K: I almost forgot how wonderful technology is!
AR: And why is that?
K: Because technology is what gave us guns!
Kim: What does that have to do with it?
DAG: How am I supposed to know?
Kim: I didn't ask you.
P: -playing with AR's guitar-
AR: Patrick, I want pie. Will you go get me pie?
P: Why do you want me to get you pie?
AR: Because I want pie, now go get me pie.
P: Fine, I'll get you pie. -leaves to go get AR pie-
DAG: Yo, Angel, why do you do that to poor Patrick?
AR: I'm going to be rich one of these days, so he has to get used to being ordered around now, while im not rich and it's just wishful thinking.
Se: Angel, you need help.
AR: Was that supposed to be an insult? Well, just so you know, it didn't work, 'cause I already know that I need help.
Kim: That depends on what kind of help he's talking about. See, if he says mental help, then, yes, you do need that. If he says physical help, then...well you just might need that, too.
DAG: That's kinky!
IY: -walks into Angel's room-
Kim: PUPPY!!!!!! -jumps up and pets InuYasha on the head-
IY: WILL YOU STOP THAT?!
DAG: Hey, Angel, why don't you ever do that to Sesshomaru?
AR: Um...cause Sesshomaru is more likely to chop my hand off than yell at me...
P: Angel, I'm back with your pie. -gives AR her pie-
AR: This is chocolate pie...I don't like chocolate...go get me apple pie!
P: But-
AR: Now, slave!
Kim: Don't worry, Patrick. I'll go with you. -leaves with Patrick-
AR: Um...if I don't wake up from that pie, you know who to blame...
IY: Good, she left.
AR: Hey! -whacks InuYasha over the head with the cat's litter box-
IY: Ew!
AR: KITTY BOX CRUNCHIES!!!
IY: You got that in my mouth, you psychotic-
AR: I don't think you want to finish that sentance...
Shippo: Oh, no...she's just as bad as Kagome when she gets mad...
M: Women are scary when they are angry.
Kirara: Mewl.
Sadie: Mewl.
AR: KITTY! -picks up Sadie- My pops said that I could have another kitten. I'm going to name it Spike.
K: Oh, how kawaii!
Kim: -comes back with Patrick- I'm home! I got pizza, cheese cake, Angel's pie, Cool Whip, ice cream, and dog biscuits for InuYasha. Oh, and...-pulls a kitten from her bag- a kitten for Angel!
AR: SPIKE!
IY: I hate all of you...
K: -shoves a dog biscuit in his mouth-
Y: -once again, playing Xenosaga- I hate you, Albedo...! DIE!
Ka: -watching-
Kim: Come on, Patrick, we forgot soda. -pulls Patrick back out of the room-
AR: Well, while we wait for them to get back with soda, here is the chapter for y'all! Oh, and I don't own anything, save for my sister, Yukana, Devin, Kaori, Sadie, and now Spike! Um...and don't forget Patrick.
Authoress's note: There is a little trivia question at the bottom concerning an issue (well...kinda) from the last chapter.
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She walks to school with the lunch she packed
Nobody knows what she's holding back
Wearing the same dress she wore yesterday
She hides the bruises with the linen and lace
The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask
It's hard to see the pain behind the mask
Bearing the burden of a secret storm
Sometimes she wishes she was never born
(Concrete Angel: Martina McBride)
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Don't Fall Away
Chapter Seventeen: Not As It Seems
Kagome had remained in Sesshomaru's lap after they parted, and that was where she sat at that moment. She had taken to braiding his hair as it fell over his shoulder. To anyone who didn't know the taiyoukai personally, they would have thought that their eyes were playing tricks. It was strange, indeed, to catch the great lord of the west cuddling with such a soft and gentle creature. They were both content to stay where they were, even if it was for the rest of the night.
Sesshomaru looked down at the little angel in his arms. He had come to realize that he really did love her, and he wasn't going to fight it. The thing was, he wasn't going to force her to love him, either. He knew that she was still confused over her feelings, but he hoped with all his heart that she would overlook them. There was one thing that stood in the way of this, however: InuYasha.
