A/N: Well, I'm back, and I'm tired, and hungry. But I'll put that all aside for now. Tennis season is over, so I'm going to try and update faster, but I can't make any promises. I don't like to make anyone wait too long...sooo, from now on, I'm working at high speed. Once again, for about the billionth time, I loved your reviews!
Special Thanks To...
Sienna-shirou, Loved Forever, Beautiful.Black.Joy
Chapter 16 - All Hell Breaks Loose
It was harder than anything Kagome had done in a long time - her only objective was to say as little as possible. Although, staying quiet proved difficult when she was sitting on a chair in one of the storage closets, surrounded by Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango. It was like some sort of interrogation room.
It was too bad they were skipping class.
Sango sighed and sat on the floor. In the last half hour, they had gotten nowhere. The only thing Kagome had said was that Naraku had told her more than she had told them. But that was all they could get out of her - she absolutely refused to say anything else, for the time being.
It would have been easier to escape if Inuyasha wasn't blocking the only door...Kagome groaned under her breath, shifting nervously in the wooden chair. Even Miroku was able to tell she was cracking. They just didn't know how long it would actually take.
Inuyasha began growling, shifting his position at the door. There was someone coming, and they were coming fast. As if whoever it was knew they were in the closet, knew that they were skipping class. "Dammit...there's someone coming. We have to get out of here." Even though Kagome's back was facing him, and the room was barely lit, he could see her shoulders sag in relief. "Don't think you're getting out of this, Kagome." But she didn't tense up again, as he expected her to - even when Miroku and Sango stood up, stretching their arms, she still stayed seated.
"You guys go," Kagome commanded firmly, her voice completely monotonous. "Inuyasha, Miroku - you should go out first. Then Sango can leave after. I'll go last. Whoever's out there, Miroku, try and distract them."
Her face was set; no one wanted to go against her plan. It would just piss her off even more. So, after a few seconds, Inuyasha and Miroku opened the door carefully, and then stepped out, closing it behind them. Sango and Kagome were alone in the dark room, now, with nothing besides cleaning supplies and boxes sitting on the floor and on shelves.
Kagome's face was blanched, Sango noticed, when she knelt down in front of the chair. Suddenly, she regarded Kagome as a small child. Her coffee-colored eyes were wide and unblinking, face unusually pale, and one finger was continuously tapping her jean-clad leg.
Sango dropped into a more comfortable position, spreading her legs out in the cramped space and placing her hands in her lap. "Kagome," she started, trying to decide exactly what to say. Inuyasha and Miroku's voices drifted almost inaudibly through the door - she could have sworn she heard Kikyou's name being said. "What's this all about? I don't care what the hell you say to Miroku and Inuyasha, but I want to know what happened."
There was a sigh, and then the sound of Kagome slipping off the chair and onto the floor, pulling her knees up to her chest. She stared blindly through the shadows until she found Sango's face, looking right back at her. "Naraku...he lied to me." This statement, though short and indecisive, caught Sango's attention instantaneously. Kagome's mouth turned dry, her head began to hurt, and suddenly the room felt too hot. The ticking beat of her twitching finger sped up.
"He told me. Yokoshima Records never existed. It was all a get-up, only a distraction. He said he knew where dad's guitar was, but he wouldn't let me have it. And...he knew dad. They were actually business partners: ironic, isn't it?
The rest...it's hard to remember, but he said dad's death was no accident. It was deliberate; plotted by him and a few of the people working for him. Not only that, but he threatened to ruin our band if I didn't agree to his deal. I couldn't do that...not to you, Tai, or Rizu. So I said to give me some more time...but now he's expecting me on Saturday. And I don't know what the hell to do."
All the while, Sango had been listening with rapt attention. But now it felt as if her insides had stopped, all her previous thoughts had been crushed by Kagome's strikingly painful words. Her mind couldn't comprehend this all at once...Daichi...his death couldn't have planned. That was impossible. She blinked, unable to answer. Kagome had done that - said no to Naraku - for the band...If Sango had been in her place, she would have been a nervous wreck.
