Kagome hung out with some of her classmates for a bit as they waited for Scott to finish changing and freshening up before they went home to celebrate Scott's victory together. It was especially nice to see Scott include Danny after what happened between the two a short while back on the day of the full moon.
She had also noticed how a few people had been acting during the time of the game. There was a lack of Stiles, which she found odd since he had been looking forward to playing this game since he became a first liner. Lydia was more or less moping in the back ground, Jackson was gloating despite being made from captain to co-captain, and Scott's emotions had been jumping all over the place.
Mentally, she wanted to be able to sit back from all of this and watch how all of this played out like some sort drama. All that was missing were her old friends back in Japan and a large bowl of popcorn. Ah, they could have made it into some sort of girls night out while commenting on the relationships between certain people and being able to point out the obvious or be surprised at the certain reveals.
Yeah, she really missed those girl nights.
Somehow as she was waiting for Scott, her Aunt said she would be going on home ahead with a parting warning of not being to late. She also ended up hanging around Lydia. It was odd, now that she thought about it, but she hung out with Scott and his own friends than she did with her own. It wasn't that it bothered her, hanging out with those from a grade under her. She was one that marched to her own beat. Even if a few that hung around Scott were... energetic. And she meant that in the most positive way possible.
"So, you going to the winter formal?" Lydia's question startled Kagome out of her thoughts.
"The winter... Oh, right, that school dance... party... gathering thing." Kagome furrowed her brows. Now that she thought about it, she remembered vaguely the few that asked her. Sadly, they were mostly people she hardly knew. "Uh, yeah. You?"
"Definitely. You already have a dress for it?" Lydia raised a brow, a corner of her lips also curling up in a smirk.
"No..." Kagome was a little wary of the sharp look Lydia was giving her.
"Perfect! Then you, me and Allison can get together and go shopping!" now Lydia was all smiles, once again seemingly her old chirpy self.
"Oh, uh, alright. Yeah, it's been a while since I've had a girls night." Kagome nodded her head in agreement to the plan, and actually looking forward to a shopping trip and being a modern day girl. That didn't have to worry about anything supernatural for a short while.
"Great. So do you have a date?" it seemed Lydia was trying to act her natural self, by using her. Now usually, Kagome would be against that sort of thing, but with how Lydia had been sucked in on herself, she was sort of glad that she was being used to create less drama.
"No. Is that a problem?" she meant it more as if it were some sort of school dance taboo than a personal one. Not that she cared really.
"Not at all, you always did remind me of a sort of lone wolf character." Lydia waved a hand in the air about her. "Or more like a pack leader than a sheep and followed what everyone else did."
Now Kagome wasn't sure if Lydia was just using metaphors, or was actually onto the whole werewolf thing but unsure of who was an actual were wolf. "Um, thanks, I guess."
"Oh it was a compliment. While I don't mind being pampered every now and then by boys, I do hate it when they underestimate you just because you're a girl. But you, you've shown everyone here that you don't take any bullshit. You're a leader, but you listen to what others have to say, you're fierce and gentle... You're just, really well balanced. What's your secret?" Lydia canted her head to the side, blinking her wide eyes as she waited for an answer.
Kagome herself was blown over, it wasn't often that Lydia complimented anyone. The girl herself had an alpha role amongst peers, so admitting such facts and giving out such compliments to another female was very rare. She showed favoritism through who she hung out with and offered fashion advice and the such, but other than that she didn't hand out compliments.
"Wow, thanks. As for my secret... I'll tell you when I know myself." she could only blink at the chirpy response she got from Lydia.
"Fair enough!" the smile and attitude was all Lydia.
Before either of them could continue with their odd conversation, the sound of tires screeching against asphalt drew their attention to the parking lot. Lydia muttered something under her breath and quickly departed when they both realized it was Stiles. He didn't even turn off his jeep before he jumped out and bolted to the boys locker without so much as a passing glance her way.
