Chapter 13 - Angel Uncovered
"If a dog will not come to you after having looked you in the face, you should go home and examine your conscience."
-Woodrow T. Wilson
FLASHBACK
Kagome nodded shyly. "That would be great, thank you. Mr. Takahashi? My case worker was named Minoto Ikita. She was the one who took me to Naraku. You might also ask them for the files of Souta."
END FLASHBACK
Inutashio stared out as the sun broke over the tops of the mountains that surrounded them and shined down on the clearing that their home stood in. The silence of the forest was just barely breaking, with the morning birds waking slowly. All of this was blind to him as he thought of Kagome's words. Naraku.
He had not even noticed that she had finally given them the name of the man who abused her. That it was in fact the only thing she had said about him. All of them were in shock that Souta was alive, that he had been with his sister. It only dawned on him days later as her words once again ran through his head. Naraku.
Why did this name sound…familiar? As if he had heard it before. Of course when he called Children Services they had denied anyone being down as a foster parent named Naraku and even gone so far as to say that they could not be sure of a person who they might have employed, who might have been named Minoto Ikita, because one could never be so sure what the truth is with these children. They have problems.
"The only damn problem Kagome has is that she was abused by one of your fucking foster parents! I will no longer be calling you. But you can be damn sure that my lawyers and detectives will be. Your incompetence and disregard to the safety of your wards has gone too far. You chose the wrong girl." He had slammed down the phone and called his lawyers who had attacked the organization with the ferocity of a wounded boar youkie, while also going through the steps to have Kagome become a member of his pack. He would make sure that she would be safe, as would all the rest of the family. She had captured the loyalty and love of everyone in the house already; she, Rin and Sango were fast becoming inseparable. Even Sessomaru was making it a point to go into her small library and read in the big backed chair with her for a little bit everyday.
"Inuyasha! Stop! Plea-ahh!" Kagome's laughter rang out from the small library that she had tentatively claimed as hers. She was still hesitant around them, quiet and at times fearful. But she was blooming here, with no one to hurt her. Inutashio smiled when he caught a glimpse of his son tickling Kagome on the small love seat they had placed in there for her. She was swatting him with the book she was reading but he was relentless.
"Inu-yasha! Inu, Inu listen to me." She tried to whisper but it was a wasted effort, her laughter making her words loud. Inuyasha slowed but still had his hands in the attack position. "You win." She smiled at him, a shy, hesitant smile but also a happy one. The shadows were still very present in her eyes but the mere fact that she could smile with happiness was a great achievement.
"How many did I win?" Inuyasha's voice was husky, a rumble of pleasure. He leaned farther over Kagome, his hair falling around both of them, but Inutashio was pleased to see that Inuyasha was sitting to the side of her and that he wasn't holding her down in any way. He was being careful with her.
Inutashio looked away from the happy little display and firmly told himself that he did not hear Kagome moaning softly into his son's kiss. He coughed softly and was happy to hear Inuyasha stop his 'attack'. He was happy for him but he did not want to hear or see what his son did with his mate.
"Inutashio." Izayoi came up behind him and he could feel the heat of her body and the peace that she brought him, by just being near him, settle over his body. Silently, he reached out and touched their mating bond softly with his mind, stoking it gently. She purred softly next to him, twining their fingers together. "Mate, have you heard back from your lawyers?"
"No. The children services are proving to be quite tough. But I'll crack them open and rip out the truth." He growled.
"And what about the 'Inclusion to Pack' form you filled out? Will we be able to join Kagome to the pack before we leave to go back to the city?"
A low grumble filled the room and the annoyance in it could easily be heard. "Those forms are a joke. We are not asking for permission. Including a member to a pack is a sacred ceremony that has nothing to do with the government." Inutashio pushed back his annoyance with the system and nodded, his gold eyes irritated. "I got back a letter. They have received my form and will send a letter of acknowledgement in two to three weeks, in which time we may proceed with the ceremony." The growl was woven into his words.
Izayoi turned his head to her and brought him down to gently kiss him on his lips. "I know it is not fair, my love. The restrictions they have placed on demons and hanyous and their families. But we have gained good ground and I have hope for the future." She smiled at him, her eyes twinkling with that inner fire that drew him to her. This time he kissed her, a wet, hot kiss that communicated his love and desire for her perfectly. She smiled as she pulled away. "I love you, too. You know, one of those restrictions that we got lifted was the 'Mate Application'. Demons and hanyous can now claim their mates any damn time they please and never have to tell the damn government anything." Her voice had risen just enough that their son, currently nuzzling the stomach of the woman laying on the couch, flicked his ear in their direction. Inutashio raised a perfect white eye brow at her when Inuyasha grumbled about 'I'm gettin' to it' and slid the door closed. Izayoi laughed softly and turned to her mate.
