7

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha.

Special Thanks to: To my Beta ReviewerWriter and anyone who reviews.

Recap:

"Oh, sorry," she apologized. "I was just remembering…well, the cut just reminded me of…something…" she trailed off with a nervous smile. She didn't want to say 'Hojo', even though it was the truth. Her blood always made her think of Hojo and what he had done to her.

"Oookay…" InuYasha stated weirdly. "No more blood for you, Kagz," he stated with an amused smile, already giving her a nickname.

Broken Wings

Chapter 3

Hojo's Promise

Two weeks had passed…Kagome had actually managed to avoid Hojo completely during that time. She hadn't talked to or even looked at him. It still hurt though…a lot, to see him with someone else.

Kagome had spent all her time with her newest friend InuYasha. She kept going to the restroom every so often, still needing her knife treatment…she couldn't cope without it and she cursed her weakness for this sick habit; sometimes it made her cry to see how pathetic she was. Regardless of the cruel mix of pain and sick satisfaction, she was now hooked on the feeling it brought her…she couldn't quit.

InuYasha and Kagome had just walked out of the school building, noticing how nice the day was. They decided to ditch the remainder of the school day again and go shopping…this seemed to be the pattern. Last weekend, she had sold all of Hojo's stuff that was still over at Kagome's place. She made a nice garage sale out of it…she was rather pleased with the money she and InuYasha made from it.

Today, she had promised InuYasha lunch at the mall for all his help. She figured as long as her grade point average was at least a 3.5, she could afford to ditch.

"So…is it nosey of me if I asked where you live?" InuYasha inquired while looking at her. She glanced back up at him; her eyes were hollow…but were soon replaced with… well, he couldn't quite place what it was replaced by. It was a new look to her face…not pure or true…something…forged? It was forged happiness.

'Why do I care so much…?' he thought passively.

"Yup," she answered his previous question. "But I'll still tell you. After all, we are friends, aren't we?" she asked him, a blush creeping on to her cheeks. He chuckled a little before responding.

"Of course! We hang out together, wouldn't you call that a 'friend-like activity?'" he said cockily. She rolled her eyes at his tone of voice. He instantly took it as a 'yes'.

Once at the mall they ate their lunch; Kagome's treat. InuYasha enjoyed his meal of hot ramen while Kagome sat and watched, sipping at her tea. He took a moment from stuffing his face to look up at her. She had gotten thinner, not to mention much paler, over the few weeks he had known her.

"Kagome," he started firmly. "You really should eat something."

"I'm not hungry right now," she stated in defense. "I just want tea," she finished, hoping that he would drop the questions.

This conversation was anything but over.

"You're getting to be thinner than a toothpick. Eat something," he demanded, thought still trying to keep a cool head.

"How do you know if I'm too thin or fat? I always where my big hoody…you haven't been peeping at me or something?" she teased. He looked away with a blush, slurping down his food quickly again.

"Ha! Don't make me laugh!" he stated proudly, putting his food down. "What reason would I have to peek at you?" He turned his head with a smirk plastered to his lips. She gave him a fake glare.

"Oh, come now, InuYasha…a boy like you must have snuck a peek into the girl's locker room before…I wouldn't put it past you, Oh Sneaky One," she mused.

"Huh! Aren't you just the cocky one?" he said sarcastically, but still holding onto his smile. Once the ramen was devoured and the tea cup emptied, they went on with their shopping.

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"Kagome!" her mother's cherry voice rang. "Who was that boy that you were with earlier? It wasn't Hojo…"

Her mom was in a white muscle shirt and loose boxers when Kagome entered the house.

Kagome smiled at her, ran up and gave her mother a big hug. It was a rare occasion when both of them would see each other on the weekdays. Her mom was always home on Saturday, but that didn't really count; she would always sleep.

"Mom, you're home!" Kagome squealed happily holding onto her mother, if possible, tighter than before. "That was my new friend InuYasha, I met him at school…you saw him last week."

