I don't own InuYasha! And I doubt I'll ever be worthy of his ownership anyway…you go Takahashi!
Hope you all liked the story here is a last chapter to leave you with, enjoy and leave a review! Later all.
Chapter 25 More Than You'd Guess
There was a moment of stillness, where the only thing Kagome felt was the pain in her arm and leg, before anything had happened. Kagome finally put the puzzle together and she finally formed a plan that would allow her and her friends to escape. She watched as Hojo's face contorted in thought as he debated who it was he was going to aide. As he moved slowly around Naraku, who was holding the knife Kagome'd just handed to him at the ready incase he needed to use it, his expression changed and his movement speed increased. He moved with deliberate strides and soon was on the other side of Inuyasha looking very scared. Kagome had no idea what he planned to do but she knew she had to move fast in order to save her friends and get out of this place. Silently she helped Naraku to his feet, he was still a bit woozy from the drugs but he stabilized himself and was still at the ready. Awaiting a hint from Hojo they silently stood Kagome supporting most of Naraku's weight.
"What is it you plan to do with them?" Hojo's words caused Kagome to cringe, she didn't want attention brought to her in any way, but Inuyasha didn't move. He didn't have to. He knew exactly whom Hojo was speaking of and he even allowed a cocky smirk to spread across his face. I looked around to see that nothing had changed and then back to Hojo. He seemed nervous and if he didn't stop twitching Inuyasha would soon find out. Kagome backed up slowly with Naraku on her arm.
As Inuyasha stood staring straight ahead into the deep pit in front of him he thought about what it was Hojo wanted to know. "I will trade them for the one power I want." His words made his idea seem simple. Too bad Kagome wasn't ready to lose her friends' lives. She glared at the back of Inuyasha's head wishing he'd just drop dead, and when he didn't she grew angry.
Hojo seemed to be doing a good job at distracting him so he continued on. "What about your body?" That comment made Kagome stop for a moment. What was he talking about? It had her dazed and that's when Naraku who was now standing on his own feet whispered in her ear.
"I'm not who you think I am." It hit her hard, like she was a cartoon character who'd just had a safe dropped on her head. She turned to look at the face she hated and deep inside she understood who it was. She pulled him to her in a big bear hug, she'd never in a million years would have traded this moment. She was so happy in fact that she totally forgot her surroundings. At the slightest awkward cough in her ear she blushed and released him. He gave her a goofy grin, one she would have known on another face all to well. It was the same smile she'd dreamt about. Kagome regained her senses knowing that Inuyasha was stuck in Naraku's body, and she should really be thinking about killing Naraku who was now stuck in Inuyasha's body. She wondered for no more than a second if there was a way to switch them back.
Kagome had a change in plans, she was no longer going to kill Naraku, who was in Inuyasha's body, but instead make him reverse the spell. She picked up the remains of the ropes left from their escape; she nabbed the knife from Inuyasha and swiftly approached Naraku from behind. She was close to him when he spoke again. "I will be able to switch back after Inuyasha's soul is taken by the jewel." Hojo nodded and then like a fool in a modern horror flick glanced over at Kagome who stood barely two feet behind Naraku. Noticing the glance Naraku turned quickly and grabbed Kagome. "Foolish girl." He sneered into her ear. She didn't waist her energy with a fight, merely dropped the rope. The knife she quickly slipped up the sleeve of her jacket.
InuYasha didn't move for a full minute as he watched Kagome being snatched up before his eyes. She was going to get hurt and it was his fault. He should have been the one to trap Naraku. He clinched his fists and noticed a new kind of power. Naraku's power. It was surely something to behold, but it wasn't something he was familiar with. He was surely faster than Naraku now, being a full demon and all. However, if he wasn't mistaken he needed Naraku in order to return to his own body. After all he had no idea how he got into this strangers body in the first place.
