Disclaimer: I'm feeling lazy...I don't own Inuyasha, alright? Drop it.
A/N: I have returneth, You guys got lucky, too...it's 10:28 a.m, and only now did I realize that I woke up almost four hours earlier than I usually do. Maybe it's because it's currently raining outside, and I can hear the rain and thunder outside my windows... I watched a new anime last night, Saiyuki Reload, and I don't really know what it's about. I plan on watching it again tonight...but if anyone else watches it and could tell me a little bit about the show, I'd be grateful.
Special Thanks To...
SakuraKiss13, Beautiful.Black.Joy, Sienna-shirou
Chapter 19 - Convicting Decisions
Inuyasha grunted when he walked away from the woman in the business suit, Miroku hanging around a few seconds after to watch her leave. "They all the say the same damn thing...and it's getting us nowhere." He kicked at one of the chairs in the lobby, momentarily receiving an annoyed glare from the receptionist. He bitterly ignored it.
Miroku shuffled over and more or less fell into one of the chairs, his index finger and thumb pinching the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, well, maybe it's time we go search for Kagome and Sango. It's been almost a half hour already - do you think anything happened with Naraku?" He, for one, was getting worried. If Inuyasha was feeling the same way, he sure had a good way of hiding it.
In all honesty, Inuyasha had been worried ever since Kagome left his sight. But he wasn't about to say anything about it, especially since him and Kagome could hardly be called friends. I he told her he was worried...well, he would probably receive a harsh beating. Bankotsu instantly came to mind, and following came the image of Kagome being loaded into an ambulance, unmoving and utterly pale...
"Inuyasha? Geeze, man, have you ever thought about actually paying attention when someone's talking to you?" Miroku was standing in front of him, his violet eyes narrowed demeaningly. Inuyasha growled and turned his head away with a grunted "feh." Shippou nodded his head in agreement to Miroku's words. He was currently sitting atop the table, legs and arms crossed.
"I ain't worried." He snorted, feigning carelessness. Although, Miroku was having one of his rare moments where he was able to read Inuyasha's thoughts behind his actions. One of his very rare moments, indeed.
Miroku smirked before he sat down in the chair next to Inuyasha, tapping his foot repeatedly on the carpeted floor. "You're lying," he accused with an air of amusement, lightheartedly placing one of his hands on Inuyasha's shoulders. "Admit it, man, you know that you're worried about Kagome. Sango knows it too - the only oblivious one is you...and, well, Kagome. Although I'm pretty sure she still hates you..."
Inuyasha shot up, resisting the urge to send his fist into Miroku's face, and stormed into the hallway. Shippou jumped onto Miroku's shoulder, who followed quickly and smirked, triumphing over his small victory. 'Such a gullible soul,' he mused, knowing full well that Inuyasha had bought quickly into such a simple bribe.
Inuyasha, on the other hand, was none too happy. Miroku had always managed to dig under his skin, to reach places that even his mother had not been able to touch. Especially when it came to Kagome...'Dammit, get a hold of yourself. She doesn't like you anymore than you like her...if it hadn't been for that damn concert, me and Miroku wouldn't even be in this. That was what started this whole thing...'
But...No, he realized: this had started even before that. Whether or not he or Miroku found out Faded Light, Naraku would still be pursuing them. Speaking of which...
"Hey, Miroku, did Sango say anything to you about the rest of the band coming here?" Inuyasha guessed, that after the whole hospital incident, Kagome had completely forgotten that Tai and Rizu were even coming to Tokyo. Not surprising, after all; the whole idea had completely dissolved from their minds.
Miroku stopped and tilted his head backwards, facing the lights, closing his eyes. "Damn...they're going to be out looking soon, not to mention the fact that neither Kagome nor Sango's parents know where they are..." His voice trailed off when his words suddenly sunk in, and Inuyasha stopped as well. "You think, by any chance, they're going to start getting worried?"
Shippou was currently asking them questions, but neither of them seemed to hear. He had no idea who 'the rest of the band' was, or what relation they had to Kagome and Sango. But since it didn't seem his questions were going to be answered anytime soon, he huffed and rearranged himself so his legs were dangling over the back of Miroku's shoulders, pouting like the child he was.
Inuyasha smirked dryly, his expression humorless. "No shit, Miroku. They are parents, after all; which means Kagome and Sango better hurry up, so we can get outta here."
Once again, Kagome found herself propped upwards in the uncomfortable chair. And once again, she felt completely and totally helpless. The feeling didn't sit well with her, considering the fact that it was something she didn't feel that often. She glanced at Sango next to her and noted her somewhat fearful expression on the girl's face, her eyes narrowed into slits.