But just as Sango was about to say something, she felt a light shove on her shoulder. "You better get going, Sango. We can talk later."
Kagome frowned as Sango stumbled blindly out the door, and once again, she was left in darkness. Sango knew now, and no doubt Inuyasha and Miroku were, sooner or later, going to demand an explanation.
Saturday was rolling by fast, so she didn't have a lot of time.
Tai and Rizu needed to know, she decided sullenly as she stood up and arched her back, listening to it crack satisfyingly. They had to make a decision - all of them, together - before Saturday came. Yet Kagome had already sworn to herself, a few days ago, that she would never agree to anything Naraku had said. He had only said those things about her father to shake her, right? It was only an attempt at making her crumble. Too bad, because the only thing that it was doing was urging her to build up a wall, a strong defense, one that couldn't be mutilated.
Just as Kagome was about to leave, she heard the door creaking open. She spun around on the heel of her shoe, but was completely shocked at what she saw.
Kikyou was standing in the doorway, light now flooding into the room. She was standing in at least four-inch heels - Kagome was surprised she didn't trip and fall in the snow. But that thought was pushed away quickly, instantly replaced by a sudden panic. She was caught, alone, in a storage closet. What the hell was she supposed to say?
Kagome swallowed and brought herself to her fullest stature; if Kikyou had been wearing actual shoes, they would have been the same height. "What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice more loud and demanding than she anticipated. It was funny, really, because she felt like she was about to go crazy under the strain.
Kikyou laughed - a short, forced bark was more like it. She smirked and snapped one of her fingers in the air...Kagome stared. "I know you're skipping class, Higurashi. And hiding in a storage closet? I, personally, think that you deserve to be in here. It suits you. But let me warn you - The principal is friends with my father. You better make yourself scarce before he finds out about you hiding in here."
There was a beep, and Kikyou instantly reached for something in her pocket, pulling it out quickly. Her cell phone. Of course. "Yumi's texting me. Remember what I said, Higurashi." And then Kikyou left, slamming the door behind her. The only thing she could hear was Kikyou's heels clacking away in the hallway, and her own breathing.
Kagome snorted loudly before she opened the door herself and checked the hallway. Kikyou was far, far away from being the least bit intimidating. She just found her annoying. In any case, Kagome wasn't going to submit to the damn principle. To hell with Kikyou's damn father. To hell with Naraku and all the other damn people who had obviously tried to make her life an oblivion.
When she was convinced the hallway was clear, she began walking casually down the hallway. If any of the teachers were to see her, they wouldn't be the least bit suspicious. She doubted the teachers cared, anyhow, except for maybe the Myouga-midget. He was prided himself on being so 'knowledgeable' when it came to History. Kagome couldn't care less.
It took her about three minutes to get to her classroom - and when she did, she stepped in and sat down at the desk in the right corner of the back row, right next to the window. Ms. Rikei spared her a two second glance and sighed. "I'll speak to you after class, Ms. Higurashi, along with Miroku and Inuyasha here."
The two turned in their desks to look at her. Kagome shrugged, really too tired to care about getting in trouble with the teachers. It was too patronizing.
The bell rang, signaling the end of the first class. Too bad, because Kagome was just in the middle of a nap. When she sat up to stretch, she yawned and stood up a few seconds afterward, carefully making her way to the front of the classroom. Inuyasha and Miroku were still seated, while Ms. Rikei was tapping her foot impatiently. Her arms were crossed in front of her blazer-clad chest. She did not look, in any way, shape, or form, in a good mood.
"I am so disappointed in you three," she started, her eyes blazing with a sudden force of superiority. "This hasn't been the first time you've been late for class, Ms. Higurashi, is it?" Kagome shook her head no. "I didn't think so. For some odd reason, I have a feeling that you, Inuyasha, and Miroku going hand-in-hand here."
When they didn't answer, Ms. Rikei brought a hand to her forehead, massaging it slowly. "Alright, you guys can leave. But I don't want any more funny stuff - if you're still slacking, I'll be calling your parents." She waved her hand at them in dismissal.
