Disclaimer: I do not own, and do not claim to own YuYu Hakusho, or Inuyasha.
Nearly the Same
Chapter 3: Mikamoto
Immediately after picking up Shippou's well-drawn art, Kagome felt the tears come again. The good ol' days were over. The jewel was completed. She wasn't supposed to be a huge part of all of their lives anymore.
At the first one, Kagome laughed through her tears.
It was an oh-so-familiar scene of Miroku and Sango, with Miroku none too subtly groping Sango's behind. She put that one on the bed and looked at the next one. Miroku was on the ground sporting a swollen jaw while Sango was looking away, blushing.
Their chemistry was so obvious! Why weren't they together!
She set that picture aside to look at the next.
Kagome laughed again. It was Inuyasha asleep, Kirara curled up just below his chin. And finally, she looked at the last. It was all of them; Miroku, Sango, Kirara, Inuyasha, and finally Shippou, waving, seemingly at her.
At around midnight that night, Kagome tried to sleep, but only managed to be unsuccessful. She had turned and tried to get in new positions several times, but it didn't seem to help at all. She kept thinking about them.
She sat up in her bed and slipped her feet into her slippers. She started to walk out of the room, but she turned around and grabbed her bag before she left.
Deciding that she knew her mother wouldn't appreciate it if she left without so much as a note, Kagome dodged the moving boxes and stepped quietly into the kitchen and wrote very quickly, and with the best possible legibility she could in the dark, on a notepad that was magnetized to the fridge explaining her soon-to-be absence.
Once satisfied, she slung her yellow backpack over her shoulder and crept from the apartment, still clad in pajamas and slippers.
----------------------------------
'Why is what she said bothering me so much!' Yusuke screamed mentally. He slammed a pillow over his head in a strange attempt to get to sleep, but failed.
"Why can't I stop fucking thinking about it?" Yusuke yelled aloud. He could hear his mother scream incoherently from her room, but he really didn't care. Not even anything Keiko had ever said bothered him this much and he'd only known this Kagome chick for about six hours.
"Fuck it," he muttered, sitting up in his bed. Maybe he would go for a walk. He needed the fresh air.
-----------------------
Kagome had estimated the walk to the shrine to be about an hour, give or take five or ten minutes. It would be worth it.
She was nearly jogging in an attempt to get there even faster. She needed to see everyone so badly. Inuyasha's heart-breaking visit only intensified that need by about two-thousand.
Her speed became faster. She ran past all of the liquor stores and abandoned buildings; the funky tanning salons and the convenience stores.
The wind was blowing through her hair and all that could be heard was the bottoms of her slippers scraping against the pavement.
Just when a smile had crept upon her face at the sight of the beautiful, full moon, she got a nasty feeling in the pit of her stomach. One of those feelings that signaled something shitty was about to happen. Any normal person would speed up.
But, Kagome wasn't just any normal person.
In fact, she was the furthest thing from normal, so her pace came to an almost complete stop, but she did remain walking the slightest bit. It seemed the feeling had vanished, yet Kagome didn't feel completely safe yet. She was unarmed and defenseless. She was entirely vulnerable in a place like this, yet she had rushed out the door without a second thought.
That was Kagome. Always the thinker.
She felt herself being pulled into an alley way and immediately, a grimy hand clamped over her mouth while that same person's other arm restrained her arms with his own muscular one causing her yellow bag to fall to the ground with a loud thump.
"So we meet again… I'm sorry, I never caught your name," a familiar voice said. He moved a little closer as Kagome remained restrained by the man's thug.
When he came within view, Kagome shouted a little 'I KNEW IT!' in her mind and struggled slightly against her captor.
It was the same shoulder-length black hair, the same crimson uniform that she had seen earlier that day. He could be good looking if you could get past the whole him being a perverted prick thing.
"If Lance removes his hand from your mouth to speak with me, will you scream?" the man called Mikamoto asked her. Kagome shook her head, but considered doing exactly that, just to piss him off. But she suddenly got a better idea. Just before 'Lance's' hand was removed from her lips, she parted her teeth, and then bit down hard on his middle finger, causing him to rip his hand from her and howl in pain.
"Fucking wench!"
Mikamoto couldn't help but chuckle at her, this feisty new toy of his.
"What's your name, girl?"
Kagome thought about giving him a smartass name but she didn't really feel like getting killed at the moment.
"Kagome," she replied, her anger about the situation seeping very obviously into her voice.
