Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.
Chapter Twenty Five: Hunger
Hunger.
Sharp gnawing pain in the belly screaming for something to alleviate it.
Visions of cheeseburgers and tacos and grilled cheese sandwiches filled her head, torturing her. But the temptation only made the unbearable pain in her stomach worse. Her whole body ached. It felt as if she had been beaten within an inch of her life. Her skin was on fire. When she tried to open her eyes, her head exploded in white hot blinding pain.
It was nearly impossible to lift her arms, they felt leaden. Mustering all of her strength she felt along her arm for the source of a particularly sharp pain. Squinting so that the light wouldn't hurt so much, Sango saw the needle sticking in her arm. With a muffled cry she pulled the needle from her body. She was too tired to do anything beyond watching the bead of blood on her arm begin to form.
There were more needles to be extracted. And the tubes! She cringed, not wanting to think about them. But she had no strength left. Her body was weak from hunger and lack of use. I wonder how long we were in the game.
Jewel. Whatever.
Closing her eyes she felt defeated. There was no elation for making it back in the real world as she thought there would be. There was only overpowering fatigue. A desire to sleep herself into oblivion to get away from the pain she was feeling. It would have been better to die in the other world, at least there she felt alive. Strong. This body… it was so weak. So tired.
So very tired.
"Mew?"
Sango blinked. It was impossible. I must be hearing things. Struggling with all her might, she managed to turn onto her side. She looked warily down at the floor beside her bed, unsure if she wanted to see what she thought she would see and hoping beyond hope that she would.
"Kirara?"
"Mew." The firecat looked up at the young woman with wide confused eyes. She cocked her head to one side, studying the girl lying nearly immobile on the bed before turning her head in every direction to take in her new strange surrounding. Not to mention attempting to taste all the smells.
"Impossible." Sango laughed suddenly. "Kirara!"
In a single bound the firecat landed lightly on the bed. Arms that were made of lead only moments earlier wrapped easily around the demon in a gentle hug.
Amazingly enough, Sango found herself sitting up. A loud groan caught her attention. Looking off to the side she noticed Shippo was slowly coming around. For a moment she didn't recognize him. She was so used to seeing him as a childlike fox kit that the young man in front of her was virtually a stranger.
"Hungry….", the red haired boy moaned.
"Me too," said Sango as she tried to move her legs. Once she felt she could tolerate the pain, she turned her body to look around for the rest of her friends. Immediately she saw Miroku. He's here… he's alive. And… he is… so… blasted far away…
She sighed resignedly. Time to get moving.
The first thing to do was to get rid of the rest of the needles and tubes and work on blocking them from her memory forever. I'm going to need some serious therapy after all this. Removing the foreign objects invading her body was painful. Excruciating. Unfortunately it was also necessary, so she sucked it up and kept removing the items. She called out for Shippo to do the same.
It worried her that Miroku hadn't woken up yet. Nor had she heard a peep from Kouga or Inuyasha. She took a deep breath. Miroku first, then she would find the others.
With a grunt she slid her body off of the bed, testing her weight on her legs. Pain shot up her legs, which had been immobile for so long. It felt as if sharp needles where shooting through her muscles and bone. Every movement just made it worse. Tears slid down her face without her permission.
"Miroku," she called, her voice trembling. "Time to wake up."
Struggling for balance, Sango reached out to the medical cart next to her bed. Startled, she realized that she couldn't actually feel her feet. She wanted to look down to make sure that they were there, but suddenly images from dozens of horror flicks ran through her mind. No one had ever accused Sango of being a coward, but looking down to see if her feet were still indeed there was too terrifying a prospect to consider. Instead she grasped the cart, thanked every god and goddess that she could think of that it was on wheels, and gingerly leaned into it.
Ever so slowly she began inching her way to her sleeping companion, hobbling awkwardly. It was too hard to tell if he was breathing or not, and so far he hadn't moved a muscle. What if they didn't all make it back… alive…? Gulping loudly she pushed that thought away. No sense borrowing trouble, she reminded herself. In the back of her mind she heard Shippo's anguished cries as he was obviously freeing himself.
