Author's Note: Here it is, the second chapter! It's really coming along nicely. I'm still not quite back on my outline yet, but I think this actually works a lot better than what I had before. Now I just have to find a way to weave it back in. Anyway, it's writing surprisingly easily.

    Hey, thank you sooo much for reviewing people! It's so nice to hear that people are interested! And Siriusfan82, I'm glad I seem to have stumbled upon an original idea. That's so cool! I'm always afraid of subconsciously stealing from someplace else (though I must admit, I was inspired by a Star Trek: Voyager episode called "The Killing Game." But I assure you; the plot is my own! ;)

    That brings me to another point: I realized after I posted that I forgot the disclaimer in the last chapter. Heaven forbid! So, without further ado…

Disclaimer: Nope, he's not mine. I know, I know, I led you on with the absence of the disclaimer on the last chapter. I'm sure you all thought I was Rumiko Takahashi herself, but unfortunately it was merely an oversight. My apologies ;)

Missing in Action

Chapter 2: Awakenings

Kagome yawned lazily, stretching in an attempt to work out the stiffness that had settled upon her in her sleep, as she padded softly down the stairs in her nightclothes. She was not a morning person, at least not when she had been up half the night. As such, she was understandably shaken when she rounded the corner toward the kitchen, only to nearly stumble over a strange, silver-haired man who was slumped unconscious against the wall behind the counter. Instinctively, she did the only thing she could -- she screamed.

Inuyasha snapped awake at the sound in such close proximity. "Wha..! Holy shit! Who...?" he mumbled, his gaze snapping around in search of the source. His eyes fell upon Kagome, who had stumbled backward, leaning against the wall and clutching a hand to her chest as she attempted to catch her breath.

"What the hell did you do that for, wench?!" he shot at her irritably. Apparently morning did not agree with him either, particularly when he had recently been slammed into the ground at about 200 miles per hour and then proceeded to run several miles. Needless to say, he was not in the best of moods.

Her eyes narrowed. "What did I...? Who do you think you are?!" she replied, shock turning quickly into annoyance and anger. "And what are you doing in here?! This is a private establishment!"

Inuyasha was just getting ready to retort when the sound of footsteps pounding urgently down the stairs interrupted him. A moment later a brown haired young woman swung into view.

"Kagome, what -- oh!" she gasped, pulling up short at the sight of Inuyasha. "Who...who the hell are you?"

He eyed Kagome who continued to glare at him expectantly. Deciding that, although he longed to argue further and appease his grumpiness, it would be best if he left as soon as possible and sought shelter elsewhere, he moved to stand up. But halfway there, a blinding pain stabbed at his left side and he grimaced, falling back against the wall, eyes closed tight.

Seeing this, Kagome's anger subsided, replaced instead with concern. She knelt before him and quickly pushed aside the shirt he wore unbuttoned over his tank top to inspect the wound. He hissed again as she poked and prodded.

"Fuck! Don't do that woman!" He tried to push her away with his good arm, but he was on the verge of passing out again. She simply ignored him, turning to Sango instead.

"He's hurt, Sango," her voice was grave, "It looks bad. Come on; let's get him upstairs to the spare room. We can't just leave him here in this condition."

"I'll be fine!" Inuyasha protested stubbornly, but both women acted as if they hadn't heard him, "Just leave me alone!" He hated how weak his voice was getting, not to mention the blurring of his vision.

Sango nodded in response to Kagome and the two of them went to carry him together. Defeated, Inuyasha surrendered himself to unconsciousness.

* * *

Kagome retuned downstairs, feeling much more awake now that she had showered and dressed. She wore a rather plain, but comfortable, blue cotton dress, and her hair was arranged on top of her head casually, to keep it out of her face. She sighed, noticing the small bloodstain that their 'guest' had left on the floor where he'd slept.

"Is he awake yet?" Sango questioned from her seat at the counter, glancing up from the morning paper, clad in a white blouse and brown skirt with her long hair pulled back in a braid.

"Not yet." Kagome went into the kitchen to retrieve the cleaning supplies and work on the stain. "I bandaged his side, and his arm as well. I think he should be waking up soon. That is, assuming he hasn't slipped into a coma or anything. I wonder what happened to him?"

"Well I hear there's a war on," Sango said wryly and Kagome chuckled.

