Disclaimer- if you read chapter one, you should know already.
Chapter Two: The Delay
Kagome walked to Kaedes house, preparing her departure speech. On arrival, Inuyasha started yelling at her for being late. "Where the hell have you been, wench! You're late as usual! We need to find the shards, now let's get going!" he fumed. "I…..I can't, Inuyasha. I have to leave." She forced out, trying her hardest to hold in the tears that stung her eyes.
"What do you mean, you're leaving? You just got here and now you want to leave? At this rate Naraku is going to get the last few shards and all you can thing about is your stupid school and friends in the future!" Kagome ducked her head to hide the oncoming tears, while Inuyasha ranted and swore profusely about her stupid need to go home every five minutes to keep on the good side of her teachers while the world here was in turmoil or something like that. 'No……no Inuyasha it's not like that….you have to listen to me…please…' Kagome could hold not hold in her tears any longer, nor could she hold back her rising fury over Inuyashas stupid habit of jumping to conclusions.
"Inuyasha, let her explain." Sango stepped forward, trying to calm him down. That did it. Inuyasha was totally pissed off now, I mean, they weren't even bothered that she was going! "LISTEN TO ME!" roared Kagome. All heads turned toward the enraged miko, and even Inuyasha was shocked to see tears streaming down her cheeks. "My family and I are moving! We are leaving! Do you get it now? I am NOT coming back! Ever!"
Suddenly, she was standing outside the village, well, what was left of it. All the homes had been burned to the ground, leaving a charred and desolate waste land. Kagome ran to where Kaedes hut had been, praying her friends had not been inside. Inuyasha was standing in the middle of the wreckage, his back turned. "Inuyasha!" she yelped, relief flooding over her. He turned, and she was appalled by what she saw. His face was burned and disfigured, and his eyes were filled with hatred.
"Kagome, you betrayed us. You left us to die. Why did you leave us, Kagome? Why?" he was walking towards her, malice and hurt laced in his words. "Why, Kagome? Why?" she began to back away, only to find there was nothing behind her. "No…..no Inuyasha! I didn't betray you! What happened to you? Why are you acting this way?" Kagome pleaded, but Inuyasha simply kept coming, repeating the same thing over and over again. "You betrayed us, Kagome. Why? Why did you leave, Kagome?" Without thinking she took another step back, only to fall over the edge into nothing. "NOOO!" she screamed, hitting the floor with an audible thud. Jolting awake she sat there hugging her knees in a cold sweat.
"No……no I didn't betray them……I didn't…….I didn't…." she sobbed as fresh tears stung her eyes. "Kagome! Time to get up! You need to start packing!" Mrs. Higurashi called up the stairs. Wiping the tears off her face with the back of her hand, Kagome picked herself up off the floor and tried not to think about the Feudal Era as she began to packed her clothes away, wishing that this move was all just some sick joke and her mother would come through that door telling her it was all a lie. But Mrs. Higurashi never came. And all of Kagomes things were packed away and loaded onto the moving van.
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Inuyasha was walking towards the well, working himself into an even fouler mood by thinking of all the times Kagome had been late, and how he had to go get her…..blah blah blah. Suddenly, there was a horrific crash to his left. Instantly forgetting about his temper, he raced off in the direction of the noise. "Damn it! If this has something to do with Kagome I swear…." He trailed off as he came upon the scene. Three huge, ugly demons were trashing HIS woods! Drawing the Tetsaiga from its sheath he launched himself at the beasts, finding that they weren't just mindless idiots as he had thought when they moved away from his blade and retaliated. This might take a while.
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Kagome walked around the house forlornly as she recalled old memories in each room. Making her way up stairs she just stared at her empty room, noting how bare and boring it was now. Tears threatened her vision as she recalled the time her friends had met Inuyasha, talking up a storm with him. She choked on a little laugh as she remembered his stupid expression. Walking to the window Kagome looked out at the ancient tree in front of the house (somebody really has to help me out here!), picturing Inuyasha sitting up there in the past. 'I am really going to miss you, Inuyasha…….and my other friends as well…….Oh…I hope Shippo doesn't get to upset…' With that Kagome broke down and began to cry as she sat in front of the window, her head leaned against the wall.
After a while her mother came upstairs to tell her it was time to leave. Seeing the state her daughter was in, she rubbed her back trying to console her. "Mum….I'm going to miss them so much!" Kagome sobbed as her mother lead her down the stairs and out to the car. "It'll be okay Kagome, you will get used to our new home soon, okay? Then everything will be alright, and maybe once we're settled in you can come back and visit your friends. Does that sound good?" Kagome nodded, but it didn't make her feel any better. She didn't think she would ever see her Feudal Era friends again, even if she did come back. Trying to get into a comfortable position in her seat, she drifted into a fitful sleep.
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Inuyasha had just finished off the last demon, but he was dead tired and collapsed against the side of a freshly fallen tree, one of the many that had been knocked down during the fight. "I'll go get Kagome later…." And with that he gave into sleep, so deep and thick that not even dreams dared to interrupt it.
