The Roads That Lead To You

By: Patche

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or story of Inuyasha, nor have I ever claimed to.

Chapter 2: The Daughter

oOo

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"Takemaru, please!" He could hear his mother wailing from the living room after Takemaru returned home from a long night of drinking. He winced at every noise that he could hear. The slap of his hand against her face, the cries of pain.

He just hid in his bedroom, his back against the wall, covering those unfortunately sensitive ears of his.

'One day, Mama… one day I'll save you.' He thought, cringing his teeth at his powerlessness.

He picked his head up as the sounds ceased and listened, waiting for another noise.

"TAKEMARU, NO!" His mother shrieked.

He felt his heart racing as the sounds of angry footsteps were headed for his door. He heard his doorknob turn and spun around to find Takemaru staring at him, his eyes wild with anger. Takemaru crossed the room fluidly and made his way to the boy, grabbing him by the arm and picking him up two feet off the ground.

Inuyasha closed his eyes, preparing for whatever anger Takemaru would unleash on him.

---

He gasped, opening his eyes and sitting up.

'Oh…. It was just a nightmare…' He thought, relieved to find he wasn't six years old or in his room. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow and stared at the blanket draped across his legs. It looked like an old comforter with a cartoon character design all over the front of it.

'What the hell?' He tore the comforter off him, and gazed around the room. The walls were painted a light beige and there were framed pictures hanging from every dimension of the room. Pictures of a family.

'Where am I?'

He didn't remember anything, especially how he wound up in this strange room. He studied the picture on the wall nearest him. It was surrounded by a thin black frame and inside, there were four people. A man was standing, he looked sharp but still kind enough. His arm was wrapped around the waist of a woman with short, curly brown hair and soft eyes. The two of them had their hands on the shoulders of what appeared to be a child and a teenager standing in front of them. The child was obviously a boy. He was grinning happily, showing off some of his missing teeth. The teenager was a girl, almost as tall as her mother. Her hair was long, and jet black and she was smiling, her hands clasped together in front of her. And her eyes… they were the deepest blue he could imagine looking into.

His attention was broken at the sound of a knock on the door.

His eyes shifted nervously around the room. 'Shit…' He thought as the door opened.

The woman from the picture appeared in the doorway, a mug in her hand. She gasped at the sight of him, holding a hand to her chest. She chuckled after the shock wore off and handed him the mug.

"I thought this might help warm you up a little more. Your clothes are in the dryer, by the way. I hope you don't mind wearing some of Kouji's old clothes." She smiled sympathetically.

Inuyasha looked down and noticed he was wearing a white button up, rather than the shirt he'd put on the previous morning.

"It seems like you had a pretty mild case of hypothermia." She said, concerned. "You didn't even know your name last night." She said, raising her hand to feel his forehead.

Inuyasha winced at the movement and she withdrew her hand.

"It's okay. I just want to see if you're running a fever." She said softly, placing her hand on his forehead.

Inuyasha blinked, a little surprised by the action.

"Who are you?" He asked, his voice feeling like molasses as it escaped his throat.

The woman smiled. "I'm Higurashi Houko. I'm a nurse at the hospital just a few blocks from here. Do you remember last night?" She asked him.

Inuyasha shook his head slowly. "Was I in the hospital?" He asked, fearfully.

Houko shook her head. "No, we found you walking in the middle of a blizzard. Kagome… my daughter, wanted to give you a ride home, but you weren't telling us where you lived. You seemed to be in a daze and you weren't walking very well. So, we hurried home to warm you up." She said, smiling.

"Ka… gome?"

Houko nodded. "Yes, that's my daughter." She sighed. "I don't know what'll happen once she's out on her own… I just pray she doesn't live near any panhandlers or she'll be broke!" She said laughing at her own joke only to receive a disbelieving stare from Inuyasha.

She sighed as her laughter slowed and she pat the comforter. "Well, she and her brother, Souta, are at school right now. He's the one that lent you his blanket. It's the warmest in the house, so that's why we covered you in it." She ran her fingers over it. "I swear, this thing is the oldest, and grossest blanket anyone could imagine, but he just won't let me buy him a new one."

A loud ding from another room caused Inuyasha's ears to twitch and Houko shot up.

"Oh, your clothes must be dry. I'll be right back." She said, patting his leg as she stood.

