A/N: Thanks for the feedback thus far on this story! I'm glad everyone seems to be enjoying it! Here's the second chapter. Please let me know what you think! Keep the reviews coming!

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Unspoken
Chapter Two: Something Much Worse

"Kouga...Kouga let go of my arm!" Kagome yelped. "You're hurting me!"

Kouga ignored her pleas. He only tightened his grip and continued to pull her toward his car.

"What are you doing, Kouga?" Kagome worried. "Where are we going? You told everyone..."

"I lied." he smirked, opening his car door and sitting her down. "But there was one thing I wasn't lying about...and apparently, you can't take me very seriously. I warned you that I didn't want you to hang around dog-shit anymore, didn't I? You are my woman, Kagome. Not his..."

"Kouga, he's my friend. I swear it's nothing more than that. He doesn't want to steal me or anything..." Kagome whispered.

Kouga nodded. "I will make sure he won't!" he said decisively.

"Don't do anything to him, Kouga!" Kagome paled.

Kouga shook his head. "I'm not going to do anything to him, Kagome. Tilt your head to the side." he instructed.

Kagome blinked. "No, Kouga. Why would you want me to do that?"

"Do it!" he commanded.

Kagome slowly complied. "Kouga...what are you...?" she stammered.

Kouga leaned forward, baring his fangs slightly. Kagome yelped in surprise as Kouga bit down on her neck. She suddenly felt as if she was going to be sick. Where he had bitten her, her flesh felt as though it was on fire. She shoved Kouga away, screaming.

"What did you do?" she cried.

Kouga smiled. "I've marked you. Now no one else...no man, anyway, can have you. Tell that to dog-shit. He knows our laws. He knows what it means."

"But I don't want..." Kagome began to cry.

"Stop it. I'm taking you home. I don't want you running your mouth to your demon slayer buddy just yet. Inuyasha and I are going to have a bit of a chat." Kouga told her.

"Kouga, please, leave him alone..." Kagome pleaded.

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"Where the hell is wolf boy at? He said he was bringing Kagome right back. They've been gone for too long, and I didn't like it when they left anyway. I'm telling you, Kagome is scared of Kouga."

"And I still say I think you've hit your head one too many times," Sango smirked.

Miroku frowned. "I don't know, Sango. I think I would have to agree with Inuyasha this time, actually. Something about this whole situation just does not add up right for me." He told her. "I think it would be good of us to ask Kagome about it once she returns."

Inuyasha nodded in determination. He was going to get to the bottom of this. Surely Kagome, his best friend on this earth, would not hide it from him if she was indeed in danger, right? He would be the first to ask her about it once she got back.

...but Kagome didn't return during lunch. And Inuyasha didn't see her in their art class together, either.

At the end of the day, Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Inuyasha met in the parking lot.

"Did you ask her, Inuyasha?" Miroku questioned him.

Inuyasha shook his head. "I don't think she ever even came back from lunch today. She wasn't in art class. Guys, I think I'm really starting to get worried about her. Where do you think she would be?" Inuyasha looked around.

Near the edge of the parking lot, Kouga was smirking at him with an air of satisfaction in his eyes. Kagome was still nowhere in sight. Inuyasha growled from somewhere deep within his throat.

"Kouga, you son of a bitch! Where is Kagome? Don't try to pretend that you don't know, either, because..." Inuyasha stopped when he caught Kouga's scent. Something about it was different.

Kouga laughed and approached him. "Finally caught on, did you dog-breath? Don't even think about going near Kagome now. You know what could happen to her if she is caught with another male, don't you? Has your hot-headed half-brother explained the process to you yet, or did he plan on just letting you learn on your own? Well, here's a crash course—stay the hell away from Kagome, got that?"

Inuyasha blinked in confusion as Kouga walked away. "What...the hell...just happened?"

"As a general recap, Kouga just walked up to you and threatened Kagome if you ever went near her again...thus proving that for once, you were actually right about something," Miroku joked, and Sango bashed him upside his head.

"Inuyasha, this is serious. You need to go home right now and talk to Sesshoumaru about what Kouga has just told you. Shippo...you go with him. Since you are full demon I don't want to risk getting Kagome into some trouble. Inuyasha, talk to Sesshoumaru. Make him explain things to you. But once he has, do not come to Kagome's house..." Sango instructed him.

Inuyasha was even more confused. "What? Talk to Sesshoumaru? Why would he care? And what are you talking about? I have to go see Kagome! You heard that bastard, didn't you? What if he hurt her?"

Sango shook her head. "Miroku and I will go check up on Kagome. It is safer for us to go since we are human and Kouga already knows that Miroku does not want to steal Kagome from him. You and Shippo have to stay away from her until I've figured this out. And I mean that. If you need to talk to me, call my cell phone. If you need to talk to Kagome, call her house, but do not come to her house..."

"Why?" Inuyasha asked again.

Sango frowned. "You will understand in a little bit...if this is really what I think it is. But...I just...I hope it isn't that bad..."

"That bad?" Inuyasha repeated.

Shippo grabbed his arm. "Let's go, Inuyasha." he groaned. "You're never going to figure this out unless you go home and talk to Sesshoumaru first, remember?" Shippo glanced with worry back at Sango and Miroku as he ushered Inuyasha into his car. He thought he had an idea why Sango would want to heed Kouga's warning, but he was hoping that all of the stories his real father had once told him were not true, for Kagome's sake. For his own sake, he wasn't about to mention his suspicions to Inuyasha, either.

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Sango pulled her small maroon car to a jolting stop in front of the Higurashi shrine. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but Sango and Miroku bolted up the stairs nonetheless. Kagome's mother Yoshiko came to the door.

