You guys are all lucky that I got this chapter up! My computer shut down when I was about finished with this chapter and I hadn't saved ANY of it, so thank all those computer geeks out there that invented Windows Recovery!!!!! Well, surprisingly I haven't watched Inuyasha in AGES so I have to watch all the episodes I missed on YOUTUBE. Adult Swim needs to move Inuyasha to 10 o'clock!! Then I might watch them and not be so tired afterwards! ROAR! haha
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha & crew or "duck and run" by 3 doors down. I also don't claim Patrick and Kat.
Duck & Run
She made her way up the small steps to the door of the boy's house that her brother had been spending a lot of time with. The way he talked about the other boy led her to believe that the other boy was nice and fun. But she had to make sure that he was being well taken care of while she didn't have an eye on him, so she hoped the parents would invite her in.
She rang the doorbell and peaked to the side through the windows of the house to see if there was any movement yet. The house was nice enough from the outside, but she knew that looks could be deceiving when it came to houses. Their last house had been large and pretty, but she knew that inside of it very ugly things went on. She also knew of the very ugly stains that had been left on that attic floor…
When the door opened she shook her head and was looking in the face of a homely middle-aged woman. The women instantly held her hand out and shook Kagome's and was talking to her in a very cheerful voice, "How nice to meet the wonderful older sister! You're the only person little Souta ever talks about!" The woman began ushering her through the door, still talking, "The boys are finishing up a video game, so why don't you sit down and relax with me while they finish?"
A little shocked at the woman's forwardness, Kagome followed her through. Usually adults viewed her with an air of disgust because of the type of clothes she wore. And then she looked down at herself and was reminded of the green shirt and now, to her surprise, a very vintage looking blouse. All she could do was nod as the woman led her into a quaint little kitchen and sat her down.
"Now, you look simply exhausted! Is there anything I could get for you? Iced tea? Hot tea? Water? A soda? Or maybe you would prefer some milk and cookies?" The woman voiced the last question with a little wink and a smile. For some odd reason Kagome couldn't help but feel a little cheerful and smile back at her.
"Water would be fine, please." Normally she wouldn't have asked for anything from a stranger, but she felt herself softening up a bit for some reason. She let her eyes wander about the kitchen and then look around at the bits of the house she could see from her sitting position while the woman bounced about the kitchen finishing cooking a meal while getting her water. The house looked decent, a normal middle-class home with comfortable settings. She didn't have a problem with allowing Souta to be around these sort of people. What she truly wished was that he could stay here all the time and be safe and happy, to grow up like he should.
She snapped out of her thoughts for a second time and looked over to see the smiling woman, her cheeks slightly flushed. A glass of water sat in front of her and she picked it up and sipped before setting it down and smiling, "Thank you very much Mrs.…."
"Oh dear! Forgot to introduce myself, didn't I? It's just Souta has told me so much about you, that I almost thought I knew you myself! I'm Mrs. Rivers. If you're wondering where the Mr. is, he's at his job right now finishing up some few details. Dear me, I hate is so when he stays out late, but somebody must bring in the bacon, right?" The woman babbled quite a lot, but Kagome didn't mind at all. She found the woman's voice calming.
"So, I'm guessing that you are," She paused for a moment and looked down at her palm where she read the name Souta had told her "Shippou's mother?"
A look of disappointment came across the woman's face, "No, I'm afraid I'm not, though I do have children of my own. Shippou is one of the foster kids we've had come through, but our neighbor fell in love with his boyish charm and adopted him. He spends a lot of time over here though, poor boy, because the woman is out often. I think she is one of the older nurses at St. Jude's hospital. You'll meet her soon, I reckon. You'll love her, she's a little eccentric but full of charm!"
A smile came upon her face as she heard Souta laughing with another boy in the room, who she guessed was Shippou. She looked back to the woman, "Do you mind telling me her name? I don't mean to be nosey, but I like to know who my brother is around."
The woman's smile brightened and she laid a hand against Kagome's and squeezed it as she leaned forward, "My, what a brilliant older sister you are! And if you don't mind me saying, but you'll make a lovely mother one day!" Mrs. Rivers noticed the blush crossing Kagome's face and leaned back and looked out of the window absently, "Oh, but you have many more years to come before you must worry about such as that. In answer to your question, her name is Kaede. I must apologize because I do not know her last name. Not much of a talker, that one."