Naraku was sitting as his desk, typing away on his laptop and wearing the most casual expression. The epitome of innocence. Sango scoffed and slouched in the chair, her hands sitting on the armrest, tapping her fingers repeatedly on the wood. Her patience was running out very quickly, so much so that she considered jumping out the window. She just wasn't so sure that she wanted to leave Kagome alone.
There was a beep, and the printer under Naraku's desk began humming. Kagome watched with mild interest as he leaned down, sitting back up moments later with a few papers in his hand. He waved them in the air for a few moments and then set them on top of his desk, beckoning the two of them forwards.
"You must take these papers with you. Understand that this is only the beginning. I expect you back here on Saturday, and if you do come, I'll call off my men." Naraku dismissed them with a small wave, and Sango was ecstatic to incline.
Kagome snatched the papers off his desk without even looking at them, already making a break for the door. Her fingers were itching to rip the papers to shreds and throw the scraps out the window, letting them fly away. 'I'm doing this for mom, remember? And Souta...Thankfully, Jiichan is still somewhere in China. Crazy old man.'
As soon as the office door was closed behind them, Sango whipped around to Kagome and tore the papers from her hands. Her hands were shaking, more from rage than fear. No...her fear had disappeared a while ago, and in its wake, was a blazing red, fiery trail of complete and utter rage. Her brown eyes were no longer narrowed, but wide as she read through the documents, and then thrust them back into Kagome's hands. "I completely forgot about Tai and Rizu," she remarked quietly, a feeling of guilt resonating in her otherwise anger-filled chest.
Kagome froze a few feet away from the opposite wall, clenching and unclenching her hands repeatedly. "Dammit," she muttered, and started at a quickened pace down the long hallway. "We should hurry, Sango. They're probably looking for us already, and Inuyasha and Miroku are bound to be getting impatient." In all honesty, she couldn't care whether or not the two of them were starting to get annoyed - she was too deep in her thoughts to care, constantly trying to think of a way to get out of the messed up contract.
From one of the windows, Sango could see the sun already setting. She wasn't surprised - yet she didn't know how the day had managed to drag on for so long. It was almost impossible to believe that Kagome had just been in the hospital a few hours ago, and that they had managed to escape her and Shippou from the building without drawing too much attention to themselves. It was incredible, really, that they had accomplished such a ridiculous feat.
They were standing before the elevator in a few minutes, prepared to step inside when it opened, but Kagome was slightly surprised when she found it occupied. Inuyasha grabbed her elbow and roughly whisked her inside, while Miroku greeted Sango as usual, and in return, received a rather large bump on the head. By this time, Shippou was more than amused.
"Hey!" the kit shouted over Sango and Miroku's bickering, and Inuyasha's useless attempts to hound Kagome for information. Three of them turned to stare, while Inuyasha started growling and turned to face one of the walls. "Can you guys quiet down, a little bit? Especially since I have no idea what's going on around here?!" He was pumping his little fists in the air, a scowl etched on his features, though with such a young face, there was no way anyone could take the child seriously.
Sango grabbed Shippou from Miroku's shoulder and held him out in front of her, unable to resist the urge to smile, although only slightly. "We'll explain it on the way home, Shippou...for now, try and keep quiet, at least for five more minutes, okay? It's going to be cold outside, just to warn you."
Shippou, at least somewhat pleased with the answer, and turned to stare at Kagome, however jaded faced she was. "Sango, is something wrong with Kagome?" he whispered; the only one who didn't hear this question, of course, was Kagome.
Sango sighed heavily, her own thoughts flooding back to that of her parents and Kohaku. The whole thing felt like a nightmare, a horrible, reoccurring dream. When the elevator door opened, she stepped into the almost empty hall, both her head and heart pounding as Naraku's words finally, completely sunk in. She sucked in a wavering breath and released it slowly, hoping to calm her nerves. It didn't work.
When the kit didn't receive an answer, while carefully examining Sango's sorrow-stricken face, even Miroku and Inuyasha seemed surprised. Sango ignored it, however, and continued walking, letting her fingers run across the smooth, rich colored walls.
Kagome snorted softly as she rounded the corner, only to encounter the same receptionist that had been sitting there an hour ago. She glared vehemently until the older woman looked away with a small indignant huff, her back turned to the small group a few moments later. Kagome didn't know why, but she could have laughed; it was amusing to see a woman at least ten years older than her disgraced by a teen such as herself.
