A/N: k. so don't kill me just yet… and that goes for the stalker person that threatened me… yeah I totally don't like that… it makes me laugh because you sound like a fool, but then it makes me upset… and I'm sick while writing. So be joyous.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Except for this story.

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Escape Velocity

Chapter Four

TaintedMunkeyz

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She says she's no good with words but I'm worse
Barely stuttered out
"A joke of a romantic" or just stuck to my tongue
Weighed down with words too over-dramatic
Tonight it's "it can't get much worse"
Vs. "no one should ever feel like…"

- Fall Out Boy; Dance, Dance

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Kagome quickly got up and ran into the kitchen, hiding behind the island in the middle of the room. Why she was so scared, was even beyond her. You'd think she'd have enough balls to face the guy whose house she "broke" into.

She tried to calm her beating heart and listened for where the guy would go next. She heard him yawn and then throw his keys down into a basket by the door. She could hear his semi-heavy footsteps, which made her shiver because they reminded her so much of her father's. He stepped into the kitchen and got a beer from the fridge, which was across the room from the kitchen island. She held her breath and waited as she heard the fridge door close, and his footsteps retreating to the living room after turning off the kitchen light. She let out the breath she didn't know she was holding and didn't realize that it was a mistake.

Inuyasha stopped strolling into the living room and let his ears twitch, listening for sounds around his humble abode.

"What the…" he turned back towards the kitchen and slowly walked in, sniffing around now, and wondering why he didn't notice that there was something a bit off in the first place. The scent of blue lilies filled his nose and he let it twitch too, sneezing when the scent tickled and teased his senses. He left the lights off for the element of surprise, even though he could see in the dark anyway. He set his beer down on the counter and walked past the island, knowing good and well that the female hiding was right behind him. He heard a shuffling of feet and knew she was standing up so he turned and kicked out at her, surprised when his blow was dodged and a punch was thrown at his face. He dodged it quickly and sent a furry of punches towards the girl, marveling in how every thing was blocked. He backed her further into the kitchen island, the wheels turned and squeaking as the island was pushed further and further and hit the refrigerator door. Kagome rolled out of the way as a dangerous kick, that would have hit her face, hit the fridge door and ran into the living room. Inuyasha wasn't too far behind.

Kagome jumped on top of the coffee table and took stance, warily looking at the man who owned the apartment. He stepped closer and she stepped back, her foot accidentally landing on the remote and turning it on with a blast of a pro soccer game filling the room. Kagome quickly glanced at the T.V. before looking back at the man, almost ashamed of the fact that she was checking him out; the television gave him an unearthly glow. She took in his shaggy silver hair, under a gray knit cap and glowing golden eyes. His body was toned – equipped to do damage – and his sense of style was just as hot. Baggy jeans, flip-flops, a gray zip-up hoodie (T-shirt underneath) and a casual brown blazer overtop.

Inuyasha hopped onto the coffee table and Kagome quickly backed up once again, but misjudged her steps and fell onto the leather couch behind her. Inuyasha quickly took his chance and pounced on top of her, ignoring her muffled cry of protest.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" he asked venomously. Kagome glared with all her worth, and coughed trying to take in air. "I'll ask again," he said quietly. "What the fuck are you here for?"

"Actually that's not what you asked the first time." Kagome decided to be a smart ass, though she realized right after that that might not of been the smartest thing, when he pressed down on her body, taking the air from her lips and leaving her wheezing. She winced particularly hard when he pressed into the bruises on her sides with his thighs.

"Don't get smart, or I'll end your life and no one will be the wiser." Kagome glared again, as if challenging him.

"Well," she rasped. "If I could get some air… I could explain…" Inuyasha searched her eyes for defiance, but when he found none he got up slowly.

"No fucking tricks, bitch." Once he got from on top of her, Kagome sat up heaving in much needed air.

"Gee, thanks." She whispered sarcastically and stretched her arms above her head, satisfied when most bones cracked before relaxing into the soft leather.

