Kagome crouched down to wait. She had masked her scent by rubbing pine tree sap and dirt into her skin, hair, and clothes, preferring not to use the gift given her by her grandmother.
She knew if she used it she would be accepting a certain fact that she had no intention to. She carefully reached to her back, extracting an arrow from the carefully arranged quiver, knocking it to the string.
She looked around. She didn't pull the arrow back, knowing that it would tiring to hold the position for what could be hours of wait, and it would most likely unnerve her and make her jumpy. She practiced slow breathing, calming herself. She was surrounded by bushes. The sun had yet to even think about cresting the horizon, which for her was a good thing.
For a moment she knelt in the dew kissed fallen leaves and pine needles before looking up into the tree above her. Above the tree, through the branches, the sky was beginning to lighten, the stars fading slowly. She calmed her excitedly beating heart, tuning her senses to her surroundings.
Through her ears she could hear the sounds of owls calling goodnight to the woods. She could hear bats fly overhead, finding a roost for the day, filled and content with their evening meal of bugs. She could hear the cheerful voices of the birds as they began waking to greet the morning.
She could hear movement in the leaves and pine needles as ground animals woke to scrounge for breakfast. She could see the air around her lighten up and see the tree branches and small patches of grass on the path before her move in a sway with the light breeze that blew through the forest. She could smell water of the nearby spring, hear its trickling. She could smell the pine trees sap; feel the sticky substance glue to her body.
As the sun crested the horizon, she heard it. It was the soft scamp sound in the undergrowth. She waited. She would only have one chance, she knew. Rabbits were fast. She knelt at ease, yet not moving.
The rabbit came into sight, about thirty feet downwind. Any movements she might make wouldn't carry on the breeze to be heard by the rabbit, though she wouldn't risk it. Still she didn't move. The rabbit looked about the area, trying to decide whether or not there were any immediate threats to the area. She didn't move.
Slowly it continued hopping, stopping to nibble a patch of grass on the path. Rabbits loved clover better than grass, sweet clover especially, but there was none in the area.
She didn't allow herself to hold her breath. She continued her calm breathing, not wanting to alert the rabbit to the danger she posed. She was hidden in the bushes under a tree to the side of the path.
Despite popular opinion, she knew rabbits were smart. One wrong move and the rabbit would be gone. She couldn't afford mistakes. Slowly, as though she were just a tree swaying in the breeze, she raised the bow.
The rabbit looked in the direction of her position, but she sat still as stone. Moments later, it looked away and she pulled the bow taut. The rabbit realized its mistake and tried to run, but too late. She had predicted its runaway path already, compensating for it, and let the arrow fly.
The rabbit jumped into the path of the arrow, the arrow embedding deep into its chest cavity. The rabbit gave a gurgled pained squeal before dying. She went, smirking, to retrieve her kill, and then made her way back to the camp, slung bow over her shoulder as she picked up firewood on the way.
There was not much firewood that she could pick up while holding her kill, but Kagome did find some that she could carry along with the rabbit. On her way back to camp, Kagome found a 'Ye Olde Port-e-potty' and did her business, changing her tampon (since she did have her period, she would need to do that), and disinfecting her hands with the hand sanitizer.
That finished, she proceeded to the camp once more, hearing giggling sounds upon her entrance. She raised an eyebrow at Sesshoumaru, who had a certain blood sucking leech named Karei hanging off of him.
To Kagome (and everyone else), it looked like he didn't mind the attention, but he did and he was getting rather annoyed though his looks didn't show it. He stood just outside the tent he'd slept in, a step away from it. "Getting friendly?" Kagome sneered, tossing the rabbit and the wood on the ground.
Karei laughed in her nauseatingly screechy voice. Her friends backed her laugh with their own high pitched laughs. "Jealous, 'Gome?" Karei said, fluttering her eyelashes in Kagome's direction.
Her friends giggled again, Maren saying, "Hun, you KNOW she is. How could she not be?"
"Hunny, she's jealous of you!" Chrisa declared. "There's no one on this earth who could be luckier than our Karei-baby!"
Karei blushed prettily at the praise. Kagome scowled, hating that Karei was so much more beautiful than her. Kagome had always felt inadequate when it came to being compared to Karei, who was considered the most beautiful girl in the school (by popular demand and not because of her money, surprisingly).
Karei had everything that Kagome did not, and everything that Kagome had, she had ten times as much of. Kagome wasn't complaining that she didn't have any friends; in fact she had five very good friends (one being new and one being her brother, but they still counted to her), Souta, Kohaku, Sango, Miroku, and now Rin too.
But still, where Kagome had five friends, Karei was the most popular girl in the entire private school, plus she had friends from numerous other places.
Where Kagome had a single car that she had to share with her brother (that she was lucky to have even), Karei had an entire car dealership at her disposal and could have any car she wanted.
When Kagome had gotten her new computer that she'd had to work two jobs for an entire school year to save up for, Karei had bragged about how she'd gotten her daddy to buy her three new computers so she could be shopping at three different websites at the same time, using her three new credit cards that her daddy had given her.
And when Kagome had crushed on Sesshoumaru the first week he'd came, the first time she'd seen him even, Karei had taken that away too – crushed her hopes of ever being seen in his eyes.
What Karei had said that day during Gym class had absolutely shattered any ounce of childish dreams that she once had, forcing her to grow up early, even though it was only a few words and really nothing to cry over, nothing to get upset about, and nothing worth letting it get to her and destroy her dreams of being a 'damsel in distress'.
Well, what Karei had said had distressed her all right, and since she was a girl she had the damsel part covered well enough, but there was no one else who heard Karei's words, and no one came to help her piece back together her broken heart so she'd had to do it on her own.
She used the strongest glue she could use to mend a broken heart, and that was her memories. It worked, but rather than giving her back the soft kind-hearted heart that she'd once had, opening her arms freely to anyone even if they were like Karei, she had a strong no-nonsense heart that wouldn't stand for being pushed around.
Sesshoumaru had never seen that first side of her, she was sure, because he wasn't really around long enough to before she changed herself to coincide with the cruel world that she lived in.
Somehow, Karei always made her heart weak and fragile though. Kagome was sometimes able to stand up to Karei, but not always, for instance when her friends weren't around, and now she knew she was failing.
Standing up to Medallion was easy, she could do that blindfolded, because she knew what he wanted from her, and she knew she wouldn't give it to him. With Medallion it was always punch or be punched.
She had never known what Karei wanted from her though. What Karei wanted from Kagome couldn't possibly be looks, because Karei was definitely prettier than Kagome.
Karei looked much like both her mother and her father, with long mid-back length perfectly curly blond hair that never seemed to have a bad day, amazingly bright almond shaped green eyes that sparkled with life every single moment of the day, high cheek bones that made her look royal, full lush pink lips, soft delicately tanned skin, a dainty nose, rosy cheeks, perfectly structured eyebrows, and she never seemed to have a problem with acne at all, though that did run in the family since Kagome and her brother never had that problem either. It was from her father's side of the family.
Karei could virtually have any man and a lot of women in all of Sunset, whether they were older, younger, hell even the dead would find her attractive even through all the makeup she sometimes wore. It was like she was a goddess walking on earth, just a goddess with a very nasty habit of clutching onto men.