"A beautiful name for a beautiful girl," Mikamoto whispered, reaching out a hand to stroke her cheek. Kagome visibly cringed, and before he could do anything else, slapped his hand away.
His expression this time was not all that happy. Apparently, he wasn't used to being struck. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it painfully, a sour expression on his face. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. You see, that type of behavior is the kind I don't tolerate."
She rolled her eyes, which only increased his anger. Kagome was beginning to regret her smartass attitude in this situation. It had not been a very intelligent move. He took the hand that held her wrist and slammed the girl against the alleyway wall, and she did her very best not to show any visible signs of pain. A small grunt was the only thing that escaped her.
He took his free hand and reached out to stroke her soft cheek once again, and was pleased to see her not attempt to fight back. Apparently, taking that as some kind of go-ahead, his hand went from her cheek to her left breast in one swift movement, and he squeezed, a lot more painfully than she would have imagined. His eyes were dancing at this, and his lips wore a sickening, disgusting smile. Just as his hand was about to drift even farther south, Kagome couldn't take it anymore. She had reached her breaking point, and she knew she had to do something to fight back.
As quickly as she could muster the strength, Kagome lifted her leg, and sent her foot crashing into Mikamoto's pelvis, and once again, Kagome was the cause of another man howling in pain in this particular alley way.
This was her chance. She darted as quickly as she could down the alley, and toward the street light at the very end of it. But, she had forgotten two, minor factors: One, her enormous yellow backpack was an obstacle she couldn't see in the dark, and two, Lance was immediately behind her.
After slipping on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, the Spirit Detective headed out the door and began his slow walk down the street.
Where he was going, he wasn't entirely sure. He needed to get his mind off of things is all he really did know.
He heard a loud bang that nearly made him piss his pants in surprise, but brushed it off. Yusuke wasn't gonna get involved in some kind of gang fight just for kicks. He had enough to worry about.
He continued to walk, his hands in his pockets as always.
"SOMEONE! HELP M-" a girl screamed. She had been cut off.
Gang fights he wasn't fond of, but if anyone around here was harming women, he was more than willing to kick some serious ass.
He broke into a run in the direction that the scream came from, desperately looking down every alley way he passed in an attempt to find the girl that was in danger. Luckily for him, and her, he spotted it almost immediately.
Lance was holding a small girl against the wall by her neck, to Yusuke's horror, as her feet dangled inches from the ground. Mikamoto was standing just a foot or two away, slumping a little bit. 'Maybe she managed to injure him,' he hoped.
"I strongly, strongly suggest you put the girl down. NOW," Yusuke spat angrily, suddenly alerting the trio in front of him of his presence. Mikamoto looked more than irritated, and Lance acted as if he hadn't heard the request, tightening his grip. He knew that if he didn't act quickly, that she would either die of suffocation, or die of a broken neck. Neither of which seemed too pleasant.
"How rude of you to crash this –private- party, Urameshi," Mikamoto grumbled. "But, now that you're here, did you happen to notice the cute little girl we have in our grasp?"
Yusuke's blood ran cold. "Kagome, was it? That's her name, right?" the man inquired, inching toward the girl that Lance had pinned against the wall.
"Don't you dare," he snarled, clenching his fists. He had to wait for the right moment. One swift movement and Lance could snap the girl's neck, as easily as a child could break a twig.
Mikamoto chuckled. "Ooh, someone is a little protective. Would you mind horribly if I did… this?" His disgusting hand was inching toward the hem of her skirt, and Kagome, who could hardly breathe, was doing her best to struggle. Yusuke figured this was a better time than any.
At the risk of possibly getting in a large amount of trouble with Koenma, as well as many other things, Yusuke saw few options but to conjure up a minimal spirit gun, and hope it didn't kill Lance.
So, that's what he did. Before Mikamoto could lift up the fabric, a loud shout of "Spirit Gun!" erupted from several feet from him, and before he was aware what was happening, a flash of light hit Lance square in the face, shooting him back to an alley way against the wall, unconscious. As a result, Kagome slammed on the ground, gasping and holding her neck.
Mikamoto turned to look at Yusuke in shock, just in time to see an all-too-familiar fist rushing toward his face.
After both of her captors were incapacitated, Yusuke rushed to Kagome's aid, his expression an uncharacteristic worried one.
"Kagome! Are you alright?" he asked hurriedly.
Her face and neck were already showing signs of bruises, and he could see blood in her hair. If only he had gotten here a tad sooner. But, he knew he couldn't regret anything now. He had gotten here, and that was what was important. And she looked thankful.
