AN: I doubt anyone is still reading this. That's a shame because I really like how this chapter turned out. If you do happen to read this, a few disclaimers"
-One, I don't own any of these characters you recognize.
-Two, there's more language than usual, but nothing too terrible. There is also some sexual innuendo but nothing that wouldn't be in a PG-13 movive.
All right. I really hope there are people who still read this, and that if you do, you enjoy it. This story means a lot to me and I'd like to know if it does to anyone else.
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They had been sitting in the store parking lot for nearly half an hour while Inu Yasha studied the map. Since she hadn't really eaten yet, Kagome was rather insistent that food was in order. It wasn't until the 43rd verse of "King Henry VII" that he relented and pulled into a small local grocer. She had complained about that, too.
"Why not just stop at a gas station with a restaurant attached?" She complained.
"Hmph. We don't need gas yet."
"You know that funny little "E" down there? When the stick points to it, that typically means that the car isn't going to go vroom-vroom for much longer. FYI."
"Shut it." Inu Yasha was not in a very good mood. It was almost dark now but he was still in the city limits. The car was almost out of gas, though. He knew they would catch up to him and soon if he didn't start making some serious mileage. And to top it all off, like a zit on prom night, she was still with him. Oddly, he wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. That only pissed him off more, truthfully.
There was so much about her that set off warning bells and flashing "don't go there" lights. But Inu Yasha was never one to take orders well—even from himself. She always seemed able to see through his well woven tapestry of machismo. That was really unnerving. And speaking of unnerving, she always seemed to be looking at him. Is it that weird to meet a hanyou
They had gone in and bought enough munchies and such to last until something more suitable came along and returned to the car. As she finished her burrito, Kagome was watching Inu Yasha sink further into his own thoughts. Again. He always seemed to be so far away! A part of her wondered if he wasn't sleeping with his eyes open, actually.
She waived her hand in front of his face. No response. Emboldened and feeling impish, she reached out and did something she'd dreamed about since she first saw him: a tentative hand and ran a few fingers experimentally through his long, silver hair.
Or at least that was the plan. After the first inch or so, her fingers became ensnared in the worst tangle she'd ever seen. CRAP. Biting her lip and moving in super-slow-motion, Kagome moved her other hand to rescue its trapped mate from the clutches of disaster. She dug her other hand into the fray, hoping to find a finger and set each one free separately. Unfortunately, as soon as her other hand was firmly entwined within the hairy prison, she felt her hip begin to vibrate.
…
…
It's now or never! Hojo thought to himself bravely. He'd been pacing in front of the payphones since 5:00. Higurashi-san wasn't the most punctual of people, sure, but he'd heard all the stories—what if something terrible had happened to her? It was already getting dark outside when he made up his mind and dug through his pockets for her cell phone number. Kagome's mother insisted that he take it with him as a precaution but he still felt it would be terribly forward of him to call her private number when she didn't even know he had her number…
But he had to know if she was alright.
…
…
Sango was pacing. Where the hell is she? It was nearly 7:00 by now and she hadn't heard a peep from her roommate. Until now she'd given Kagome the benefit of the doubt. She must want some alone time with her fiancé…
But they should have had the decency to call her at the least! She had endured a public appearance with Miroku to get his help with shopping for dinner. Sango really wanted to do something nice for Kagome; so she put up with her amorous boyfriend and his wandering hands. She slaved away making her very best yakisoba using all of Kagome's favorite ingredients and everything. She took a shower and cleaned the apartment, hung a sloppy "omeddetou" or "congrats" sign up and all before 5:00, so that they would be surprised when they got home from the airport.
By 5:30 she felt silly for rushing. Around 6:15 she felt a little annoyed. At 7:04 she started to panic as thoughts of muggings and other horrors came to mind. God, what if they've been carjacked—that thought stopped Sango in her tracks. MY CAR. KAGOME HAS MYCAR.