That was her only flaw, that she thought she needed a man to get anywhere in the world. Her screechy high voice wasn't even her normal tone of voice; she actually had a very beautiful soprano voice, though it was still much lower in tone than the one she constantly was prone to fall back on.
Karei had always had a grudge against her since they had met at age six and seven, and Kagome never could understand how the two were related until she had found out that Karei's father was brother to her father, but Karei's father had taken the last name of his wife after being disowned by the two girls' grandfather (on both of their father's side).
Kagome sighed rubbing her hand on her forehead and getting rabbits blood in her hair and on her skin. She knew that a rant was coming. Karei always ranted about anything and everything to Kagome when she 'decided to pop in to visit her family' at the Shrine. Karei always did that, disturbing Kagome while she was at her job.
"You know, 'Gome, we're all feeling pretty hungry right now." Karei said imperiously, in her falsetto voice. "You should make us some food. And be quick about it. Oh, and I don't want any bones from that rabbit in my food, and I don't want it too crispy, and I don't want it too juicy.
"And I would like something to drink, water from that stream, it seems like it will be cold enough, my water bottle is empty, so you can fill that up." That was another thing that Kagome hated. Karei always made Kagome feel like an inferior.
Kagome bit back and listened to the rant, waiting for Karei to run out of breath, but it didn't seem like that would be happening any time soon.
"-And you can also wash my other pair of clothes, this one is dirty, I can't be walking around in dirty clothes can I? So you wash them, and hang them up to, no wait that would get them dirty if they were hung on a sappy tree, wouldn't it? Yes, it would, so you can blow them dry, I don't care if you have to do it with your own breath, but do it and I want them dry in a half an hour, and in the meantime I will-"
By this time Kagome had fully zonked out. She remembered back to the first time her uncle and his wife had brought Karei over to visit with Kali.
It hadn't been Naraku that he'd come to see, so he'd scheduled the visit on a day that Naraku was away. Naraku and Hakudoushi might have been brothers, but the two hated each other, thus the scheduling the visit when Naraku was at the casino gambling away Kali's hard earned money.
Hakudoushi wanted to visit Kali though, because the two had been very good friends in college and though Hakudoushi had fallen in love with Kali, the feeling was not mutual and they just stayed good friends after college, even though Naraku told Kali not to speak to Hakudoushi ever again.
Even at such a young age of five and six, Kali had begun to teach her children responsibility, which Karei obviously found very amusing. She'd never seen a mop or broom before in her life, what with Hakudoushi and May (an American woman with long blond curly hair and green eyes, pale skin, high cheekbones, and full red lips) having so many servants to do the 'dirty work' as Karei had so 'innocently' called it.
Karei had been seven at the time, yet she'd never been exposed to the life called chores. Kagome and Souta had been sweeping and mopping the dinning room when Hakudoushi and May had brought Karei over.
"Kagome, Souta, we have visitors." Kali had said, entering the enormous dinning room. "Please, come greet your uncle Hakudoushi and your aunt May and your cousin Karei."
Kagome looked up to see her mother standing in the doorway, beaming at the two of them. She reached over and poked Souta, who had been mopping next to her but hadn't heard their mother. "Souta, mama wants us to meet her brother! Come on!"
Souta looked up at Kagome and then looked at their mother. When he saw her, he gave a happy yip and rushed to her, mindless that he was trampling on wet floor. "Mama! Lookit! We're doing just what you said! We're moping!"
Kali chuckled, bending down to hug her son. "No, not 'moping' Souta, you're 'mopping'. 'Moping' means you're being sad, 'mopping' means you're cleaning the floor with soap and water."
Kagome giggled, bouncing over to Kali as well, though careful to step around the very zigzagged pattern of mopped floor. She hadn't wanted to get her stockings wet. "Mama, where is your brother?" She questioned.
Souta looked at Kali with excited navy-blue eyes. "Yah mama, where is your silling? See, mama? 'Gome taught me a new word! Silling!"
Kagome looked at Souta scoldingly, waggling a finger at his tiny nose. "No, not 'silling', Souta, that isn't even a word!"
Souta pouted. "But that's what you said! You told me that sillings was what me and you were, 'cause we're big sister and little brother!" He objected.
Kali chuckled again, taking one of each of her children's hands in her own, walking with them to the living room which was also the waiting room for people. "Now now, Souta, Kagome is right. 'Silling' isn't a word. You must have mistaken her when she said 'sibling' and thought she said 'silling'."
Souta made a goofy face, giggling and hopping beside his mother, swinging his and her hands back and forth. "Oh, my miscake!" He chirped.
Kali and Kagome giggled at his third word mess-up, but didn't bother objecting, fearing to discourage the boy from trying. "So where is your sibling?" he asked, carefully pronouncing the word, testing it on his tongue.
"Oh, he isn't my sibling." Kali said, still in that happy tone of voice. "He is your daddy's sibling. He wanted to stop by and say hello quick before going to help move into his new house, just on the next block over."
They entered the waiting room where Hakudoushi, May, and Karei were waiting, and Kagome saw the little girl stand nervously behind her mother, clutching her mother's skirt tightly in her tiny fingers.
Kali beamed down at the young blond, bending down to eye level, letting go of her children's hands. "Hello, Karei, do you remember me?" She asked.
Karei smiled and nodded. "Karei 'members Kali, the doctor lady!" She said proudly, but she still stood nervously behind her mother, sending quick glances at Kagome and Souta as though if she didn't keep an eye on them they would sneak up on her and bite her.
Kali nodded, smiling still as she stood. "Well, Karei, I would like you to meet your cousins Kagome," she placed a hand on Kagome's head, "and Souta," she placed her other hand on Souta's head and then ruffled her children's hair. Both boy and girl giggled, shoving their mother's hand away and trying to fix their askew hair.
Karei began to pout then, probably upset that she was not the center of attention at the moment. "So, Kali, where is my dearest brother at?" Hakudoushi asked in a sarcastic tone of voice. "Is he off at the casino again?"
May sighed, shaking her head sadly when Kali nodded, a grim look crossing her flawless features momentarily. "Oh, Kali, you should really divorce him. You're still young, and there are men just lining up for you!" May's accent was apparent in her voice, but she spoke Japanese fluently.
Kali blushed prettily, "May, they're not lining up for me, they're lining up for psychiatry sessions!" She protested, though Hakudoushi and May smiled secretively at each other and laughed lightly. "Oh stop it you two." Kali said the blush worsening as she obviously knew what her two friends were laughing at.
"Mommy will tell Karei what she is laughing at right now!" Karei stomped her feet for emphasis at her anger of being left out.
May giggled, smoothing Karei's hair. "Someday when you're older, my little Karei." She said.
A slap on the cheek brought Kagome back to earth. Kagome looked at Karei, raising an eyebrow at the girl, knowing it would irritate her. "'Gome, you aren't listening to me!" Karei said angrily. "I'm the important one, not your stupid thoughts of nothing."
Kagome rubbed her stinging cheek. "Wow for a bitch you really can slap. I'm sure that will come in handy when you decide to pick up that application for Catwoman. Then you can get into cat fights all you want." Kagome concluded with finality.
Maren, and Chrisa gasped, 'horrified' by Kagome's lack of respect towards Karei. Karei seethed. "How dare you!" She yelled her falsetto voice making birds fly from their nests to find shelter from the loud noisemaker. A loud wail filled the air, and a second followed soon after.
