Chapter 12
"Mmm..." Kagome stirred as the lights flickered on. It took her a long moment to realize where she was, but she quickly noticed that something changed and raised her head higher to get a better look.
Near the door sat a folded white gown, next to it, a small box of cheerios, a carton of milk, and a styrofoam bowl and a plastic spoon.
"Breakfast?" Kagome murmured groggily, letting her head fall back to the pillow.
"Some person brought it in earlier," Inuyasha replied, standing up from his sitting position near the wall. "Before that, a different person came in and checked your pulse rate and injected a needle full of clear stuff into your neck. You didn't wake up for anything."
Her hand went up to the left side of her neck, feeling a certain stiffness there. She sat up, sighing in relief when she didn't get any head pains. She glanced up when Inuyasha leaned against the same wall he slept against. "Sleep well?"
He snorted. "Not at all, actually."
The intercom beeped and Kagome glanced up when she heard a young male's chipper voice.
"Finally awake, I see. You have at least an hour to prepare yourself before we escort you to your first scheduled place for the day. Eat the breakfast we provided and change into the gown. You can leave your clothes behind. Do you prefer to shower mornings or evenings?"
Brows drawn together, she glanced at Inuyasha before answering, "Um... mornings?"
"Okay, then. I'll provide a few extra minutes for that. I'll see you soon, 643." The intercom beeped off.
Kagome slowly relaxed, glancing at Inuyasha again. "What's all that about?"
Inuyasha shrugged. "Dunno. Better get ready before 'they' come to get you."
She pouted when she looked at the bathroom. "There's no door..."
"So?" When she glanced at him again, he sniffed and looked away. "I ain't gonna peek. What do you take me for?"
"A sneaky pervert," Kagome mumbled, disregarding his glare, "You said you saw me in my underwear..."
Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "I saw you in your underwear a couple times. You're the one prancing in your bedroom without noticing me."
She sighed and stood, gathering the garment she was ordered to wear. Sometimes, she just got too comfortable in his presence. Looking down at the gown, she muttered, "They expect me to wear the same underwear?"
The intercom beeped once more. "Actually, no underwear, please," the same voice from before replied, "It just makes the register process more difficult."
Inuyasha growled. "What, do they expect you to get naked during these tests?" he snapped.
"Well, we need to test for STDs, any disease she might have brought in from outside, damage reports, et cetera, et cetera. For some of these tests, Miss 643 has to undress in front her designated doctor- which would be me."
"You can hear him?" Kagome said, astonished.
"And see him. One of our safety measures to make sure Inuyasha doesn't chop our employees' heads off. It's critical of us to be one above our subjects, Miss. I'll stop bothering you two now. Time's ticking." The intercom beeped off.
Kagome sent Inuyasha a soft smile. "At least you'll be noticed by others for once...?"
He glowered. "If they touch you, try to make me exist so I can do what he said I'd do."
"Uh... okay..." she replied hesitantly and walked to the bathroom. "Stay there," she said over her shoulder. Hidden by the wall, she slowly got undressed, feeling more uncomfortable than she had ever been in her life. She practically leapt into the shower, hardly glad for the unclear glass.
While she was rinsing her body, her thoughts went to her mother. If she worked for the company... as a 'mother'... what does that mean, anyway? In charge of birthing subjects? Possibly... How many brothers and sisters do I actually have? She always wanted a sibling, often throwing tantrums at her mother for not getting her one, back when she didn't know how babies were made. Now, it just made her feel hollow and unimportant, like just another one down the line. 643... why do I have the feeling they didn't just produce that number randomly?
Biting her lip, she glanced behind her shoulder, where she would get a view of the whole bathroom through the glass. Even though it was empty, something nagged at her.
It was when she was toweling her body off that she chanced a look up. A blinking red dot sat on the center of the ceiling. A camera. Kagome hurriedly covered herself, a shriek of pure embarrassment tearing out of her throat.
Of course, Inuyasha had to burst inside like the hero he was. "What's wrong?"
She stumbled to the wall, slipping down on her butt. "They have to watch me bathe?!" she yelled while pointing at the camera.
Inuyasha growled dangerously, a low pitch that rumbled in his chest as he glared at the camera. Kagome could have sworn his eyes flickered red before he jumped, shoving his claws through the camera and tearing a hole in the ceiling, making insulation rain down on them. "Fucking bastards!"