"Yeah, don't I know it. But he doesn't seem to be wearing a uniform, and he doesn't have any ID tags around his neck like soldiers are supposed to. All I can tell is that he's American; I'd recognize that accent anywhere." She worked away at the stain, in a way somewhat relieved to have something to do to get rid of her building frustration. Sango folded the paper and rose to start setting the place up for business.

"I guess we'll just have to ask him when he wakes up." The brown-haired woman was wiping down the tables when a thought occurred to her, and she paused, "Kagome, you don't suppose he's a spy or something and he's on to us..."

Kagome had finished with the stain and risen to her feet, dusting off her skirt. She frowned thoughtfully, "If he is, he was willing to beat himself up pretty badly just to convince us he had a reason to be here. I've only got a little bit of medical training, but it doesn't take an expert to see that he's seriously injured; he lost a lot of blood. Still, it's probably best if we don't trust him with much, and get him out of here as soon as he's completely healed," she finished. Sango nodded in agreement.

"Okay. But let's have Miroku run a check on him next time he comes. I mean, how many American inu-hanyous can there be running around France; they could probably figure out who he is if he won't tell us -- or if he lies to us."

"Good idea," Kagome concurred, then glanced at the clock. "I should go change his bandages and check up on him." Grabbing the first aid supplies from behind the counter, she disappeared back up the stairs.

A moment after she left, there came a knock on the front door. Sango turned to tell whomever it was to go away, because they weren't open yet, but stopped short when she recognized the purple eyes peering -- or perhaps leering -- at her through the window.

"Miroku?" she muttered, confused, as she moved to let him in. Once he was inside and the door was closed, she asked in a slightly hushed voice, "What are you doing here?"

"Is that any way to greet a friend and potential customer Sango-chan?" he smirked playfully.

She began to get annoyed, "Miroku, you know as well as I do that you never show up here during the day. Sometimes in the evenings but...were not even open yet; how suspicious must that look? And besides, weren't you supposed to be delivering a message or so-mmph," his hand muffled her speech and he looked suddenly tense.

"Shhh...you can't just go blurting that stuff out," he scolded, "Someone might be listening."

She yanked his hand away, irritably. "Get your hands off me! There's no one here but Kagome. Well, and this guy we found, but he's unconscious."

"You can never be too care- guy?" he scowled suspiciously as her words sunk in, "What guy?"

She folded her arms and glared at him, "I was coming to that. You see, when we woke up there was this strange guy sleeping behind the counter and he-"

"Inside? How did he get in?" he interrupted incredulously, and Sango only became more annoyed.

"We don't know yet! I told you, he's unconscious. Anyway, we want you to run a check on him, find out who he is..."

* * *

Inuyasha felt himself slowly returning to consciousness. There was movement around him; he could sense it, hear the rustling of cloth nearby. He opened his eyes, squinting and blinking, sight blurred with sleep. There was a lovely young woman with dark hair piled on top of her head, bending over him. He blinked a few more times, trying to clear his vision and get a better look. Then he frowned in recognition. "Oh, it's you," he said dully.

Kagome raised an eyebrow at him, "Some thanks."

"Feh, thanks for what? For screaming and damn near deafening me?" he remarked rudely.

Her eyes flashed, "No, for treating your wounds you ungrateful jerk! And for letting you stay in my house. I didn't have to you know."

He looked about to reply, but then thought better of it and merely uttered a "Feh," casting his gaze elsewhere.

Satisfied with her victory, Kagome returned her attention to his injuries. As she reached out and began to remove the bandage at his side, he flinched and recoiled at the contact.

"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded.

"Changing the bandage. Relax, it can't hurt that much. You'll be healed in no time, nearly are already."

He eyed her warily, but allowed her to continue. He wasn't so much concerned that she would hurt him; he knew how to deal with pain, or physical pain at least. It just made him edgy for some reason, to have her touch him. The feel of her hands against his bare skin was just a little too intimate, as innocent as it was.

All of a sudden, something occurred to him. "Hey...you've been speaking English. Aren't you French or something?"

She laughed softly at his blunt observation, "I figured my English would probably be better than your French. That's true with most Americans."

He frowned, "How'd you know I was American?"

"The accent."

"Oh," he replied simply, recalling his exchange with her earlier.

"So, who are you?" she asked, after a short pause.

He met her gaze for a moment before she returned to dressing his wound. "My name is Inuyasha."

