Disclaimer: Don't even bother

A/N: You guys are lucky. I was so ready to kill somebody off, but decided against it when I read the reviews I got. And, even I'm unhappy to say it; this story's coming to an end. When did I start this thing, anyway? Hmm...Can't remember. Anyway, enjoy it while you can! And - oops - I lied; there's going to be an epilogue after this. So that's actually one more chapter!


Chapter 27 - Sweet, Sweet Release

Someone pounded at the front door.

Inuyasha walked into the house without waiting for permission, a genuine smirk replacing his usual scowl. He spotted Kagome on the couch in her living room, donning a black sweater and red jeans, an elf hat perched atop her head. "Here, catch," she commanded, and threw something at him. He caught it with ease: a candy cane.

"Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and all that," Kagome greeted halfheartedly, though she appeared sullen. "Where's Sango and Miroku?"

"Coming," Inuyasha answered simply as he sat down next to her, taking in her wary expression. "Something wrong that you aren't telling me?"

Kagome started to shake her head and seemed to abruptly change her mind. "It's just that...I have nightmares, okay? Even if Naraku was sent to the loony bin - along with anyone else who worked for him that didn't go to jail - he threatened my family...I don't know how many times I was hurt because of him, either, in more ways than one.

"He screwed me up, Inuyasha. Big time. I only wish I could pay him back thoroughly for everything he's done. I feels like I've left everything undone." Her hands involuntarily clenched into knuckle-whitening fists.

Inuyasha wrapped his arm comfortingly around her shoulders, deeply inhaling her scent. It relaxed him, and through their silence, gave him clarity enough to think. Even though it was almost a month since the Naraku scenario, Kagome was far from reassured. He pulled her tightly - protectively - against him. She was biting her lip, like she always did when she was anxious about something or other. "Hey, calm down," he placated, ignoring the mix of a glare and a smirk that she sent him. "It's the holidays, after all, and Naraku's gone. No one in school gives a shit about what we do, and Miroku and Sango are already comfortable with...how they are. So maybe you should quit, too, before I find out a way to make you. By the way, what's the deal with Shippou now?"

The corner of Kagome's mouth began to twitch. "And how do you expect to do that, dog-boy?" she asked snidely, tweaking one of his ears for a fraction of a second. It was fun to see him looking as if he was living in a dream for that short amount of time, and then grow irritated when she stopped. After a pause, she continued. "The papers are all signed, along with the ones from the hospital. Shippou's been officially released, and will be living here, sharing a room with Souta; he, mom, and the kid went out today, to visit some people, I guess. And - I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but I will anyway - Kouga wanted to invite himself over today..."

"And what did you say?"

"...Yes?"

When a low growl started to rise in his throat, Kagome gave him a quick peck on his cheek. "Oh, knock it off. Honestly, Inuyasha, how am I not supposed to call you dog-boy when you pull something like that?" And, before he could do anything else, she hopped off the couch and started towards the kitchen.

"Wench...remind me again why I put up with you!" Inuyasha hollered just as he heard the front door open; Sango and Miroku, no doubt. Kagome had mentioned something about meeting with Tai and Rizu later on in the week to celebrate the holidays. He agreed with the idea full heartedly, thoroughly sick of her being in the house all the time, the only exception being when they were in school. They hadn't even had a concert since the band had gotten back together. The only thing Inuyasha was shocked to learn that practically everything Kagome said had been a lie; a web spun on a spur of the moment kind of deal, an attempt to get them away from Naraku as quickly as possible. Obviously, it had worked. Sango had known all along that she was faking, but Inuyasha and Miroku had needed it explained to them at least five times.

"Kagome!" Sango called, immediately heading for the kitchen. She seemed excited enough about their sort of get-together, with a tray of four cups of hot chocolate in her hands. They were set down on one of the counters, and she jumped onto the mahogany surface a few feet from where Kagome was standing, a hand on her hip, obviously thinking. "Don't look so grim," she chastised jokingly. "Even if the whole serious look does look good on you, now's not the time. We've been over this before, haven't we?"

