6

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha

Special Thanks: To my wonderful editor (ReviewerWriter)! The story wouldn't be as good without you!

Recap:

"Kikyo, have you found her yet?" asked a deep voice.

"Yes, father. What would you like me to do now?" Kikyo asked as she bowed respectively down to her father.

"What else? Make her life a living hell on earth! Drive her to insanity!" he said with a vicious laugh. Kikyo readily joined in his laughter.

Chapter 6:

New Information

Kagome woke to the sound of her alarm clock. Sango had hit the off button on it before she could.

"Come on sleepy-head, it's time to get up!" she greeted with a friendly smile.

"Hmm?...Okay," she yawned; stretching out her drowsy body.

Kagome grabbed a towel and made way for the school's showers. After showering and getting dressed, she went to wait for InuYasha in their usual meeting spot; Sango was close by her side.

Today Kagome wore a pink hoody that reached all the way down to her thighs; she also had on a pair of blue jeans and her usual pink sneakers.

Sango was wearing a gray T-shirt that bore the writing; 'Fight with Honor.' She also had on jeans and black shoes.

"Wasn't that so mush fun last night?" Sango questioned, referring to the party's festivities.

"The most fun I've had in a long time," Kagome beamed. Their little conversation was cut short when they heard:

"Hey, Kagome! Hi Sango!" InuYasha called out from behind the two girls. Today, InuYasha was wearing a simple red shirt with a pair of plain blue jeans. He had Miroku by his side.

"Hello ladies," Miroku said joyfully. He had on a dark purple shirt with the expected words 'Call Me' written on it; he wore blue jeans, to complete his outfit.

"Hey guys," Sango and Kagome greeted.

After the simple chit-chat was done, everyone walked off to their homeroom. Nothing much happened in school, except when second period rolled around. Kagome was walking down the hallway back to class from the restroom; where she met someone unexpectedly and very unwelcomed.

"Hey sis!" an eerily familiar voice sounded coldly from behind Kagome. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" Kagome stood there completely stunned; her eyes were wide with fear. They had found her!

Kikyo and her dad were going to take her back; and who knows what they were going to do to her? They might torture her until she couldn't breathe anymore; then they may just kill her off on the spot.

"K-Kikyo," she managed to stutter out, the fear imminent in her quaking voice.

"Kagome, you damn bitch!" she yelled, walking up to face her sister and then slapping her right across the face. The force of the attack caused Kagome to fall painfully to the floor; cupping her cheek with her shaking hands, she glanced up at her fearsome sister.

"Do you know how long I've been looking for you? I should just kill you right now," Kikyo told her. "But I won't; you won't get off that easily. I'm going to see you suffer, and I don't want you to have the satisfaction of dieing peacefully," she grinned spitefully.

She then proceeded to land a kick directly to her sister's stomach. Turning around, Kikyo left her grieving sister in the hallway.

On the ground, tears started to fall out of her terrified eyes; the pain and realization came of what was to come was getting to her.

'They're going to go after my friends!' she thought in horror. 'They're going to kill them. If only I had left a week ago, they wouldn't know where I was; I should have just left,' her mind told her.

A realization occurred to the wounded woman; 'Maybe my friends can follow me. And then they can all live. No, I can't have them come, it wouldn't be fair. I'll have to leave tonight; alone…I won't put them in any danger!' Kagome held her stomach with one hand; with the other, she leaned on the wall and stood.

Steadily, she started walking to her dorm to pack everything she owned; also, she had to treat her swollen cheek. She figured she would go back to class after lunch. That didn't happen. She couldn't face her friends; Kagome decided she would leave unnoticed.

Lunch rolled around too quickly. InuYasha had notice that Kagome wasn't seen since second period. Once the bell had rung for lunch, he raced off to find her; by tracking her scent he was eventually led by her sweet aroma; she was in her dorm room still.

He opened the door and entered silently; she was there…crying. Kagome was busy packing her things away, she hadn't even noticed his prescreens. He spoke out to her.

"What are you doing?" he asked in total confusion. She quickly spun her head to see a bewildered hanyou. She winced and grabbed her stomach at the pain that spread at her quick turning action.

Concern, mixed with rushing panic, came over him; he swept over to her and asked;

"What happened?" Without realizing it, he had begun to hold her. She pushed him away quickly and returned to her packing.

"It doesn't matter," Kagome stated hopelessly and rather bluntly.

"Don't be stupid, of course it matters! Now tell me what the hell you are doing!" he demanded, standing firmly behind her. He wouldn't leave until he got to the bottom of this.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm packing…and then I'm going to leave," she said in-between sobs; as she turned around, the tears started to emerge from her already puffy eyes. She had to be blunt; she had to make him leave; she couldn't stand it if she put his life in danger with her personal problems.