Kagome almost laughed. What would calling her mother do? Nothing, that's what. Her mother would be upset, sure, but that would be about it. It seemed, altogether, pointless.
The three of them shuffled out of the classroom, appearing sullen, just as some of the early-arrival students came in. Inuyasha glared at any of them who turned to look at them, and since he was considered one of the most popular guys in the school, they would turn away. Miroku reached for a girl's backside, but she slapped him before he even had a chance. Kagome shook her head and sighed.
Sango was waiting for them outside the classroom, her face contorted in mock disapproval. "Don't worry - I got yelled at too. Mr. Myouga has a lot of nerve, for him being so short and all..." Her voice trailed off when she actually caught sight of Kagome's face. "Hey...what's wrong?"
She didn't think that Kagome would ever be able to not sustain herself. But that wasn't the case now. Sango, Inuyasha, and Miroku watched numbly as Kagome slammed one of her fists into the wall. And again. And again. Even if they didn't have sensitive ears, they could hear one of her knuckles crack. Hopefully she didn't break anything. When she pulled her hand away, her knuckles were bleeding and raw.
When Kagome turned to look at them, she smiled weakly. It was more forced than anything. "I'm okay...I think...I haven't gone insane, in case you're wondering. But my hand does hurt." She flexed her fingers experimentally, wincing at the burst of pain that shot through them. "Nothing's broken, just bruised."
Sango was still shocked. "Miroku...Inuyasha...you guys can go. We'll catch up with you later. Didn't you say Bankotsu wanted to talk to you?" But before Inuyasha could answer, Sango was already ushering Kagome towards the girls' bathroom.
Thankfully, there was no one inside. Sango turned on the faucet, double-checking to make sure the water was warm, and then began pumping soap onto a paper towel. "You did a good job, Kagome, crushing your fingers like that. Maybe your mom should get you a punching bag. But what the hell did you do that for?"
Kagome was about to shrug when she changed her mind. "Everything's so frustrating. But I don't want people to see me like this - Tai and Rizu are coming over later. What are they going to say? I've been such a wreck ever since Naraku entered the picture...do you think I'm going crazy? Seriously? Sometimes I feel like it."
Sango shook her head stubbornly, stating a flat out "No." The wet, soaped-up paper towel was applied on Kagome's knuckles and fingers - she cringed, but didn't say anything. Sango ignored any signs of her friend's discomfort. "Naraku's gonna pay. He's gonna pay for everything; we can make sure of that. There's no way he's getting away with anything, do you hear me? Anything. He's an ass, that's what he is."
Kagome tried to hide her smile. Many would have found it annoying, but she actually enjoyed Sango's ranting. It gave her something to think about, for once. Most of the time, she had a good point.
"-which is why we're going to ask for Inuyasha and Miroku's help. They want to know about it anyway, right? It'd be torture to keep them in the dark, Kags. It wouldn't be fair," Sango concluded firmly, throwing the red-stained, crumpled up paper towel to the garbage can. It missed and fell to the floor. She shrugged helplessly.
Kagome nodded, almost subconsciously. She had begun to accept that fact about five minutes ago. Although she would love to torture them, even if it was for a minute amount of time, but Sango might not agree. She examined her hand carefully - it was clean, for the most part, but the bleeding had stopped. There were already bruises forming. She pulled the hem of her hoodie sleeve down so it covered most of her had; it was the most she could do, for now.
"We better get to class...I already got grilled today for being late, I don't want to get in trouble again." Any other time, Kagome probably wouldn't have cared. But that was different now - she wanted to keep her profile down as much as possible. Sango was probably feeling the same, because she nodded quickly and started towards the door.
Out of the corner of her eye, she heard shouts...and then she froze.
Inuyasha slammed his locker door shut, hoping that it would be enough to get Bankotsu off his back. It wasn't. Miroku had been smart and left for class around five minutes ago. Bankotsu's black hair was pulled back in a long blade, dark blue, almost black eyes glaring hard at Inuyasha. He refused to let his eyes wander. His black t-shirt was wrinkled and his baggy blue jeans were reaching the ground. He had a lazy, albeit mysterious, air surrounding him. Jakotsu was nowhere to be found.