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He hadn't seen anyone since they had returned from Lord Daijirou's lands, nor did he want to. He was still disturbed. Kagome had, in a way, rejected him. She had basically told him that he could not take care of her. At that point in time, he had wanted nothing more than to break down and cry, but he could not do that in front of Sesshomaru. If he had not had a reason to hate his brother before, he certainly did now. He got everything...his father's love and now the love of Kagome. For the first time in a long time, he could feel tears slipping down his cheeks. He could not bear that memory.
Flashback
"Disgusting." Sesshomaru muttered. He turned and went back to Kagome, InuYasha, and Yukana. Kagome was still shaking badly, but her sobs had died down to a pathetic whimper.
InuYasha looked at the girl on the floor. She had begun to rock back and forth and the expression she wore on her face was rather disturbing. She looked disgusted with herself, not to mention that she also found a way to mix in a look of fear and hatred. Her lips were moving, but there was no sound. He walked over to her and attempted to pick her up. She started thrashing around and screaming bloody murder. InuYasha quickly set her back down and she backed up against the wall.
Yukana took pity on her and slowly walked up to her, trying to comfort her but Kagome didn't seem to want that, either.
"Just get away from me!" she screamed.
Yukana jumped back and looked over at Sesshomaru, who was standing with his eyes closed. He hadn't moved from the spot. He was taking deep breaths, as if he was trying to calm down his inner youkai. InuYasha caught the glance that Yukana threw at him and looked away from her.
"Yukana, go gather your things. We're leaving as soon as possible." Sesshomaru announced suddenly. Yukana nodded and stood from her kneeling position that she had taken to just moments before. Sesshomaru walked over and lifted Kagome into his arms. InuYasha expected her to scream and struggle, but she didn't. Instead, she threw her arms around his neck and buried her face into his chest.
InuYasha followed beside Yukana, steadily glaring at Sesshomaru's back as he made his way back to the residential area. He couldn't handle looking at it anymore and broke off to get the others and tell them that they were leaving. Yukana followed him and alerted the other lords and ladies.
It was then that InuYasha realized just how Kagome felt when he would run off to Kikyo, and he regretted it.
End Flashback
InuYasha looked up at the sky and clenched his fists. He had the sudden urge to beat something to a bloody pulp, and the more he thought about the situation, the less he could resist doing just that. But, even so, he could not seem to pull his mind away from it.
InuYasha stood up and strode further into the forest, hoping to find some way to distract his thoughts and redirect them to something he could handle without losing his already limited control. The wind blew through his silver hair -though not as pretty as sesshy's!- as he entered his favorite thinking spot from when he was young -and he would actually think-. The hanyou plopped down on the ground and stared up at the nearly-full moon.
"InuYasha." The call was soft, but definitelly there, and nearby. The voice was familiar to him, but he could not pinpoint exaclty who's voice it was. The only person that he could connect it to was dead, quite a few times over.
"Kikyo?"
"I am here, InuYasha." He turned around, and, indeed, she was there, standing at the edge of the clearing. She looked just as she had the last time he saw her, and there was no evidence of her little 'spat' with Kagome.
"Kikyo...I thought you were..." InuYasha started, but then he hesitated.
"It was not me that my reincarnation destroyed, but rather a puppet of Naraku's." Kikyo assured him coldly. "I would have no reason to attack your shard detector, but I do wonder if that's all she is to you."
Kikyo waited for an answer, but she didn't get one. InuYasha just stood there and averted his gaze.
"InuYasha...do you still love me or not?"
"I..." InuYasha sighed. "No, Kikyo, I don't."
Kikyo was stunned. She gaped at him as he turned his back on her and walked back towards Sesshomaru's castle.
'I don't love Kagome more than Kikyo...do I?'
The Next Morning
"Yukana, have you seen InuYasha latley?" Kagome asked.
"No, not since we came back." Yukana answered. "Why?"
"I'm just worried about him. I mean, I know that latley he's been in a bad mood since he has to stay here, but he would have been bugging me to get moving since we still have to find and defeat Naraku."
"Let him sulk for a few more days." Sango said. "I'm enjoying our little time of respite before we have to hunt that idiot down. Besides, I think InuYasha needs the rest more than any one of us here, save for you, Kagome, of course."