She buried her head under his chin, and softly licked him knowing that it both excited him and calmed him.
Inutashio soaked that in silently, letting the peace of having his mate in his arms calm him. "The children still have school. They've missed almost three weeks. I've had the house fixed and updated with security and my men have been searching for the men who kidnapped our son and shot out our house. They have found a few leads, none very solid. We have to head back soon, but I don't want to until at least Kagome is a bonded member of this pack." He rubbed his chin into her silky hair absently, a frown marring his face. "I would love to keep all you here while I went and found the bastard."
"And I hope after all these years of being together that you know me better, than thinking that I'll just get left behind." Izayoi glared at her husband and then smiled when she saw that he actually did know he could not do that. "I called the school yesterday. We are having a family emergency and the children are excused for two more weeks. They are also sending out packets of homework express, that should be arriving today for them. So do not worry about their schooling. Everything will work out."
Inuyasha heard his mother's words and dearly hoped that every thing would in fact work out. But he didn't want to worry about anything for the moment. Right now he only wanted to lay his head against the couch and watch Kagome read.
Absently he rubbed his thumb across the skin of her ankle, the silky texture entrancing him. She had gained weight, thanks in part to his mother cooking the most fatty meals that she knew, and she looked better for it. Her hips were softly rounded, her stomach getting that adorable little curve that made him want to lick her navel. And her breasts, which were on the bigger side to begin with, had become just slightly fuller. It wouldn't of been noticeable to anyone else but Inuyasha had memorized every part of her body and had noticed the gentle swell.
They hadn't gone much past chaste kisses, with the heavenly exception of that one time in his bed. She hadn't shared much of her past with him and he didn't want to scare her. With what Myoga said about the abuse she had gone through, though it made him murderous to even think about it, rape wouldn't of been out of the realm of a possibility. She was still very fragile, her trust in him and his family not yet complete. And he didn't want to break the little she had in him.
But it was not in his nature to be patient. In fact, he had half a mind to lock them both in a room and lock them in, refusing to open the damn fucking door until she told him the entire truth of her past. Evert thing. With details. No evasive little answers. No half truths or direct lies. But everything. He found that he didn't like knowing that there was a whole past of hers that he was not a part of, that he did not know of. And he fucking knew that it was his fucking fault to begin with. If he had only stayed true to what they had as children…
It still amazed him that she didn't hold that against him. She had truly forgiven him for his failure to her. He hadn't. He tried everyday to show her that he did care, that he did want her, that he needed her. But with out putting demands on her.
Truthfully, it was getting a little too damn complicated for him. He was he chosen. She was his. They were destined to be together. That was all there was too it and he had to stop himself from simply claiming her as his intended without telling her. Boy, would he get a beating from his brothers and dad.
"Kagome?" He circled her ankle with his hand, trying not to pay too much attention to the faded scar that encircled it also. "Are you happy?" He asked gruffly.
Kagome set aside the book she had been reading and stared at Inuyasha. Was she happy? How can she tell him that she couldn't really remember what true happiness was like? That sometimes all she could remember as she looked back was pain and red eyes and a laughter that was too dark to be real laughter? "Yes." It was a simple answer and mostly true.
Inuyasha growled and gently shook her foot. "No, Kagome. I don't want the simple, one word answer. I want the whole fucking truth to my question. Please." The last was added as an after thought, as if it would lessen the command he had given her.
And for the first time she thought about actually telling him the truth. And when she looked into his golden eyes, that were so damn frustrated, and concerned, the words started to come out without her conscious consent. "There are times that…when I am surrounded by you and your family, that I forget about what happened to me. I am grateful for these times. But…I also fear them. Every thing would be so much harder if it was taken away again. This…happiness that I found." She tried the word and was amazed at how right it sounded. She was happy. She didn't like speaking so much, revealing so much. It left as if she was unwrapping a well protected part of her soul, with wings as soft as gossamer, and was placing it in his hands. The thought was frightening.
Inuyasha held back his anger. Held back the urge to throw everything upside down. To rage about what had been done to this once happy and gentle girl. "It's never going away, 'Gome. I'm never going away again." Dropping his eyes to her ankle he drew up the courage to ask her the question that he had been thinking about for days now. "Kagome, are you happy with me?"
Kagome almost smiled at the picture he made. She doubted that he was even aware that his ears were drooped or that he was giving her the puppy dog eyes. She smiled gently and reached out to caress his drooping ear. "Yes, Inu. I am happy when I am with you. Isn't that how I am suppose to feel around my Chosen?" She asked quietly, her eyes softening at his startled look, and panic stricken eyes. "I heard you and your dad talking about it at the house, when I was asleep." She smiled at him. "I was getting tired of having to pretend that I didn't know. Is it okay?"