Both of them sat talking for another fifteen minutes until they suddenly heard Souta screaming from the other room for help. Kagome and the woman leapt from their seats and came running into the living room where the boy Shippou was unconscious on the floor. For some reason she felt herself pulled towards the boy and she knelt beside him, lifting his head up onto her lap.
It felt right, as if he had laid in her lap many times before. She stroked his chestnut colored hair from his closed eyes and felt his forehead for a fever. But her hand remained on his forehead and she felt herself being overwhelmed by a spinning sensation and she felt herself collide against the wooden floor with him in her lap. She found herself in a forest and looked down to see a much smaller version of Shippou.
Except this time he had no baggy hoody on and his small tail was showing from his pants. He was wearing feudal era clothes and she knelt beside him and felt a very motherly-wave overcome her. She couldn't remember who she had been, or who she was now. All that was certain was she had a duty to this small boy that seemed to be as strong as the mountains.
The little boys teal eyes captured her own as he asked in a weak voice, "Kagome, when is it all going to be over? When will we realize? When will we be free?"
None of the questions made sense to her, but she seemed to have an answer for them anyways, "Soon enough, Shippou. I hope." She brought the small kitsune up to her chest and cradled him against herself like a babe and he cried. The whole world of them was continuing to become more blurry, but at the same time figures began to appear in her line of vision, lying across the grass of the forest floor. They all seemed such familiar figures, so dear. Yet they had no meaning at all to her.
Finally their new world became blurry to the point that neither of them could see it anymore and they boy awakened to a completely clear reality. Kagome sat up quickly and hunched over Shippou, who she had clutched to herself for some reason. His green eyes opened and there was a faint recognition in them and he stared straight at her, "Kagome. When…?" The question fell from his lips unfinished for he could no longer remember what he meant to ask, or why he felt he needed to ask it.
It was then that he looked up at the young woman that had him cradled so close to herself and for some reason she seemed oddly familiar to him. She felt like a mother to him, and he hardly knew her. What was that name he'd called her when he awoke? Boy, would he feel stupid if that wasn't her real name.
Both of them shook out of their reveries and noticed the older woman squawking about them like a mother hen. She'd applied wet cloths to both of their foreheads and was now preaching to them, "Oh those darn schools! They let these illnesses run amuck without alerting the parents of it! I'm sure we could have gotten both of you shots to prevent this! Should we go to the hospital? Should we get you help? Are you both feeling alright?"
With the older woman running around as if her head was chopped off Souta was gazing at his sister and his best friend in amazement. He finally looked directly at Shippou who was sitting up, "How'd you know her name? You've never even met her!"
Without pause both Kagome and Shippou answered in unison, "I have no idea!"
Finally Kagome stood up and helped Shippou and Souta up before looking towards the woman, holding out the wash cloth she had been given, "I'm so sorry, I guess it's a bit of a cold! Time to get out our winter coats Souta! Thank you so much for your hospitality, but we really must go now. Our parents are bound to be worried sick about us!"
In a daze, the woman nodded her head and sat down at a chair in the kitchen with the wash cloth pressed against her own head now, "Oh yes, I suppose you must be on your way. Be careful dears. Come by again soon." She seemed to say all of these things automatically and without much hinder at processing the words at all.
Souta and Kagome both nodded and waved to Shippou and Mrs. Rivers before they made their departure from the house. They walked down the sidewalk for a bit before one of them spoke, "So how was your weekend Souta? Did they treat you alright?"
Souta was viewing his sister rather oddly before he gave his response, "They were really nice to me all weekend." He waited a bit when she nodded her head and he finally was tempted to voice his question, "Hey sis?"
Her dark blue eyes eyed his own and she tilted her head, "Yah, what is it Souta?"
He looked back to his sister and looked her over again before asking in a way that he hoped wouldn't insult her, "What's up with the vintage school uniform?"
Surprisingly, she didn't slap him or yell at him playfully like she usually would but just scratched her head and shrugged as she said in an off hand way, "I don't know to be honest." With that he watched his sister completely space off as she looked off into the distance and up at the sky in an odd way.