Kagome scowled, making a noise that much resembled a growl. "I'm not grim and I'm not brooding. I think you and Inuyasha are scheming something," she retorted, though she was fighting off a smile. "That's not very fair. You should watch it; I've learned over a thousand things to do with a pencil, several hundred of those having to do with causing people pain."

Sango shook her head. "I wouldn't doubt it. After nearly breaking Kikyou's arm that one time in school, I won't be surprised if someday you end up permanently maiming Inuyasha. Honestly, though, I swear Kikyou was going to sue and or send you to jail if he didn't somehow manage to talk her out of it. The whole thing was too hilarious for words."

Kagome grabbed a cup from the tray, taking a long swig of it before she put it back in the tray. "There. That can be Inuyasha's. He wouldn't mind if I stole some...-"

"I heard that!!"

She rolled her eyes. "Let's go before the two of them throw a hissy fit and make a mess of my living room. Mom and Souta are gone, so I don't think she'd appreciate a wrecked home very much when she came back."

"We're going to play a game," Sango announced when she walked into the living room. There was a collective groan from Inuyasha and Miroku, who were both laying on the carpeted floor, knees bent, staring up at the ceiling. The cups of hot chocolate were handed out. She stepped on Miroku's unprotected hand until he grimaced and his knuckles cracked. "That's what I thought. I won't do that again, Miroku, but maybe next time you shouldn't leave your hand so vulnerable."

Ignoring Miroku's protests and a short, flared argument between him and Sango, Kagome sat on the couch and bent forward so her elbows were balanced on her knees. "We need to wait for Kouga," she reminded them casually, scratching at the fabric of her jeans. "Miroku, Inuyasha, play nice. He's bringing some friends with...A girl named Ayame, I think, and Ginta and Hakkaku. I think it would be pretty boring if it was just the four of us, so I gave them all the approval to come over." She shot them - Inuyasha in particular - a sickly sweet smile. "One slip and those pretty white ears of yours won't be sitting on top of your head much longer."

He scoffed. "Feh. As if, wench. Besides, you love my ears."

It was Kagome's turn to scoff and turn her head away. "Keep dreaming; one day it might actually come true, but I highly doubt it." That was, of course, a lie; practically everyone knew that the two of them were pretty much inseparable.

There was a sudden knock at the door, which Sango jumped up to answer. A group of four stood outside; Kouga, Ginta, Hakkaku, and Ayame. She didn't know any of them all that much...But, apparently, that didn't matter to Kagome.

"Hey," she greeted warmly, stepping out of the way so she could come inside. "The living room's that way; just go in there when you have everything hung up and taken care of." She didn't actually care to wait for them, and instead ambled back into the room where everyone else resided. Kagome had situated herself so she was hanging upside on the couch, her legs swung over the back. She looked about ready to fall, her hot chocolate balancing in her hand.

"What's up, Kouga?" Kagome asked when he walked into the room. His icy blue eyes swept around the large space before they rested on Kagome herself. "It's Ayame, right? Welcome to my...uh...house." She wrinkled her nose. "Ugh...Well, it's a pretty nice house when nobody else is here. My own personal asylum, minus the big needles."

The fiery red head didn't waste time in trying out the couch opposite of the one Kagome was sitting on. "Kouga talks about you all the time," she stated randomly, though matter-of-factly at the same time. She rolled her eyes and adjusted the black skirt she was wearing. A chain hung intentionally around her waist. "It gets annoying sometimes, no offence to you or anything."

Kagome shook her head as best she could. "None taken."

"All right," Sango exclaimed, sitting cross legged on the couch. "We're playing a game, sort of like Truth or Dare, I think." When Inuyasha rolled his eyes, she glared vehemently at him. She was trying to be vivacious - for the sake of the holidays - and he wasn't helping any. "Anyway," she continued, her voice hardened. "If you decline, then you draw a card." Her hand gestured toward a pile of hand-made cards placed on the coffee table that had been pushed against the wall. "And then you have to do what the card says, no exceptions."

Miroku's interest in the game piqued. "Who's going first?" he questioned automatically, suddenly not caring if their had just been a new addition to their party; the air in the room was actually quite comfortable and not as tension-filled as he figured it to be. Even Inuyasha had managed to relax his temper.