Could it even constitute as a day? Kagome wondered, or some messed up, twisted fairytale? Either way, she desperately wished it would end, not only for her sake. She was only sixteen, for heaven's sake, and was already whisked into a suspense-filled future. The events of the past few weeks didn't boast good news, and she figured that the next month, most likely much longer, wasn't going to be any better.
If her father hadn't died, would she have become a singer? If she had never accepted help from Inuyasha and Miroku, or better yet, if they had never found out about her and Sango's career, would she break under the pressure? What were Tai and Rizu going to do once they found out about what Naraku had done? The four in Faded Light were close friends, maybe even more; Kagome considered the boys brotherly, and she somehow knew that Sango felt the same way. Her impatience over the past few days had shrunk exponentially, especially now, knowing her family's life was on the line.
Inuyasha folded his arms over his chest when they stepped outside, instantly greeted with the bitter cold. Kagome and Sango were about five feet ahead of him and Miroku, the two of them carefully keeping their mouths shut. He was going to get some information, whether they liked it or not, because the silence was inexplicably irritating to him. He averted his eyes to the busy street, many people heading home from work for the night. With only a moment's thinking, he stopped and whistled loudly, waving one hand in the air.
Kagome and Sango stopped at the shrill noise, as did Miroku and Shippou, all four of them glancing Inuyasha's way. It was only a few minutes later that a yellow taxi pulled up to the curb, the driver inside watching Inuyasha lazily.
Miroku nodded in understanding and opened the back door, motioning for Sango and Kagome to enter first. He slid in afterwards, and Inuyasha sat in the front. He slapped a twenty in the cab driver's hands, giving the directions to Kagome's house, and turned sourly to the window. The driver pocketed his money with a small grin and started the cab. No one in the back seat questioned him, although Shippou did begin to try and draw pictures on the window.
Sango relaxed in between Kagome and Miroku, the young kit scrambling over the three of their laps, while the driver pulled out into the street. She was exhausted, to say the very least, and was grateful for the ride. She absorbed the quietness, more calm and composed than she had felt all day, and resorted to thinking rationally. It wasn't long before she fell asleep, her own thoughts breaking off after a few minutes.
Miroku didn't say anything as Sango dropped off, and instead reached one of his arms around her shoulders. If she was awake, she didn't protest, and instead seemed to sink into his embrace with a small sigh. He ran a hand carefully through her ponytail, turning his own head so he could watch the outside scenes pass.
Out of the corner of her eye, Kagome watched with mild interest as Sango fell asleep in Miroku's arm. At least someone was happy. She glanced down at the folded papers in her hand and frowned, a moment later tilting her head backwards against the leather seats. It was a ways home, and she was more than tired. She couldn't come up with any reason as to why she shouldn't rest herself.
Inuyasha knew by instinct more than the fact that he could hear their steady breathing that Kagome and Sango were sleeping. He turned around in his seat and directed his attention towards Kagome's lap, her hands tightly clutching what looked like paper.
The two of them exchanged glances before Inuyasha reached back and took the papers from her hands, unfolding them carefully. His eyes narrowed after he read the first line; the papers dropped from his hands after he read the first paragraph. Miroku grabbed the typed sheets from the hanyou's lap and read each and every line...when he was done, his face had turned a pale white.
"That goddamn bastard..."
Kagome didn't even notice when the cab stopped at her house, or when Inuyasha picked her up and carried her inside. Shippou was now sitting on his shoulder, since they had agreed that he would stay at Kagome's house, for the time being. Sango, however, had woken up, and was currently letting Miroku walk her home. It was just turning to dusk, the sky fading to hues of dark blues and purples, the sun already gone.
Kagome woke somewhat when Inuyasha opened the front door to her house, but she didn't say anything. Something was obviously up with him, or he wouldn't have bothered to carry her; he would have done something more along the lines of shoving her out of the car and onto the sidewalk. 'Even so,' she thought tiredly, 'Would I have even made it to the front steps? Not likely.'
She was somewhat surprised when she didn't hear Souta race to the door, or her mother asking where in the world she had been. Inuyasha, seeing that she had finally woken up, more or less dropped her on the couch. She didn't yell at him, as he thought she would, but she merely stood up and ran to the kitchen.
"Mom?!" Inuyasha heard Kagome shout, and watched as she ran into the dining room, "Souta?!" He glanced down at Shippou, who shrugged, and jumped onto one of the couches. Clearly, no one was home. He could guess from the panic-stricken look on Kagome's face that, her family not being home meant something was wrong.
"Mom's not home," she explained, and collapsed onto one of the couches. "Souta isn't either. I can understand mom still being at work, but...Souta would have said something if he was going somewhere." She didn't notice that she no longer had Naraku's contract with her, and even if she did notice, she wouldn't have cared.