He awoke to the sound of Shippos voice yelling in his ear. "Inuyasha! Inuyasha! Wake up! You have to go get Kagome! Get up, you lazy dog!" Inuyashas eyes snapped open and he hit Shippo on the top of his head. "Shut up, you little brat! I'm tired!" But when he tried to fall back to sleep again, Mirokus voice penetrated the quiet. "It appears you had quite the brawl here, Inuyasha. No wonder you are tired. But the sun has gone down long ago and I don't think Kagome would be pleased if you went to get her now. You should probably wait until morning."
One of his eyes snapped open and he snarled, "Yeah, I am tired! Now leave me alone so I can sleep, damn it!" With that he launched himself off the ground and onto the branch of a nearby tree. Grunting at his bothersome companions Inuyasha let sleep claim him again, but not before a final thought crossed his mind. 'Where is Kagome? She should've been here by now…'
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Souta shook Kagomes shoulder vigorously in an attempt to wake her. "Kagome! We're here! We're at our new home!" grunting at his last statement she said, "Our new house, Souta, house." And with that said she pulled her tired self out of the car and stared sleepy eyed up at the building in front of her. It was a pale blue, and about the same size as her old home. "Ugh….." Kagome grunted with dissatisfaction and drug her suitcase up the cement block steps and stopped on the porch. 'I wonder if Inuyasha will miss me…..' she thought once more as she continued on into the empty house. She walked through two rooms and into another where her mother was, apparently this was going to be the kitchen. "Isn't it lovely, dear? I'm sure you'll feel right at home once you get used to the place! Well, go on, pick one of the two rooms upstairs for your room!" And with that Mrs. Higurashi pushed Kagome toward the wooden staircase. She had to admit, it was a very nice house, but it wasn't home.
Walking up the stairs she looked curiously down the hallway at the third door. 'I thought mum said there were only two rooms?' Walking over to it with her suitcase of clothes still in hand, she opened it. Cocking her head Kagome looked up at the second staircase in front of her. Curiosity took over and she set the suitcase down, slowly making her way up the stairs. Upon reaching the top she found another door, and with a sharp tug of the handle she realized it was locked. 'Is this why mum said only two rooms? Because this one is locked?' Lifting her head she looked up at the ledge above the door. 'Maybe……' reaching up and feeling around Kagome was disappointed. No key.
Blowing the bangs out of her eyes she was about to turn and leave, when she noticed a little inscription beside the door that had been uncovered when she exhaled. Rubbing the rest of the dust away Kagome read it:
When all is gloomy and new
Look to the creaky step under
Your shoe
She puzzled this for a moment, thinking the words over carefully in her head. Sighing in frustration she grumbled, "They should have a mat to put a spare key under or something!" Then it hit her. 'The creaky step under my shoe!'
Kagome raced down the stairs and then started to come slowly back up. 'One….two…three….four….five…six…'
And this continued until she reached the eleventh step, which groaned considerably when stepped on. Testing it one more time Kagome bent down and stared at it. What was she to do now? Thinking about the inscription on the door she wiped off the step with her hand, only to receive a splinter.
"Darn it!" she muttered as she pulled out the splinter. "What do I do now?" deciding to continue her search Kagome wiped off the walls around the step, and the steps above and below. Nothing. Pondering she turned around and sat down, wondering why her mother didn't just go fetch a bobby pin, or a credit card. A credit card! Pulling out her newly bought wallet she removed the fake little card board credit card. 'I hope this works!' getting up and walking to the door she slid the card down, but a few inches above the handle it stopped. She couldn't get it to go any further.
"Crud…." Was all she said as she walked down to look at the step again. Then, with an audible 'ha!' Kagome noticed a rectangular shaped indent on the front of the step. Carefully wiping it off so as not to get any more splinters, she read yet another inscription.
Congrats, my friend!
You are a fairly good sleuth!
Now push this in and I will
Open my roof.
'Open its roof? Oh! That door leads to the attic! Duh!' Pressing on the center of the writing Kagome found that it gave quite easily. The hidden button pushed back another inch and the top of the step flipped open. Peering in she found a strange, large key. It had quite an intricate design on the end. It appeared to be a tree, she was holding the leafy branches while the trunk continued on, its roots forming the part meant to go in the keyhole. Smiling excitedly she ran up to the door, shoved the key into the lock, and turned it. With an audible 'click' the door unlocked, leaving her to open it.
Glancing at the handle she grabbed it gently, almost as if it would burn her if she didn't touch it with care. Turning the knob slowly she opened the door and gasped at what she saw inside………… (A/N: Mwahahaha! I am SO evil!)
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Well, that's it for the second chappie, y'all! I hope this evil little cliffy will keep you coming back for more! No worries, it isn't going to be something stupid, like a closet or something. That would be so cruel for me to do, causing you nice little readers to wait in anticipation only to find me letting your imagination down with something simple! Hee hee……. Until next time my friends! Please review and tell me whatcha think!
Mistoffelees Shadow