"Are you here to visit Kagome?" she smiled. "That's nice of you. Kouga called and told me that she had gotten sick at school. He even drove her home. Isn't that sweet? She's upstairs right now if you want to talk to her..." Yoshiko pointed.

Sango and Miroku nodded. "Thank you, Ms. Higurashi." they chorused before racing up the stairs.

Kagome was curled up in a fetal position under her covers, apparently sleeping when Sango and Miroku came into the room.

"Kagome?" Sango whispered. "Are you awake?"

"I've been awake, Sango. It's just been a little more convenient for me to pretend that I'm asleep, and that today didn't happen..." Kagome smirked coldly.

"What happened today, Kagome?" Sango asked her.

Kagome sat up suddenly, glaring at her friend. "I don't even know, Sango!" she snapped. "He dragged me out to the car, and he bit me, and it made me feel...sick. He told me...he told me that I can't hang out with Inuyasha anymore. That he knew the rules, or something like that, and something bad would happen if he found out that I had been around Inuyasha..."

Sango gasped, shaking her head. "You let him bite you, Kagome?" she frowned.

Kagome shook her head. "I didn't let him do anything!" she cried. "I don't understand. What does it mean?"

Sango took a seat on the bed next to Kagome, and put her arm around her. "Kagome...I need you to stay calm while I tell you this, all right?"

Kagome stiffened. "What is it, Sango?"

"Kouga has...marked you." she said simply. "That means that Kouga was right. Inuyasha can't come around you if you are marked by another male demon. It's a stipulation of demon law. It's awful, but it is certainly true. If the scent of a male other than himself is on you, Kouga has the right to...well, let's just say that he can hurt you..."

Kagome's eyes widened, and her skin paled. "No!" she yelped. "I didn't want this! Why would he do this? I...Miroku! Get away..."

Sango shook her head. "Miroku is fine. He's human, and the prominent scent on him, other than his own, is mine. Kouga knows that he isn't interested. But Inuyasha...Inuyasha just went to talk to Sesshoumaru about..." She stopped as her cell phone rang.

It was Inuyasha.

"Sango? Why didn't you tell me, huh? I'll kill that son of a bitch! I'll wring his damn neck for what he did to Kagome! Is she all right? She had better be all right! She didn't let him do it, did she?" he demanded in anger.

Sango sighed. "Calm down, Inuyasha. Take a deep breath. Kagome is fine. She didn't consent to anything, but she is fine. He hasn't hurt her yet...but you have to stay away until we figure this out..."

"Screw this!" Inuyasha growled, hanging up the phone.

Seconds later, the phone rang at Kagome's house, and she answered it. "Hello?"

"Are you all right? Why did that bastard do that to you? I'm going to figure this out, Kagome. I swear it. He isn't going to get away with this, and he isn't going to hurt you. I promise. I'm...I'm sorry he did that to you..."

"Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered. "I'm...I'm all right. Calm down. It isn't your fault, all right?"

"It's not yours, either..." Inuyasha replied quickly.

"I don't know, Inuyasha..." Kagome sighed. "Maybe if I had just listened to him..."

"No, Kagome. Maybe nothing. It isn't your fault. He's an over-possessive asshole, and now he thinks he'll be able to do what he wants just because he marked you. If he hits you Kags, I swear I'll kill him myself!"

Kagome suddenly quieted. She didn't want to tell Inuyasha that Kouga's hitting her would not be a new thing to her. She didn't want to make him any more upset about the situation than he already was.

"Kagome, why are you so quiet? Has that bastard already hit you before?" Inuyasha paused. "Why wouldn't you tell us something like this?"

She shook her head. "Inuyasha...I couldn't. I didn't want you to get involved. I was afraid that you might end up getting hurt from all of this..."

"No, Kags. The only one getting hurt out of all of this, really hurt, is you. If he touches you ever again, I swear..." Inuyasha's voice faded out. He sighed. "I will figure this out, Kagome. I'm on my way to my brother's office right now. He wasn't home, but when I called him and told him what happened, he told me to come in to his office immediately. He'll help me. We're going to get you out of this stupid mess, and away from that idiot Kouga..."

She nodded, although he could not see her do it. "All right, Inuyasha." she whispered. "And...thank you." With that, she hung up the phone.

Sango sighed with relief. "I don't think I've ever seen him that angry before, Kagome..." she admitted. "If he didn't know about what Kouga might do to you, he may have already tried to break his neck..."

Kagome shivered. "I didn't want you guys to get stuck in the middle of this. Especially Inuyasha..." she frowned.

Miroku's eyes widened. "Kagome!" he gasped. "Do you like Inuyasha? That's why Kouga did it! He must know somehow that you were no longer interested in him..."

Sango nodded in a matter-of-fact manner. "Actually, he can tell that just from your scent."

"Great..." Kagome smirked. "If he already knows I'm in love with Inuyasha, that must mean I'm really in for it..."

Sango paled. "Kagome...you said 'love'. You love Inuyasha?"

Kagome put her finger to her lips. "Be quiet, Sango!"

"You have to admit, it is very interesting..." Miroku agreed. "Maybe something can be done about this whole mess after all?" A smile spread across his face, and he grabbed Sango's hand. "Come on, dear Sango! We have a meeting to crash downtown!"

Sango blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"We are going to go have a chat with Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru. Kagome...stay here. We'll have Sango call you later if we are able to figure something out..." he promised, dragging Sango out her bedroom door.

"What was he talking about?" Kagome asked no one in particular once the two of them had left. She frowned. "Whatever it is, I hope it works."

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A/N: I had to leave it there. Good news? I'm updating this one twice today, and Complicated once, so that each of these stories has three chapters! After today, though, it will be a week or so before I can update, because I will be hosting a German exchnage student in my home for about a week and some change. It'll be so much fun! LoL. Anyway, please review and let me know what you think! Thanks!