Well, at least she would have a ride home, since her aunt already left about fifteen minutes ago. So leaning against the wall, Kagome made herself comfortable knowing it was only a matter of time before her cousin and Stiles left the locker room. Though she had to wonder what had been taking said cousin of hers such a long time. Most of the others had already left.
Scott felt like he had been hit by a freight train, his head was still pounding after going down memory lane of someone else's life. Not only that, all the emotions that came with the memories. On top of that, Derek was now with his uncle, who was the alpha.
He had managed to drag himself from the showers and up onto a bench, his entire body felt like heavy burning weights were attached to him. He wasn't sure if that was a reaction to the forced memory share, or some sort of physical reaction to the memories like his brain thought he had physically gone through all of that.
Instead, he concentrated on his breathing and trying to calm his heart. He could hear Lydia talking to Kagome just down the hall about the winter formal, and for some reason, knowing his cousin was safe made him feel a whole lot better. And that presence that was always about her, that calming air, helped him. Breathing in slowly and calmly and releasing each breath in the same manner helped to calm him down. But mentally, he was raging trying to figure out why Derek was suddenly with the alpha... his uncle, who was still trying to get him to join in on the killing.
Did Derek make it absolutely clear, that werewolves were hunters, not killers? What did he and Stiles learn to change his mind?
The sound of screeching tires on pavement echoed down the hallway and to his ears, Lydia muttered a quick parting to his cousin. He just as easily picked up on the pounding feet heading towards the school from the parking lot, the crashing of a body into the doors before sneakers squeaked against the hallway flooring. Leaning his elbows atop his thighs and letting his hands dangle between his knees and bowed his head when Stiles finally came running into the locker room.
"Dude! We have a serious problem." he panted his words out when he leaned against the end of a row of lockers and stared him down.
"Trust me, I know." looking out of the corner of his eye, he felt his face set itself into a scowl as the two of them communicated silently.
It was a few short moments later when Kagome finally made her own appearance. She leaned against the door frame with her arms crossed against her chest and head canted to the side. Her brows were furrowed in concern, but she was staying quiet. He wasn't sure if it was for his sake or for her own, but he greatly appreciated at the moment.
When the silence dragged on, it was then she finally spoke up. "Everything alright?"
The both of them turned towards her, obviously their expressions weren't all that great because she was instantly on alert. Pushing away from the door frame and took a step forward her eyes darting between the two.
Stiles turned to him. "Should you tell her, or should I?"
Turning to face his best friend and cousin, Scott let out a sigh before speaking up now that his head didn't feel like it was being used as a drum at a rave party. "Give me a minute to change, and then you can tell us what happened."
Stiles hesitated a moment before nodding and heading out of the locker room. He threw an arm around Kagome's shoulders and began to drag her along with him, though she waited a moment before following after him.
Scott waited another few moments to get his bearings straight before getting up and making his way back to his own locker. He threw on his cloths, not really caring if they were on properly, just that he was dressed and all buttons and zippers were closed. Slinging his bag over her shoulder, he made his way towards the hallway where Kagome and Stiles waited for him.
"Let's wait until we're alone to talk about it." his request was met with silence, but Stiles quickly agreed. Kagome looked like she wanted to protest, but she bit down on her lip and followed after them to Stiles' jeep.
The short walk felt like forever, heavy and the silence all bearing down on them. It was after Scott climbed in after Kagome and closed the passenger side door before she finally broke the silence.
"Is anyone going to talk? Because I think this is about as private as it's going to get." she leaned forward between the two front seats and kept turning between the two of them. When neither one of them said anything, she seemed to have finally snapped. "Somebody talk!"
The both of them jumped at her seemingly loud words, it caused Stiles to veer suddenly into the other lane before he corrected himself. Thankfully, the street wasn't busy so there was no worry of an accident happening.
"Are you trying to cause an accident!" Stiles griped when he finally got his jeep back under control, along with his frantic heart.
Kagome rolled her eyes as she leaned more comfortably against his seat and stared Stiles down. "Well no one was talking. So somebody, spill."