Kagome rolled her eyes. "How dare I? Well, I sort of just... open my mouth and the words come out. It's easy." She was surprised that she was so easily standing up for herself, but didn't take time to ponder about it.
She looked at Sesshoumaru, who sometime during Karei's screaming, had gotten out of Karei's death hold and went into the tent to take care of the android, while Hiten was already taking care of his and Karei's. Kagome had no doubt that Karei had done nothing as of yet to take care of the thing.
"Karei, instead of picking a fight with Kagome, you could play your motherly part and help me with Yuki!" Hiten yelled.
Karei rolled her eyes, "I swear, men are useless!" She turned back to Kagome. "We are not through with this little chat, 'Gome. We're going to continue it in a few minutes!" Karei stomped over to Hiten and started to care for the baby android.
Kagome shrugged. Wow, she's actually doing something for herself for once. She thought while quickly moving over to Sesshoumaru's tent. She figured since he was a rich boy, he would probably have to have help, but surprisingly he knew what he was doing, and the baby was slowly falling to sleep while he burped it.
She looked at the tiny tot and saw that it was already quite larger than it had been when she had left it with Sesshoumaru. Her eyes widened as she looked at the baby boy. He was very cute indeed, and Kagome almost had difficulty believing that it was actually an android.
Sesshoumaru, as if almost sensing her thoughts, looked at her. "What? Think I can't handle myself around kids?" He asked.
Kagome shrugged nonchalantly. "No, I was thinking that..." When he quirked an eyebrow at her, she felt her anger rising. God, she really loathed him looking at her like that. "Fine! I was thinking that." She whispered angrily.
"But hey, you're a rich boy who probably pays to get his homework done, just like Karei, so what am I supposed to think? Hmm?" She kept her voice down, so as not to wake the android up again.
Sesshoumaru set aside her angry comments, though they stung him greatly. He wished that she would see how much he liked her, but then again, he was thankful that she didn't know. If she knew, he was afraid of what she'd do which was most likely turn him down in less than a heartbeat's time and then laugh at him for it.
"His name is Lenny." He said quietly, pulling the child away from his shoulder and then starting to change him.
Kagome blinked. "What?" He didn't get upset and pout that I called him a cheater?
Sesshoumaru gave a sigh of exasperation, a sign of emotion which startled Kagome. He was always so stiff, giving off the impression of a snotty rich kid.
He continued changing the baby and repeated what he'd said. "His name is Lenny. You told me to think of a name for him, so I did. If you don't like it, he seems impartial to it so I'm sure he won't mind if you changed it."
Kagome rolled her eyes. "The whole point of you picking the name was because you're a," her voice was sarcastic and mocking tone.
"Rich boy?" He interrupted his voice an even monotone. "Is there something you have against me personally, or are you always like this to anyone whose father has money?"
"You personally." Kagome spat out truthfully. "I don't hate the entire populous of rich people, just you and Karei and all those other jerks like you at school, minus Sango and Kohaku." Sesshoumaru sighed inwardly, but remained passive on the outside.
He said nothing, which frustrated Kagome. "Look you passive-aggressive ice block," she hissed, "a little emotion once in a while never killed anyone! The least you could do is,"
"'Gome! I'm ready to continue our little argument!" Karei called in her falsetto.
Kagome narrowed her eyes at Sesshoumaru. "Pack up your things, now." She said quietly, exiting the tent. "I'm not staying with her all week, and I'm not taking care of the android myself."
Sesshoumaru made no motions to argue, just let the baby begin to crawl around and started tossing the baby's things in the diaper bag and then getting the baby ready for travel. He couldn't just let her take care of the baby herself anyway; because that meant that he wouldn't get a grade at all.
Already his grade would be lower because she'd taken care of the baby Friday night alone. Since it was nippy out, he put the baby's coat on and wrapped him in his baby blanket. That done, he quickly stuck the baby in the car seat and began to pack up his slightly scattered things, his journal, and sketchbook, everything he had, and finally put his sweatshirt on, shouldering his backpack.
Kagome stared at Karei, a ghost of a smile creasing her face. "Aww, is widdle Karei scared?" She asked as Sesshoumaru began to crawl out of the tent. "Everyone should feel bad for Karei, because Karei has to have her way always!"
Karei let tears fall from her eyes, hoping that Kagome would give in to staying. When she saw Sesshoumaru getting ready to go, though, that was when it seemed to get personal. "You can't take Sess"
"Oh, can't I? Well here's a news flash that'll bring the bitch from Hell down to earth again! I can do whatever I want!" Kagome told her. "You can't stop me!" Kagome pointed to the rabbit, still lying on the ground. She'd taken the arrow out of it and replaced it in her quiver.
"You can have the rabbit. Good luck getting another one. I'd ration your food for the week." Kagome turned heel and quickly moved towards Sesshoumaru, grabbing the diaper bag from him. "Let's go." She led him away before Karei could retaliate.
The next two days were the same. Kagome and Sesshoumaru were silent unless talking to the child so it learned speech, tending to the needs of the child/android in turns. Akira grew taller and stronger and developed more, constantly jabbering and walking beside Kagome and Sesshoumaru, wanting to hold their hands, asking why his 'mama' and 'papa' didn't hold hands too.
Neither initiated conversation, neither did anything to make the other want to initiate a conversation. Then on the third day, it started to rain. Sesshoumaru had packed up the tent while Kagome had been arguing, so they had that for when it started to rain.
"Awe man." Kagome said, getting drenched as she and Sesshoumaru struggled to put up the tent together in the rain. The poles kept slipping out of their fingers as they tried to put it up. "Akira," Kagome called to the child standing as much out of the rain as he could.
She had given up on calling him an android because he threw a fit when she said that and would say 'I'm real! My name is Akira!'. Since he had matured to the point already that he was about three years old, she figured it was high time he started learning to help out.
"Yes, Mama?" Akira called over the rain. He huddled as far under the tree as he could, not wanting to get wet.
"Come here and hold this!" Akira began to cry, but Kagome was firm in her decision. Sesshoumaru wanted to tell him he didn't have to, but when he opened his mouth, she sent him a glare that shut him up immediately. "Now."
Sobbing, Akira trudged over, getting soaked in the meanwhile as he held a pole for his 'mama'. "Mama, I'm getting cold and wet!" he cried.
Kagome quickly slid the last pole in, ignoring Akira's cries. "All done." Sesshoumaru told Akira when they were finished. "Get those wet clothes off and go on in."
Shivering, Akira nodded, his teeth chattering and his lips blue. "Okay..." He began to strip off his clothes, drenched down to the core, and then, stark naked, he rushed into the tent. "Mama, where is my new shirt?" He screamed through the walls of the tent.
Kagome groaned. "Nevermind! I found it!" It was amazing how well he could talk being just matured enough for a three year old in body but in his mind it was like a five or six year old.
"Turn around, jerk face." She said. "I'm going in first." Sesshoumaru sighed visibly, though the thunder blocked out the sound. He turned around, no intention to watch her undress. After a moment, he heard her enter the tent, so he began to undress.
"Ok, I'm dressed!" she called out through the tent. Sesshoumaru figured she probably turned around, so he entered the tent and (seeing he was right, she did turn around) quickly dressed.
"Okay." Sesshoumaru muttered, relaxing in the semi-large tent.
