Disclaimer- If I was the owner of Inuyasha, I would not be up at midnight writing this chapter!
Chapter 28- Don't Give up on Her!
"Have you told Rin yet about your decision?" Kikyo asked, peeking at Kagome. Sango watched her friend, who now shook her head and glanced once more at the dresses that surrounded them. Currently the three friends were standing in the store of the town they were visiting, gathering their outfits for the Fourth of July celebration.
"I haven't had time to let her know. Besides, I figured I shouldn't tell her until the day of my departure, that way there won't be multiple rounds of tears." Kagome's voice had lost its spice, which was noticeable to anyone who knew her. She only stared at the dress Kikyo had picked with dull eyes. "I like that, it's really pretty."
"Pretty patriotic if I do say so myself." Kikyo replied, smiling lightly. Though Kikyo and Sango tried, it was hard to pretend that their roommate would be leaving them soon. Neither expected the sudden change in plans, and it was clear that they were not happy.
"I'm glad I'm just sticking with something plain. A nice blue tank top with an American flag and some jean shorts will do the job just fine." Sango said, looking once more at the clothes that hung across her arm.
"Well excuse me for trying to be a little different." Kikyo's summer dress was a checkered red design, with a blue outline that rimmed the fabric nicely.
"I think it's nice we all have something different though. What with you and your dress, me and my shorts, and Kagome with her skirt. At least people won't say we look the same!" Kagome's skirt was made from white cotton material, and spread out until her mid thigh. It also consisted of a deep red tank top, which slightly showed her middle.
"I guess so." Sango sighed deeply at Kagome's short reply.
"Cheer up Kagome, we're supposed to be getting ready to have a party, not go to a funeral." Sango said, placing her arm around Kagome's shoulders. It was quickly shaken off when Kagome moved to the wall, dropping her bag and leaving against the store.
"I'm sorry guys; I don't try to be like that. I just...I can't shake Inuyasha's look, it's haunting me." Both girls glanced worriedly at her before she continued. "My mom wouldn't let me stay even if I did argue with her; she doesn't think I'm safe here after what happened."
"How did she even find out about the incident?" Sango asked, joining her friend against the wall.
"I don't even know, she said that the camp called and informed her of what happened. But even Rin didn't know what went on, how did anyone else?"
"Do you think that maybe one of the boys let it slip?" Kikyo asked. Kagome shook her head.
"No way, they wouldn't have said anything. Besides, what reason would they have to tell someone?" The group fell silent before Sango spoke hesitantly.
"What if...I'm not saying that I'm positive, but what if the person who wrote the note told the camp what happened?" Sango threw the suggestion into the air, hoping to get a response.
"But how would they get the camp to listen to them without admitting that they were the ones who set it up? And if they said that Inuyasha had arranged it like it was said in the note, then why didn't Inuyasha get in trouble or even spoken to by Sesshoumaru?"
"I'm not sure Kikyo, but it's always an option. The only ones who know about this mess were us, the boys, and the person who wrote the note. We're not even sure about who it is yet." Kagome felt her stomach churn at the reminder of what had happened at the mountain.
"Kagome, if your mother had asked you if you wanted to leave, what would you have said?" Asked Sango. Kagome was tentative to reply.
"I'm not sure San; I don't know what I would have done." Kagome's emotion were still confused as she picked up her things, pushing away from her resting spot and making her way towards the register. "But let's stop worrying about the 'what ifs' and lets get out stuff checked out. I'm sure the boys are outside dieing of boredom by now."
Scene Change
True to her word, the boys seemed to have fallen asleep on the benched beside the store. Trying not to laugh at the awkward positions, the girls gazed humorously on the scene in front of them.
Kouga had his left arm across his stomach, his hand lying peacefully on his abdomen. His right arm was now dangling across the edge of the railing to the bench. Both legs were stretched out in front of him, crossing at the ankles. His body seemed to sag with the invisible weights that tied him down.
Miroku was no better. His feet had somehow stayed close to the bench, but were a good distance apart. Both arms had found a convenient spot behind his head, which was lying against the top of the bench. His mouth was closed, but the soft noise of air shifting through his nose. A lazy smile had found a resting spot stretched out on his lips.
But the other two boys' were lucky enough to have kept their mouths closed. Inuyasha had kept his title of being big mouthed even when he was sleeping. Though he made no noise, his head had fallen against his arm, his body being turned on his side. The girls chocked on their own laughter when catching sight of his tongue, which had found its way out of his mouth and rested against his lips.