"So, Inuyasha, what's up with the Higurashi girl? I see you hanging around her a lot lately - she your new pet for the week?" Bankotsu chided. He was only a half-year younger than Inuyasha, making them pretty even.
Inuyasha growled, shoving his books under one arm. "I don't know what in the seven hells you're talking about, Bankotsu, but you better shut your trap before I decide to myself." The threat went unnoticed, and did nothing to lessen Bankotsu's harsh attempts.
"So that's it, ay, Inuyasha? That Kagome chick ain't even worth it - but it would be fun to see her face when you break it off..."
Inuyasha's face darkened, his eyes shadowing, fists trembling slightly. Nobody ever insulted Kagome, or any of her friends, and got away with it unharmed. His mind was screaming at him to calm down, but the demon in him was suggesting exactly the opposite. Red began to bleed into his eyes, only for a second, and then it was gone - right after his fist connected with Bankotsu's nose, that is.
Bankotsu stumbled backwards a few steps, hunched over and utterly aghast. He straightened himself after a moment or two. By now, a small crowd had been forming around the two of them. There was a thin rivulet of blood trickling from his nose, but he only sneered. "I knew it," he claimed, readying himself for a fight. "I can't believe that you, Inuyasha, would lower yourself to someone such as Kagome. She's a loner, you know that, right? A complete punk, no friends except for that Sango girl. They're both messed up..."
It was then that Inuyasha delivered a round-house to the side of Bankotsu's face. This time, when he almost fell, a few of the other students were there to catch him. But someone else was shouting, running their way - a girl's voice. He could see her pushing her way through the crowd, someone else following behind her.
Inuyasha froze when he saw Kagome, eyes flicking from Inuyasha to Bankotsu and back, trying to decide who she should be more angry with. If Inuyasha had thought he had seen her mad before, he was wrong. Dead wrong...no pun intended.
"What the hell is going on here?!" she practically screamed, a few of the closer students backing away hesitantly. "God, Inuyasha, you ass! What were you thinking?!" Kagome, to Inuyasha's amazement, took a step closer to Bankotsu. "And you; I don't know what you're problem is, but solve them some other time!" She reached her hand towards him nonetheless, offering to help him to his feet. He only glowered.
Bankotsu managed to pull himself to his feet, with no help whatsoever from Kagome. "You," he ground out between clenched teeth, "feh. We were just talking about you. I can see you have a real temper..."
Kagome forgot about helping Bankotsu completely. She could tell already that he was just as bad as anybody else, only about ten times worse. Sango put a hand on one of her shoulders, but it didn't help any. She could feel one of her eyebrows ticking in extreme irritation. She never thought she could be so completely and utterly angry in her life...but apparently she had proved herself wrong.
Her fist screamed for relief when she drew it backwards. Screw helping out Bankotsu, dammit. She knew she was going to get into trouble, maybe taking on some serious consequences, but he had gone too far. So when her fist swung, she didn't even realize it...until it connected with his face, that is. The students scattered quickly - one of the girls screamed as Bankotsu, once again, fell to the floor.
Kagome didn't try to stop them when Miroku and Sango each grabbed one of her arms; she stood stock-still, her eyes widened at what she had done. She'd never actually punched anyone before. Sure, she'd slapped a few people (namely Inuyasha, Miroku, or Kouga) but this was a different story. Too bad punching him only released a minute amount of anger from her system.
"Kagome?" Sango's voice, though a whisper, could be heard throughout the crowd - it was dead silent afterwards. The only thing she could hear was her own breathing, and Kagome's. It almost felt like it was too dangerous to speak.
Inuyasha was stunned. He had never thought Kagome would ever do anything like that to anyone. 'Man, she's got guts.' Although, he was pretty sure she had gotten close. But now, as he stared at Bankotsu struggling slightly to stand up, he was nothing less than stunned.