It was nothing like his sister, but he decided not to comment on it. Usually she would be prepping him to enter their house so he could avoid the brunt of the beatings from their stepfather. For some reason she seemed too distracted to tell him what to do, but he didn't need any promptings this time. He had found a way out of their house through a secret passage in his closet which he knew he could use to get back into it as well. It wasn't as if their stepfather would have noticed him gone all weekend anyways. All their stepfather ever noticed was when Kagome was missing.
That's what bothered Souta the most about the man. He rarely hit Souta because he rarely noticed him, but he always beat Kagome and noticed her whereabouts. Sure, both of them getting beaten would have been wrong, too, but the way the man eyed Kagome and gave her special attention during the beatings made him uneasy. Something was wrong about it all, and something horribly wrong was bound to happen very soon, he could tell.
When they reached their house he was going to offer Kagome the secret way so she could avoid the beating, but then thought twice about it. Both of them knew that she would get beaten anyways, even if she did hide out for a bit in his room. Chances were, she would get beaten harder the longer she avoided it.
Now that they were at the house Kagome's face had steeled over to an unusual look of determination that held little emotion. Usually just before she entered the house her face would hold fear and anxiety, but something had changed within her. She watched her brother go off to the secret passage and knew he would be saved from any blows of the fight.
She stuck out her chin in defiance and entered the house without any hesitation for once. The inside of the house was dark, as if her mother and the dreaded man had already gone to sleep. But usually when she entered the house and they were asleep it didn't have such an unsettled aura about it. Something was wrong, dreadfully wrong about it. Not just the foreshadowing of a harsh beating, but something else that made her wish to vomit already was settling over her.
Her resolve broke down and she slowly made her way up the stairs and then down the hall towards his room. She wasn't sure what pulled her so harshly towards that room, but it didn't feel like a good pull. Her hand slowly reached out and took the cold doorknob within her hand and her slender fingers curled around its smoothness.
The weight of death was now crashing around her, and she was now dreading who it was that had died in this room. She knew the feeling of death like an old teacher, cold and harsh but very familiar to her senses, and now it weighed upon her like a ton of bricks. This was what it had been like when her best friend had been killed in the town before, but ten times worse already, even with the door closed.
Next, the metallic stench of coppery blood drifted to her and her nostrils flared up like a dogs. The smell was so overwhelming around, she staggered back a few steps from the door and gripped the railing and steadied herself before she fell over it and down the stairs. Her eyes wandered up to the ceiling and she immediately regretted looking, because upon the ceiling was the one word she knew as a trademark of him. The word was so simple and short, but it spoke volumes. The way he wrote it determined how much it would hurt her.
Usually the way he wrote this word in blood was sloppy and hastened, with the tone of little importance about it. The words that were sloppy were for his cronies that didn't obey him that he felt like killing and leaving around for her to find and clean up after. There had been many of those, and at first she had refused to clean up after them. But after he had beaten her severely she had learned that cleaning up the wreaking dead bodies was far better than being beaten so harshly.
And then there came his second style of writing that always frightened the life out of her. The first time she had seen this writing she had been perplexed as to what the message had been written in and she had tilted her head until a drop of it had splattered down upon her and onto her small chubby cheek. Blood. It had dropped again upon her small nine year old lips and she had begun to cry because somehow the delicately written word Dead inspired violent visions in her. She knew her father was dead; there was no doubt about it. But why would he have written to her that he was dead?
When she was little she had followed the few bloody drips into her own bedroom and found her fathers body, spread out across the floor as it were a floor mat. His face was contorted in pain where it had once been friendly and loving. In his hand was a note and a strange leather necklace gripped tightly against his chest where there was a large hole. In his other hand, which lay holding his cross-necklace around his neck, was wet with blood. She had run to his side and collapsed there, reading the note about how the leather necklace was for her and the cross was for her brother, and that she was destined for greater things.
There had also been something in the note about how she belonged years before her time. She had ignored that bit of the note back then because she could hardly read the rest of the note which was comprehensible, let alone read and comprehend and confound meaning in it. After she had read the note she had looked up to see him sitting at the dresser with an artists brush dripping with blood in his hands and her mother at his side, her eyes void of all emotion. Souta had only been 3 at the time and had been at day care.
And now she came out of her flashback to feel the drip drop of blood splatter against her cheek, and then exactly where it had landed before on her lips. She eyed the delicately written letters on the ceiling with hatred. The two combined only meant one person could be dead, because he knew of only one person that she cared dearly about and meant a lot to her.