"I'm ok. Just… ow," she rasped. He was happy to see that even in her current state, she still had her wry sense of humor.
"Come on, up, up, up," he told her, helping the girl to her feet. She staggered a little, and apparently decided that this was a little too much.
"Just let me rest a moment longer. I don't think I can walk it right now…" she muttered. She scooted down against the wall on her backside, and rested her sore head against the brick wall. In a mere moment, Kagome's eyes had fluttered shut. Yusuke wasn't sure if this was a bad thing or not, but either way, he knew exactly where to take her to get the help she needed.
Kagome wasn't heavy per se, he decided that just the sheer idea of carrying another human being was making her hard to carry.
But, still, he did. The good news was that Kuwabara's house was about two blocks down and Shizuru was studying to be a nurse. The two didn't have parents, and since he knew that neither of them were complete losers, they wouldn't mind letting them come in for a while and have Kagome bleed on their sofa.
About ten minutes later, Yusuke rapped loudly on the front door of Kuwabara's house and waited impatiently for someone to open the door. When no one did, he spotted the doorbell beside him and rang it several times in a row.
Seconds later, he heard angry footsteps approaching followed by the door opening to show a shirtless and pissed off looking Kuwabara standing in front of him.
"Do you know what time it is Urameshi!" he yelled. He spotted the girl in his arms and sighed. "My birthday's not for another two months."
Yusuke rolled his eyes and let himself in, Kuwabara closing the door behind him.
"Don't be stupid, Kuwabara. Is your sister around?"
Kuwabara nodded and walked out of the room, still a little angry from being taken away from whatever he was doing.
"You do realize that Robot Chicken is on, don't you!" a female voice yelled.
"I know! But, I think this is an emergency so just come help out, okay?"
A few seconds later, Shizuru appeared, but her face softened upon the sight of the injured girl.
"God, what happened?" she asked.
"Long story. Can I," Yusuke shifted her body in his arms. "You know, set her down somewhere?"
"Put her on the couch. I'll get the first aid."
Yusuke obliged and put the unconscious Kagome on the couch before sitting on a recliner a few feet away.
Noticing Yusuke's concerned expression, Kuwabara sat down in the living room as well, his eyes focused on the girl.
"Isn't that… that Kagome girl from the arcade?" he asked softly. Yusuke nodded.
"Yup, one and the same."
"She's hurt," Yusuke rolled his eyes at this, but didn't say anything, knowing that Kuwabara was only trying to help him. "What happened?"
"She had a run-in with Mikamoto and one of his buddies."
Kuwabara cringed. "Well, she's just a little beat up, right?" he asked, fully aware of Mikamoto's reputation. "Nothing . . . serious?"
Yusuke shook his head just as Shizuru returned with a damp towel and a first aid kit.
"Geez, this is ugly," she said as she examined the wound on Kagome's head. She dabbed it with the damp towel and made a strange noise with her tongue.
"What is it?" Yusuke asked, more than a little worried.
"Looks like a concussion. There's not a whole lot you can do about it though, but it does explain her loss of consciousness. We'll need to keep an eye on her. But, there's nothing I can do about these bruises on her face and neck. Just use ice, I suppose."
"You suppose? Aren't you in medical school?" Yusuke growled. Shizuru rolled her eyes as she bandaged Kagome's head wound and stood up.
"Yes. Listen, your little girlfriend's gonna be just fine. You can hang here for the night if you want so we can keep an eye on her, but she'll live, Yusuke, I guaran-fucking-tee it."
She bid them both good-night before exiting the room in the same direction she came.
"I'll get some blankets," Kuwabara declared, standing up. He returned moments later, pillows and blankets in hand. He handed them all to Yusuke and gave a small wave.
"'Night, Urameshi."
"Yup," was all the Yusuke replied as his friend and comrade left the room as well.
Yusuke was extremely relieved. She was okay, it seemed that he had gotten worried. But, then again, she did say that Kagome had a concussion, so he didn't feel like a complete fool for being concerned.
He approached the couch that Kagome was on and gingerly placed a pillow under her head and a blanket over her.
'Even though she got the crap beat out of her, she's still pretty damn cute,' he thought with a small smirk as he placed a blanket over her. He threw the other pillow on the floor beside the couch and lay down where it was, placing the second blanket over himself.
"What a day… " he muttered to himself as he closed his eyes and immediately fell asleep.