Naraku turned Kagome around at that moment to glare down at her with his eyes. He made to move closer but Naraku caught the move and grabbed Kagome's neck in what looked like a painful grapple hold. "Stay back InuYasha or else." InuYasha grimaced at the look Naraku was giving him with his own face. He wondered if it would be his own face that would haunt Kagome's nightmares if she were to live through this. He shook the thought from his mind trying to think clearly. He needed a plan. Naraku's hand dropped from Kagome's neck and he felt himself release a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.
Before anyone had any more time to think the position of the four standing people in the room shifted. Hojo came around to stand by Naraku in what seemed like a comrade sort of pose. Hojo was clearly following the power, he didn't care who won, he just wanted to be on whichever side had the upper hand. InuYasha growled at him but found his throat was incapable of the noise. Frustration spiked his anger and it was all he could do to keep from launching himself at the traitor. For some reason InuYasha's quick senses didn't catch the next movement of the room. Naraku had turned Kagome back around in his grasp and with her hands at her side a small glint of silver slipped into her hand.
She was looking at him with a willful expression. He picked up immediately what it was she wanted him to do, but he couldn't bring himself to comply. Her eyes widened in his direction silently begging him to move, to come and tear the head off his own body, but he couldn't. It would mean putting her at risk. Then he remembered whose body he was in. He was faster than Naraku now, he could probably cover the short distance faster than Naraku could raise his claw to slice Kagome's throat.
Silently Kagome slid open the blade on the knife she held in her hand and he watched her waiting for just the right moment. Naraku seemed to be contemplating something and just then it hit InuYasha just how fast all of this was taking place. To him it felt like time was standing still, but it couldn't have taken any more than a few moments. As soon as the blade was open fully and glinting in the dim light he moved. His speed was immaculate and he lost control, but not before pulling Kagome from Naraku's grasp and pushing her to the ground several feet away. He failed to grab the knife but he knew his strength was enough to keep Naraku from doing anything stupid.
He heard Kagome hit the ground hard and he winced. That was all it took for Naraku to get the upper hand again. They were struggling on the ground now, wrestling almost. It felt like ages before he had Naraku pinned and Kagome at his side. She glanced over him to make sure he wasn't hurt and he could see in her eyes something was wrong. He didn't feel any pain, but maybe that wasn't it. He lifted Naraku to his feet and Kagome placed the blade to his throat.
"Fix this," Was Kagome's simple command, she was so sick and tired of the man she knew was in the body of a friend that she almost lost her control.
"Kagome, I have a present for you, one I was going to share with you after we were even, but I'll go ahead and share it with you now." It only took that small insinuation to have the guards by the door move into action. She kept her eyes locked on Naraku not wanting to be fooled into looking away. She wasn't going to give him another chance to get the upper hand.
"Kagome," The sound of that voice, a voice she hadn't heard in years, was all it took to make her lose her composure. She turned quickly noticing as she turned the look of confusion on InuYasha's face.
"Dad?" She moved away from Naraku and went to her father. His face looked the same, a bit tired and worn but he was the same man. He looked good, healthy, in his suit and tie. It was like he was here on business, and not to rescue his daughter out of the blue. Her mind raced but quickly two and two became one, and before he had time to say anything she jumped him. "It was him!" She blew up in his face finally finding her resolve, "He's the reason you never came back." Apparently her reaction was not the one he was looking for since the look of remorse that passed over his face had him looking away. She seemed to be angry and resentful.
"Kagome just listen to me." He put his hands up as if reassuring her that he was telling her the truth.
"Mom almost died of a broken heart, Souta doesn't even know who you are, and I'm only here because of you!" She exploded then and there, years of pent up frustration with her father, never knowing for sure why he'd gone. Now she knew. "You put him up to this didn't you?" She pointed harshly at Naraku, "You wanted me and so you helped him get to me, how dare you! Do you have any idea what I've been through? He's been trailing me around for years, leading me but never giving me what I wanted. All I wanted was to know where you were, if you were alive and I suffered all those years to find out your on his side!"