Akira climbed onto Sesshoumaru's lap, looking up at his father figure. "Papa, how come you and mama don't kiss?" he asked innocently.
Kagome laughed bitterly and waggled a finger at Akira. "Well, that's easy, Akira. Because Sesshoumaru and I hate each other's guts!"
Akira cocked his head like a curious puppy, his silver and black hair soaked to his head. "Mama, will you kiss papa, please?"
Kagome shook her head. "He's a rich boy, see?" Kagome said. "I'm not. So we can't kiss 'cause we know we wouldn't like that!"
Sesshoumaru thought, Maybe you might not, but I think I would. He said nothing though, keeping his thoughts to himself.
"Please, mama? Just one time?" Akira begged. "You made me get all wet, so will you please?"
Kagome began to roll out her blanket. "No, Akira. No means no. I won't have you turning out spoiled like Sesshoumaru!"
Akira sighed. "I just want to see my mama and papa get along." He said. "You yell at each other and if you kiss you'll specially love each other! Just like Akira loves mama and papa."
Kagome laughed at the thought. "Akira, things don't happen that way. Besides, Sesshoumaru is engaged, so he can't kiss anyone except Karei."
Sesshoumaru's eyes snapped to Kagome's lithe form as she unfolded her blankets. "Who told you that?" He asked both anger and curiosity apparent in his voice.
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Who do you think, you brain dead monkey crap. Your FIANCEE told me." Her tone was bitter as she remembered what Karei had told her that day back in Gym a week after Sesshoumaru had moved there.
"Mama what's a fiancée?" Akira said, rolling the word around on his tongue to test it out.
Sesshoumaru growled. "She never was and never will be my fiancée!" He yelled. "I don't know why you'd believe her about something like that!"
Kagome rolled her eyes again. "It isn't like you really give any reason not to believe it. She hangs all over you like a fly on fly trap tape! And you allow it too."
"MAMA WHATS A FIANCEE!" Akira yelled, but Kagome ignored him again.
"Just you try telling me she isn't your bride-to-be! She's got her name etched into your rear end so hard that there isn't any room for anything else!"
"There's no way I'd ever lower myself to marrying a skank like her!" Sesshoumaru yelled over the thunder.
Kagome felt her heart burst in hearing his words. "Ooh so we agree on something: Karei is a skank!"
"Mama, Papa, stop yelling!" Akira sobbed, not liking Kagome and Sesshoumaru fighting.
"She still claims you as hers though." Kagome bit out.
Sesshoumaru growled his frustration. "I'm not hers! She clings to me like a horny leech and in a display of mass hormones throws herself on me! What am I supposed to do, smack her away? I'm sorry to break it to you, I don't hit girls!"
Kagome smirked, her voice quiet. "I do though."
"I can't say you don't, because I've seen you do it before." Sesshoumaru said his voice lowering. Akira was sobbing into Sesshoumaru's shirt. Sesshoumaru began to comfort the tiny tot. He began to wonder why he couldn't find it in him to hate Kagome for all she'd just said.
So, he... really isn't Karei's? Kagome thought. I got all emotional over nothing? Awe man, that sucks!
"Mama, please kiss papa and make things all better?" Akira sobbed.
Kagome sighed. She didn't want Akira to feel bad about their little shouting match, but she also didn't want to... okay, that was a lie, she wanted to kiss him very badly, to see if he was any better at kissing than Kohaku or Miroku, both of whom she'd kissed before. "Fine," she said, "Sesshoumaru, don't move."
Sesshoumaru couldn't move anyway. He'd frozen to the spot when she'd said fine, his mouth going instantly dry. Kagome leaned across the small distance to him, grabbing the back of his neck and pulling his face closer to plant a soft, gentle kiss on his lips.
Her intention had been just to peck a kiss on his lips, but somehow as though sensing the immediate danger that his body would get squashed if he didn't move, Akira was no longer a boundary between the two and Sesshoumaru and Kagome were moving closer to deepen the kiss.
So much emotion passed into Kagome through the kiss. Years of pent up emotions, anger, spite, lust. Kagome had never known Sesshoumaru, her 'Ice Prince', could have so much emotion locked away.
The two didn't need to part for air because they were skillful enough to breathe through their noses, but Akira's voice threw them apart again, both parties of the kiss blushing redder than a tomato.
"Mama, Papa, do you love each other now?"
Blushing, Kagome shook her head. "Like I said, Akira, it takes more than one kiss to make someone love another. You need trust, respect, and lots of other things too."
"Oh... Papa, are you in love with mama?"
Kagome frowned. She didn't want to hear the answer, knowing it was no. "Akira, lie down and go to sleep. You've asked too many questions!" She didn't want to admit it, but she still had a crush on him from that first time she'd seen him.
"But mama!" Akira complained. "It's still light out! I don't want to go to bed!"
Sesshoumaru was thankful that he was saved from having to answer that question. He hated lying to people, even though he could lie to himself.
"Akira, just lay down and go to sleep. If you go to sleep early, you can get up early and by the time you wake up the storm should be over." Sesshoumaru told him, carefully looking at Akira and not Kagome. In his peripheral vision he could see her gingerly setting herself down on her blankets. She winced and ground her teeth but was lying down soon.
Akira pouted, but Kagome gave him a stern look that he saw through the last of the light coming through the tents thin walls. "That's enough, Akira." She told him humorlessly. "Either you lay down, or I'll hold you down. Your choice."
Kagome remembered her own mother used to say that when it was bed time. That was when Kagome and Souta shared a room with their mother. At age twelve and thirteen they were given their own rooms so their mother no longer made that threat.
Akira quickly grabbed his baby blanket from his water-proof diaper bag and curled up in it as far away from Kagome as he could get. "I don't like you, mama." He sobbed, sticking his head under his blanket.
Kagome smiled. "That's fine, Akira. You don't have to." She turned on her stomach. It was far too painful to continue lying on her back.
Sesshoumaru moved until he was lying on his back in between Kagome and Akira. The tent wasn't all that small, but then again, it wasn't all that big, so the three's shoulders rubbed together. The small contact between him and Kagome, however unintentional it was, made his heart beat faster and his stomach flutter.
After several long moments of silence, Akira said quietly, "I love you mama. I'm sorry..."
Kagome chuckled. "Its fine, Akira."
"Goodnight, mama and papa; fall in love when I'm sleeping."
"Goodnight." Both Kagome and Sesshoumaru said at the same time.
In the morning, just as Sesshoumaru had predicted, the rain had stopped. Since no one else was awake, Kagome quietly, carefully picked her way out of the tent so as not to wake anyone. She took the sopping mess of clothes from where they had put them in the corner of the tent and grabbed her wet backpack, exiting the tent.
Looking around, she found she liked where they had stopped. They hadn't noticed really the evening before because it was so stormy and all they wanted to do was get the tent up and get inside it, but the clearing they stopped in was about fifteen feet in diameter.
They had set the tent up close to the tree line on one side; on the other side were a small creek and a decent area that would be ideal for a small fire. Immediately she recognized the area, even though there were no defining objects or items.
They were about a fifty foot distance from a hot spring, and when she remembered the map, she could recall that there was a Port potty at that hot spring as well.
Walking over to the creek, she knelt down on the moist ground and set her things beside her. Taking the first piece of clothing from the pile, she blushed looking at them.