"Miroku… please wake up…"
She was getting closer. Her entire body was wracked with pain, but she kept moving. She had to get to him. She had to see if he was okay. Kirara mewed softly, but Sango didn't dare look down and risk stumbling. She had to get to Miroku.
Inch by inch. Foot by foot. Sango finally managed to reach her friend's side. Shaking with fatigue, she sat gingerly beside him. Her fingers were brushing the hair away from his eyes before she knew what they were doing. She smiled, remembering how Miroku used to say how his hand moved of its own violation and he had no control over it.
No, she frowned suddenly, no talking about him in the past tense. He's alive. I can see him breathing. He WILL make it. If only he would wake up…
"Get up, Miroku. I'm hungry… and you promised me a chocolate shake and a bacon double cheeseburger." Gently she shook him.
Looking at where her hand connected to his arm she realized that he was still full of needles and hooked up to the machine through what looked like a million wires. Sango rubbed her chest where she had ripped the tape and wires off too quickly. She would bet good money thast she lost quite a bit of flesh in her haste. As she began to carefully remove the needles and wires she continued to demand that Miroku wake up. She tried gentle pleas and not so gentle commands. She even threatened the removal of all of his favorite body parts.
"Please, Miroku," she begged as she closed her eyes and rested her forehead against his. "Please wake up. I need you."
"I need you too."
It was just a whisper of a voice, but it was his. When Sango opened her eyes she was staring into his. She wanted to cry. She wanted shake him until his teeth rattled. She wanted to yell at him for scaring her. She wanted to curse at him to blazes for the pain he put her through.
She kissed him instead.
Then she cried. Then shook him and yelled.
Once Sango had composed herself, she pushed Miroku away from her, hiding her sniffles with a laugh. As she discretely wiped her eyes she looked around the room.
Kirara was wandering about the room, sniffing different objects, looking back occasionally as if to confirm that Sango was still there. Shippo was crying loudly as he pulled the last tube from his body. The sight gave him the dry heaves. Kouga was finally beginning to come around, moaning and groaning and spewing a string of curse words that might have shamed Inuyasha. And Inuyasha… Sango looked around carefully. Where was he? His bed was empty.
"Hey, get Sango to wake ME up!"
"Get your own woman, Kouga!" yelled Miroku, his hand on Sango's knee possessively.
Sango ignored the bickering men as she scanned the room for Inuyasha, the only one in the group who was missing. It was strange that he wasn't there. Every since they went into the game he had been their unofficial leader. Maybe he hadn't come through the portal yet. Where is he?
"He has gone in search of Kagome," Miroku said with absolute certainty, noticing the once demon slayer search the room with her eyes.
"Impossible. It took forever just for me to be able to open my eyes. I almost didn't make it the few yards to your bed. There is NO WAY Inuyasha could have gotten out of here so fast or without us hearing him. What if he didn't make it back with us? What if we left him behind?"
Miroku rubbed his face tiredly. "He was here. I heard him."
"You heard him?" She stiffened. "You were awake all this time?" If she hadn't needed her strength to stay upright she would have decked him. Instead, she watched in fascination as Miroku turned a lovely shade of pink.
"No…"
"No?" Well now she was just plain curious since he wouldn't meet her eyes.
He mumbled incoherently and turned his head, focusing on the bruises on his arm where the needles had been inserted. Strong fingers grabbed his chin and forced his head back towards the woman he was trying to hide from at the moment. He sighed.
"I fainted."
Naturally, Sango's first instinct was to laugh. He fainted. But she sobered quickly, even before her lips could curve into a smile. The pain he must have been in to have caused him to faint must have been great. Had he moved too soon? Had he tried to do too much before his body was ready? No, she wouldn't laugh at Miroku fainting. At least not today. Maybe one day when the pain was a bit less.
"We have to go find Inuyasha," Sango told the group.
Kouga glared at her and tried to growl, though without the vocal cords he had as a wolf demon it didn't have quite the same effect. "Forget him! We need to find Kagome!"
Shippo sighed, sliding his legs off the side of the bed. "And just where do you suppose Inuyasha went, you idiot?"