'O…kay…' Inuyasha thought, still confused as to how he wound up wherever he was. He groaned as a throbbing began in the hand that had been stung the day before. He lifted his hand to inspect the damage and noticed the red lump had increased in size slightly. He sighed bitterly and shoved his hand beneath the blanket.

---

She was forcing him to stay and eat dinner. What kind of household was this? Didn't normal rich, happy families like this one try to stay away from suspicious people walking the streets in blizzards, or was his perception of the world completely off?

"So, Inuyasha, right?" Houko asked as she stood in the kitchen with him, preparing dinner for the rest of her family.

"Yeah." He said, paying hardly any attention to her.

"Do you want to call your parents? I'm sure they're worried. I can have Kagome give you a ride home once we finish dinner."

Inuyasha sighed and shook his head. "They aren't worried. I'll be out of your hair soon enough…" He mumbled.

Houko blinked. "You're not a bother, you know? I actually was glad Kagome thought it'd be best to help you."

Inuyasha looked out at her from the corner of his eye. 'So… is this pity, or something?'

"Do you… have a home, Inuyasha?"

"What? Of course I do!" He barked at her. "I'm just not going back for a long long time!" He immediately regretted letting out so much information.

"We're home!"

Houko gave Inuyasha one last suspicious look before peeking out through the kitchen.

"Kagome, Souta! Dinner will be ready soon." She said, smiling.

"Alright." Kagome said, cheerfully, walking into the kitchen behind her mother. She stopped noticing the silver-haired boy from the night before was standing by the sink, staring at her. She smiled nervously, under his golden gaze and shifted her attention to her mother.

"Umm… Sango-chan wants to know if she can come over later and study with me. Would that be okay?" She asked her mother.

Houko smiled and nodded. "Well, it is, so long as you can give Inuyasha a ride home before she comes over."

"I told you I don't-" Inuyasha started, but was cut off as Houko held up her hand. 'God, this woman is giving me such a headache…' He thought, holding a hand to his head.

"Do you mind, Kagome?" She asked, still smiling brightly.

Kagome took a glance at Inuyasha, who was silently begging her to disagree, then turned to her mother. "Yeah, no problem!" And with that, she skipped out of the kitchen.

Inuyasha groaned inwardly as he conjured up his plan of action before pushing himself off the counter and heading out of the kitchen.

"Rawr!"

Inuyasha quirked an eyebrow at the young boy in front of him, blocking his path to the rest of the house.

"You're a wolf, right? So maybe it'd be aroooo" The boy said, smiling childishly. "That's cute! My sister is totally a cat and I'm a frog! You can be a part of our farm!"

Inuyasha blinked staring at the child in complete shock as he pursed his lips. "What kind of farm would keep a wolf and a frog?" He asked, disinterested in the boy.

The boy scoffed and placed his hands on his hips. "Only the cool farm, duh!" He said through a smart-alec tone.

Inuyasha prepared his retort just as the girl, Kagome, came sauntering back into the room he currently occupied.

"Souta. What are you doing to our poor guest?"

"I was telling him he could join our farm, Nee-chan!" He said, smiling. "He can be the wolf!"

Kagome laughed and ruffled the younger boy's hair, shooting Inuyasha a sympathetic look. "Don't take it to heart. He's just a kid." She said, turning back to her brother.

Inuyasha scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "I didn't take any offense to it! I'm not that sensitive!" He shouted, fighting back the heat rising through his face after his interaction with the girl.

---

Dinner was so much louder than he was used to. A man named Kouji had returned home. He assumed this was Houko's husband and Kagome's and Souta's father. He was as tall and rugged as the man in the picture and had a nice, calming aura about him. Kouji reminded him of the father on a television show he used to watch as a little boy about some child's misadventures. The main character would always come home from his travels and receive a warm hug from his mother and a bedtime story from his father.

He forgot that families were supposed to behave like this.

They didn't say much to him, though Houko was desperately trying to involve him in the conversation. Instead, Kouji and Souta led the conversation with details of their day while Kagome sat quietly, eating her food and looking up occasionally to glance at her guest.

Once dinner was over, the family took their dishes and set them in the sink for Houko and Kagome to wash, while Souta and Kouji disappeared into their bedrooms. Inuyasha took this time to sneak to the front door and as quietly as possible, leave the house he'd been cooped up in for twenty-four hours.