The thoughts of what Naraku had threatened flooded into her mind, and she tried to push back a feeling of sinking despair. 'I will not cry...crying is a form of weakness, and father told me to stay strong.' She sucked in a deep, shaking breath and released it as slowly as possible, her eyes staring at a blank TV.
'The hospital...maybe the doctor got hold of mom and told her about what happened.' If that was the case, then Souta and her mother would be scrounging the hospital, not to mention the fact that the doctor wouldn't be too happy. Someone was bound to notice that Shippou was gone as well. Even so, as she stared at the kit now sitting in her lap, she didn't feel the least bit guilty about it. 'He didn't deserve to be there, anyway. He's perfectly fine. But...that doesn't mean someone won't come looking for him...'
"Kagome," Inuyasha interrupted suddenly, taking a seat on the opposite side of the couch. "When were you planning on saying something?" At the look of bewilderment on her face, he pulled the crumpled papers from his pocket, and threw them in her lap. "Me and Miroku both saw them, Kagome, and I want to know why the hell you didn't say anything!"
She picked up the papers numbly, Shippou glancing down at the text as well. He may have spent most of his life in a mental ward, but he could read, as sure as Kagome's fingers were shaking. "I wasn't," she responded flatly, straightening out the three different sheets of typed paper as best she could. "I wasn't because I didn't want you to know...This was never any of your business, Inuyasha, it's mine and Sango's." 'Taiko and Rizumu...they're bound to have heard by now, too. We really screwed up this time.' She wasn't exactly sure when, but somewhere along the way, they had only managed to makethings worse, if that was possible. 'We should have waited, should have bided some more time...'
Inuyasha stiffened, Kagome's harsh and biting words anything than what he expected. "What are you talking about?" He bit back a 'stubborn wench,' and instead leaned forward, trying to peer under her shadowing bangs. "It sure as hell might not be our problem, but that doesn't mean we can't help."
Kagome raised her head, eyes blazing fiercely as she set Shippou on the couch and stood up, fists clenched tightly. "You just don't get it, do you, Inuyasha?" She whirled on him, her shoulders shaking at the effort to not completely lose her control. Her eyes closed, briefly, and when they opened again, they had lost some of their fiery rage. "We never asked for your help in the first place. You assumed that we would accept it...poor, popular, Inuyasha, couldn't stand to be turned down by a couple of nobodies?" She shook her head, laughing slightly, and let her legs give out so she was sitting restlessly on the carpet. Her laugh was anything but joyful - it was empty, emotionless, and did nothing to justify her animosity.
Shippou, being slightly afraid of Kagome at the moment, jumped onto Inuyasha's shoulder and pounded him twice on the head. "You idiot! What did you do to Kagome?! I can't believe you...!" His voice trailed off and he turned, stunned, to the front door that had just opened. Miroku was standing there, Sango at his side.
Kagome snapped her head around as well, not doing very well to hide the somewhat irritated expression on her face. "I thought you guys went home?" she snapped, an attitude that Sango had long ago been accustomed to seeing.
"We changed our minds," Sango answered simply, seating herself on the floor close to Kagome. "Since I figured it wouldn't be long before you woke up and started beating Inuyasha to death, I, at least, came to restrain you. Miroku, being ever the pervert, had to follow." She rolled her eyes, as if to prove a point, and propped both of her elbows on her knees. But at the look of utter somberness etched on Kagome's face, she leaned even closer to her. "Where'd you put the papers?" she muttered, the two now staring eye-to-eye.
Kagome jerked her head towards Inuyasha, forcing another cracked smile. "Dog-boy over there had them," she responded, laughing lightly. She knew that he hated it more than anything when someone referred to him as anything related to a dog. "But...right now, I'm more worried about where mom and Souta are. I haven't seen heads or tails of Tai or Rizu, either. Do you think the hospital contacted them?" Her tone had quieted and was laced with what you couldn't exactly call worry.
Miroku took a seat by Inuyasha on the couch, just as the phone began to ring. The papers fluttered to the floor. Inuyasha didn't move, still dumb-struck by Kagome's words. 'Keh. Can't believe I ever thought she could come close to a friend.' As he thought this, Kagome herself jumped up and began racing for the cordless phone, everyone else waiting in silence. Even Shippou had become quiet, sitting on the back of the couch and watching Kagome with an air of urgency.
"Wha-" Kagome's voice stopped, and even from her spot on the floor, Sango could tell that her voice was strained, if you didn't happen to notice that it was shaking slightly. "I understand, sir. No...I can't answer that..." she trailed off again, and hoisted herself onto the kitchen's island. "But – fine, I get it." There was a click as she pushed the end button, and then a period of quiesce where no one said anything.