She was holding a pair of the finest silk black boxers, but what was embarrassing about it was that they were Sesshoumaru's. Tossing aside the fact that they were Sesshoumaru's underwear, she set to work washing them with the 'environmentally friendly' soap.
She washed all Sesshoumaru's clothes, hers, and Akira's, stringing a piece of yarn from her backpack (she's well prepared for this type of thing, knowing what she needed) between two trees and hanging the clothes on them. When she ran out of room on that branch, she put them on a new piece of yarn strung between two trees behind the first.
When she was done with that, she took off her tank top, since her bra was a bikini top. Her back hurt too much to continue being pressured by the shirt. She washed the shirt, hung it up, and went to see if either Akira or Sesshoumaru were awake. It was still fairly early, so she didn't expect them to be.
"Sess—" she started, but stopped when she saw him. He seemed so peaceful in his sleep. The kiss the night before made her wonder about him. She carefully picked her way around the tent so as not to wake him, peering down at his sleeping form. She'd started to wonder if everything he did was just a façade the night he and Inuyasha had slept at her house.
Carefully she traced his cheekbone where she knew the stripe marks would be under whatever he used to hide his traits. She wondered why everyone did that now, hid behind masks. It wasn't like demons weren't accepted really... well; maybe they were shunned in a small town like Sunset, but the majority of the populous of Earth accepted them.
A hand enclosed around Kagome's wrist, holding her hand tightly in place. She was momentarily surprised. She'd been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn't realized Sesshoumaru had woke up.
His golden orbs stared up at her groggily and they kept slipping closed but he'd open them quickly; as though he was having trouble staying awake.
Sesshoumaru peered through heavy lidded eyes at Kagome, his lips curving up in a smile. "Hello..." He said sleepily. "What a nice face to wake up to..."
Kagome blushed, but he didn't see. His grip on her wrist loosened and his hand fell to his side again, his eyes shutting once more. He was sleeping again. Looking at Akira, she saw he was just waking up, so she removed her hand from Sesshoumaru's cheek, smirking.
God, how I hate rich boys... She thought deviously, forming what she'd tell the little boy in her head.
Akira sat up, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "Mama, I'm hungry." The boy informed her, and she smiled at him.
"Wake up Sesshoumaru and he can make you some breakfast. But be careful, he might not wake up if you don't jump on him and scream in his ear, 'cause he's a heavy sleeper!"
The boy nodded eagerly. "Okay!" He quickly moved out of his blanket and jumped on Sesshoumaru, "PAPA! Wake up! Mama said you'll make me breakfast!" he shouted.
Sesshoumaru grunted each time Akira jumped on him. "Kag...ome...you...jerk..." He swore.
Kagome laughed. "That's me!" She smirked.
Sesshoumaru grabbed Akira and pulled the child off of him, "I have a secret to tell you, Akira." He said, sending a glare at Kagome.
Excited to hear a secret, the child bounced on his heels and put his ear right by Sesshoumaru's mouth. Sesshoumaru whispered something in Akira's ear and the boy smiled happily. "Okay!" He said. "I can do that!" Akira left the tent, his tiny voice heard nearby as he ran around outside the tent doing whatever Sesshoumaru had told him to do.
Sesshoumaru sat up, grabbing Kagome's wrist when she made a move to leave the tent as well. He placed himself blocking her way to the door, which in a tent was fairly easy to do.
"What's your problem?" He demanded quietly. His eyes flashed with anger and frustration as he looked at her, his mind slow to register her nearly bare top, covered only with a string bikini. "What do you have against me?"
Kagome scowled. "Why do you care? It isn't like you'll be talking to me after this week!" She tried to peel her wrist from his grip, but he was stronger than she was and she couldn't loosen it.
He reached out and grabbed her other wrist, pulling her hands apart and staring at her, his anger rising at her venomous tone of voice. He didn't like her talking to him like that. He wanted her to be nicer to him, and shower him with affections.
In other words, he wanted her to act like one of his stupid fan girls, so that he could see that she was no better than anyone else in his school and his crush on her would go away. "Just tell me! Why aren't you like everyone else? Why can't you just be like...like... Karei or something so that-"
He was thankful that she interrupted him then, or else he might have admitted his crush on her, but at the same time he was angry at her for interrupting him. "Shut up." She told him, her voice laced with annoyance. "I'm not like everyone else because I choose to be different!"
Sesshoumaru knew that his like for her just grew and it irritated him. "Just be like,"
"What, and fawn over you? Or your brother, or Hiten, or anyone else like you? As if I'd lower myself to your standards!" She snapped at him, trying to get him to let go of her. He had a death grip on her wrists though, and it didn't seem like she'd be free any time soon. "I like the way I am, and I'm staying this way. If you can't handle it then just back off."
Sesshoumaru growled his frustration. "I'm not"
"Mama! Papa! Help!" Akira's panicky voice came through the thin tent walls, startling both 'parents'.
"Crap!" Both said, quickly exiting the tent. Once out, they looked around for Akira, seeing him backed up against a tree with four boys surrounding him.
"Akira!" Kagome yelled. "Hey, you, leave him alone!" She said, walking over to where the boys were surrounding Akira.
One of the boys turned to face Kagome, a startled look on his face that quickly turned to a cocky grin when he saw who it was. "Hell's Bitch, how are you?" He asked his voice laced with hatred and scorn.
Kagome scowled, seeing who it was. "Medallion, what the fuck are you doing here?"
"Why, I'm on a school field trip of course." He said snobbily.
Akira started sobbing, having nowhere to move to without running into a 'bad person'. "Mama, he said he was gonna hurt me!"
"So, Hell's Bitch, you had the child at last?" Medallion continued, acting as though Akira had not spoken. "Where is Ichiro?"
"What the hell would you care where he is? Move aside so Akira can come here, or else, Medallion."
"Because, shouldn't the father of your child be around? I know you spread your legs for him fairly quickly." Medallion sneered, not moving an inch. "How much did he pay you? I'd triple it."
A new voice, behind Kagome and Sesshoumaru, came into the clearing. "What are you implying, Medallion, that my sister is a whore?" Souta's voice rang through the clearing his anger apparent.
Kagome smiled. If Souta was there, so would the rest of her friends be. "Move aside, Medallion, and let Akira pass."
Medallion smirked confidently. "Ichiro, how was she? I'm sure the rest of us want to know."
Kohaku's laughter rang through the clearing. "Ye can nay understand thy beauty of sex until ye learn for ye self the sweet tingling senses of thy appealing body of a goddess called"
Kagome groaned and slapped her palm to her forehead. Unfortunately, Kohaku had a big mouth and a twisted sense of humor. "You can shut up now Trip!" Kagome snapped at the ten month younger boy. She hoped Medallion couldn't make sense of what Kohaku had been saying.
Sesshoumaru tried to make sense of everything all at once. Medallion, the boy who had forced Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha to switch schools so long ago, knew Kagome, and vice versa.
Kagome didn't very much like Medallion, that much was crystal clear from the hatred in her voice towards him, and Medallion seemed to hate her too, though there was something in his eyes as he looked at Kagome that didn't seem to fit with the whole hate thing.