"I agree with Sango." Miroku piped. "InuYasha has too much pride in his own strength to let us know that he is in desperate need of rest, since he sees himself as the leader of our little group."
"So what?" Kagome put in. "What's the big deal about that?"
"If a leader appears weak in any way, an enemy will find a way to exploit that weakness, and that could lead to disaster and disorder within the pack." Sesshomaru elucidated. "Although pride may have some sort of role in it, the basic action is more for the safety and security of his pack."
"Sesshomaru, are you kidding? InuYasha's pride plays a bigger part in his actions than you think it does." Kagome stated. "Why do you think we don't help him more often than we already do? I'll tell you why. We don't want to get our heads bitten off when he takes it the wrong way and thinks that we're calling him weak."
"Well, that's his own problem." Yukana declared. "If he wants to think that way then he can go right ahead, but what he needs to learn is that there is strength in numbers. If he keeps pushing all of you away like you say he is, he's going to lose his numbers and any strength that comes with them. I know, I've seen it happen more times than I can count. Lack of trust in a pack can be the one crack in the wall that gets everyone killed."
"This coming from the one who thought that Sango was going to assassinate Sesshomaru...you really trust people, don't you, Yukana?" Kaori teased.
"Oh, come on! It was an easy mistake!" Yukana defended.
"Even if that had been her intention, she would not have been able to carry out her orders." Sesshomaru declared.
"And you say pride has almost nothing to do with one's actions..." Kagome muttered.
"Oooh...Kagome got you on that one." Yukana said. "And she got you good, too."
"The higher the pedastal, the harder the fall...isn't that right?" Kagome asked smugly, a smirk appearing on her face.
"Smugness is no better than pride." Sesshomaru stated simply. Kagome snorted.
"So now you're telling me I'm full of myself, is that it?" Kagome challenged.
"No, I'm not."
"Technically speaking, 'smug' and 'prideful' are both synonyms of the word 'concieted', which would mean that all three mean the same thing." Yukana declared. "But, from my expierience with both of you, I would say that neither of you are concieted, so the argument was simply based off of a misunderstanding of the other's character."
"Thank you, Dr. Phil..." Kagome said sarcastically. "Anyway, I have to go check up on Sakurako." Kagome stood up and walked out the door.
"Wait...I thought she hated Sakurako." Yukana said.
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"So, is Moonle going to let you leave soon?" Kagome asked.
"Yeah, she said I should be well enough to leave tomorrow." Sakurako said excitedly, almost bouncing off the bed right then and there. "Actually, I could have left way earlier had Moonle not been so paranoid. She says that since it was you that put me in here, I should stay for observation for a little while, just to make sure there were no side effects or lasting damage that she didn't know about from my previous exmination. I told her that I felt fine, but she didn't listen and kept me anyway. She also considered placing guards at the doors at night so I couldn't run off, but, when she suggested that, I just gave up on getting out too soon and she patted me on the head like I was some sort of dog or something."
"I would have figured as much from you." Kagome giggled. "So you're sure that she said tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I can't wait!"
"Alright, then if you have no objections, we can start tomorrow." Kagome declared.
"Yeah! Let's do it!"
"Alright, I'll go tell the others. I'd better get out of here before Moonle gets mad at me for making you too excited." Sakurako nodded and Kagome left to go find something in the kitchens to munch on.
Her plans on finding food, however, were over when she felt a familiar tug deep inside her soul. She knew what it meant.
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AR: Oh, yay!
S: Angel, I can't believe you brought her back into the story!
IY: I can.
AR: Well, believe it. So now, here is the little brain teaser I promised!
In chapter sixteen of this fiction, Yukana had escorted Kagome into the dojo
where Sesshomaru and Minzoku were sparring. As you may recall, Kagome
pulled out the sword that had flown past her and Yukana's heads and wedged
into the doorframe and she handed it to Yukana, who dropped it. Yukana had
said that she 'had a thought' and giggled like a little school girl. Now tell me,
what was the thought that Yukana had and why was Miroku the only one to
know what she was talking about?
AR: Well, that's all for today. Toodles!