When he didn't elaborate, she decided not to push. If he was a spy, that would only make him more suspicious. Besides, she knew she could probably coax it out of him eventually, and more subtly, if he wasn't. "I'm Kagome," she responded in kind, then continued with just a hint of sarcasm, "Nice to meet you, Inuyasha."

He let out a breath in slight relief when she finished and rose to leave. "I'll be back to check on you later. Just rest awhile, okay?"

He 'hmm'ed quietly and looked away. Only once she had closed the door behind her did he allow his eyes to fall upon it, and he listened as her footsteps faded away.

* * *

"No, for the last time, I will not go out with you!" Kagome heard Sango's angry voice from downstairs. She frowned. Miroku? What is he...

"But Sango, I-"

"No! There's a war on for heaven's sake. And I have no intention of becoming romantically involved with...with someone like you!"

Kagome stopped short at the bottom of the stairs, seeing the man's reaction to Sango's last comment. He looked somewhat taken aback, and genuinely hurt. There was a pain in his eyes that Kagome had never seen there before. Sango, having turned away to continue setting tables, couldn't see it, but she seemed a bit uncomfortable with the heavy silence that settled upon the room. Kagome coughed lightly to alert them of her presence, then entered the room as if she hadn't heard their previous conversation.

"Miroku!" she contrived to act surprised, "What are you doing here at this time of day?"

He tore his eyes from Sango's back and gave Kagome a half-hearted smile, his eyes betraying the hurt he still felt. "Oh, nothing in particular. Just stopping by. Actually, I was just leaving." Sango still refused to look at him, trying very hard to pretend he wasn't there.

Kagome smiled comfortingly, seeing that he knew she'd heard them, and said, "Well it's nice to see you anytime." Then, remembering her patient upstairs, she added, "Did Sango tell you about our visitor?"

He nodded, "Yeah, don't worry about it. I'll find out all I can. It might help if-" he stopped short when they heard a noise coming from upstairs. A moment later Inuyasha appeared, shirtless and looking grumpy as ever. His left arm was kept bent at his side, but he seemed to be walking much better.

"Inuyasha," Kagome scolded, "I told you to rest!"

"And I told you I was fine!" he snapped back, his bad mood and frustration with his injuries making him shorter of temper than usual.

"May I assume this is he?" Miroku cut into the conversation, noting the man's name, as it would aid in his research.

Kagome nodded curtly, then returned her attention to the hanyou. "You'll only aggravate your wounds this way, and they'll take longer to heal."

"Look, I don't need you to tell me what to do, wench," he insisted, trying valiantly to keep a reign on his temper. "It's just a few bumps and bruises; I'll be healed and out of here in no time, alright?"

"Not if you refuse to sit still! Honestly, I have never met anyone so frustrating as-"

"If I may interrupt..." Miroku began, and the pair turned on him with annoyance.

"What?" they snapped in unison.

"Uh...nothing," he shrank a bit under their matching glares, "Never mind, just carry on, and I'll be going." With one last glance at Sango, who was still ignoring him, he left.

Kagome rounded on Inuyasha. "Listen you, as long as you are staying here, you will do as I say. Is that clear? Now I am ordering you to get back to bed!" To emphasize her statement she pointed sternly in the direction of the stairs. He scowled at her fiercely and she scowled right back, unwavering. Part of him was tempted to grab his stuff and storm out, but he knew that he had nowhere else to go. Wasn't it just his luck to have ended up in this particular cafe with such a damned annoying bitch for a proprietress? Finally he relented and, with a growl, headed back upstairs, making as much noise as possible.

When he was gone, Kagome heaved a sigh and turned to find Sango watching her, eyebrows raised.

"Good god, that man is difficult," the black-haired woman muttered.

"If he's that bad why do you keep taking care of him? Throw him out for heaven's sake."

Kagome rested her forearms on the counter, "I can't do that Sango. He's such an arrogant ass, he'd probably get himself shot. That is if he didn't bleed to death or something." She sighed again, "I don't know, I guess I'm just a softie."

Her friend smiled, "That's for sure. If it were me, I'd have gotten rid of him the minute he woke up." Then her expression turned serious as she added, "Just remember, in our business, soft heartedness can be fatal. If you're not careful, you could get us both killed."

Kagome met the woman's warning gaze. "I know," she replied grimly.

* * *

Inuyasha was officially and thoroughly bored. For almost two days now he'd been 'confined to quarters' by that obstinate woman. His arm had pretty much healed, and the gash in his side was scabbing over, though his ribs were still a bit sore. Even a hanyou needed a bit of time to recover from injuries as extensive as his. But now the pain was nearly gone; he was just bored out of his mind.

