Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, nor do I profit from writing fanfiction.

Author's Note: Hey-o! Here's the next chapter. There's not really much to say up here but I hope you all review. The reviews really are just a nice, quick way to give the author feedback, and they're always much, much appreciated. It takes five seconds, so just do it. Please?

I got into the next opera, which means starting mid-January, my rehearsal schedule is going to pick up again. Hopefully, I will be able to continue to update regularly (which means a chapter a week).

For now, I've got to haul my butt to Philosophy.

Chapter 12, Guitar Solo

We achieved a certain amount of normalcy after the incident with Juuroumaru. I didn't ask Inuyasha where he'd been for three months, and he made no indication that he wanted to tell me. I woke up every morning, took a shower, and went to work. Inuyasha was distant, but at least he was present. And his presence made me feel safe.

I was slowly realizing that my future happiness depended upon his presence in my life.

(…)(…)(…)

"Did you love him?"

I jerk out of my reverie. My heart is pounding pain through my veins. Fukouka's face is inches from me, and I'm wishing that he had brushed his teeth this morning. I gag on the smell and turn my face away. "In love? With whom?"

"Don't play this game with me, Kagome. You know who I mean," Fukouka snaps.

I wish my chair had a seat. My nose itches.

"Were you in love with Inuyasha?"

But I'm already far away…

(…)(…)(...)

Miroku and I continued our lessons. I was learning how to cope with verbal torture. I was learning how to keep my mind above the taunting of my captors. I frequently crumbled under the strain of dealing with hours of questions, but I was improving. In history I was learning about Aristotle and Plato, and the smell of the dusty tomes haunted my dreams. Miroku was also teaching me how to paint. I had little talent, but I loved the smooth lines of the paintbrush, and the discipline of mixing paints and brush positions.

Two and a half weeks passed. Spring was in full bloom now. I opened the windows of the apartment. The winds whisked through, bringing the scent of dew and flowers in the morning, and rain in the evening. Our curtains billowed like the sails of a great ship that was setting a course for a brighter future.

Where I had been empty before, I was beginning to be filled, and I was being filled with hope…and love. Nothing seemed impossible anymore. My family was waiting for me around the next corner, and the words that Inuyasha had spoken to me on the hospital bed so long ago…"But what comes next…you're not prepared for it…" Those words belonged to a different time, and a different Kagome.

My happy dream shattered in a single sentence shared over dinner. "I'm going out," Inuyasha announced as he stuffed the last bite of steak in his mouth.

"Where are you going?" It was unusual for Inuyasha to go out so late. The sun was beginning to set.

"Out," he said. There was a particular finality in his voice that I dared not challenge. He tucked a cigarette in between his lips and stood. The lighter illuminated the end of the cigarette and grayish smoke leaked from his mouth. He looked down at me, kneeling beside the table, collecting his dishes. "I won't be back until morning."

"Are you going to be doing something dangerous?" I asked.

"Hopefully not." He headed for the door. Golden beams of sunlight slanted against the horizon, and filled the kitchen with a warm glow. Inuyasha looked back at me, and one eye was flooded with light. "Be safe. Lock the door and close the windows. Don't let anyone in."

I smiled at him, pleased to find that he was concerned. "I'll be fine. You be safe."

Inuyasha grunted and walked away. A little "sayonara" lingered on the threshold before the door clicked shut.

Sango came over that night to watch a movie. We sipped cola and she told me about her childhood in the mountains. Her mother had died in childbirth with her little brother, but she had never been sad as a child. Her father and her little brother, Kohaku were all the family that she could have wanted. Her father worked for a small company, and the men in the company were like uncles to Sango. Her father was the one who taught her how to fight.

"I was working for the government, in their special tasks force by the time I was fourteen," Sango said. "And then…" Her voice trailed off. She looked at the screen. The movie was over. She got up. "Well, I guess I'll get going."

I nodded and hugged my friend. "Good night, Sango-chan. Sleep well, and say hello to Inuyasha for me."

"I will-!" Sango clapped her hands over her mouth.

"Ah ha! So I was right; he's over at the hospital!" I said triumphantly.

Sango laughed so hard that she had to wipe the mirth from her eyes. "Miroku's done a good job training you, Kagome-chan!" She sighed. "Yes, Inuyasha's over at the hospital."

"Why? Did something happen?" I asked.

"No, not really…" Sango chewed her lip and looked away.

"I won't tell him if you tell me," I promised, putting a hand over my chest.