Medallion was suggesting that Kagome had been pregnant at one time and Ichiro was the father, Medallion seemed to have in mind that Akira was the child. Kohaku's words, however strange they were arranged, seemed to imply that he had indeed had sex with Kagome, and Kagome's tone of voice seemed to... wait... that meant that Kagome wasn't a virgin?
Sesshoumaru sighed. So much for the thought of her being nothing if not pure, because she's certainly not pure if she's had sex before. I wonder how many others she's had sex with...
Medallion seemed to notice Sesshoumaru for the first time, and he looked from Sesshoumaru to Akira and back again. "Hmm..." He said thoughtfully, coming to reside on a decision in his head. "So it seems Hell's Bitch has more lovers than one..."
Kagome slapped her forehead several times with the palm of her hand. "You jerk, I have no lovers!" she yelled as Souta, Miroku, Sango, and Kohaku moved to be level with Kagome.
Medallion reached Kagome's side before her friends could though. "Good, then you won't mind." He said, grabbing both her wrists in his hands tightly before she could react, holding onto her just above the bell bracelets, and pulling her close to him, swooping to kiss her.
Furious, Kagome knew with her arms held behind her back as they were she wouldn't be able to free those unless she gave him some incentive to loosen his grip. He bit her lip hard until she opened her mouth and before she could cry out in pain, his tongue filled her mouth, muffling the sound.
Without Medallion in the way, Akira ran to Sesshoumaru, hugging his leg and sobbing quietly. "Papa, why is mama kissing a bad man?" He asked.
Tension was high in the clearing and a single second seemed like ten minutes. Kagome struggled to free her hands as a decoy movement to hide the fact from him that she was lining her leg up to knee him. She did and he let out a surprised gasp as pain settled in his lower body region.
"Ow..." He groaned, releasing her to favor covering his nuts and falling to his knees before her.
She sucked on her lip for a moment, feeling blood pool her mouth from where he'd bit her lip. She spit the blood on him. "Now that that's finished," she started, kicking him in the jaw. He fell to the side and she continued, kneeling down next to him.
"You'll be glad to know I definitely won't be giving you what you want. That tasted like sandpaper made out of vomit."
Kohaku walked up to Medallion and kicked the older boy in the gut. "Don't touch her again!" He said, not bothering to hide the jealousy in his voice. He hated anyone who dared to touch Kagome in such a way.
Miroku got away with it only because he got punished by Kagome personally and because Kohaku knew that Miroku harbored no feelings for Kagome at all. Sure, Medallion got punished by Kagome as well, but it was personal now, and apparent that Medallion harbored some sort of feeling for Kagome. "She's mine!"
Sesshoumaru's eyes widened marginally at that statement. What does he mean?
Kagome looked at Akira who was clutching Sesshoumaru's pant leg like a life line. "You okay, Akira?" She asked.
Akira looked at her, his cheeks red from crying. He looked like he wanted to run to Kagome to be hugged and assured that everything would be alright, but she was by Medallion, so he held himself back. He nodded, sniffling. "I'm okay, but the bad man said he was going to hurt me so I was scared."
Kagome stood, looking scornfully down at Medallion. "Get the fuck out of my face, Medallion." When he didn't respond, she looked to his friends who were watching wide-eyed. "Get him out of here, now."
His friends scrambled to comply, dragging their leader away. Kohaku looked at Kagome. "You okay, babe?" He whispered gently.
Kagome smirked. "Yeah. Fine." She said, shrugging off his concern and turning to look at her other friends. She smiled at Sango, Rin, and Kikyou. Kikyou's little baby girl android was clutching her 'mother's' hand tight in her own. "I'm going to go take a bath at the hotspring. You guys want to come?"
Sango readily agreed and suddenly the heavy atmosphere lifted. "Heck yeah! I smell like a dirty sock!"
"Mama, can I come? I'm all dirty too!" Akira complained, still sniffling slightly.
Kagome shook her head. "You can go with Sesshoumaru." She said as she and the rest of the girls disappeared into the trees.
Kohaku grinned at Miroku as Souta grabbed the back of the lecherous boy's shirt. "Hey, Perv, they'll beat you to a pulp and drink you with their orange juice if you follow them." Souta pointed out. "So you might as well just stop right there."
Miroku sighed. "Damn." He said, snapping his fingers in disappointment. Then he grinned and looked slyly at Kohaku. "So, Trip, did you and 'Gome get back together or something and not tell anyone else? Or what's the deal?"
Kohaku shrugged. "Last time I checked, the two of us were still separated." He said. "Though, you can blame your father for that." The second sentence was aimed at Souta, though the bitterness that came with it was all for Naraku.
Sesshoumaru looked at Kohaku with mild interest betraying his emotionless façade. "Why is it that you are not acting like you normally do?"
Again, Kohaku just shrugged. Souta laughed and explained, "Because he's a drama queen."
Miroku began sneaking in the direction the girls had taken and Akira pointed at him. "Mr. Perv is leaving! Mr. Perv is leaving!"
Kohaku and Souta both rolled their eyes as Miroku froze in his place. "I'm not leaving... hehe...no, not at all!" He tried to say, but Souta, who was closer, punched Miroku lightly on the arm.
"Cut it out, Perv. Those are four girls you don't want to get on the bad side of. You already know what Kagome and Sango and Rin'll do, and the way Kikyou's treated you so far, it's quite clear she'll do the same."
Miroku laughed hesitantly. "I really wasn't... I was... um... going to get firewood! Yeah... firewood..."
Kohaku sat down. "Sure... we believe you..." He drawled. "And Kagome's dad doesn't have a new whore every night in his bed, your mom doesn't beat the crap out of you, and my dad isn't madly in love with Kagome's mom."
Souta scowled, slumping down. It was as though Sesshoumaru wasn't even there, or else they'd forgotten that he was. "Dude, that jerk can go to hell. It's surprising that 'Gome still has skin on her back after all that."
Miroku had an equally displeased look on his face as he sat down. "Yeah, it is a surprise. But what's even more surprising is that she puts up with it. She's not usually one to lay down for a beating."
"But good news!" Souta said brightly, a smile on his face. "Kagome has an interview for an apartment next Monday!"
Sesshoumaru was surprised to hear all of this. He would never have believed it if he hadn't heard it himself.
Kohaku muttered, "But you'll still be there."
"Kagome deserves the break." Souta countered, running his hands through his hair, his blue eyes glinting.
"Miroku what are you looking at?"
"A goddess..." The dazed boy whispered feverishly, before a tiny dart zipped past Kohaku's ear and embedded in the perverted boy's neck.
Almost instantly, Miroku slumped to the ground and four more darts zipped out of the trees, embedding in each person's neck skillfully, though since he was an android, Akira was not affected by the poison on the dart and remained conscious.
Akira cried at the pain in his neck as the dart pierced his 'skin'. He looked towards where the 'goddess' was and saw a scary lady giving him a creepy smile.
The lady wore almost nothing on her person except a bikini that was pink. Long raven black hair flowed down to her hips, two clumps falling gracefully over her shoulders. Her skin was a perfect golden color, as though the color was painted there, and her eyes were so dark brown that they were almost black.
She had a sharp, regal pointed nose, high cheekbones, full red lips, and almost catlike eyes. She was about five feet six, shorter than Sesshoumaru, but taller than Kagome. She had a very devious look on her face as she walked over to Akira, grabbing him and stuffing him in a sack that a masked man who walked into the clearing gave her.