"Either way, you have to do something," Kagome added before she answered his question. After what had happened so near to a month ago, she felt out of place playing games like this that she considered silly; a waste of time. But more than one person had told her she needed to unwind...so why not play a completely ridiculous game once in a while? "Inuyasha, pick a number. And whoever picks that number has to go first."

Inuyasha apparently pleased that he didn't have to be the one to start off, allowed a smirk to climb to his face as he downed half of the cup of hot chocolate. "All right," he drawled, "the number's between one and twenty.

Kouga spoke up first. "Ten?"

"No," Inuyasha responded instantaneously.

"Three?" Ayame asked.

"No."

"Eighteen!" Miroku shouted, his fingers crossed.

"Uh...no."

Hakkaku and Ginta spit out eleven and twelve right after each other.

"No...and no."

"Six?" Sango questioned doubtfully, her fingers also crossed, though for a different reason.

"Way off."

Kagome sank to the floor and began rocking back and forth, holding her knees close to her chest. "Oh, let me see...twenty?"

Inuyasha shook his head, snickering. "You guys are horrible at this. The answer was one. No way am I doing that again - you'll just guess wrong."

Feeling that she would regret this later, Kagome began speaking. "I'll go first, whoop de freaking do. I thought we would all be a little more cooperating than that. Damn...are you guys really the people that I call my supposed 'friends?'"

"I resent that," Miroku piped up, pretending to look forlorn. It didn't work. Sango jabbed him painfully hard in his ribs.

"All right, Kagome. I dare you to...Take your shirt off," Miroku challenged, appearing to be proud of himself despite the smarting in his side.

Kagome blinked a few times, her expression unreadable. Sango looked about ready to smack him over the head with a sledge hammer, but the other four remained silent, staring at her with curiosity. She emitted a deep sigh. "Miroku, you're such a fucking pervert," she muttered so only a choice number of occupants in the room were able to hear. Kouga and Inuyasha were barely holding themselves together; she knew, any minute now, they would burst out laughing. But she did as she was dared and stripped herself of the sweater; left only in her bra and feeling much more chilled, she crossed her arms protectively over her chest and leaned crossly against the couch behind her.

It was seconds later before the lot of them started laughing full force...Not even Sango held it back.

"It's my turn...Hakkaku, I dare you to kiss Ayame," Kagome stated, smirking mischievously. Said girl - who had been involuntarily included in the dare - had flashes of animosity shining in her already bright green eyes.

They kissed anyhow, very briefly, and then tore apart as if one of them had spontaneously combusted.

The game passed as such, dares thrown around like insult, and yet they all managed to get a much-needed laugh out of each and every one of them. Inuyasha declared it his turn before not too long, right after Miroku disappeared somewhere upstairs. He, too, was without a shirt, all thanks to Ayame. So far, no one had drew a card; they sat undisturbed on the coffee table. The circle soon spun back around to Kagome.

"Sing for us, Kags," Inuyasha demanded. He obviously didn't care that four others - who didn't know anything about her and Sango's singing talents - were in the room.

And, on cue, Miroku came ambling back down the stairs, Kagome's guitar in hand. He gave it to her instantly.

"Wow, Kagome, sing something!" Ayame gushed, clapping her hands together. "That's pretty cool, you being able to play and all."

Kagome appeared hesitant - and, for a few seconds, disgusted - as she carefully grasped the guitar in her tight fists as Miroku handed it to her. She hadn't played or sang a thing since last month, and she couldn't deny the fluttery feeling she had in her gut. "But..." she protested, fumbling for the right words that wouldn't give her away. "What about...?"

Sango shook her head slowly, holding up one hand, palm out. "They already know, Kags," she murmured, smiling softly. "I told them. Tai and Rizu know, too. You're the only one who didn't." After a pause, sending a stern look Kouga's way, she turned back to Kagome, her expression soft again. "We haven't hurt you play or sing in a while, and that's not like you. Hell, remember that one time you burst out singing in Mr. Myouga's class during the middle of a lecture, just because you were bored? I'm the one who told Inuyasha to dare you to do this. It's either that or you run up and down the street naked."