InuYasha watched shocked, apparently Kagome had put two and two together faster than he could even comprehend who the man before her was. Her father, the one she'd thought was dead. He was clearly Naraku's partner, otherwise why would he not be bound and gagged as the others were, that much at least InuYasha could tell for sure. It was also a obvious conclusion since he wasn't denying Kagome's accusations. He was in league with Naraku and Kagome had figured that out at one glance. Her mind was brilliant.
InuYasha watched the tainted remorseful look pass over his face, he'd probably planned for a happy reunion and a quick unity between them.
"Kagome let me explain." His words were cliché, but Kagome wouldn't have any of his crap. She advanced on him quickly and slapped him hard.
"Don't talk to me like you know me." Her words were like venom and undoubtedly a punch in the gut to him. InuYasha watched with passive interest, his mind was still trying to find a way back into his own body. He had only taken a slight notice to the fact that Naraku had been silent for then entire exchange, it was strange that he wasn't trying to help Kagome's father into seeing the light of the dark side. That seemed a bit contradicting and maybe by some chance in fate Naraku had realized he'd lost.
"Kagome, this is where we belong." InuYasha almost snorted indignantly for her but she was faster.
"If you think you are doing me a favor with your words of wisdom drop the act. You don't care about me, you never did." Her father took the blow of her words visibly as he cringed away from this new reality. She was doing a number on his plan. "Now if you don't mind, I want you to change them back." InuYasha took that as his queue to tie himself up. After all he was technically Naraku, and if the switch was to be made they wouldn't want him running about free with InuYasha tied to a post. He tied Naraku to a post then had Hojo do the same to him. He wasn't going to make any more mistakes.
"Don't do anything funny, or I'll make you pay." InuYasha could tell Kagome's threat was a promise. Her father stepped forward and she trained her knife on him. He spoke slowly and loudly in words that sounded more like gibberish. InuYasha felt a familiar tingling sensation run throughout his body and then he flexed his hands to find his claws digging into the palms of his hands. He was InuYasha again. He looked up at Kagome and nodded. She moved over to undo the ties on his hands and freed him. Within seconds he swept her up in a long awaited hug. He let her go quickly; they still had problems to deal with.
She passed him the knife and he went around and untied Miroku and Sango. Who were both coming around and would probably soon no longer be indisposed.
"Where is the jewel?" At the words from Kagome's mouth Kikyo looked up, InuYasha had almost forgotten about her.
"I know where it is." It was Kagome who moved to release Kikyo first. After untying her and helping her to her feet they went over together and tied up Kagome's father. He didn't protest he'd clearly lost. The only thing he'd ever wanted was his daughter to be with him. He could see now that she was more than a thief; she was an honest person who didn't like the evil side of any situation. She had done what she did to survive and find her father, only to find that he was at the root of every evil she ever hated. InuYasha felt a little bad for her, but knew she wouldn't want his pity. Mr. Higurashi allowed himself to be tied up and Kikyo took the jewel from a contraption that was in the center of the room.
"Take this and him, you deserve them both." She gave her the precious stone and left fleeing the building never to be seen or heard from again. With the jewel in her hand Kagome went to Naraku.
"I'll make you a deal." Naraku didn't look at her or even acknowledge her presence in front of him. "You stay as far away from me as possible and I'll keep your jewel safe, if I ever get the feeling I'm being followed, I'll destroy it." That got his attention. "I don't like you, so much in fact that I'd rather see you both dead," She glanced over to her father momentarily, "but since I'm not like you I'm going to let you live, but I swear one wrong move and your life's treasure will be gone for good." Of course she didn't mean it; she was going to destroy the jewel as soon as they were far enough away from this place. She turned her back on him and her father and went over to help her friends. InuYasha had Sango lifted in his arms so Kagome reached down and helped Miroku rise to his feet. They stumbled out of the old barn and into the light of the day.