"Ahh! Mama! Papa!" He screamed. "Help me!" However, his voice was not loud enough to carry the distance to the hotspring with it being muffled through the bag, and Sesshoumaru was knocked out by whatever the poison was on the dart.
With Akira in the bag, the clearing was soon swamped with masked men who picked up the four boys and carried them away.
"Hurry up and get them to the vans with the rest of the kids." The woman said her beautiful voice musical and seductive. "I want those girls as well. The ransom from all these kids will buy me half of Earth." It seemed unnatural that a woman could be so cold yet so beautiful, but considering Karei was, it was clear that it was possible.
"Yes ma'am." One of the masked men said. "What do you want to do with the android?"
The woman shrugged. "Toss it in the back of the van with the rest of them. After all, I'm sure daddy wouldn't approve if dear Sesshoumaru got a bad grade, now would he?" The woman gave an unladylike snort, her almost black eyes burning with anger.
"Well..." she muttered to herself as the masked men went about their chores, "daddy will just have to pay the ransom, won't he? I'm sure he'll want his cherished sons back."
Like he wanted his daughter back? The thought came to the woman fast and it was like a slap in the face. She stood there, bristling at the thought. He'd better, or else I will shoot both boys and blow their brains through the wall of the warehouse.
Meanwhile, Kagome, Kikyou, Sango, Rin, and Gin Hana (Kikyou's baby girl android) were at the hot spring, chatting as they relaxed in the water. The hot spring was shaped like a large 'o' with giant rocks to sit on near the edge.
The water of the hot spring went as far up as the four older girls' waist (or in Rin's case since she was smaller to her rib cage) if they stood in the water.
Sitting on the rocks in the water, the water went far up enough to cover their chests, keeping them out of sight. Gin Hana, who was tinier than the rest of them, sat on the largest boulder and was very careful not to fall off of it or else she'd risk drowning. The water on her went to her stomach.
Kagome looked at Sango with a sly grin on her face. "So, how is it being practically alone with Miroku, no real supervision?"
Sango blushed furiously, an angry glint in her eye. "The lecher! This morning, I woke up and found he had somehow made his way into my tent in the middle of the night, and his face was buried in my chest! Oh he makes me so mad!" With each emphasized word, Sango slapped her balled up fist on the water, splashing Gin Hana who giggled.
"Sango is funny!" Gin Hana said. "Sango make Gin Hana waf!"
Kagome grinned at Gin Hana's speech but said nothing about it. It appeared that it depended on how the child was raised for them to develop a certain way. Akira was raised so far to think about everything he did and to use proper speech.
Gin Hana was raised to be a properly speech 'impediment' three year old, even though she was barely four days old. It was considerably unnatural for a child to grow so quickly, but Gin Hana and Akira were not real children, they were androids, though it was hard to keep it in mind.
Sango laughed and flicked a tiny wave at the little android. "Gin Hana, you're so adorable!"
Rin settled herself into the water last out of all the girls, only undressing and getting in when she was sure the other girls weren't looking. She didn't want them to see the bruises that were littered on her body, and especially not the bite marks on her chest.
There would be too many questions. '...for they are committing a sin to ye and ye must punish unwanted sins...' Kohaku's words still rang in Rin's head, yet she still had not found the energy when the time came to punish the unwanted sins.
However, Kagome –whose eyes seemed to see everything and nothing at all at every time- saw the 'bite' marks. "Rin, where did you get those bite marks?" She questioned.
Rin covered her breasts, embarrassed and ashamed. "They're nothing, Miss Kagome..." She said, reverting to being overly-respective.
Sango and Kikyou turned to the slightly younger girl, seeing the barest trace of bite marks on Rin's chest, just under where she held her arms. "It looks like something to me." Sango said her voice slightly peeved now. "Who did this?" Of course Sango would worry over her friend.
Kagome blinked, opening her eyes and looking around the dim room she was in. The room was drafty which made it inevitably cold, and obviously very dark. Lining one wall was a high row of large crates, stacked to what was obviously the roof.
Lining another wall was scattered equipment of sorts; welding equipment, metal scraps, long iron rods and short shafts made of copper and steel. Three industrial sized garage doors took up almost but not quite an entire wall - 'industrial sized' being a phrase which here means something along the lines of 'large enough to easily allow room for a Semi trailer to be backed in through.'
Kagome could only rightly assume that she was in a warehouse but how she got there she wasn't sure because the last place she remembered being was at the hot springs with her girlfriends.
Her neck felt really sore for some reason and try though she might, she couldn't figure out why. She felt as though she'd just gotten a shot but could distinctly remember the last time she'd gotten a shot was months ago to give blood and that was in the arm, no neck.
Looking around again she tilted her neck to the side, cracking it one way and then did the same thing for the other way.
She could feel her arms were tied behind her, and her feet were tied together, but she could still move for the most part. Why she was all tied up was the main question on her mind at the moment.
Turning her head she saw a line of dark shadowed bodies, all looking to be in the same state of duress that she was in, a phrase which here means unlawfully tied up or restrained for some odd as of yet unknown reason. The only difference that she could see being that she had no blindfold on. Upon closer examination she saw that her blindfold had fallen off.
She felt a sick feeling rising in the pit of her gut; the kind of feeling you only get when you know something bad is about to happen. It was a feeling she immediately disliked. There was also a putrid scent in the air that caught in her throat, making her feel sick to her stomach and wanting to vomit.
"What's going on here?" She wondered aloud. Moments later one of the large industrial sized garage doors opened up and Kagome saw a Semi backing up into the warehouse.
The loud noise of the semi woke up most of the dark shadowed bodies lying on the ground tied up and they tried to look around and see where they were and what was making that noise, but they were unsuccessful because the blindfolds were tied firmly to their faces.
Masked men got out of the cab of the truck and Kagome watched as they opened the back of the trailer up and even more masked men (or women, Kagome couldn't really tell gender) began to pick up the dark shadowed bodies whom Kagome had deducted to be the students who had been on the field trip and take them into the back of the truck.
"I donno, all this trippin' round is makin' me dizzy." One man's voice rang out as he picked up a struggling student. "Why can't we jus' collect our ransoms now?"
Kagome blinked as she was picked up and put in the back of the trailer next to another student who she saw had silver hair. It was either Inuyasha then or Sesshoumaru. She realized her bareness then. They, as in the kidnappers, probably hadn't dressed her after getting her from the hot spring. She easily located who else in the trailer were not dressed and identified by hair length and the way it was done who they were.
Sango was at the very back of the trailer, Kikyou was near the middle with Rin next to her. She was glad they were safe at least.
More of the students were put into the back of the semi trailer, some awake to deduce that they were being kidnapped and were either struggling to get away or to afraid to do much but be a dead weight, and some still unconscious.
"Blindfold that one back up." Kagome heard an angry woman's voice say. "Make it quick boys. I want to be out of this dump soon before the pigs arrive. And shut them up before they attract more attention!" The kidnappers put tape over the mouths of some of the screaming students.
Kagome guessed she was talking about the cops. She tried not to let them blindfold her, and as a result the blindfold was slightly loose so once the back to the trailer was closed and all the kidnappers muffled voices had disappeared, she used the person's shoulder next to her to get the blindfold off again.