"Wench..." Bankotsu growled, now standing on two feet...everyone ignored the fact that he didn't look very stable. "You'll pay for that, whatever-the-hell-your-name-is." Now that he had spoken, there were whispers in the background, none of which were very hard to discern.
"She's in for it now...nobody punches Bankotsu and gets away with it."
"I didn't even know Kagome talked. What's her problem, anyway? I bet she's gonna get expelled, but not before Bankotsu can have his turn..."
"That Higurashi girl is so dead, right along there with Inuyasha. Funny...I always thought Bankotsu and Inuyasha were friends..."
Kagome closed her eyes, attempting to block out the harsh murmurs, but it didn't do any good. She could feel Sango's hand squeeze her arm. It was comforting, although very slightly. She could hear Bankotsu's heavy breathing, and then his footsteps...It was a matter of seconds before she realized that he was standing right in front of her.
Sango's grasp slid down from her arm, and after a moment or two, so did Miroku's. Kagome cracked open her eyes to glare up at him. "I'm the one with the temper?" she chided mock-haughtily. She was forced to stand on her tip-toes so they were staring eye-to-eye. "You know what, Bankotsu? You're weaker than I thought you were. Who would have thought that you'd be able to get slugged by a girl so easily?"
Bankotsu leaned in closer to Kagome's face; she could feel his hot breath on her face. "You smart-ass bitch..." he muttered, his nose only centimeters away from her's. It happened by mere chance - and a stroke of luck on Kagome's part - that the bell rain just then. Bankotsu backed away nonchalantly, sure to flash Kagome a smirk before he began casually striding down the hallway. Except for the blood still running down his face, and a bruise already forming on his cheek, he appeared just as cool and composed as he had been five minutes before.
Inuyasha used the opportunity carefully - he stepped in front of Kagome, staring down at her pale face and one of her shaking hands that was trying to pull her bangs away from her eyes. He did it for her, frowning deeply. Had her face always been so blanched? He didn't think so, but then again, he had never been one for paying close attention to details.
"My God...Kagome..." Sango stuttered, trying hard to get a look at Kagome's face. She didn't care anymore that they were already late for class. "Damn, Kagome..." Apparently, she couldn't think of anything else to say.
Miroku wasn't doing better, as he was still trying to comprehend exactly what had happened. Bankotsu got slugged, twice, in less than five minutes. That had to be a new record for the arrogant braided-haired teen. After this event, Inuyasha's popularity status would move either up or down on the ladder...It was to be decided by the fellow students if he was sticking up for Kagome, or defending his own pride when it came down to whether he was 'with' her or not. Personally, he was just worried about how Kagome was feeling.
Kagome inhaled a sharp intake of breath, releasing it as slowly as possible - it seemed to calm her down somewhat. But when her books fell to the ground and her eyes closed, they knew something was wrong.
It was then that her knees gave out, and she crumpled under her own weight.
Kagome: Violence is what I live for.
Sango: What would the world be without violence and fighting?
Miroku: ...A happy place?
Shippou: Kagome, Sango; I hate to say this, but I think there's something wrong with you.
Inuyasha: I don't see the problem with it.
Miroku: Of course, Inuyasha, you wouldn't.
Stephenie: Well...if you decide to actually stay here and wait, this story will get better. Hear that, readers? There's still a lot more to come.
Kagome: Yeah...which is why you need to review, so Stephenie can get her typing fingers in gear and get a chapter up once in a while.
A/N: More angst. I love angst-y stories, especially when I'm writing one. I've got a habit of leaving cliffies at the end of chapters. Half of the time, I don't even realize that I left one. Comes natural, I guess. And if any of you are wondering, my neighbor, who my family has known ever since I was born, moved away to a city two hours away. Let's just say I'm not in the best mood right now - if a chapter's late, that's tough. There's too much going on at my house...it'd be nice to get away, once in a while. Too bad I can't drive...Please review! Later.
Yeah, well...this isn't my fault. I'm doing the best I possibly can right now.