Her feet refused to budge for a few moments and she prayed that he wouldn't be around and that Souta wouldn't come out of his room and see it. Finally her feet obeyed her and she gripped the doorknob again and slowly turned the knob, and pushed the door open, listening to the creaking.
And there lay her mother across the bed, her poor weakened body ravaged completely. Kagome felt herself choke up and she'd ran to her mothers bed side and leapt onto the bed, grabbing her now dying mother up in her arms. She sobbed into her mother's chest like a babe and cried out in agony, "Mom, you can't do this to me. You can't do this to us. Please, you can make it! Try harder Mom! I promise you we'll get out of this mess now! I don't care what he does to me, but we'll all get out of this ALIVE. You hear me?"
The smile Kagome had yearned for over the years was across her mothers pale face. The genuine, loving, caring smile settled across her lips like a long lost friend and she brought her still intact hand up to her daughter's face and stroked her cheek, a tear falling down her cheek when she realized that she had gotten blood on her.
Mrs. Higurashi's eyes then cleared up to reveal her true hazel colored eyes and she gave one sharp sob while she smiled, "Where have you been all my life?"
Kagome grabbed her mother's hand and took a sharp intake of breath and looked away, remembering that cheesy line her father had always asked both of them before. Her true father. Kagome answered with the response they'd always used, "I've always been here for you, babe."
The smile remained on her mothers lips as her hand grew limp in Kagome's grasp. Kagome cried openly and leaned her forehead against her mothers so they could look into each others eyes for the last time, for real. They were both themselves and back to normal for that one short moment in time, and they knew it. A choked voice emerged from Kagome's throat as she said slowly, "I love you mom."
Her mothers eyes brightened once more and she quickly mouthed a "I know, love you too, babe." And then her eyes dimmed quickly and were out like a candles fire. The dimness in her eyes wasn't the same that it had been since her father had died, but was lighter, livelier even in death.
She realized then, staring into her dead mother's eyes, that her poor mother had been under some sort of spell the whole time. Before she would have never even considered a thing such as a spell, but it seemed right. Something had possessed her mother's body and had finally leapt out of it in her final waking minutes.
Finally she wiped her eyes and Sat up away from her mothers cooling body. She gently closed both of her lids before getting up from the bed and looking over the wreckage of her mothers weakened body. Quickly she wiped away the tears and looked down at her mothers damaged hand and realized she was gripping something that had obviously been important to him because there were bruises where it seemed he's tried to pry it from her.
Kagome stepped forward and knelt beside her mother and gently opened her hand to see a small note and the same sort of strange leather necklace her father had given to her. A small pocket knife was also in her hand that had her brother's name engraved in it.
Slowly she sat back on the floor and opened up the note, the other two items held in her other hand. The note was scrawled in what seemed to have been slow, painful strokes of words. Her eyes scanned frantically over the confusing words that were written in the style their family had created for fun when she was younger:
My dearest daughter Kagome,
I know I have not been in your life since your father's death. That dreadful man I remarried did something to me so I could not do anything but stand by and watch all those dreadful things happen to you. He's letting me write this letter to you right now, because he thinks that he'll get some needed information out of it. Well, he won't will he? Because only our family understands this way of writing. I remember how fun it was to create it. Anyways, by the time you read this I know that I will be dead and gone from this world, and for that I forgive you. It was never in my intentions to abandon you or your brother.
The leather necklace is, of course, for you. It's some strange sort of puzzle that has been a part of you since you were a baby, but for some reason we were meant to give these to you in your greatest time of need. When you obtain three of these leather strings, braid them together, and things may make a little bit more sense. The pocket knife is for Souta, it's the one we used to use on our camping trips with you two. Tell him that I love him dearly and that I promise I will make a better mother the next time he sees me. Explain to him that I wasn't this way, really, and that I love him. I love you both dearly, and be strong. You were meant for years long before your time.
Love,
Mom
Kagome slowly folded the note up and shoved it her shoe because she was still wearing the stupid skirt. Then she slowly tied the leather string around her neck along with the other one her father had given to her seven years before. Her hands shook violently and she wiped the tears from her eyes once more and gasped suddenly.