"Touchy demon, aren't you?" the male voice clucked from the other room. "I'll let that slide until someone finds out. Whoever decided to put a camera in the bathrooms are sick. Oh, five minutes left to eat your breakfast, 643."
"I'm not hungry," Kagome moped as she buried her face in her towel covered knees, still mortified to the bone.
"Suit yourself."
Inuyasha knelt in front of her, right when she was about to chew him out, and slipped the thin gown over her head. "Don't let them get to you, little mate," he murmured, a tint of the feral growl still in his voice. "I'll kill them all before they even touch your body."
Kagome lifted her head, feeling more blood rush to her face as he tugged the dress down on her body like she was a child. "O...kay," she whispered slowly, pushing her hands through the arm-holes.
In one move, he pulled her to her feet, pulling her dress down to cover her lower half. His eyes remained steady on hers and Kagome forgot to breathe for a second. He tugged her into his arms, holding her tightly and she automatically wrapped her arms around him, taking some of his courage for herself. "I'll protect you. In any way that I can," he said in a low voice that gave her shivers.
She nodded. "I know you will."
They both heard the door clank open. "Subject 643," a firm, feminine voice stated.
Kagome drew in a quick breath and slipped from his embrace, stepping out into view.
Her escort was a woman, most-likely in her early twenties, with long, chestnut brown hair pulled up to a high ponytail. Her hard brown eyes gave no sympathy to her situation. "My name is Sango Taijiya," she said, "And I am assigned to be your personal escort for the remainder of your visit."
"Um, I'm Kagome Higurashi," Kagome replied nervously, sidling closer.
Sango softened just the tiniest bit. "Here, you'll always be known by your subject name. Better get used to it. Hold out your arm."
With a backward look to Inuyasha, she held her right arm out, watching Sango clip a thin metal chain around her wrist. "What is it?"
"A tracker and, if needed, your punishment. One press of a button and an electric jolt will run through your body." She grabbed Kagome's upper arm and tugged her out into the hallway. Inuyasha quickly slid out himself before the door closed behind them automatically. "Follow me."
Kagome obediently followed with Inuyasha by her side.
"Is this all the security they have?" Inuyasha scoffed, "It'll be easy getting out of here. We just need to get that bracelet off."
Kagome nodded silently.
Sango looked over her shoulder, smirking right at Inuyasha. "This is the first level in the building. Obviously, you're not much of a threat."
"Keh," Inuyasha glanced away, unsure how to accept his sudden visibility. "So this whole building is full of freaks, staff included?"
"As Kikyou mentioned yesterday, the building is completely reinforced to keep the staff safe and the subjects inside. Even if the building were to suddenly burst into flames, every project stored here will die with it. It doesn't cost much to get everything back."
Kagome gulped, grasping Inuyasha's hand tightly.
"You're visible for as long as you remain in the building, Inuyasha. But your ability to touch will be drastically decreased as well. So I have no worry for anything."
But he completely smashed through the ceiling, Kagome noted, and handed me the dress. Is he getting stronger? Inuyasha must have noticed this as well and squeezed her hand in assurance.
We're getting out of here soon, he silently assured.
Kagome hid a small smile. Of course we will. I believe in you, Inuyasha.
A/N: Two hours later than usual; not so bad, eh? I was challenged to a Monopoly game and I just can't refuse that .
Warm-Amber92: That actually might be a possibility.
xXxAddicted2ChocolatexXx: Be lucky you have an iPod o_e you lucky person.
ForeverxWeird: I don't think he's going to be making an appearance :/ and I need that chemical too...
Opalbrat: Thank you.
Sahora: O_o *backs away slowly* well, he can't quite touch furniture yet, but it's being hinted here that he almost can.
InuandKaglove4life: Unfortunately, she can. And I just had to add that because the scenario's been in my head forever.
alexischic: The underwear part was something I wanted to include in the story but I didn't have time to make Kagome grow that slow, so we skipped a lot that we're probably have flashbacks to if it's necessary to the plot. And you're going way too far with the 'goddess'! I don't believe myself to be that great. I'm... average.
*goes off to play more Monopoly*
FxA