Her hand flashed to her jean pocket, searching for the hard outline of her cell phone. Consideration be damned. This was about her car; her baby. As her fingers deftly punched Kagome's number, her thoughts grew darker. Where the hell is she?
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…
For the millionth time in her life, Kagome cursed her luck and wondered how something so small could make so much noise by vibrating. She tugged on her hands experimentally, in case the phone had magically loosened them.
No such luck. The phone vibrated again and Kagome bit her lip while throwing worried expressions back and forth between her hip and Inu Yasha, who somehow had not been shaken out of his reverie yet. She slowly and painfully twisted herself against the back of the car seat in a vain attempt to dislodge the phone from her pocket or perhaps magically hit a button that would make it shut up. After a few gentle attempts, the phone began vibrating anew and panic overrode judgment. She moved wildly, praying for whoever was calling to take a hint and hang up.
A seat belt buckle hit her square in a kidney and caused her to yelp at the sudden pain. She glanced quickly at Inu Yasha.
…Who was looking right back at her as though she was wearing a lobster for a hat. His eyes slowly traced the path from Kagome's outstretched arms to where they disappeared into his hair. After processing for a moment, his eye gave a single twitch in response and swung back to face Kagome fully again.
Humans have a mechanism built into their mind that is referred to as "fight or flight". Kagome's body had hit the "flight" button and she immediately tried to remove herself from the dangerous situation. At the same time, the phone began to vibrate once again. Her eyes filled with panic as Inu Yasha reached for her.
Her fists closed tightly with her eyes in preparation of the coming attack. When he was close enough for her to feel his breath her nerves broke and she curled into a ball and screamed, "Loreal, right?"
When she pulled herself inwards, however, she had forgotten that she was still connected to Inu Yasha's hair. In effect, what she had done was to pull him into the nape of her neck and hold him against the back of her own head.
She felt the tension drop from him and turn into a confused energy. Muffled and warm against her neck, Inu Yasha softly said, "Keh…Because I'm worth it."
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…
Koga stopped again to sniff the air. Sure people looked at him like he was crazy, but that didn't matter. He'd found her trail and was standing outside of what must be her apartment complex. Her scent was already fading, though. She hadn't been here in hours; that was certain. Now he had to decide what to do next.
Just as he decided to go inside he ran into a young woman. He gave an embarrassed "excuse me" and stopped cold. This one smelled like Kagome. Brazenly, he reached out and caught the woman by her shoulder.
Without a second of hesitation, though, she ducked from his grip, turned, grabbed his wrist and swiftly twisted herself behind him, using the offending limb to pin him into submission.
"Whoa! Sorry! I am not trying to hurt you!" He gasped out, impressed by the quick reaction and strength of the woman. He tried to get a better look at her over his shoulder but she tucked his arm further behind his own back, making him wince.
"Don't even try it. I am in no mood buddy. Besides, I'm not the one who should be worried about getting hurt, huh?" She viciously twisted his wrist again.
"Damn. Kagome hangs out with some tough people." He mumbled it more to himself, but his captor overheard and gasped, loosening her grip momentarily before re-establishing it as tighter than before.
"Kagome-chanwadoko"
"Where is Kagome?" She asked darkly.
Koga's mind worked furiously. His family was originally from Japan and his tutors made sure that he studied his native tongue, but no one had spoken Japanese to him in nearly twenty years. He struggled for a moment and then pulled the answer from the vaults of his memory.
"Wa-WakarimasenHontoni"
"I-I don't know! I swear!"
After a moment's hesitation, she released him and spun him around to face her. With a sickening wave he recognized her from that day at the DMV when he'd been so completely humiliated. This was Kagome's friend... Crap.
Apparently, she had recognized him, too. "What the hell are you doing here?"
What was her name? …Sango!
"I was looking for Kagome. It would seem that I'm not the only one, though. It's Sango, right?"