"Oh, he's the one that helped you with the garage sale," she said more to herself. "By the way, dear, I haven't seen Hojo around here…where is that sweet boy, anyway?" She looked at her daughter in the face; her smile quickly turned to a frown. Kagome's eyes were so empty; just void of life.

"What happened while I was at work?" she asked with deep concern, giving her daughter another embrace. Kagome unintentionally tensed into the hug.

Kagome could feel the ends of her eyes burn; it hurt to keep the truth from her mother. It hurt to keep it bottled up inside her. She had forgotten about all those bad feelings she had when InuYasha was around…but now, that sickening feeling of depression and loss had crawled back to her. She let the tears drip loosely onto her mother's shirt.

"You… you won't see Hojo around anymore…w-we broke up…" she whispered. Her mother winced at the site of her daughter's cries and mourning.

"Do you want to tell me about it or do you still need some time?" she asked her sobbing child; her voice continued its usual gentle and loving tone. Kagome's grip tightened as a sign that she wanted to stay in the hug just a little longer.

Kagome's tears were dripping out freely, absorbing into her mother's shirt.

Leading the way to Kagome's bedroom, her mother tucked her daughter in; she was just like a little infant, she thought, seeing her daughter crying herself to sleep like that. She never left her daughter's side, until the sleeping child's breathing evened out; the sign of a peaceful sleep.

Her mother pulled the top blanket over Kagome and tucked a pillow under her heavy head.

The mother went downstairs, noticing that some shopping bags were left there. She noticed that all the clothes her daughter bought were very black. She took the bags and silently placed them on the floor in Kagome's room.

When Kagome had woken up, she noticed that the outside had gotten very dark; it was darker now than her own hair. She heard mild footsteps coming into her room. Her mother came in with a plate of small cakes and a tall glass of milk. She smiled warmly at her mother's kind gesture; completely grateful that she sat down next to her.

"That's a nice outfight," her mother commented lightly.

Kagome reached out and retrieved a small chocolate cake; it was still warm and very good.

"Thanks," Kagome answered without much enthusiasm, but still grateful to finally have some alone time to talk with her over-worked mother.

"So, it was that bad, huh?" her mother inquired, grabbing a cake for herself.

"Yeah," she stated meekly. "He was my first love…I loved him more then anybody else," she confessed, more tears claiming her eyes and falling to the pillow. "And I still love him…I still want him to hold me in his arms and tell me that he loves me, you know? But…I'll never here him say that to me again," she sobbed out.

She felt very pathetic now. Luckily, her mother always seemed to know what to say.

"There isn't anything I can do to make you forget about the hurt," her mother said solemnly. "But I can tell you this…don't let him ruin your life. You will just have to find a new love…they can help you out through the worst of times," she smiled. "In fact, someone out there is probably thinking about you right now and wishing you were there with them," she comforted, hoping it would cheer her up.

Kagome smiled meekly and continued to hug her mother in comfort.

Little did Kagome know, her mother was absolutely right. At that very moment, InuYasha was pacing around his bedroom, thinking about Kagome. His mind was very busy as an inner struggle of emotions began to brew within him.

'Is she okay yet? She was so depressed when I left her. Is her mom even home today? She said she usually wasn't there on the weekdays but…Uhg! Why do I even care? She's just some random chick that I met in the hallway! Okay, okay, so I have been hanging out with her a lot lately…but we're just friends. That's it! She's my friend; I have a right to worry about her…that's what friends do, right? Oh man, I need to get some sleep. I'll talk to her tomorrow and ask how her night was,' he concluded mentally and lay down to drift off to sleep.

Morning came too fast as Kagome's alarm clock screamed into her ear. She smashed her fist down on the big 'off' button and groggily looked around. She shook her head in an attempt to chase away the drowsiness…it wasn't effective.