It was a silence equal to that of a graveyard as they all piled into InuYasha's car. There were plenty of questions left unanswered and Kagome knew the answer to most of them. There was one she wasn't sure she was prepared to answer. Up until that moment the pain she'd felt in her arm and leg had been merely a dull ache not worthy of her time, but now that her adrenaline supply had been sapped the pain came rushing back full force. InuYasha seemed to have already noticed since she could tell he wasn't driving them to their apartment or his house. He was headed to the hospital.
O.O
The week's worth of downtime at the hospital was like a year in a prison. It would have only been three days if it weren't for the fact that she had InuYasha there to command the longer stay for fear that there could be some hidden problem that was not noticeable in three days. Leave it to him to get over zealous with her health. She thought that was Hojo's job. With nothing to do but sleep and think Kagome had long since lost her will to tell InuYasha how she felt. It wasn't that she didn't think he felt the same way. It was because she didn't want him to come with her, which she knew he would if she did tell him. He had a life in this town, a family that loved him, and friends. She had no right to be greedy and expect him to drop his life and come with her, and she wasn't ready to settle down and start a steady life. She knew the robber gig would have to end one day, but she didn't want to give up the thrill of the life just yet. There were still a few things she wanted to do. She felt selfish, after all if it was true love wouldn't she be able to drop whatever life she wanted to live and go a new way for the one she loved?
She opened her eyes and looked around her room, Sango was to her right sleeping in a chair that looked as comfortable as a pile of rocks, Miroku was in the chair next to her providing her with a slightly comfortable pillow—his lap—and InuYasha was no where to be found, Which was shocking to say the least. For the past week he'd been at her side every time she'd wake, and she knew he hadn't left while she was asleep. She was going to wake Sango and ask his whereabouts but the door opened and a doctor came in.
"Ah good, your awake." He appraised her with his eyes in the way that a doctor did. She almost got the feeling that he thought he had x-ray vision; he was looking her over from across the room to see if she was okay. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm ready to get out of here." At the sound of her own voice Sango woke up and when she moved to stand Miroku must have noticed the change and woke up as well. They both stretched like lions waking from a long nap in the sun. It looked like fun to walk.
"Well you're in luck, let me just check your stats and then if everything is good you'll be released." Kagome smiled finally getting what she wanted. Sango squeezed her hand and Kagome realized then that everything was going to go back to normal. They only had one small task left to complete before leaving this small town behind and going to newer places. It only took the doctor a few moments, his experienced hands moving over the machines and over her wounds to double check that everything was in order. The wounds were both pretty much closed up and would heal nicely and Kagome wanted nothing more than to be up and walking around.
"Well then Miss. Higurashi it looks like your good to go." He smiled down at Kagome and then finished writing some notes on a clipboard. "Now if one of you would come with me and we'll finish up the paper work and you can get out of here." Miroku took the hint and headed for the door. Sango went to a tray that had held Kagome's food for the past week and grabbed a pile of clothes. She helped Kagome to stand and then left her to dress on her own. The sweat pants and wife beater fit well and gave her a sense of security she hadn't had in the past week wearing only a green dress with no covering on her backside. When she stepped out of the room in her dock martins she felt relieved. She was free.
"Where is InuYasha?" She asked before she could stop herself. Sango gave her a knowing smile before leading Kagome down a long hallway to the exit of the building.
"He had to go meet with his father; we're going to go meet up with him at his place when we get out of here." Sango replied as she pushed the button for the elevator.
"No," Kagome stopped them and a look of shame crossed over her face. She didn't know if she could tell him goodbye or if he would let her go.
"What do you mean?" Sango was clearly confused and Kagome knew instantly that this wasn't going to be easy.
She waited for the elevator to arrive before she said any more, she wanted to be half way gone before there was any way to come out of her senses. "Look, I can't just ask him to drop his life to come with me, and I'm not ready to leave you guys, what we do is a part of us and I don't want that to change."