The woman snorted at this and let one hand rest on her slender hip. She looked profoundly unsympathetic to his cause. "Why are you looking for Kagome-chan, anyway? Didn't have enough fun making an ass of yourself the other day?"
Ouch. So that's how it is, eh?
Koga felt his patience wearing thinner by the moment. "I went to take my test today, if you must know, but she wasn't there. The old ladies said she went off with that mu—" the glare she directed at him warned him not to finish that particular word. "Ah, that other guy and hadn't come back for a few hours. I don't trust that guy and wanted to find Kagome to make sure she was safe." He gave an offended sniff.
The woman looked seriously worried by this. She bit her lower lip indecisively before she spoke. "Shit."
…
…
After that horrible incident with the hair, Kagome could barely look at Inu Yasha much less ask about what was going on. There were so many questions—not the least of which being "do hanyous ever go to the restroom?"
At least he seemed as affected as she was. That made her feel a little better. It was nearly 9:00, though, by the time they finally stopped at a seedy gas station. As he got out to fill up the tank, Kagome stretched and headed towards the station.
Inu Yasha turned on her, suddenly. "Where do you think you're going?"
Kagome was stunned for a moment by his attitude. She quickly morphed from shock to anger. "What business is it of yours?" She turned on her heel with her chin lifted indignantly. Jerk.
But he was in front of her, somehow, and staring intensely. "I asked you where you were going."
"Hey. Asshole. Newsflash for ya: I. Have. To. Pee."
His face flushed in embarrassment and he could only stutter as she marched past him. Honestly, where did he think I was going?!
Kagome stormed into the dilapidated store and barked a single word at the indifferent clerk, "Bathroom!"
He looked up from his girly magazine, nonplussed. Aside from looking rather dirty and slightly stoned, Kagome noted his name tag: "Hi! My name is Bobbers ." She tried not to openly shudder.
After looking her up and down, he smirked and jerked his head to the door at the back of the building. She quickly made her way to the facilities with one thought on her mind. In. Out. And with as little skin contact as humanly possible.
…
…
Inu Yasha cursed himself again. Stupid. You cannot keep her with you. What happens when they catch up? Think He's going to say, 'oh, this has nothing to do with you, young lady; be on your way, now'? Not bloody likely. She'll be hurt or killed or worse. Just dump her now, while you have the chance. She's probably calling the cops right now anyway.
With a sinking feeling in his stomach he through the gears into reverse and sped off into the night.
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…
"Shit."
Sango had been more irritated than worried when she called the cabbie. She had called Kagome but she didn't answer. That was not like her at all. Kagome would probably stop dying if it meant that she didn't miss a call. But after letting the phone ring for an eternity, Kagome's perky voicemail picked up. That was when Sango decided it was time to take some action. She didn't know much, but she had to at least start with what she had: Kagome was supposed to pick up Hojo at the airport around 4:00 this afternoon. So she had called a cabbie and was on her way out of the building when this guy bumped into her and suddenly tried to grab her.
Now Sango was what some might call a "bad ass". Her father had firmly insisted that his daughter would be able to defend herself if she was going to be on her own. So while she was not proficient in any one particular martial art, she was well grounded in about two defensive arts, one offensive art and had even studied kendo briefly.
She had almost felt sorry for the poor sap who was probably just trying to hit on her - until he mentioned Kagome. That got her attention.
When she noticed it was the other guy from the DMV, though, her mood actually got worse than ever. He had calmly explained that her roommate was actually missing and last seen with Inu Yasha a few hours before she was supposed to pick up her finance.
FIANCE?Dammit, Kagome-chan, what are you thinking? You've been having a mental affair with a total stranger for the last week without mentioning that you are about to get married?
"Shit," Sango repeated. The guy looked slightly guilty and introduced himself properly. That was just about the same time that the cab drove up and began honking for her. After a moment's indecision, she grabbed Koga by the wrist and pulled him towards the cab. "I'm going to the airport to see if she was there or not. That's the last place she was supposed to be today. Your nose can help me, right?"