"They're so silent; do we really have to wake them up?" Sango whispered, looking at her two friends.
"Well do you think they want to sleep here all day?" Kagome asked, dropping her bags onto the floor.
"Probably not. Besides, it's our duty as friends to wake them up from embarrassing situations." Kikyo's smile spread evilly as she approached Kouga. "But nobody said I had to do it nicely."
"What are you planning?" Sango asked cautiously.
"Nothing out of the ordinary." Kikyo replied, leaning over her boyfriend's face. Since the admission of Kouga's behalf, the two were able to be open about their relationship. This was seen as a plus, since they were able to drop the acts and leave both Inuyasha and Kagome alone.
"Don't be too mean to him." Kagome said, though Kikyo gave no reply. Instead, she lightly leaned over and grabbed Kouga's lips in a kiss, making the boy stir slightly.
"Time to wake up Kouga." She whispered against his mouth, taking his ear into her hand. Pulling away slightly, Kikyo quickly pulled Kouga's ear hard, causing him to shout. Mildly cursing, Kouga ripped the hand away from his head to glance up at his girlfriend, who now smiled. "Hey sunshine, rise and shine!"
"Was that really necessary? I was having a nice dream. I had just taken out Inuyasha and was celebrating wi-" Kouga's description was cut off when Inuyasha's trademark snort was heard from his side of the bench.
"Keep dreaming; because that's the only time you'll be able to beat me." Inuyasha slowly batted away the cobwebs of sleep as her looked around, realizing that they had fallen asleep in the town. "Get up Miroku, we can finally leave."
"You said a half hour ago that Sango was waiting for me in a swimsuit, and it never came true. Why should I believe you now?" Miroku seemed to only be half awake, for he only shifted on the seat.
"Because the girls are sitting here, staring at your lazy ass while you're trying to sleep on a bench." At the rude sentence, Miroku's azure eyes greeted the girls before he sat up, smiling charmingly at the group before yawning. Sango's fists were now balled against her sides, trying hard not to blush.
"Why you little per-"
"We were wondering when you girls were going to emerge from the dark caverns of shopping. Don't you know it's too early to go out shopping?"
"It's noon, pervert, how is that too early?" Sango rolled her eyes before reaching out a hand, pulling Miroku up. Pulling too hard, Sango was greeted with the soft fabric of Miroku's shirt, her hand still interlocked with his. Blushing slightly, she felt Miroku's deep laughter as he spun her around, his arm resting comfortably around her waist as her back made contact with his chest.
"You're cute when you blush." She only flushed deeper at his whispered compliment.
"Someone throw me a paper bag, I think I'm going to hurl." Inuyasha said, sticking his tongue out in disgust. Suddenly realizing they had an audience, Sango shoved herself away from Miroku, only to be pulled back again. Ignoring her half-heated whine, Miroku glared at Inuyasha.
"You're just mad because you're too stubborn to try anything with Kagome." Miroku spit out the comment like a bad piece of food, not realizing the effect on the group. Suddenly, each person had found an interesting place of the ground to look at, finding the statement awkward with the new events.
"You know what; I just remembered that I wanted to buy a new pair of shoes for my dress! Girls, will you come with me to go get them? We'll let the boys go get some lunch and we'll meet them there in twenty?" Kikyo's excuse was enough to catch the attention of the group, Kagome silently thanking her.
"Sure, let's get it done before the crowds start to come. We'll see you boys in a bit?" Sango left the suggestion as more of an option than a command, slipping out of Miroku's comfortable embrace. She soon realized that the warmth was immediately missed, though she made no comment.
"Oka, see you there." Kouga replied, watching the three hurry away. As soon as they were out of sight, he caught the image of Inuyasha trying to attack Miroku, having enough sense to step between the two. "Whoa, calm down Inuyasha!"
"Kouga, move before I take his and your heads off in one clean sweep!" Inuyasha growled out, trying to swing at Miroku. The boy was lucky enough to keep his distance from his friend.
"Well it's not my fault that this is happening; don't take it out on me! Just because you're too chicken to tell her that you want her to stay-" He was interrupted before he could continue.
"Shut up Miroku, I don't give a damn about what she does! If she wants to go home, then it doesn't bother me." Even though his words were harsh, the dire need to attack his friend had slowly slipped away from him.
"Look, we all know that you care about Kagome, so stop being so stubborn and tell her before its too late." When Inuyasha shifted his arms into a defiant pose, Kouga had to bite his tongue from lashing out. "If you don't tell her how you feel, you're going to regret it. She's leaving in two days, and that's all the time you have to tell her. I suggest that you find to get past your pride and let her know, unless you want her to leave without a fight."