Sango laughed, but shook her head. "I'm really sorry, Kagome-chan, but I can't tell you. You'll have to trust that Inuyasha will tell you when he's ready for you to know."

At that point, I could do nothing but accept that for whatever reason (and surely, it was a good one), Sango couldn't tell me why my husband had chosen to spend the night away from home. Either way, I decided not to worry about it and take her words to heart; Inuyasha would either tell me, or he wouldn't. As long as I was included in what was coming next, I didn't care how much I knew; as long as I was helping to get my family back, I was content to let Inuyasha take the reins and steer me.

I hugged Sango goodbye and went to bed. It took me a long time to fall asleep. I lay on my side, hugging my knees to my chest. You're being ridiculous, I thought. You went three months without Inuyasha, he comes back for two and half weeks, and suddenly you can't sleep without him in the apartment? Eventually, though, exhaustion won over paranoia and I nodded off.

I woke up in a cold sweat. My sheets were twisted around my ankles and my fists clutched the fabric so that my knuckles were white. I knew it at once: someone was in the house.

"Close the windows."

I had left the kitchen window open. The door to the kitchen was closed, but the door might have grown eyes; I could feel it watching me. A horrid chill passed through me. I scrambled out of bed, caught between trying not to make a sound and the hysteria of a mouse trapped under a cat's paw.

I had secured the handle of the door to the hallway, and I was thinking that I might get out when the fabric across my back was split open and I had to flatten myself against the door to keep my torso intact. I rolled across the wall, avoiding the path of a shuriken, and faced my attacker.

Silly me, I thought ninja only existed in manga.

(…)(…)(...)

"I asked you a question, girl!" Fukouka spits in my face.

"What do you care?" I ask, cocking an eyebrow at him. "What do you care for my relationship with my kidnapper?"

"Don't play smart with me," Fukouka warns. "I know that you were there of your own free will."

"That's not what the TVs say," I respond dully.

"Get her out of here," Fukouka says. "Send her upstairs."

I'm taken roughly from my chair. My hands are bound behind me, and a brace keep my elbows from bending. I saunter between two stoic guards. I catch a glimpse of myself in their sunglasses.

I don't recognize myself. With a churning stomach, I redirect my gaze to the floor. My face I covered in bruises, my upper lip is swollen, and my hair is askew. I look a mess, and my mind is dulling. I can feel it. My thoughts get tossed about like birds in a windstorm.

I doubt how much longer I'll last.

The door slides open, and my guards lead me inside. My blood freezes when I see the man standing in the center of the room. I try to break free of my guards, but their huge masses close around and smother my tiny frame. A harsh blow breaks upon my body, and the air is crushed from my lungs as I crumble to the floor.

His golden eyes find mine. I stare into their depths and my soul collapses in upon itself.

"Hello, Kagome," he murmurs.

I steal my mind away before the first blow is struck.

(…)(…)(...)

I turned off the panic, the hysteria, and the exhaustion as Miroku had taught me. I grabbed the hand that boasted the ninja's shuriken and kicked him in the stomach. He stumbled back, tripped over a discarded magazine, and hit the bookshelf. I fumbled for the door handle and ripped the door open.

Another ninja was waiting for me. I slipped through an opening in his stance. I gained his back, but he bent backwards and grabbed my ankles. He yanked them out from under me, and I smacked against the floor. I rolled onto my stomach, shaking stars from my vision, but I wasn't quick enough to avoid being speared in the shoulder.

My leg shot out and planted a kick under his ribs. Leaving his shuriken in my shoulder to keep my blood from spurting out, I scrambled to my feet and attempted to place a kick on his temple. He grabbed my foot and twisted my ankle.

The crack echoed throughout my body as my bones snapped.

I moaned and hit his nose with the heel of my hand. My ankle was free now. I skirted him, clutching his nose, and with my good leg, kicked one of his knees in.

I was grabbed from behind and a serious blow was laid upon my already weakened ankle. I half-crumbled against my attacker, and a dagger planted itself under my chin. I wriggled, but my wrists were caught in his hand. The dagger pricked my skin and a red ribbon trickled down my neck. I stopped moving.

"Don't over do it, man," said the other ninja, his face still creased in pain. "You always over do it. The boss wants this one alive."

"And yet our boss said that if this one just so happened to get herself killed during the fighting…. Anyway, she wasn't going to be beat up about it," the ninja holding me recalled with a laugh.

"You bastards…" I growled. "Who do you work for?"