Koga was a little shaken by how quickly she took charge. "S-sure" he stammered. She figured that he was a youkai, then. It was a little odd that she didn't seem to mind but he didn't have time to linger on those thoughts since she was busy shoving him into a taxi cab.
…
…
She probably doesn't recognize this number. I wouldn't blame her for not answering.
Luckily for him, Hojo was a born optimistic. Even as the souvenir shops closed around him, he remained faithful that she was on her way. Everyone knew how bad traffic was in Boston, after all! But she would be there soon.
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…
Sango took a deep breath and repeated the question one more time. "Where… is… the… flight... from… TO-KEY-OH?" she asked through grated teeth and using hand movements to accentuate her point. The lady just looked terrified and shook her head violently in response. Koga saw Sango tense in preparation to jump the desk and strangle this woman and grabbed her by the waist just before she sprung. There was already a low growl emanating from her delicate neck, so Koga knew he was just in time.
He carried her until they were out of sight from the help desk and set her down. "Look, Sango. It's just like I already said—she hasn't been here. At all."
"But! The letter! What's going on? Where is she? Where is my car? Where is Hojo? Why don't they hire people that speak English to work here? I even speak English!" With each unanswered question she threw her hands higher into the air. By the last exclamation she was nearly hysterical again and was getting a lot of attention—particularly from security.
Koga put his hands on each of her elbows and pinned them to her sides to keep them from thrashing. "CALM DOWN, WOMAN!" He bellowed at her. That really made security nervous. "Look, let's get out of here. You can tell me more about this letter in the cab." And with that he ushered a protesting Sango out of the terminal.
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…
She had to admit it. Kagome was somehow impressed. The stall was barely big enough for her to sit down and not hit her knees against the stall door and the seat itself was enough to discourage any who might be silly enough to think it was safe for use. But that wasn't the impressive part. What was so amazing was the stall door itself: it was covered in writing; all different scripts and ink colors but so dense that you couldn't tell what the original color of the door had been. And what, pray tell, would someone write on a bathroom stall?
She was transfixed in her horror. She couldn't believe that anyone would be willing to have intercourse in this cesspool much less admit it. But that's what the stall door was. It was like a log of all the adventurous couples who had had sex in that particular log. And they were dated. When she noticed that particular detail, she immediately set to searching for the most recent date as she quickly finished her business.
Oh god. Please not today… please not today… please no— when she saw today's date she felt a shiver of repulsion run up her spine. But when she saw the name attached to today's date she felt the chunks rise. It was different in that there was only one name listed: Bobbers.
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…
The light had cycled through at least three times already and still wouldn't turn green. At this point Inu Yasha began to suspect foul play. He also began to feel like a total jerk. With more than a few curses, he turned the car around, hoping that nothing happened to her.
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…
Kagome ran the water as hot as possible and prayed that she wouldn't have to look at "Bobbers" on her way out.
While she was hungry for some real food, she really wanted to get out of this place. Bobbers was still on register and still reading his literature when she came out of the restroom. She hoped he wouldn't pay her any heed and practically ran out of the station.
Only to find the lot was completely empty.
He left her. Inu Yasha had left her behind. Tears of fear and anger stung her eyes as she dug through her pocket for her cell phone. When she felt it safely in her grip she paused to take in her bearings and think about her situation.
…where am I, anyway? I think it's safe to say we're outside of New York City, but how far? Think Kagome, think! Which direction were you taking this whole time? She bit her lip in frustration as the tears came free to run down her cheeks. You weren't paying attention were you? No. You were all caught up in your little fantasy. Now what? You're lost. You're alone—except for Bobbers, at least—and to top it all off, he left with Sango's car.
That was like a blow to the head. She didn't need to be scared of what would happen to her: if she was alive when she finally saw her roommate again, it wouldn't be for long.