Scott looked at Stiles, who in turned looked back at him. When they continued looking at each other before returning their gaze to the road, Kagome muttered under her breath in Japanese. He was pretty sure he picked up her calling them idiots, it was only time before he picked up what a few words meant.
"Hey, we're not idiots." he turned to glare at Kagome.
"She called us... You called us idiots? Why would you... Wait which word was idiot?" Stiles kept tossing his head back to look at Kagome who merely raised a brow.
"Yes I did. Because you're both acting like it's the end of the world without explaining why. And the word was -baka-." she let out a sigh as she ran a hand through her hair. "So please, some one explain to me what's happening."
Scott clenched his teeth so hard and to a point that he was sure the others could hear them protesting the abuse. Slinking deeper into his seat with a sigh, he jutted his chin towards Stiles. "You start. What happened tonight?"
"Well, Danny came over to do lab work and I managed to convince him to trace the text Allison got. You know, the one she said came from you." he paused to quickly look at him. "We found out where it came from and decided to check it out. Which by the way, turns out it was someone using your mom's computer at the hospital, specifically nurse Jenny that was taking care of Derek's uncle Peter."
"Wait. This nurse Jenny was the alpha this entire time?" Kagome threw Stiles a highly confused expression.
Scott on the other hand, he was a little more upset. "They used my mom's computer!"
"They? So it wasn't this nurse?" Kagome leaned forward a bit more to look him in the eye. "You know what's going on. Guys, tell me."
"No, it wasn't nurse Jenny. Well, the using Scott' mom's computer bit, yes. But the alpha is Peter." with a shrug of his shoulders, Stiles eased the jeep around the corner.
Scott watched from the corner of his eye how Kagome furrowed her brows deeply and shook her head. "Didn't you tell me, in your own words, that he's a vegetable in a wheel chair because of a fire years ago?"
"Yeah, well, his werewolf healing had been working in overdrive over the years. But killing his niece gave him his alpha status." Stiles kept readjusting his grip on the wheel. "And then he went and killed those other people, which we still don't know the reason why. But the best part... he somehow managed to convince Derek to join in on his psycho plan on his."
Stiles ended his speech with a hit to the wheel, to which he immediately apologized to his jeep. Kagome had whipped her head to face him so quickly, he was sure she would have given herself whiplash. Her eyes scanned his form before landing on his face and searched, for what he wasn't sure, maybe the truth. Swallowing thickly, Scott nodded his head.
"They both showed up after the game, trying to get me to join in on their plan. When I told them it would never happen, Peter did something, like some sort of alpha thing. He showed me his memories of the night of the fire." he ground out the last bit, said memories still fresh in his mind.
He could feel both Stiles' and Kagome's gaze on him, one in disbelief the other in worry and he knew which emotional gaze belonged to who. When Kagome spoke up it only solidified that fact.
"Are you alright, they didn't hurt you, did they?" her eyes were once again scouring his form, looking for any obvious signs that he had been hurt.
"Well, Peter dug his claws painfully into my neck in order to share the memories. But other than that, no." Scott grunted when his head was forced to bow forward and Kagome's hands were instantly looking for any signs of what Peter had done.
"I don't see anything..." she trailed off and slowly drew her fingers away from his neck.
Scott could feel that strange sensation that came from her whenever she was using her abilities to heal. It eased his tense muscles and helped him relax and breath easier. The moment it stopped, he tossed a thankful look to his cousin. She offered a soft smile and ruffled his hair.
"So... tonight turned out to be pretty exciting then." Kagome finally tossed herself into the back seat completely.
It was Stiles that had reacted, once again nearly driving them off the road. Scott reached over to keep the jeep steady while Stiles was busy to stare Kagome down. "That's all you can say? What about Derek switching sides? What about Peter being the alpha and everything else?"
Scott became confused at the accusing tone that Stiles was using towards Kagome, he was once again hit by a feeling that he knew something and wasn't telling him. Quickly growing tired of the uncomfortable stretch he was putting himself in to keep the jeep steady, Scott drew Stiles' attention. "Stiles! The wheel!"