An empty fluid bag was tossed at Shippo's head. Well, in that direction at any rate. Unused muscles didn't have quite the same power as they had before. Shippo snickered as the bag landed several feet short.
"So," Sango said firmly, "We have a plan. We'll get out of here and track Inuyasha."
Miroku groaned with the effort of just moving his head. "Do you have any idea how far away that door is?"
"I'm awfully weak," Shippo said, embarrassed to admit it. "Do you think we should find some food or get some aspirins or something before we go? I know that I won't be of much use in a fight if I can barely sit up."
Do we scrounge for food? If we don't we'll be too weak to fight. If we do we may be too late to be of any help. She worried her lip between her teeth as she weighed the pros and cons. This wasn't like the game. There were no bottles of potions to pick up at the end or any inns to rest at. No phoenix feathers to bring them back to life should the worst happen. How did I get stuck being the decision maker anyhow?
"We go after Inuyasha. We can't let him fight alone." She looked at each of her companions, almost daring them to contradict her. "But along the way we need to keep an eye out for anything we can eat or use." Slowly she stood to her feet, heading towards the locker that held her clothes. "And if anyone happens to see a phoenix feather, for the love of Heaven pick it up!"
"Hey! Did you know these gowns don't have backs?" asked Shippo merrily.
Sango let out a squeak before reaching behind to keep the cloth closed. Miroku and Kouga reprimanded Shippo for bringing that little tidbit to her attention. It involved more objects being tossed at his head. Not all were blunt objects either. Luckily, however, their aim was off and the power behind the throws were… well… without too much power.
It wasn't as fast going as she would have liked, but eventually the group was finally dressed and in the hall. They were out of breath and flushed from the effort, but they were still in the hall.
"Now what?" Kouga asked while trying to catch his breath.
Sango smirked as she looked down the hall, "We follow Inuyasha."
Following Inuyasha was easy. All they had to do was follow the path of destruction. How is it possible that he had the strength to do this when the rest of us could barely stand? It doesn't make sense.
Each door that they came to they tried to open. Most of them were locked. Luckily, however, a few of them were open. The open ones they looted mercilessly. Sango had a flashback of looting peoples' homes and the inns while she was in the game. She laughed at the irony.
In some of the desks they managed to find some snack bars. One of the employees must have a serious sweet tooth, because they found the mother load of chocolate in the bottom drawer of a desk in the corner in the back. They managed to locate the staff lounge along the way, but there was very little in the refrigerator, and certainly nothing edible. There were a few crackers in a cabinet and Kouga managed to choke down some instant coffee crystals by the spoonful. Sango skipped the coffee and savored the last bits of chocolate, not too proud to lick the wrapper and suck the chocolate from her fingers (which got lots of undivided attention).
"Do you think we should save some chocolate for Kagome?" asked Shippo as he made sure he hadn't missed a crumb from the small bag of chips he had found.
Sango looked at the empty wrappers on the counter. There wasn't a single morsel of chocolate left. I can't believe I didn't even think of saving some for her. She lowered her eyes in shame. The hunger had driven all thoughts out of her head save for sating the hunger. I'm a horrible friend… I can't believe I didn't think to save some for her. After all, at every store she asked for some… I'm horrible…
"We'll buy Kagome all the chocolate she could possibly want once we find her and get out of here," Miroku said as he scooped the wrappers into the trash. "It's a very kind thought, Shippo, but we need our strength if we are going to save her."
Once the wrappers were out of sight Miroku took Sango's hand and gave it a squeeze. With no more food in sight, that was edible anyhow, Kouga and Shippo left the lounge.
"There is nothing to feel guilty about," Miroku told her softly once the door had closed behind the two ex-demons, leaving them alone in the lounge. "We need it more than she does right now. She would tell you the same thing, and you know it."
"I should have at least thought of her."
Grasping her shoulders, Miroku turned Sango to face him. "You were desperate for food, Sango. We all were. You saw us fighting over scraps of food like wild dogs. But we have to do what we have to do to survive. I was serious when I said we will need our strength to save her. What good is a piece of chocolate if we are not strong enough to keep her from death?"