"Why are you here? If you were going to rob something, you wouldn't be sitting on my couch and chatting. So tell me how you got in and why you feel the need to stay." Kagome winced at the harsh tone of his voice. Could she really expect different though? She did break into his house and sleep in his bed and eat his food. 'Okay, shit… I pretty much gave this man a reason to hate me already. Wrong thing to do. Might as well start from the beginning...'

"Well, I might as well start from the beginning."

"Don't make it a fucking novel please. It'd be greatly appreciated."

"Well jeez, princess, if you don't want me to answer your questions, then I'll leave right now."

"You can do that after you talk. Now talk." She rolled her eyes.

"My names Kagome by the way. You can address me as such. Not bitch or anything else."

"Whatever. It's Inuyasha, but you can call me master." She tried to hide her snort but it didn't work.

"Anyway, I live, or shall I say lived," (insert Inuyasha's glare) "In the more rural part of Tokyo with my step father. I go to the local public high school – Shikon High – and I'm an 18-year-old senior."

"Are you a cheerleader too?" Inuyasha spat nastily. Kagome didn't let it faze her.

"No, actually I'm the captain of the varsity girl's soccer team."

"Oh." Was all that he could say; he couldn't bash on her at all for that. He knew that the Shikon High Lions were the best around and the captain led them to an unbeatable record every year.

"Yeah. Thought you'd like that." She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I've been living with my step father since I was six, and then my mom left and took my brother telling me she loved me. She knew that my father had problems but if she left and took both of us, she wouldn't be able to provide and so she left me there with the problematic man. It wasn't until I reached the age of eight, that things really started getting bad. He made me his personal slave, cleaning up the house and only letting me go to school. By age ten, I was slowly starting to realize that my mom was never coming back for me and that I had to fend for myself.

"My step father loved the sport of soccer. So at this age I was put on teams around Tokyo or playing for my different schools. But this was one thing that was okay with me because I loved the sport anyway. It let me get away…" she trailed off, her eyes misting up.

"By age thirteen or fourteen, I forget, I was maturing faster than most girls my age… and he noticed. He tried to take advantage of me on numerous drunken occasions. I hated him for that, and I never forgave him. He stopped though, when I turned fifteen, and just decided to keep beating me until I was helpless. My best friend's father owns a Dojo in Tokyo and I decided to learn martial arts for free, so that I could defend myself as best I could – hence our little quarrel in your kitchen. Anyway, when he hit me, sometimes I'd fight back… or I'd just take the blows the best way I learned how and didn't show that he hurt me. My beatings got severe around the time when he remembered that my mom left us… or when he just felt like hitting me because I reminded him so much of her." she angrily wiped away a tear, not ready to show weakness in front of this man just yet.

"My eighteenth birthday just passed, which gives me my freedom, so I ran away. There's no doubt that he'll look for me, but at least he doesn't have any power over me. I came into the city and was walking out on the sidewalk when I found this apartment… it just called to me. so walked inside and just as I was about to go in the main office and ask if there were any apartments for rent, the manager is introducing himself and telling me that I'm someone I'm not and pushing me towards this apartment – your apartment - and telling me to wait until you got here."

"That crazy old bas-" Inuyasha paused. "Who did he tell you that you were?" Kagome flushed.

"Um… some Kikyho… chick." Inuyasha growled.

"That's Kikyo. And I don't know why he'd mistake you for her. She's much prettier." He lied.

"Well I'm SORRY that I was almost beaten to death before I ran away. Usually the bruises covering one's face make them a little hard to look at!" she yelled bitterly. She didn't like this. Her feelings and emotions were on edge right now. And she was letting too much slip. As soon as her face was angry, it was calm again. "Whatever. If you want me out, I'll leave."