"That was one of the doctors from the hospital," Kagome announced, clapping her hands together and jumping from the counter. Her attitude screamed mock-cheeriness as she sauntered back to Sango, sitting unceremoniously on the carpet. "Apparently, they've been searching the hospital; the disappearance of two of their patients didn't go unnoticed." She glanced briefly at Shippou and offered and assuring smile. "Mom's there, and I'm guessing that Tai and Rizu are still at their hotel, because I didn't hear any yelling or cussing in the background."
"Well, I'm guessing that the whole band is violent. No wonder what brought you guys together in the first place. Did you start fighting?"
Sango turned to glare at him. "Yeah, whatever Miroku. If you aren't gonna be serious, then I think you can just head home." While he pretended to be emotionally hurt, she turned back to Kagome, one finger tracing random lines on the carpet. "If they find out what happened, Kagome, they're going to be as mad as hell because we didn't tell them anything." She shrugged helplessly and fell backwards, dramatically, onto the floor.
Inuyasha feh'd from his spot on the couch, glaring sourly at nothing. "The doctors can go jump off a damn cliff, for all I care. The rest of your band's going to find out anyway, because Naraku said that you had to go back Saturday. It was on the paper."
Miroku blinked and slid from the couch to the floor. "I haven't read it yet...Sango, would you do the honors?"
Sango rolled her eyes once again and picked up the white sheets with an exaggerated flourish. She cleared her throat and propped herself on one elbow, before she began to read:
"Concerning the four members of Faded Light: Higurashi Kagome, Taijiya Sango, Takeuchi Taiko, Hokkaido Rizumu.
Even as you read this, I have some of my men watching your houses from a distance, ordered to take captive and shoot if there is any behavior that goes out of the line of conduct." She paused for a moment to frown, glancing briefly at Kagome before continuing, slower than before. "Signing this contract will give me full custody of the band."
A few moments of dampened quiet before Shippou hopped off the couch and jumped onto Sango's shoulder, his eyes wandering over the paper. "Woah...I know who Faded Light is! But I never knew that you guys were in it! That's so cool...I always told papa that I wanted to learn how to play a guitar, but I never got the chance."
Kagome sighed and plucked Shippou, quite literally, from Sango's hair. "You have to promise not to tell anyone, Shippou. I'm dead serious," she alleged, matching his bright gaze with her stern one. "Whatever we say here is not to leave the house, understand? Don't even tell my mother, or my little brother. Or anyone else, for that matter, except for us."
He nodded, slightly intimidated by her glare, and jumped away, once again settling himself on the couch. Sango coughed once before started again, her voice now stiff and monotonous: "With the consent of the four listed above, the ownership of Faded Light shall be transferred over to Naraku Yokoshima."
That was all she needed to hear, along with everyone else, for that matter. She released her breath in a huff and threw the papers behind her head, willing them to disappear, knowing full well that they wouldn't.
"This is some screwed up shit," Inuyasha muttered, who instantly received a dagger-filled glare from Kagome. "It is," he defended, slouching into the couch cushions. 'Geeze. Kagome's gotten sensitive...stupid wench.'
The apparently sensitive Kagome stood up and stretched, walking towards the phone once again. "I'm calling Rizu's phone. We need them to come over so we can talk this out. I don't know what you guys are planning to do...you could stay for supper, I guess..." 'Ignore the fact that this would be the second or third time in less than a week...' "Shippou, you'll be staying here until we can find something else to do with you." She offered a week smile, and began dialing Rizu's number. "Sango, do you think you could start supper? I'm starved."
Sango nodded and hurried to the kitchen, while Shippou meandered up the stairs, presuming his exploration of the house. Inuyasha and Miroku, however, sat on the carpet, Miroku looking over the contract that Sango had thrown.
A few minutes later, his voice cut through Kagome's phone call and Sango's clattering of cupboard doors..."Hey, guys," he called, standing up slowly. "I think you need to take a look at this..."
A/N: I apologize for it being late! I completely blame school...it's frickin ganging up on me, I swear it. Well, there's this thing at our school called Knowledge Bowl coming up...I know, I'm a freaking smart-ass, but I've been in it since fifth grade. The only downside is that I'll have even less time on the computer...I promise you that it'll take no longer than a week to update. Meanwhile, I'm going to start another story; A Human's Heart, A Youkai's Mind. You might wanna check it out. It's not an AU, like this, but I think it's gonna be good. Anyway, later!
I'm so sick and tired of everything...be patient