He wasn't used to being cooped up like this. The only company he ever got was Kagome, and occasionally Sango, but both were usually busy with the task of running the restaurant downstairs. Besides, though he really did try to be civil, his frustration at being incapacitated caused him to be particularly edgy, and when Kagome did come up they usually argued.

He stretched his left arm out before him, testing it and wiggling his fingers. A bit stiff yet, but in good enough shape. With a quick glance at the door, listening for the sound of approaching footsteps, Inuyasha pushed himself up to a sitting position and climbed out of bed. He ambled over to the wooden vanity on the wall opposite and began poking through the drawers for no particular reason.

There was a mess of old jewelry in the top drawer, most of it looking as though it were quite out of fashion -- not that he was an expert on the subject. In another, he came across a stack of handkerchiefs and a half a bottle of old perfume. Eventually, tucked in the back of one of the little storage compartments, he uncovered something of interest: an old leather-bound diary.

He cast another look in the direction of the door before going back to sit on the bed, book in hand. At the very least he'd have something to do for a while, and who knew, maybe the owner of the diary had led some sort of exiting double life or had a juicy affair. Hell, even a trip to the market would be better than this. He was very, very bored. Keeping an ear out for Kagome, he opened the diary to a random page.

November 4, 1936
 Dear Diary,

Today I met the man I'm going to marry.

He snorted. How cliche. Women -- so sappy. Shaking his head, he continued reading.

He was standing just outside the library when I was on my way in to do some studying for the exams next week. I wouldn't have noticed him, ordinarily. In fact I didn't; that's why I ran into him. But he was so nice about it, even helping me to pick up the books I'd dropped. Then he smiled this sweet, genuine smile, and I fell in love on the spot!
Afterward, he asked me out for a bit to eat and I gladly accepted. We had the most wonderful conversation. He told me his name is Hojo, and he plans to be a doctor eventually. Isn't that exciting? I hope I wasn't too much of a bore for him. He's so very smart and polite, I was afraid I wasn't exactly holding up my end of the conversation. He kept quoting Shakespeare and Chaucer and Voltaire, and all I could do was nod. But he didn't do it in an arrogant sort of way, really; it just seemed natural for him.
I hope he asks me out again.
-- Kagome

Inuyasha raised his eyebrows. Kagome? Who would have guessed that such an irritating and trying woman could have developed from a frivolous schoolgirl?

He was about to turn the page and continue when the sound of someone coming up the stairs reached his ears. He hastily stuffed the diary into the drawer of the nightstand and slipped under the covers, hoping to avoid another argument. Sure enough, a moment later Kagome appeared in the doorway with a tray of food.

"Good afternoon," she greeted him cheerily, mostly because she knew it would annoy him.

"Mm," he grunted, pushing himself up to sit, as though he had only just woken up. She delivered the tray, and as she straightened up, caught the pensive expression he was fixing her with.

Frowning a bit, she eyed him suspiciously, "What?"

He shook himself mentally and said, "Nothing," quickly diverting his attention to the meal she had placed before him.

She watched him for a moment, but he continued to ignore her, so she turned to leave. When she reached the door, she cast a final glance back over her shoulder, then shook her head and left.

When she was gone, he paused his eating and stared after her, thoughts returned to the diary. Interesting...

* * *

A/N: Cool! You know when I started the scene about the diary I really had no idea where I was going with it. Right up until he found it I didn't even know what he was going to find. And it's good because I think I've figured out how to solve a problem I've been having with something later on, but I'd better shut up before I give something away. Please review! (like you haven't heard that a million times…)

P.S. If you noticed, I slipped a "–chan" in there somewhere, even though they're supposed to be in France. I just couldn't resist; it sounds natural that way to me now. Anyway, I figured since I'm writing in English when the characters are actually speaking French (at least when Inuyasha's not involved), it was okay.

    Also, just to clear up the linguistic issue once and for all, assume Inuyasha speaks French, just not very well, and the other principal characters (unless otherwise indicated) speak English for his benefit when he's there. When they talk amongst themselves, they speak French. Except, that is, when talking to German soldiers and such, in which case they speak German (if they can). Wow, that's even more confusing. Well, I'll indicate it in the story if language is an issue anywhere. But bottom line, Kagome, at least, speaks all three languages fluently.