Sango understood in that moment as they stepped into the elevator and let it take them to the lobby. Kagome thought of this as the greater good and maybe Sango should see it as the same thing. She still didn't like the fact of just leaving without saying goodbye, but then that would be harder for both of them. She knew that was Kagome's reasoning. She let her friend do it her way as she had so many times before and they left in silence. Miroku was already cleared when they reached the exit and they left without a backward glance.
.
InuYasha looked around the fully decked out room around him. His plans were smoothly falling into place and soon—a matter of minutes—Kagome would be welcomed to his home with a party. He wasn't sure why he'd decided to have a party, he wanted to give her any reason he could to make her stay. Not that he wouldn't drop his life and go with her if that was what she wanted. He wanted her to know what it was like to have a stable life and family. He wanted to be a part of that life. He wanted a lot of things he realized and to keep his hands from shaky busied them with organizing a bouquet of flowers he'd gotten for her. They were a pretty array of tiger lilies in the softest orange he'd ever seen. The color reminded him of her and he hoped she liked them.
He'd never been so nervous before in his life and now he was starting to worry. He checked his watch again for the tenth time in two minutes. He thought of the old saying "A watched pot never boils" and thought himself pointlessly waiting the seconds away. He went to busy himself with other mindless tasks. They'd be here eventually; Miroku knew his game plan and was probably only delayed by a routine check on some minor anomaly. He'd been reading through a ten day old newspaper trying to remember what life had been like without Kagome. How had he ever lived a day without her? He glanced nonchalantly at his watch to realize he'd been reading the paper for well over a half an hour. They should have been here forty minutes ago. What was wrong?
He flipped open his cell phone and dialed the hospital to check on her status. When the line was picked up by a boring sounding old man he asked for Kagome's room. The answer he got didn't make him happy one bit. It had been vacated well over an hour ago. He knew they hadn't been in an accident. There were no problems at all except for the fact that he had been left behind. He shut the phone disconnecting the line and collapsed on his bed. He'd finally found what it was he wanted in life and it left him without a second glance.
More resigned than angry InuYasha wasted away his day. Eventually Rin noticed that the party had never happened and found her way up to his room. She knocked slightly on the door. He grunted and instead of taking the hint that any adult would have gotten from his annoyed tone she entered the room.
"Where is Kagome?" She was innocent and he knew she didn't deserve his wrath. "I thought she was coming for the party."
The words hurt but he didn't let her see his pain, she wouldn't understand anyway. "She's not coming anymore."
Confused and curious she bit her lip before asking further, "Why not?"
"She left with her friends." InuYasha almost lost his temper for a moment and clenched his fists in his sheets.
"Where'd she go?" He had to keep telling himself that she was only a kid, it was normal for her not to understand, and for her to so naively keep asking questions when it was clearly killing him.
"I don't know; somewhere far away I'm sure." He waited for another question to come but she stood silently at his door. Without another word she left him alone to think.
.
It was more than a week later before InuYasha found the message in his inbox. It wasn't from Kagome but it made him think twice. It was a worm he knew, but he was curious as to how it got on his computer, since they had to be manually installed he knew only three people who could have placed it there. He searched the background file and found it lead to a source code he'd seen before. She'd left it for him he knew now; she wanted him to be able to find her. He wasn't sure why, but he knew it was her. He clicked the link it provided and started a trace looking for her laptop. He was hoping to find her somewhere close by. She wasn't, not by far. She was in Chicago. It had only taken his computer ten minutes to trace her and now he knew why it had taken so long for the worm to be revealed. She didn't want him to come after her; she wanted to be far enough away for him to get that message. Too bad he couldn't live without her.
THE END
AN: so tell me what you think I must know all of your thoughts! Just for you sappy fluffy love scene addicts there will be one more chapter a sort of resolve to the way I left it open, that will be all, no more! Finally I will have finished a story completely! Yay! Drop me a review and I'll have the happy ending up by next week! Later!