Kagome grimaced; she knew that this was coming, even if she did try to hide how she felt...depressed might have been the right word. "I thinks me needs to get some alcohol," she muttered, resting her new gifted guitar - custom made and then given to her by Tai and Rizu - in her hands. The instrument was comforting, the way it conformed perfectly with her hunched form. "You should have told me," she ground out accusingly. "This isn't fair."

Despite her statement, no one said anything as she plucked a few strings, trying to get a feel for them. Her hands trembled, though they still flowed gracefully from cord to cord.

"The worst thing that's ever happened to me...Is you," she began slowly, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. It was one of her favorite songs that she'd written a year or so back.

Afraid of speculating - or, even worse, comforting - glances, Kagome kept her eyes to the floor.

"You stabbed me in the back,

Ripped my hear right out of my chest when you left.

And when I needed you,

Feeling like I was about to fall apart,

You were gone.

"I was left abandoned and scarred," Kagome sang out, her voice increasing in volume with each line. "A corpse, void of anything I used to be. And it's your fault - my worst enemy."

"Insanity, ignorance, blissfulness;

It's all there, hiding under my skin.

Anger, hostility, rebelliousness;

What did I ever do to deserve all this?

"You think I can't see what's behind your mind's eye;

I know how you operate,

Make it seem like you actually care.

I've been condemned to live with my hate,

Pressured by everything else I'm convicted of.

Don't leave me now, 'cause I'm not done yet.

Not yet.

"Insanity, ignorance, blissfulness;

It's all there, hiding under my skin.

Anger, hostility, rebelliousness;

What did I ever do to deserve all this?

"Animosity, encouraged by all this childish behavior.

I can't take all the hiding.

You know you're deriding,

And I don't think I'll ever understand...

""Insanity, ignorance, blissfulness;

It's all there, hiding under my skin.

Anger, hostility, rebelliousness;

What did I ever do to deserve all this...

"I fell in love, and it's slowly killing me,

Just like you."

Kagome let her hand linger on the fret, her other hand silencing the still-thrumming cords. The first thing she felt was a nervous, frantic beating inside her chest, and then someone's arms enveloping themselves around her waist as the pulled her close: Inuyasha.

"I hate you," Kagome mumbled, pinching his hand stubbornly. He didn't let go. It was now she realized that neither one of them had a shirt on.

"Miroku...Sango...Kouga, dammit, tell him to put me down right now!" She had been pulled - involuntarily - onto his lap, with no promise of being released. "Inuyasha Takahashi, I swear to all the hells that I will stab a pencil in your eye and laugh while you painfully try to pull it out. Of course, it might be more entertaining if you have a pencil through both of your eyes...I've always thought that red and gold go really good together."

"Now, Inuyasha...Kagome...let's not start a fight..." Miroku started, trying to decide if he should try to stay and reason with them or run away.

"If Kagome says let go, then put her down, mutt-face!" Kouga interceded with a growl. Ayame tried - and failed horribly - to calm him down. Hakkaku and Ginta each grabbed onto one of his arms in a form of restraint.

Inuyasha threateningly sharpened his claws. "You wanna go, wolf? Bring it on!"

"HEY!" Kagome shouted, narrowly missing Inuyasha's lunging claws by a few inches. "Cut it out, right now! You'll both find yourselves missing one or more of your pretty, pointy ears!" She stood as a sort of barrier and glared menacingly between them. "I swear, I'm hanging out with the two most intolerable, hormone-controlled morons ever! Would you relax, Inuyasha? You're eyes are starting to turn red."

Inuyasha, resolved to not let his full-demon side take hold of him, unclenched his fists and reduced himself to simply glaring at the wolf. Kagome approached Kouga, and spoke a few words so low that even Inuyasha couldn't hear; whatever she said, it seemed to work. Hakkaku and Ginta cautiously let go.