She slunked off to her bathroom, undressed herself and turned the hot water on. The heat of the shower overwhelmed her but in a good way.

After picking out some super-dark clothes (this had become a new-found habit), she went off to school. As with routine, she met up with InuYasha a block away from school.

"So…how'd ya sleep Kagz?" he asked happily. Kagome looked up to the sky in a thoughtful way.

"Hm…I think it was fine…my mom was actually home and I got to eat cake. Yup, it sounded like a good day night thingy to me," she said with a returning smile. InuYasha opened his mouth to say something more to her but was interrupted by another voice.

"Kagome!" the voice sounded…it was familiar to Kagome; very familiar. She looked in the direction of the loud greeting, to see none other than;

"Hojo?" she said amazed; amazed that he would actually have the gull to try to speak to her again. "Kagome, I've been meaning to speak to you," he panted, very out of breath from running over to her.

Kagome stepped in closer to InuYasha; grabbing a hold of his clawed hand. InuYasha blushed as she made contact with his skin.

"I think I made a mistake by breaking up with you," he announced looking up at her. "I want to ask you out again." He saw that she was holding this new-guy's hand. "And who's this?" he asked suspiciously.

Hojo stepped closer, glaring at the guy whose hand was wrapped around his girl.

"This is InuYasha. And you're right…it was a mistake. You shouldn't have broken up with me and now I don't even wanna be near you. So get lost before InuYasha has to pull your lungs out through your mouth," she hissed, giving her ex a glare that, she wished, could have killed.

He looked very hurt…'mission accomplished' she thought with glee.

"How could you choose that dirty half-breed hanyou over me? Just look at him, Kagome! He's a monster!" he said as if consoling a psychiatric patient, "Kagome you're not thinking straight, honey. You belong with me, not some stray dog."

InuYasha pulled Kagome tightly to his side. He could feel her thin figure embrace him as well. Kagome knew she was just acting to make her ex jealous…but was InuYasha just acting as well?

InuYasha sneered at the scrawny kid…he wasn't angry about the insults to his blood-heritage…in fact, he kinda got some satisfaction when it came to an argument…especially when it was against some pathetic human.

"If I'm so low, then you must be even lower. When you broke up with Kagome, you lost your hold on her," he sniggered. "She's mine now, so I suggest you get lost before I really do pull your lungs out through your mouth," he stated dangerously.

Hojo gulped, obviously getting the message…he started to walk away, attempting to keep his self-respect.

"Kagome, I will win you back…just wait and see," he vowed as he left their sights.

Kagome let out the breath she didn't even know she was holding in. InuYasha let go of her as soon as Hojo was gone. The exhausted girl plunked down; that took a lot of energy to keep her cool in the face of her ex like that. InuYasha sat down next to her, greatly amused at the situation that had just played out.

"That was some great acting, huh Kagz?" InuYasha asked with a grin. He wouldn't tell her this, but he wasn't entirely sure if his part was just an act or not.

She looked over at him with a sleepy smile and nodded her head.

'Thank goodness he understood,' she thought.

"Yeah, it was great," she said with a smile. "Thanks for going along with that, Inu."

"So, you're still in love with that guy, or something?" InuYasha asked passively, trying not to let his feelings of dismay show too much. He knew very well that she still harbored feelings for that human wimp…he just had to hear her say it, though, hopefully, maybe she would say no…

"I kinda still do…pretty dumb of me, huh?" she asked, looking off into space.

"Nah! I guess you'll always love him no matter what. I mean, he was your first love and all, but you shouldn't let him ruin your life…find a new love," he consoled. "I will—I mean, they'll help you through the worst of times," he said happily.

It hurt him to give her advice on this, knowing he had no hope of winning her heart over like that scrawny punk did…but he still wanted to help. Kagome smiled to herself at that great bit of advice InuYasha had given her…maybe, she would give it a try.

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

R&R please…I know this chapter is kinda dull, but it'll get exciting, I promise!