Inuyasha thought about it. He truly did. He wasn't going to pity her, because he knew how that felt and how much he truly hated that. But how guilty would he feel if he left her fending for herself on the street, her bastard of a father running around looking for her. He felt a strange sense of protection surge through him at that moment. He wanted to protect her, but he didn't know why.

"You can stay for a while."

"What's a while?"

"Depends on how well you can cook."

And that was that.

X.x.X

"Inuyasha! How dare you take the all of the hot water!" Kagome screamed at the top of her lungs as soon as the cold water blasted her body. Inuyasha chuckled from his spot in the kitchen, slowly savoring the taste of his ramen in the morning. The truth was, in the past week, they'd grown fond of each other. They fought, of course, but they still laughed and treated each other like friends.

She washed her hair and her body, enjoying her favorite scent and then turned off the cold water and wrapped herself in a towel. She walked back into the spare room that Inuyasha had lent to her and got dressed, excited that her body was refreshed and the old bruises were disappearing. Her father had tried to call her but she didn't pick up and he hadn't been coming around her school, so she was pretty confident with the fact that he couldn't find her just yet. Everything was looking up.

Inuyasha glanced up from his steaming food to look at Kagome, who looked just as refreshed, as she would be if she didn't have to go through the life she had before. There was a bright beaming smile on her face and she looked pretty content. Since her back was facing him, Inuyasha took the time to let his eyes roam over her body; voluptuous curves, while still lean and in shape. Inuyasha shook his head of his thoughts and thought of Kikyo, his semi-sort-of girlfriend. She was staying faithful to him, so there was no way that he could let go of his emotions and screw it up. He just didn't know why he found Kagome better than Kikyo.

"…and you take all the milk too! What's a girl supposed to freaking eat around her when you finish off everything? Have you ever even heard of the healthy food groups? Honestly! And are you even listening to me?" Kagome turned and glared at Inuyasha's glazed over expression and then slightly became worried. "Inuyasha?"

"Huh?" he asked intelligently and glanced up at the black haired girl. She raised an eyebrow and looked at him as if he'd grown a third head.

"What the hell is in that Ramen?"

"Nothing, bitch. I'm leaving to go grocery shopping. Do you wanna come?"

"It's Kagome, and since you have no clue what to buy, yes I guess I'll come." Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"Well don't make it sound like a chore or anything."

"Oh, but anything that involves you is a chore my friend. As in chores are like slow and painful torture." She smiled wickedly and raced out of the kitchen, barely dodging a nice and hard Granny-smith apple.

X.x.X

"So I was thinking," Kagome started as she dumped three boxes of unhealthy cereal in the shopping cart. "If Myoga sent me to your apartment because he thought I was Kikyo, then why hasn't she come yet?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well her scheduled arrival must have been either the day or the day after I arrived, because Myoga knew to send me up. Why hasn't she showed up?"

"Oh. She called me and told me that her flight was delayed." Kagome rolled her eyes… she could plainly see what was going on, but apparently Inuyasha couldn't.

"By a week?" she asked smartly. He scoffed.

"No, stupid, she said that she just wasn't able to see me this time, but next time she would." Kagome's heart sunk at the hope in his voice. Obviously this girl wasn't with Inuyasha for a good reason. Had to be that she liked having a power over him or something. Kagome knew this Kikyo girl wasn't coming by anytime soon. She'd just have Inuyasha hanging by a thread until he couldn't take it anymore. And Kagome hated the bitch for that.

"Oh." She didn't fight it. She'd let him get it in his own time. And Inuyasha didn't get why she didn't keep asking him questions, because that's what she would usually do.

Soon their shopping cart was filled to the brim with things that would last them for at least two weeks and they pushed forwards towards the check out lane. Kagome laid out things on the conveyer belt and waited patiently as the boy rung up the items before putting more on. Inuyasha glanced up from his wallet and noticed that the working boy was checking Kagome out. He shook his head and counted up his money, satisfied to find that he'd have enough to pay with.