Stiles whipped forward, his hands instantly wrapping around the wheel allowing Scott to return to his seat and roll his shoulders. Kagome's lack of reaction confused him as well, but he was far too exhausted to care. He figured Kagome was as well.
"What do you want me to say, Stiles?" her voice rose an octave in a obvious play of a panicking girl. "Oh no! What are we going to do? The world is going to end and I think I broke a nail!"
Scott snorted, trying to hide his amusement despite the seriousness of the situation. Stiles threw him a disbelieving look to which Scott cleared his throat and shrugged his shoulders with a sheepish smile.
"That about do it for you? Cause I learned not to panic in these sort of situations. Yes, it's confusing, irritating, and it down right pisses me off, but there's nothing I can do at the moment. We're all exhausted and could really use a good night's rest. In the morning, well, we'll take it one step at a time in the morning." as if to prove a point, Kagome released a large yawn and stretched as best she could in the back seat. She spoke around the yawn, her words slurred with sleepiness. "Are we home yet? I wanna go to bed."
"Yeah, yeah, we're there." Scott muttered. He chuckled and shook his head as he turned away from his cousin. How she could go from an energetic bundle to a zombie like state at the drop of a hat, it still blew him over.
But the fact was, ever since he turned, he knew she didn't sleep as deeply as he thought. He wasn't sure if it was worry that the smallest sound in the house had her up and alert, or if she had been able to do that since her own trip into the supernatural. Then there was the fact that she was usually up near half an hour to an hour before her alarm clock, right as soon as the sun broke over the horizon. Actually, the only time she had slept like the dead had been when she was sick.
As for himself, he was sure he was going to have a hard time actually falling asleep. Derek and Peter were together and pressuring him to join in on killing people, the ones that deserve it apparently. Who they were, he wasn't sure, but he didn't care either. It wasn't just the ones Peter said deserved it, but his friends as well, mainly Stiles.
He quickly glanced towards his best friend. He was concentrated on the road before them, though his eyes were always darting to the darker shadows that lined the street or tucked in the corners behind the houses. If it wasn't that, Stiles was constantly checking in the rear view mirror. He still didn't know what happened and where Stiles had been, but he had been on edge ever since he did show up.
What had been interesting, and perhaps confusing, was that Peter didn't mention his cousin, Kagome. He'd figure she would be at the top of his personal hit list, especially with what happened that night at school. She had her own strengths, and he knew she wouldn't go down without a fight.
He didn't know the truth behind that fact.
As for Stiles... his mind was running itself round in circles, almost to the point he was making himself sick. He was sure he had witnessed Derek have a moment with Kagome while she had been sick. Then again, he could have been simply caring for a sick young woman that was simply trying to help her cousin through his struggles as a newly turned werewolf. And he had noticed Kagome with that certain type of glow he had seen other girls get when they were with someone... so did that mean Kagome and Derek were a thing?
Glancing in the rear view mirror, he took in Kagome's profile as she curled herself up on the back seat. He wasn't sure if she really was tired and dozing, or just faking it. It was really hard to tell with those ninja like skills of hers. Maybe he could get her to start training him in those ninja like skills, then he would be able to better protect himself and be of more use. Like Batman.
Shaking his head, he cleared his thoughts and focused on the road ahead. His eyes darted to the house where the cousins lived. Slowing down his jeep, he observed the shadows that surrounded the house, but he didn't see anything out of place. Sadly, that didn't mean much with his vision strength compared to that of a werewolf's.
Stopping at the curb in front of the house, he leaned forward a bit as he once again observed the surrounding area. Giving up on the feat, he turned to Scott, not surprised to see his best friend doing the exact same thing. Though his gaze and vision were stronger and more thorough. When he was seemingly done, Scott turned to him.
"Thanks for the ride. Sorry you didn't get to play tonight." Scott sat there, his face showing no emotion.
It made Stiles wonder if Scott was apologizing for just tonight, or was going for a deeper meaning. It really was hard to tell these days.