"I'll go get some more hot chocolate!" Sango announced suddenly, jumping to her feet and dragging Miroku up with her. "No killing each other...Save that for when we get back. And when we do, try not to get blood all over the carpets."

Kagome sighed and set her guitar - which was, thankfully, unharmed - against the wall. "I'm going to have a heart attack one of these times. You," she ground out, pointing an accusing finger at Inuyasha. "I would hurt you so badly if I didn't think it would be bad for my mental health; which is already at a low enough level as it is. I can make your life a living hell, and you should know that by now."

She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed again, closing her eyes for a brief second. "I'll be right back. I think I feel a headache coming on." Without waiting for an answer, she bolted up the stairway, grabbing her sweater along the way and slipping it on.

Her feet barely touched the carpet in the hallway as she ran for her bedroom. The whole thing was too much for her to handle. She had attempted to keep a cool composure, but she was surely cracking. Kouga, Ayame, Ginta, Hakkaku...she hardly knew them, and yet the knew her greatest secret; this was something she had never bargained for.

Once inside her sanctuary - otherwise known as her bathroom - she groped for the light switch with one hand and the medicine cabinet with the other. When she found both, she started digging for the ibuprofen.

The faucet was turned on and she splashed water on her face. The ibuprofen had left a dry, lumpy feeling in her throat. As she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she realized her complexion was paler than usual; or, at least, paler than the last time she actually studied herself. Faint - but still visible - dark circles ringed her eyes. 'It's all those damn nightmares,' she concluded sourly. 'Keeping me from sleeping at night.'

For the second time in a short while (to her, anyway), Kagome reached for the concealer she kept stashed away under the sink. "No more," she promised herself diligently. "No more of this moping and lying and nightmares." She gave a curt nod to herself and tied her hair up into a messy coil. "Now to break apart the fight."

To her genuine surprise, there wasn't any fighting downstairs. Everyone was piled on the couches, a mug of hot chocolate in their hands, the stereo blasting. Kagome narrowed her eyes, frozen at the foot of the stairs. "What? Where's the blood and the guts and the ruined carpets? Is the apocalypse coming?"

Sango looked at her in what she thought was supposed to be confusion. "I don't understand what you mean, Kagome," she responded in a sickly sweet tone. The sound made her cringe.

Kagome shook her head, beginning to laugh as if she was having a hyena inspired seizure. "You're impossible!" she choked out, holding onto her sides, like she was attempting to hold them together. "You...can be such a bitch sometimes, you know that? You all are going to be the death of me, and then nobody's going to be laughing."

Sango - along with Inuyasha and Miroku - looked simply incredulous. "What now?" Kagome demanded in a saccharine tone. "Did I say something bad?" Somehow, she doubted that.

"It's more like what you did say, Kagome," Miroku enlightened, his expression turning from that of disbelief to honest satisfaction.

"I don't think you've laughed - at all - like that in...what, a month now?" Sango continued, appearing thoughtful. "Of course, it sounds almost scary. I'm afraid your going to pounce on someone."

Kagome shook her head, still disbelieving. "Was I really that bad?" As soon as she asked, she realized that she didn't have to. "Never mind; don't answer that. I know how I was; a depressed pain in the ass. None of that. I thought we were having a party?"

Kouga and Ayame actually offered to go and get pieces, while Hakkaku and Ginta said that they left some sort of dessert that they had made at home. 'It's a good thing I'm not the one providing the food,' Kagome mused as she settled herself next to Inuyasha, leaning her head cautiously on his shoulder. He responded by putting one of his arms around her shoulder, and the other grabbed onto her hand.

She groaned. "I never actually thought I'd be like this, especially with someone like you," Kagome commented, brows furrowed. "Is that a bad thing?"

Inuyasha shook his head. "Not a chance in hell would this ever be a bad thing. And even if it was, I don't care."

Kagome actually smirked as Miroku and Sango attempted to sneak away.


A/N: Ugh...I'm losing my touch. I didn't mean for it to take so long...I joined choir in church (no idea why) but my schedule's jammed most of the times, and some pretty harsh things are going on around here. I think I'm going to give up on apologizing...Review, please, and like I said; there's still the epilogue to go!