Now it was getting ridiculous. Kagome was making the boy nervous - actually nervous. After finding out his total and paying, Kagome started pushing the cart out and Inuyasha looked at the boy.

"You can't handle girls like her. So leave them to me." he smirked and raised an eyebrow, as if asking the boy to say something smart. When he smiled nervously, Inuyasha just chuckled and walked out the door, following Kagome to his car.

X.x.X

"Inuyasha! I need a ride to school!" Kagome called as she walked out of her room in her tight blue jeans without the pockets on the butt. She was wearing a tight black zip up jacket with a hood and a long white tank top underneath and reached her hips. On her feet, she wore black flats with white stars and a white sole. She brushed all her hair to the side and wore it over one shoulder, then put her hood on. Her eyes were lined with black and her lips were soft with clear pinkish lip-gloss. She pursed those finely glossed lips while searching the apartment for Inuyasha.

"Damnit boy, if I'm late, you won't get dinner and I'll burn all the ramen in the house!" she yelled. Suddenly his door swung open and he came out fully dressed and ready to go. She raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Funny how that works." He sneered and grabbed his keys from the basket by the door. Kagome grabbed an Arizona iced tea from the kitchen and followed him out the door.

"What time will you be home by?" Inuyasha asked once they were in the car. Kagome laughed.

"What are you, my father now?"

"No, stupid. I'm asking so I know when to make dinner."

"Oh, jeez, if it's Ramen I'll come home tomorrow."

"It won't be ramen!" he yelled frustrated, making Kagome giggle uncontrollably.

"Ok. Ok. I'm sorry." She stifled the last bit and smiled. "I'll be home around the time that school gets out, unless someone wants to do something. So I'll call, alright?" Inuyasha nodded and dropped her off in front of school, then drove off to go attend his own classes.

X.x.X

"That check out lane kid from the other day was totally checking you out." Kagome was sent off into a giggling fit by the obviously not funny pun.

"Um… just because that was lame I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. So what if he was? Plenty of guys do."

"But don't toot your own horn or anything." Inuyasha snorted, but was smiling. Kagome laughed.

"Right, you can't act like the girls aren't all over you."

"Well… they sometimes are, but I restrain myself because I have a girlfriend." Kagome stopped laughing.

"Huh. And how long have you and Kikyo been going out?"

"Like… six months."

"Oh. And she's a model. So you think she's staying faithful to you?" Kagome asked with her back turned, stirring the noodles in the pot in front of her. Inuyasha glared.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kagome rolled her eyes and turned to face him, leaning back on the counter.

"It means exactly what it sounds like. Models sleep around. And as much as you want to believe that this "relationship" you have is all fine and dandy, you should ask yourself, 'is it really what I think it is'. Don't get an attitude with me. I'm just saying what I think."

"Right, but when did it become your right to tell me how you think my relationship should be going?"

"Alright, I'm not going to fight about this. Really it's a waste of breath."

"You're such a bitch. You act like you've never romantically cared about someone before."

"That's because I haven't. And don't call me a bitch."

"Okay, wow. So now I'm supposed to believe that you're the girl next door too?"

"No. It means that I've dated and had boyfriends but I haven't exactly found the person that makes everything not make sense but at the same time I'm able to keep a clear head with. And maybe that's a bullshit fairytale that's not going to happen but at least I'm staying true to myself-" She cut herself off there. She just became a hypocrite. Because she wasn't being true to herself or to Kouga. She cursed and turned off the food she was cooking before heading back to her room and slamming the door shut. This was why she couldn't live with boys. Because right now, Inuyasha was starting to be that boy that made everything not make sense.

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A/N: All right. There you have it. I'm sorry that it's taking me so long to update these, but it's like whenever I sit down I go blank or I can't seem to find the will to write. But I'm starting to get it back. When I read a great story I can't help but want to finish writing my own. It feels spectacular actually. So please review and I'll try and update Hard Knock Life sooner than later!

TaintedMunkeyz