"Are the two of you trying to have a moment? Because if you are, I could give you some privacy, if one of you lets me go inside." at the sound of Kagome's calm, and rather clear sounding, voice both of them swung around to look in the back.
Kagome was still curled up in the back seat with her arms crossed and tucked in close for warmth and she had yet to open her eyes. For all they knew, she looked like she was asleep. Maybe she was sleep talking. She remained in the position with her eyes closed, still and looking highly uncomfortable.
Stiles started reaching towards her to poke her awake, only to pause when she spoke up again. "There's no need to poke me, Stiles. If you both need a moment alone, I'd be glad to give it. I just need someone to let me out because I'm not crawling through the window."
An eye cracked open before she turned towards them and took them in. She raised a brow before smirking at Stiles' dumbstruck look. Chuckling under her breath, she uncurled herself from her position and turned to Scott with a raised brow.
He seemed to return to the present and quickly eased out of his seat and onto the sidewalk, standing to the side as he waited while Kagome exited the jeep behind him. She gave a stretch once she was out, though she quickly turned and smiled at Stiles. "Thanks for the ride, and get home safely."
With that, she started walking towards the front door where both of them watched her and waited until she was inside safely. Scott turned to Stiles when said boy spoke up.
"How did you learn about Peter and Derek?" Stiles was leaning against his steering wheel once again.
Letting out a harsh sigh, Scott threw one last glance towards his house. He was comforted by the fact that he wasn't able to pick up anything from Derek or Peter as something in him always pulsed when Peter was near, and he could make out the light from Kagome's window that fell on the driveway.
"They showed up after the game." he climbed back into the jeep and closed the door, a subconscious move for added privacy and security for what he was about to share.
Kagome had silently made her way to her room, easily picking up on the fact that her aunt was already in bed. She had been shocked when had showed up home early, Kagome had been sure her aunt had the night shift. But perhaps it wasn't so busy that they allowed her to get off early enough.
Pausing outside the closed door, she pushed out her senses and could only smile softly at the deeply relaxed state her aunt's aura was in. That was good, her aunt worked hard enough, so knowing her aunt was getting time to relax felt good.
Inhaling deeply, Kagome crept onto to her own room and silently turned around and closed the door. Flicking on the light she began the process of getting ready for bed. Putting her clothes away, she let her mind wander, her moves and actions seeming on autopilot. Odd thing was, her mind was more or less blank, blissfully blank for once in a very, very, long time.
Shaking her head, she switched off the light and turned towards her bed. Pausing, she canted her head to the side, her eyes on the window with furrowed brows. "I see you're learning to leave no trace of evidence."
She didn't get an answer right away, so she shook her head. Maybe it was her exhausted mind playing tricks on her. Continuing on to her bed, she stopped short at the silhouetted figure she spotted sitting on the edge. Wide blue eyes blinked in surprise and confusion as he just continued to sit there.
"How's Scott?" his voice sounded oddly loud in the silence of her room.
Sighing, Kagome shook her head, she was still trying to figure this male out. Apparently, despite his change in view point, he was still worried about her cousin. "He's... well he's not fine. He's extremely confused, pissed off, and highly worried. I've been told you've... changed your view on all of this."
"My uncle, Peter, he told me what really happened that night. It was the Argents." his form was slumped over. Shoulders hunched up, head bowed and when Kagome canted her head to the side, she noticed with what little light there was that his hands were clenching.
She slowly moved towards him. As much as she wanted to be upset with him for deciding to go with his uncle, whom had been making Scott's life his own personal purgatory, she understood the loss of losing a family and decided to let him mourn his family now that he knew the truth. Her in the past were that, in the past and have long since passed centuries ago. His had been ripped away from him brutally and violently. She was once again an outside looking in on someone in her life that had lost their family by a psycho and wanted revenge.
His arms came up to wrap around her waist the moment she was within reach, and for a moment she just stood there. But remembering the pain Sango had gone through when she realized had happened to her entire family, and then to Kohaku, Kagome moved to comfort him as best she could despite her conflicting emotions. An arm wrapped around his shoulders while her free hand began to comb through his hair. The entire time she stared out her window, her mind at war with her current situation.