Oh, god! Sango-chan! She must be worried sick!
Kagome looked to her cell phone and swore. Two missed calls! Her phone cheerfully blinked at her. But there weren't any messages. She checked to see if anyone aside from Sango had called—more out of habit than anything else. There was a second number, but she didn't recognize the area code or the number. Hmm. That's odd. They didn't leave a message, either. Must have been a wrong number. But that's not important. What am I going to tell Sango-chan? How am I supposed to get home? Maybe I can call the police and tell them I was kidnapped? But then they'd be after InuYasha…
As she stood in the middle of the gas station parking lot she found herself distracted from the task at hand by a sudden downpour of rain.
Swearing like a sailor, she ducked back into the store. Desperation took over at this point and she dialed Sango's number, willing to take the verbal beating if it got her home, dry, and safe.
bum-Bum-BUM!
The chime was so loud it hurt her unsuspecting ears. She looked accusingly at her phone's screen, demanding an explanation. It took her a moment to notice that she didn't have a signal. Dammit! Maybe I could get a bar or two outside… if it wasn't raining cats and dogs, maybe. DammitInuYasha! I will get you for this!
"Sumptin wrong, sweetie?" Kagome nearly fainted when the voice came out of nowhere to remind her that she wasn't alone. She spun to see Bobbers leaning over the counter with a lecherous grin plastered across his unshaven face.
She couldn't bring herself to respond or to break eye contact with the terrible man. He took her silence for confusion. "Whassa matter, sweetie? No speaky English?" He wheezed a laugh that spoke of years of alcohol. Then with an exaggerated expression he loudly and slowly attempted to communicate with her. "Ko-nee-chi-wa. Me likey rice, too? You likey noodles?" And he leered and laughed again. Kagome was frozen with fear and disgust.
Bobbers moved slowly, never breaking eye contact—as if he were holding her with a spell—and came around the counter. Once Kagome realized the one barrier between them was gone, though, the spell was broken and she ran for the door.
Thunder was rolling overhead and the rain blinded her but she knew she couldn't stop. She thought back to all those made for TV movies and after school specials filled with women who were victims. And she thought, not me. I will NOT be a victim!
She stopped running and turned. Bobbers was standing in front of the store. Kagome stood her ground, thinking as calmly as she could when she heard it.
Tires squealing.
An impossible hope rose in her but she did not allow herself to break her stance. If she looked and it wasn't Inu Yasha, she didn't think she could take it.
"OOOOOOOOOiii! WEENNCCHH!"
She saw Sango's car come splashing through the empty lot to stop between her and the station. Inu Yasha had barely stopped the car before he was out of it and headed for Bobbers, who was no longer holding his ground, but scrambling to get back into the safety of the store.
In the time it took Inu Yasha to get the terrified clerk in his grip, Kagome came unfrozen. She no longer felt any fear. Only anger.
She advance upon the front of the store where Bobbers was being interrogated.
"DID YOU TOUCH HER? I SWEAR I WILL TEAR YO—"
"Inu Yasha…" Kagome let the syllables roll from deep in her chest, resulting in a dramatic and deep delivery. At the tone in her voice, the rage visibly melted off the hanyou and his ears pressed submissively against his head when he saw the expression on Kagome's face.
He slowly let the other man go, oblivious to his squeals of fear as he locked himself inside the store. Inu Yasha had gone into a rage when he got to the station to find Kagome in a stand-off with the seedy man. And then he smelled Kagome's fear. That was when he lost it. Now he remembered that this was technically all his fault. Kagome stood in front of him now, her slim frame somehow transformed into a long-forgotten Goddess of Revenge and War. His mind raced to find some way to appease her before she killed him—but could only come up with one word.
"Shit."
AN: That was a really long chapter... it was getting pretty intense, too! I promise, I'll try to keep it lighter in the next chapter!
I hope someone is reading out there...