Inuyasha nodded his head, totally dumbfounded. He had been laying awake at night trying to figure out a way to tell her that they were each others Chosen and she just spouted it out like it was every day news. "Yeah. It's okay." Then he leaned forward and gently kissed her. He loved the softness of her lips, how she would mold them to his own. Loved the sound she made every time he kissed her, as if she was surprised and delighted at the same time. He kept it gentle, and short but he couldn't pull away so he leaned his forehead against hers to catch his breath. Even a small kiss and she could take his breath. "You are my Chosen, Kagome. I promise to protect you, cherish you and love only you." The words spilled out of his mouth, and he wondered if she remembered that they were the Words of Intent, wondered if she understood that he had just bound himself to her.
"You are my Chosen, Inuyasha. I promise to protect you, cherish you and love only you." She gently whispered back, smiling into his golden eyes that dilated with every word that passed through her eyes. So this was happiness. "I am happy when I am with you." And then he was kissing her again, this time a kiss of delight. They were both smiling into it, both softly laughing, running their hands through the hair and over the faces of the other.
"You're mine. Mine. Mine." Inuyasha kept repeating it, almost as if he was savoring the very word. He pulled back suddenly and glared at her. "This means no more running, Kagome. No more telling only half truths. No more refusing the things that I can give you." He stopped suddenly when her scent spiked with anxiety and he softened his glare and shook his head. "I'll give you all the time in the world, Kagome, to tell me. I don't expect those right now, though I'll admit that it is damn frustrating. Well, I do expect that you won't be running. Because that means that I would have to go after you." He sighed and finally realized that admitting and saying the Words of Intent was really the easy part. Now everything was much more complicated. "Come, lets go tell mom and dad. They'll be ecstatic." And ignoring the slightly panicked look that came into her eyes, he pulled her to her feet and pulled her to the door. "Relax. They'll be happy." He whispered.
They found his family crowded in the living room, surrounded by the television. "Hey, Everyone! I thought-"
"SSSHHHHHH!" Four different people shushed him and two glared before turning their eyes back to the screen, where a group of people surrounded a reporter. "Do you honestly think that what you are doing, integrating your apartment building and opening your club doors to both humans and demons, is a smart thing to do?" A reporter asked a well dressed man, with flowing black hair and piercing green eyes.
"A woman, for I believe that the Angel is a woman, saved me. She also saved everyone in the Angel's Rescue club. She didn't differentiate between humans, demons or hanyous. What she saw, when she looked at everyone of us, is someone worth rescuing. So yes, I do think that it is a smart thing that I am doing. Because I know that I am tired of this on going war between demons and humans in our city. And I know that I can't be the only one. I would like to say thank you, to the Angel out there, who saved me. Thank you." And then the demon, for he was a demon, bowed to the camera, to Kagome.
Kagome stared flummoxed at the screen. She had remembered the demon on the tv, though he had looked very different when she had seen him. She had found him behind a dumpster, with the needle still in his arm. His hair had been short and matted in clumps, as if he had taken a bath in a mud hole. He had also given her a new scar, across her stomach, when she had started to heal him. She had concentrated on him, looked into his eyes and she wasn't sure what made him lean back and let her do what she had to, but he had simply sat there and let her, before he fell asleep from exhaustion. Inutashio hit mute and looked at the screen, a dazed look on his face.
"I never thought I would of seen it. Michio was completely against human and demon intermixing or even socializing together. Just over a year ago he refused to come to a business meeting because I would be there." He shook his head in awe, a small smile playing on his lips. "He owns over half the apartment buildings in downtown Tokyo. And several very wealthy businesses. Before they had been designated demons only. This is…huge."
"He looks very nice." Kagome whispered, mostly to herself. Inuyasha growled and stared at her in outrage. She laughed and shook her head. "No, I mean he looks much better than the last I saw him." She didn't know if she was ready to share this part of her past with them, didn't know that there was a club dedicated to all the people she helped. But he and his family had given her a lot in the few short weeks she has been with them. And she wanted to show them that she trusted them. "When I healed him." She refused to look anywhere but at the TV, where Michio was currently still talking.
"Kagome?" Inutashio said softly. "I think it's about time we talked about that night you helped Sessomaru. And this time I think you should tell us a little about what exactly you have been up to." And from all the looks everyone was giving her, she guessed that everyone was going to want to ask some questions. Goodness. The things you do for family. Then she smiled, a great big smile that took over her face and lighted up her eyes and blinded the people who looked at her. She had a family.
Okay. I apologize. Very, Very much. I am sorry. I had moved to a little town that I couldn't get internet at, and when I moved back to the city it took awhile to settle down and get a job and start writing again. I am very sorry. I hate it when stories I read are suddenly abandoned, too.
I am currently writing three different stories, in the hope that I won't get bored with just writing one. I plan on updating in a cycle of every week and a half. Again, sorry.
