress was smart for knowing that I was following you. I'm going around to talk to some of your employees. See what they think of you..." He says. I begin to get up, but he stops me.

"Don't come, please. They'll alter their answers if they know you're listening. Just stay here, enjoy your Captain Morgan, and I'll see you at our appointment." He says. I watch him go, silently wanting to follow him. I want to be by his side, no matter what he's doing. I want to know what my employees think of me...

I get up then walk into the other room, grasping my rum tightly. I walk into the bar, sitting down ona stool while Sango turns to me.

"Kagome! I see you already have something to drink." She says. She picks it up and sniffs it to see what I could be drinking.

"Captain Morgan. I like this stuff sometimes." She says. She takes a sip then sets it down. I guess everyone likes this type of alcohol due to its sweet taste. I can't blame them, it is pretty damn good.

"So, you hear what happened last night after Miroku and I got off?" She asks. I shake my head and lean forward to hear what she's about to say. This is going to be good if she's willing to tell it to me.

"Miroku and I went on a date... It got really good too. He kept his hands to himself after I threatened to ignore him. We... We made out on my porch then he went home." She tells me. I smile suggestively, and she shakes her head.

"No! I'm not going to get into a heavy relationship with him... Not yet, at least. Please don't tell him that!" She says quickly.

"Tell him? Are you insane?" I ask her. She laughs then refills my rum. I lift it in a type of toast to her then drink it. I get up and leave, mosying around the rest of my club aimlessly. In the middle of the dance floor, a hand grabs my upper arm. I freeze, my heart starting to race. He's found me. One of the two men I've been trying to get away from has found me.

"Kagome, why are you so tense?" I hear him ask. I turn around, relieved to see Inuyasha instead of them. I shrug nochalantly and smile as if nothing were bothering me.

"Well, I got enough information from your employees... I was wondering if you wouldn't mind your shadow asking you to a dance." He says. I blink for a minute, wondering why he's referring to himself as the shadow. I mean, I know he's shadowing me and he knows I have knowledge of it, but why refer to himself as that?

I nod my head skeptically, wondering if this is really a good idea. I set down my glass of rum on a nearby table. He takes my hand gently, as I'm sure he doesn't want to be hurting me with his claws. We walk to a spot more center on the dance floor, and I look towards the D.J booth. Miroku is looking at me, smiling widely. I don't want to know what he's going to do. He'll put on some fast song that he knos I don't want to dance to.

Instead, he puts on a decently slow song. Inuyasha places his hand on my hip, acting as if he's not so sure about how to dance with a woman. I smile at him as he tries to dance properly.

"Sorry, I'm not used to dancing with women that often. It's not a hobby." He says. I take my hands away from him long enough to reply.

"It's fine. I'm not that used to dancing with men. Not my hobby." I signal back. I let my arms rest on his shoulders, and his second hand rests on my hip. I'm not used to this type of touch, not when it's gentle. The only other intimite touch I've gotten has been much more violent.

So, we go through a few more dances. I will have to give Miroku a handsome raise for not playing those fast songs. The only reason I don't want them on while I"m dancing with my oh-so-sexy therapist is because that implies grinding against him. I'm not doing that.

I'm not even supposed to have these feelings for my therapist. And he's not supposed to care this much for me. Maybe this is the way he does therapy, maybe it's because he's nice, or it could be that he has feeilngs for me. But, there has to be a reason why he's acting this way. There's no way that he's asking me to dance because he likes me.

There's no way it can happen.

Next time on The Best of You...
So, what happens when he runs out of people to interrogate? Well, he requests (rather forcefully), to meet my family. I try to inform him that he shouldn't, but he stops me (by holding my hands together). So, he requests to see my mother, father, and little brother... I have to find a way to explain why he can't while keeping my past a mystery to him.

PlantersPunch: I'm glad that you learned some new vocab. What words did you learn? Did you just learn the words or did you get the definitions too? I swear I'm not a teacher...

Next chapter requires... I think I need 50 reviews before you can get the next chapter!

- Bipolar Tangerine