He had just made it to the door when he heard his name being called behind him.

"Inuyasha… I was thinking…"

He turned around. It was Houko giving him a look he'd only seen on his mother's face when she was worried about him.

"I don't want Kagome out so late in this nasty weather. We're supposed to get a blizzard soon. Why don't you just stay another night? You can call your parents. I'm sure it'll all be just fine."

Inuyasha scoffed and opened the door. "I'm not calling them."

"Well you're not walking."

Both Houko and Inuyasha turned to see Kagome standing behind them, her car keys in her hand.

"Kagome, you aren't driving in this weather." Houko said sternly.

"Mama, I was taught how to drive in the snow. Besides, if it gets too bad, I can call dad." She said softly. "We don't need him out in the cold. Maybe he's still a little hypothermic."

Houko nodded. "Fine, but you better be very careful!" She said, her position unfaultering.

Kagome nodded her head once and walked toward the door behind Inuyasha, closing it behind her as they both set out into the night. He felt slightly relieved that he didn't have to walk. He had been feeling drowsy and a little dizzy since dinner. It must have been the food.

Inuyasha was silent as they walked down to the street outside Kagome's house where her car was parked. It was a small, blue sporty car, definitely a newer model whatever it was. He wasn't entirely sure.

As they reached the car, Kagome opened her mouth to speak.

"I just noticed it, but that black eye you had last night is already gone." She said, climbing into the car.

'Black eye?' He thought, remembering Takemaru punching him in the face before he stormed away from the man.

"I wonder how that works…" She mused. Inuyasha climbed into the seat beside her and watched while she started the engine and fastened her seatbelt.

"It's 'cause I'm a half demon. I figured that was obvious." He said, folding his arms over his chest and glaring out the window and waiting for her to shriek in disgust at this fact.

"Well, I knew that much." She said, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear and putting the car in drive. "I just didn't know half demons recovered so quickly."

He felt his mind go completely blank at her words. 'I knew that…' She knew? Yet, she still helped him?

"So, where am I going?" She asked, glancing at him.

"You can just stop here." He muttered. "I can find my way."

Kagome slammed on her brakes. "What?! I'm not leaving you out here in this cold, you idiot! Tell me where to go!" She exclaimed, awaiting direction from the boy beside her.

"I just told you. Let me out wherever, because I'm not going home!" He shouted, mentally cursing himself for, again, revealing too much to a complete stranger. Was he this bad with communication? Or did he just feel a weird sense of trust around Kagome and her mother? He rolled his eyes at the thought.

Kagome was a little surprised by him speaking clearly. He was always muttering words to her mother…

She sighed and pulled over to the side of the road, putting the car in park.

He was so irritated and the world around him seemed to be spinning, not that this was an excuse for his rude behavior, but he felt as if he was going to explode at any second. How did he even expect to walk feeling like this?

"Fine…" She whispered, feeling defeated. Inuyasha hastily opened the passenger door into the empty neighborhood street and began to step out of the car when he felt a lump rising in his throat. He tried to swallow it down, but aggravated his body more in the process as he began to shiver.

"Are you okay?" Kagome asked, reaching for him. He slunk away from her arm and leaned out the door, releasing the contents of his stomach onto the ground beneath him.

"Oh my gosh!" Kagome shouted, noticing the lump on his hand had swollen to the size of a golfball. The surrounding skin was a bright red, almost violet color. She grabbed his shoulder and spun him around once he'd finished his business outside the door.

"Change in plans!" She shouted, putting the car in drive and speeding off to the nearest hospital, grabbing the phone to call her mother.

Inuyasha groaned, closing his eyes in the passenger seat.

"Hey, hey!" Kagome shouted, pulling the phone up to her ear. "Hang in there, please!" She begged.

Inuyasha heard her pleading voice echoing through his memory as his eyes closed and he was plunged into the darkness.

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AN – I really only wanted the first chapter to have an AN at the beginning. It's going to be down here, though, as it always is. Okay… so, I'm sure you guys can guess what's wrong with him… I have to admit, looking up everything about wasp sting allergies really gave me the creeps. Anyway, I'm very happy this story is doing so well! I'm glad so many people like it so far :) I will be updating I Stole Your Soul next. So strange, Inuyasha's on his way to the hospital in both these stories. Don't know how that worked.

Please leave a review. It's what keeps me going.