The eyebrows of the ninja in front of me shot up past his hairline. "I'm impressed, little lady. You've got some spunk...some gall to be asking questions like that." He limped forward and took my chin in one of his course hands. "Or do you think you'll be saved?"

I shivered under the threat in his voice, but I kept my face neutral. Of course the others would come for me. It was just a matter of stalling until they arrived.

The ninja slapped me so hard that I barely managed to stay standing. He laughed as I shook the spots from my eyes. "You little minx; don't you dare be fresh with me. Your friends will come to save you, you'll bring them here yourself, in fact." He looked at his companion. "Now, go ahead and have your fun with her."

The ninja holding me, Subordinate ninja, swung me out of his hold. I tried to steady myself, but as my weight came down upon my sprained ankle, I lost control and slammed into the coffee table. Subordinate picked me up like a leaf and tossed me to the other side of the room, where I hit the wall. A harsh cough brought the taste of blood into my mouth.

Subordinate approached slowly. Using the wall to support me, I inched up the wall with my good leg. Subordinate's arm reached out to take me throat. Instead, I ducked low, and spun so that I kicked him in the stomach. He folded over in surprise. I grabbed his arm and brought it back to his shoulder blade. I slid my other arm under his, grabbed a shuriken from the pouch at his side, and pressed it against his neck. With my back against the wall, I glared icily at Senior ninja.

"Let me go," I warned. "Or I'll kill him."

For the second time tonight, Senior's eyebrows showed him to be impressed. "That's quite a threat, girlie. Are you sure you're capable of something like that?"

I stiffened and tucked the shuriken in closer to Subordinate's neck. The man did not flinch.

"It would be easy," Senior said. "Go ahead, just flick your wrist and he will slump against you, lifeless, empty. His eyes will lose their color, you'll feel the breath in his lungs slow…stagger…and disappear. Go ahead, girl. Kill him."

I shivered and released Subordinate.

He turned around and, with one hand taking control of my face, pressed my head into the wall until I thought it was going to explode. While my head was being closed in this makeshift vice, his fist pounded the remaining fight out of my body.

I was released. I melted to the floor, emptied of the ability to raised a finger. Senior was holding my cell phone. I could hear the ringing. "I'm calling number one on your speed dial. Who's this? Inuyasha? Well, you better tell him not to come over here, hmm?" he said. The smile that creased his beady little eyes was diabolical.

"If he comes here, we'll kill him." He tucked the phone against my ear. A muffled hello reached my ear.

"I-Inuyasha?" I stuttered. The blood in my throat made it hard to speak.

"Kagome?"

"Please, please don't-!"

The phone was ripped from my hands.

"That's quite enough of that," Senior sneered. "Now. Be a good girl and take a nap."

I passed out before I knew what they had done.

(…)(…)(...)

The door opened. I heard the gentle whoosh and moan of the hinges. My thoughts moved at the sluggish pace of molasses, running together incoherently across my fickle consciousness. Inuyasha was home. I tried to stand, but my limbs wouldn't respond. One of my legs…where did it go; anyway, I couldn't feel it. I pushed my eyelids open, blinked, and rolled my face in the direction of the door.

"Inuyasha…" I breathed.

He was cloaked in shadow. But I knew it was him. My heart struck my ribcage oddly, and I tried to recall why I didn't want Inuyasha to be here.

He came to me in a moment, and Sango and Miroku jogged into the room. I tried to focus on Inuyasha's face, but the features slipped past recognition.

"Kagome," he whispered. "Kagome, can you hear me?"

I mumbled his name again, weakly. My vision must be cloudy. Surely, this was Inuyasha's voice, but his features were somewhat altered. I wished for some moonlight to see by.

Inuyasha touched my face, sending a warm shiver down my spine. "Stay awake, Kagome. We're going to get you to the hospital, ok?"

No, because something was supposed to happen first. I tried to think of what the ninja had said… The ninja! "Inuyasha, abunai!"

(…)(…)(...)

"You still there, girl?" questions a voice near my ear.

I open my eyes. His golden orbs find mine through the dim room. My entire frame screams in protest and my heart putters feebly under the weight of that gaze. Inuyasha, Inuyasha, Inuyasha.

"Do you remember me?" his icy voice reflects no emotion. The frown on his lips seems permanent.

"Of course," I manage, struggling to regain my feet. I meet those terrible golden eyes. My guards bow and leave the room. We are alone in this black hole, which is slowly sucking our souls from our bodies. I manage a vain smirk. "How could I forget you…Sesshoumaru?"

- Ichimu