"Hey, are you awake?" she said to the person next to her and they nodded. As the truck started up and shifted in movement, she shifted her body and reached up to grab hold of the blindfold with her teeth, helping him get it off.
It was Inuyasha who she sat by. She painfully dislocated her thumbs so that the ropes slid off her hands and then pushed them back into place. Of course, the pain was hardly anything compared to pain she had felt before. She took off the bindings from her legs. "Turn so I can get your ropes off." She told him.
"Why are you helping me?" He asked gruffly. "Why don't you just get your friends and go?"
Kagome sighed. "Because, stupid, I'm trying to be nice. Do you want to be kidnapped by some insane psychopathic freaks who might kill you in the end?" He blinked at her, probably suddenly realizing her naked body, and unconsciously gave her a once-over.
"Quit staring." She said, "Or the only thing you'll stare at for the rest of your miserable life will be the top of your coffin."
He turned and she made quick work of the bindings on his hands, then he rubbed his sore wrists for a moment. "Any clue where we're going?" He quickly untied his feet.
"No, but I knew the warehouse we were in. I need some clothes." She made absolutely no sound as she went along the line of people, her bells probably still at the hot spring, taking off blindfolds and untying hands, slapping anyone who stared at her figure for too long. Inuyasha might have given her his sweatshirt, but he didn't have it with him. He'd lost it somewhere.
Kagome found out that most of the people in the bouncing semi were still unconscious, but after the third person, a female even, reached out and groped her, she angrily stopped trying to help them. "Here." She heard a male voice say.
Sesshoumaru handed her his sweatshirt which was large enough to cover her bare body. He was blushing, but it mostly went unnoticed. Kagome took it from him and put it on, much to the disappointment of some of the people.
Kagome found her friends and made quick work of unbinding them, Souta, Miroku, and Kohaku all taking off either their sweatshirt or their plain shirt to give to Rin, Sango, and Kikyou.
Sesshoumaru, Kagome noticed, sat by Inuyasha. Inuyasha had only helped Sesshoumaru. "You know this is annoying." Kagome said. "I've got my period and now nothing to catch it."
Kikyou blushed embarrassedly. "I don't know why they kidnapped me; my grandmother won't negotiate with kidnappers."
Sango shrugged. "My father won't either, but at least your grandmother is the mayor of Sunset and has a reason to refuse to negotiate. My father just flat out dislikes terrorist negotiations, and he feels that kidnappers are terrorists."
Kohaku sighed heavily. "Mine eyes have seen thy beautiful body, Kikyou, and it was good...but so hast the eyes of several others." He seemed actually depressed.
Kikyou blushed even deeper wishing the shirt was larger and longer. "Kohaku!"
Kohaku grinned then, his mood lightening. "Ah, but I also got to see the most precious pearl, Hell's Bitch."
Kagome rolled her eyes. "In the event that we are being kidnapped, I am forced to put up with you, Trip, but rest assured that I will make use of my fists when we get back to Sunset."
Miroku, surprisingly, had yet to say anything lecherous. "How do you know we are not in Sunset?"
"Yeah, 'Gome, how can you know that?" Souta asked curiously.
"Because that was Medallion's warehouse, and we're heading due South. The only thing due South of Medallion's warehouse is-"
Medallion, who was nearby, finished for her, "The private airport by Keysville..."
Rin was near completely covered by the shirt of Miroku's. It practically enveloped her tiny form. "Airport? Are they taking us on a plane?" She sounded much more than a little scared.
Kagome glanced at Medallion. "No one was talking to you." She turned to Rin but didn't know what to say. There was plenty that she could say, but she had to admit that she was also rather frightened. Who would have thought that they'd get kidnapped while on a school field trip?
After an hour, there seemed nothing left to do but sit quietly. They were still moving. Everyone was untied now, and small arguments had broken out amongst the students, created through the tension that they were getting kidnapped.
Kagome had counted sixty four kids who'd been kidnapped. That had been as many who'd gone on the field trip to begin with. She figured it must have been very thought out for a group of sixty four students to be kidnapped at once.
Then, all at once, Kagome felt like vomiting, her head spun, and she felt dizzy and sick to her stomach. She felt an indescribable pain in her chest that brought tears to her eyes.
It hurts so much! She thought, the tears dripping down her face and her body seizing up. She began to shake terribly, hitting the back of her head against the wall of the semi trailer. I just want the pain to stop! That was the last coherent thought she could get out.
"Kagome!" Souta cried, worried. Something like this had never happened before. Granted, Kagome often hit her head on things when she was bored but never as hard as she was doing now.
It was too noisy and dark in the semi trailer for attention to be brought to Kagome unless you were right there next to her. Souta, fearing for Kagome, grabbed her and held her shoulders steady. "Kagome! Stop it!"
"What's going on?" Miroku asked. He peered around Kohaku to see, Kohaku looking as well. Sango turned her head towards Kagome, and Rin and Kikyou gasped, watching Kagome abuse herself.
"I don't know!" Souta said.
Kohaku and Sango, being the closest, grabbed Kagome's legs, helping hold her steady. In doing so, she ended pretty well pinned to the floor of the trailer, eventually ending up with all five of her friends holding her down until she could finally relax, falling into a state of unconsciousness.
"What just happened?" Kikyou breathed. No one answered. No one could. No one knew the answer. It was an unanswerable question because there were ultimately thousands of possibilities of what it could have been. Souta held Kagome in his arms tightly; worry creased his brow.
He hated the thought that she just had a seizure of sorts. It was possible, but that meant that she was ill, and he didn't want her to be. His sister was strong. He was the weaker of the two of them. He should be the one ill.
When the truck stopped and the back opened, the sudden light shining into the truck blinded the students momentarily. When they could see again, each of them found themselves facing a masked person who held a gun to them.
"Get them into the uniforms." A voice snapped at the many masked persons. Fear swept through the students, whether they were part of a gang, like Medallion's gang and Kagome's gang, or if they were preppy teens who had never disobeyed anyone in their life. Kagome lay motionless in her brother's arms, unconscious and bleeding slightly from a knot in her head.
"Don't touch me!" Karei yelled, struggling to get away from the masked person's grip. Souta looked over towards his cousin.
"Karei, they've got guns, idiot!" He yelled. "Don't fight them or they probably won't hesitate to shoot your annoying butt!" When the masked person took Kagome from him, he growled, but held back from attacking, gritting his teeth together.
He and his friends were made to wear uniforms that were made out of gray wool, looking like the uniforms of an orphanage. After that, they got into several school busses that were waiting for them and half an hour later they were boarding a plane.
"I can't do this, I just can't!" Rin cried. She tried to get away but being so small; she had no luck and was just simply carried onto the plane.
The flight attendant looked at the man holding Rin. "Oh, my. Flight apprehension?" The man nodded. All the captors had taken off their masks so as to look less conspicuous.
Kohaku slipped nimbly out of his captor's sight and stood at Rin's side. "Come on, Rin." He said, grabbing her arm gently. He didn't want to see her getting hurt.
"Kohaku, I'm afraid..." Rin whispered. "The last time I was supposed to get on a plane, it crashed. I almost died!"
Kohaku put his arm around her shoulder, glaring momentarily at their captors. "It's going to be okay." He told her, but he himself could hardly believe it. Every one of the students knew that fighting would be fruitless. There were far too many men around with guns, having successfully gotten the weapons onto the plane.