"Why? Is it something I did?" he asked, once again stricken with confusion at the whole situation; panic was vibrant in his voice.

"No…. I just can't stay here anymore," she whispered; turning so that her back faced him.

"Please tell me," InuYasha begged.

"I-I don't know if I can; you'll get hurt if you know anything," she sulked out. "I would never forgive myself if anything bad happened to you!"

"You are hurting me…by leaving!" he blurted out; he didn't mean to act so rashly and had covered his mouth after that outburst.

"I- I am?" she asked, clearly shocked at his words.

"Yes! I…I want you to stay; if you leave, It'll feel like you ripped a piece of me away with you," he confessed, gazing deeply into her tearing eyes. During his declaration, he had taken his arms around her to hold her tightly against himself.

Kagome clashed with his body; not caring that it hurt to struggle; he continued holding her securely and was pressed against her curvy body.

InuYasha blushed as her fully developed breast came into his view. 'Stop thinking like that Miroku…this is not the time!' his mind scolded out again. 'She's going through a life-scaring trauma now and you're busy thinkin' about her hooters!'

He held her even more closely after he penalized himself for thinking like that; this time, the entire hold was that of a comforting one, with no more perverted interruptions from his worried mind.

"InuYasha," she whispered out as she sobbed into his red shirt.

"Don't worry; whoever is out to hurt you won't get me! You have more of a chance of getting hurt; I'm afraid of loosing you…let me protect you! I won't leave your side; even if you disagree, I'll still protect you!" he vowed, placing his head gently on top of hers.

"I'm afraid. Something bad will happen to you if you try to help me…I don't want you to get—" she spoke out in one final attempt to scare him away from her, but he interrupted her.

"Worry about yourself for once!" he commanded in a firm voice. "I'll risk anything to protect you," he stated gently, lifting her head to meet his kind gaze.

Kagome blushed in shock. Was she hearing right? Was she dreaming? His thumb rubbed over her swollen cheek; she winced painfully. It wasn't a dream…that had hurt.

"Now tell me who hurt you," he said gently, remembering that she was wounded at the wince.

"M-my sister, Kikyo," she said, loosening the embrace with a sigh of pain.

"Kikyo?" he repeated so he could remember whom to beat up later. (if your confused go back to chap. one. That should clarify any confusion). "I better take you to the Health Center where you can see a nurse; you need to get checked on; it sounds like you got kicked in the stomach, too."

"No! What if they think you did this to me? Besides, that is exactly what Kikyo wants; to have me cornered and alone; she'd call my father and he'd come after me for sure! Please, InuYasha…don't make me do that!"

"It he the one that's after you!" he asked; rage sprouting in his voice. 'How could he, of all people, her own father? How could he have this done to Kagome!' the hanyou thought furiously.

Kagome noticed his facial expressions as he strained through his own thoughts.

"Yes, he is the one after me. But please, InuYasha, calm down. There's nothing you can do to repair the past," she told him. "Please don't be mad at my though! You scare me when you're like that." The sound of her shaking voice had forced him to regain his composure.

"Then let me see what that whore did to you," he said with a sigh.

"But that's under my shirt!" she stated in embracement, holding her torso in protection.

"Just let me see! I'm no perv! I need to check how badly she injured you," he mentioned in an annoyed tone. She looked up at him, still blushing fiercely. She slowly lifted up her shirt, stopping just before the view would get too personal. Her chest revealed the black and blue mark the kick had left.

Accompanying this new bruise were previous deep cuts that had healed over; there were other small bruises from past injuries. InuYasha gasped at the sight. He turned her around quickly to see her back; the same gruesome display of past beatings were painfully visible. He wanted to inspect her covered arms but was too afraid that he would see the same thing; he would have been correct, too.

She quickly shoved her shirt down, turning around to see the speechless hanyou slunk on her bed in shock and pity. He held his head in his hands; he couldn't believe that such a sweet creature would be put through this much torment! Painful moments of silence went by; Kagome was too afraid to break this silence, so it was up to InuYasha.

"Why didn't you tell me?" his voice drowning in distress. Kagome wanted to cry; she felt that she had cried all she could for the day and kept her eyes dry.

"B-because, I was afraid. I- I… just… I mean—" she stuttered out.

"Why? Were you afraid of me?" he asked, accidentally letting the inner hurt he felt fill his words.

"No! I was just too scared of what your reaction would be," she admitted. "I'm not scared to tell you anymore; I know now that you're going to be there for me," she said kneeling down in front of him. She began pulling his hands out so that she could hold them in comfort.

InuYasha looked up at her to see her smile sincerely. Letting her honesty sink in, he returned the gentle smile; she was so caring! Almost motherly like; she melted into his warming and welcoming embrace. He let his forehead land softly on her shoulder.

--------------------------------------------To Be Continued------------------------------------------

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