"Why should I listen to either of you? I don't even know what you're talking about! She's going home, and I'm not going to try and stop her." Inuyasha tried to walk away from the discussion by walking towards the food court, but the others easily followed.
"What do you mean you're not going to stop her! Do you want her to leave us?" Miroku asked, feeling a rush of anger when his friend shrugged.
"If she goes, then it's no problem of mine." Inuyasha replied. Inside, he couldn't fight the wave of loneliness that cascaded over him at the mention of Kagome's departure. It had never occurred to him that she would ever leave, and he was now being hit with the harsh reality of the situation.
"Will you stop with the attitude and listen to yourself! This isn't a game, this is reality. She's leaving for good, and you may never see her again unless you fight for her to stay with us!" Kouga shoved himself in front of Inuyasha, stopping the group from moving.
"Move out of my way." The command was simple, but Kouga refused to comply.
"I won't let you make this mistake. Don't you dare give up on her that easily. In making no attempt to stop her from leaving, yo-"
"I'm what Kouga? I'm letting her get away from everything that's happened to her here? I'm making sure that whoever is attacking her won't be able to get to her again! Please tell me what's so wrong with letting her go, and making it possible that she'll never be in the danger she's in now!" Inuyasha's actions were now backed up with the truth of his concern.
"The world is full of danger, whoever is hurting her will be able to find her even when she does leave." Miroku said, joining the discussion once again. He could see the good reason behind Inuyasha's words, but the dangerous though came to mind. If they didn't figure out who was attacking the group, what would happen after camp?
"If I can get her away from whoever is causing her this pain, then I can stop her from getting hurt for another month. And if she's home with her family, the attacker wouldn't dare try to hurt her with witnesses around them. She'll be safer away from this whole place." Away from me...Inuyasha thought bitterly, a strong sting striking his chest. "I'm trying to protect her."
"You're trying to push her away from you because you think this is your fault." Kouga countered, buttoning Inuyasha's anger. "Do you honestly think that whoever is hurting Kagome hasn't thought of what will happen if they don't succeed here? They've already planned way ahead of us, and you sending her home will only make her more vulnerable to the attacks when camp is over."
"So then what am I supposed to do, tell her mother that they're some crazy person after her? They'll think I'm nuts and send her away even quicker then they are going to now." Inuyasha watched the weary looks on Kouga and Miroku's face, knowing that his own mirrored theirs.
"We just need to find a way to keep her here. We can think about this when we're getting ready for tonight. Unless you don't want to go through with it anymore." Miroku already knew the answer to his suggestion.
"Whatever Naraku was looking for may be important to the attacks, so we need to get them tonight." Inuyasha refused to let the golden opportunity of finding another lead to this dead end case fly past him.
"Well we better be careful, we're messing with things that can cost us any privileges to the camp. And that may mean leaving the girls alone with whoever is trying to hurt Kagome. Plus, we already know that they don't have a problem attacking people who aren't involved like Sango, which leaves the other two girls open."
"You're right Kouga. We got to make sure that the girls don't know what we're doing or else they'll try to stop us." Miroku hated keeping secrets from Sango, but he knew the consequences of telling Sango the truth.
"And if we don't get it done tonight, then there's no way we'll get there before Naraku. Let's just hope that he hasn't already found a way into the hospital to find the file." Kouga said, pulling away from the group and making his way towards the food court. Before Miroku could follow, he felt Inuyasha's hand grab his shoulder.
"Are we sure we can trust him? He was just a suspect less than 24 hours ago, what if he's planning something?" Inuyasha asked. Trying not to laugh at Inuyasha's look, Miroku nodded his head.
"Believe me; I know that he's not a danger." Glancing at Inuyasha once more, he wiggled his way out of the boy's grasp before heading towards the food court, a reluctant Inuyasha tailing behind.
Scene Change
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Kouga rolled his eyes at Inuyasha's glare, who was now pulling his glove tighter around his hand. "And where did you get this stuff anyways!"
"Kouga, we went into the store to get all this stuff right before we left, didn't you see us?" Miroku asked, throwing an ebony sweatshirt over his forest green shirt. Kouga's face went blank before Inuyasha growled.
"You really are stupider than I give you credit for! Why do you think we sent you to get distract the girls while we got the stuff on the bus!" Inuyasha snapped out, watching in disbelief as Kouga rolled his eyes.
"Because you came to realize they like me more than you?"