She sighed. "I know… but she should have at LEAST entered my mind. What kind of friend am I?"
Miroku kissed her gently before resting pulling her close, encouraging her head to lie on his shoulder. "Let's go home Sango."
"What?"
"Let's just go. You and me. Right now. Inuyasha and Kouga can save Kagome. Let's just go get that cheeseburger and shake like I promised you."
Smack!
A bright red imprint of a hand glowed on Miroku's cheek.
"How DARE you say that! How DARE you even SUGGEST we abandon Kagome?"
"You barely know her," argued Miroku reasonably. "She's practically a stranger. Just some random girl you met on the Internet playing games. If we don't go now you'll be risking your life… all for a virtual stranger. We can leave now and save ourselves."
"Kagome is my FRIEND! I would never NEVER just leave her!" Sango snarled. She was boiling with fury.
Miroku grinned warmly. "And that, my dear Sango, is just the kind of friend you are."
"Huh?"
"You would risk your very life for your friends. You would go to save a girl you only met online."
Her fists unclenched and her blood pressure lowered. She tried to muster up some anger for being tricked, but couldn't manage it.
"Saving her life will mean more to her than a bar of chocolate."
Depends on the chocolate, thought Sango, smiling to herself at the sentiment that Kagome would have shared with her.
"Sometimes you say smart things," she admitted reluctantly. "But don't let it go to your head."
When they exited the lounge they found Shippo on the ground throwing up. Evidently gorging oneself on junk food after your body was starved does not agree with the intestinal system. Sango rubbed his back as she motioned for the other two to keep moving.
"I don't want to be useless," he whispered after spitting the remaining bile to the floor.
"You aren't useless. We need you." She smoothed his hair. "Kagome needs you."
He nodded and stood up to follow Sango, who was beginning to feel a little sorry for the cleaning staff as they left one mess to trail after another.
"He must have found a knife," said Miroku as he looked at the slashed wallpaper. "Or maybe a box cutter." He turned to look at Sango. "Do you think we should find some weapons for ourselves as well?"
There were not many choices of weaponry in an office building, but along their way to their destination, whatever it may be, they managed to find a thing or two. Miroku found a metal broom and unscrewed the handle, and voila! A makeshift staff. Shippo raided the office supplies for thumbtacks and scissors, grabbing some duct tape just in case. Sango wrapped the end of a long metal ruler with masking tape and tucked the two screwdrivers she found into her waistband. Kouga decided he would just use his fists.
Finally they came to a room that was torn up much worse than all the others. On the far end was an elevator door. There were deep scratches in the door, and even some of the metal had been bent.
"This is it," breathed Sango.
For a moment they looked at each other. Their long walk had taken a toll on their bodies, and they were exhausted.
"I want extra large fries at dinner tonight," said Shippo, "And a double shake."
Sango smiled as she pushed the button. "Miroku's treat, order all you want."
"Hey!"
More determined than ever to fight, Sango leaned against the wall for support while she gathered her strength and waited for the elevator door to open. She would see that Naraku paid for what he did to them. There wasn't the luxury of time to heal. No matter how badly her body screamed, she had to keep moving. One glance behind her and she saw that her friends were just as determined as she was.
The ride down was slow. Each of the four friends were breathing hard, bodies shaking with effort to stay upright.
There was no ding to announce the arrival of their floor. Instead, the doors silently opened. Even more destruction greeted them. They moved forward to where they saw the bodies.
Sango gasped when she saw the chains on the wall. Her eyes followed them down to the bruised and battered bodies at the end of them. One was an older woman, she was sitting with her back against the wall, her eyes open and watching. But the other girl… she was barely recognizable as she lay unconscious in the filth around her.
A growl drew her attention away from Kagome.
"Impossible…"
Hunger.
Sharp gnawing pain in the belly screaming for something to alleviate it.
Visions of what must have happened to Kagome for her to be in this state filled his head, torturing him. As surely as he felt the need to draw air into his lungs, he felt the need to see pain returned to the man responsible for this tenfold. He could feel the roaring beast inside of him demanding to be set free. Only his death would satisfy this hunger.
Inuyasha flexed his claws.