The space in between her two leather necklaces began to glow a strange color of purple before it slowly blacked out again. The glowing almost brought back some sort of memory that she felt was essential to her making it through all of this.
It was then that she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and felt the icy feeling of somebody watching her closely. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly and tried to make it so she wouldn't look around, but she couldn't help it because she knew she'd have to face him sooner or later.
When she turned around she saw her stepfather lounging easily on the love seat in his room, with the same paint brush he'd used years ago for her father dangling easily from his fingers, in a teasing sort of way. But the difference between the picture she'd seen when she was younger was that the person next to him was no longer her mother, but the man she'd seen before in the car.
The man Inuyasha had named as Naraku was standing beside her sitting stepfather and grinning evilly. So Inuyasha had been right, this Naraku guy was truly evil. Her chin shoved out in defiance as she stood up and spat at their feet in disgust, unreasonably angry.
When she opened her mouth to start yelling Naraku held up his hand to silence her and she felt her lips clamp down in immediate silence, not by her own choice. He waved his hand around, "We were hoping you would make it back before she died so you might weasel out some more information for us. But you didn't do that, did you?"
"You bastard." Was all she seethed as she stepped towards them, prepared to fight to the death for them doing this to her and her family.
"Oh, how rude of you Kagome! We haven't even been properly introduced, and I'd assume that its about time that we have been. I'm Naraku, the man behind the man that has been ruining your sweet little life. Isn't your stepfather just a lovely man? He's got quite the imagination for serial killing. I find the bloody words on the ceiling a brilliant addition to his flamboyant killings."
"You're swine! Die and burn in hell!" she spat at his feet and stepped forward to start beating on him when her stepfather, who she had forgotten, stepped in between them and grabbed her around the waist. He smirked and breathed down her neck, the stench of alcohol coming across her delicate nose.
"Well, you'll grow to like me eventually I guess. For now, I'll leave you and your dear step father to his devices. Now remember, my dear boy, be gentle enough with her not to kill her." Naraku then patted her stepfathers head and then left the room and then the house.
This chapter almost made me cry when I was writing it! I know, that's horrible of me, haha, but I couldn't help it. Sometimes I get lost in my writing. Though I had to look back a couple times at previous chapters for a few other details.
10 reviews please! And maybe quickly? Because if I write the next chapter as fast I did this one, I don't want to wait to have to put it up like I did with this one!
Black Parade: AWW!! Thank you, I'm glad I didn't screw up the sappy part. I think it takes the people who don't enjoy reading sappy stuff to write sappy stuff that isn't too sappy… haaha
Demented Angie: I'm getting closer and closer to revealing my motives!
Topazchick08: Sorry this chapter wasn't so cute… I think I did say this was supposed to be a kind of angsty
Marufan: I felt inspired, so I updated sooner! Yay!
Pay Backs a Bitch: Possibly? Hahah. Oh, oi, and sorry for never updating Maybe Memories. It just hasn't been that appealing of a story to write on, you know?
SSJ04 Mewtwo: Canon timeline? Sorry, I don't understand. Is that the current Inuyasha episode timeline? If it is, I don't think I'll head that way with this story since I haven't watched the show in a month or so… I'll have to watch YOUTUBE to catch up!
Fantin5Sun: Thank you! Sorry if this chapter is too angsty!
To this world I'm unimportant Just because I have nothing to give. So you call this your free country, Tell me why it cost so much to live, Tell me why. This world can turn me down But I won't turn away, oh no I won't turn around. All my work and endless measures. Never seem to get me very far, Walk a mile just to move an inch Now even though I'm trying so damn hard I'm trying so hard. This world can turn me down but I Won't turn away, And I won't duck and run, cause I'm not built that way. When everything is gone there is Nothing there to fear. This world cannot bring me down, No cause I'm already here, oh no! I am already here, Down on my knees, I am already here, on no, I am Already here. I must have told you a thousand times, I am not running away. I won't duck and run I won't duck and run I won't duck and run No pass away. This world can turn me down but I Won't turn away And I won't duck and run, cause I'm not built that way. When everything is gone There is nothing there to fear. This world cannot bring me down No cause I'm already here. This world can turn me down. But I won't turn away, And I won't duck away Cause I'm not built that way. When everything is gone there Is nothing there to fear. This world cannot bring me down, No cause I'm already here.