"I swear to every god if we don't find this file, you will be dead by morning." Miroku only laughed at Inuyasha's threat.
"So it's oka for you to be a murderer, but no one else?" Miroku asked, checking his shoes only to be disappointed when he realized they were white. "Damn, I knew I should have bought those boots."
"Hey, my dad didn't give me his whole estate you know, just enough to get by! I'm plunging into my job money now to buy this crap. Why did we get all of this anyways?" Inuyasha asked, glancing around the room. On the floor were scattered pieces of black clothes, a set of flashlights, batteries, and other 'essential' things that Miroku had gotten.
"Well I didn't know what we were going to need! I've never exactly snuck into a place before!" Miroku replied, strapping one of the flashlights to his belt. At the knowing glance Inuyasha sent him, Miroku scoffed. "If you're thinking about the time you dragged me to go into the school during vacation-"
"What do you mean I 'dragged' you! You ex-girlfriend was the reason we had to go in there in the first place. Damn witch, I never understood what you saw in here. All she cared about was your wallet and her make-up."
"Well she was nice to me. Unlike some people, I didn't try to run her threw with a sword the first time I met her." Inuyasha shrugged and grabbed his own flashlight.
"She shouldn't have come into my room without my permission. And it wasn't like the sword was sharp; I've had that thing forever."
"Oka you two, will you stop living in the past? We have an objective right now, and it doesn't involve swords or ex-girlfriend issues. Lets just get this done and over with before anyone finds out. Kikyo will ring my neck if I can't go this weekend." Inuyasha stood silently as he listened to Kouga, jealously slightly stinging his heart. For some reason, knowing that Kouga would have Kikyo until the very end of camp was enough to remind him of Kagome's departure. She'll be leaving soon, and I can't do a damn thing about it...stupid girl, hasn't even said one word to me this entire time. Well if she thinks that she can just avoid me until she leaves, she's got another thing coming!
"Inuyasha, you Oka?" At Miroku's question, Inuyasha nodded before slowly sliding the window of the cabin open.
"I'm fine, let's do this." He glanced at the clock on the wall, seeing the time had just reached midnight. "Perfect timing."
"Oh, and you said that I was cliché." Miroku mumbled, making his way out of the window Inuyasha had previously crawled through. Once Kouga had closed the window, they three snoops made their way towards the hospital.
"What are we doing guys? We don't know where the file is located, or how long we'll have until the security comes out and finds us. Plus, what are we going to do if Naraku and Gatenmaru already took the file?"
"Will you shut up Miroku? Look, as long as we know the file's name we should be fine. Me and you can look on two separate floors, while Kouga keeps an eye out for the cops. I'm sure they have the staff radios under the front desk where they kept them last time we were here. We'll just snag some and put it on some random channel."
"Yea, don't worry about it. If anyone comes out to find us, I'll just page you guys on the radio and make a run for it. We'll ditch the radios in the bushes or something. Just pray you ain't on the top floor." Kouga said. Miroku made no comment as they pushed their way through the silent night, finally reaching their destination. Stopping for a moment, the boys basked in what they knew could make or break their summer.
"You guys ready to do this? I don't want you to freak out during the middle of this; it's either now or never." Inuyasha watched the two boys nod before smirking. "Good. Kouga, what's the name of the file?"
"He gave me a number set. Its file 723 and I think it'll be near the bottom floor. They keep their records close to the ground in case of fires."
"They couldn't have made the numbers easier to remember? I can hardly think of the code now!" Miroku said, quickly dimming his voice at the two glares.
"If you find the 700-800 files, then make sure to call me. If I find it, I'll get the file and tell you to get the hell out of there. Time is our main problem, let's not screw this up." Inuyasha slowly took a breath, trying to stay calm. He could already tell the other two were nervous, he smelt it on them.
"Remember, security cameras are all over the place, but they aren't that great." Kouga said, the other two boys moving forward.
"That's camp property for you." Miroku remarked sarcastically.
"Oka guys, we're going in and out. No more talking unless you want to get caught, or else we're all screwed over." With the final sentence, Inuyasha quickly ran across the lawn, heading towards the door he had previously propped open. When reaching the door, Inuyasha grasped the handle tightly, saying one prayed before he slid in, Miroku following closely behind. God, don't let us get caught...
Making this little thing quick so I can get the chapter out! I know that I only give one chapter a week, but to most people's beliefs, I do have a life at times! Anyways, will the boys get caught? What is in file 723? Will the security guard be some fat cop with a doughnut that can't run! Find out later! BYE!
Chapter 29- The Truth of File 723