Half of her wanted to comfort him for what he had lost, to help him as she had once helped Sango. The other half wanted to shout and scream at what he was doing to her cousin, that what his uncle was doing was wrong... that a blood feud between them and the Argent family was not the answer. But this was something outside the law, outside of normal. If the law were to become involved, many more lives could end up ending badly and the supernatural world would be put under a microscope. And to think, she had fought for a world where this sort of thing would no longer be needed.
She currently felt like all those battles, losses and victories, the scars she now bared, were all for nothing. But if there was one thing she learned through all that, taking a life, whether human or other, still haunted her to this day. And she was going to protect her cousin from that with all she had.
"I'm not going to say words to stop you and your uncle, because I know you won't listen to them." she continued to run her fingers through his hair, her nails scraping against his scalp lightly with each pass. "But I beg you, that you don't force Scott into it."
His grip tightened around her, his nails digging into her skin slightly drawing her shirt taunt against her waist. He removed his face from her stomach, and she felt his gaze on her but she continued to gaze out her window for a few moments longer as her hand continued it's petting of his hair. It was when her hand was going to go for another pass that he pulled one of his own from around her waist to take hold of it, that she looked down into his face.
He looked as conflicted as she felt, but he kept his thought to himself. With his hold on her loose, she kneeled in the space between his open feet and looked up at him. Her hand slid from the back of his neck to the side of his face. "If the first thing that came out of your mouth was to know about Scott's well being, then that means you do care and worry for him. Despite his stubbornness and all the trouble he's put you through, you care."
Closing her eyes she pressed her brow to his own with a soft sigh, the entire day and all that she had learned was finally crashing down on her. As well as the trip down memory lane, the painful ones, were not helping her mentally. "Taking a life is not easy, and I don't want Scott to be in that position, or forced into it. He'll be haunted for the rest of his life, and only hate himself even more if he ever went through with it. So please, don't make him."
She refused to open her eyes, even when he moved her free hand to the back of her neck and tilt her head up to his. His nose, slightly cooler than her own at the moment, brushed against her own. His breath felt warm and moist against her own lips, but she refused to move. His other hand griped the one he took a hold of, it wasn't until then she realized that she was trembling.
"Always looking out for others, and making sure they're safe. When will you put yourself before others for once?" his words were quiet, but still sounded loud in her ears, and she could feel the movements of his lips against hers that were but a hair's breath away.
"Please..." her brows furrowed as her worry for her cousin grew. She felt like she was grasping at smoke in making him promise her this one thing.
He sighed as he drew her closer to him, his nose quickly burying itself into the hair behind her ear. "I'll make sure he's safe to the best of my capabilities."
She rose to her knees and wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders, knowing that was the best she was going to get out of him since she was basically asking him to go against his only living relative over some one that wasn't of his blood. It wasn't exactly what she was asking for, begging for really. Her cousin wouldn't be going anywhere without some sort of protection outside her own mean, and for that she was grateful.
"Thank you." her hold on him tightened, knowing that outside of these nightly visits, of her room, he would be seen as the enemy. And perhaps he was, but she wanted what he was offering her, whatever that was. Perhaps she had been hurt too often in the past that what he was giving her, in the secret of the night and seldom, that she took hold of it and wasn't willing to let go.
But her cousin and Stiles thought with the mentality that they grew up with in the modern, natural world. Derek, her grew up in the modern world, but had to adapt to the natural world to blend in. But that didn't make him any less of a predator and hunter that he really was, or take away the wolf that was as much a part of him as the miko a part of her. And as for her, she grew up with the mentality of the modern and natural world, but she quickly adapted to that of the past and supernatural
In fact, the supernatural was so natural in the past that it was considered natural. The natural felt odd and off to her ever since the past. And she felt as out of place in the natural world as Scott did now.
Her mind began to drift and grow hazy, sleep quickly taking hold of her. She tightened her arms around Derek once again, her mind vaguely relaying the fact that she was being moved and easily tucked into her bed.
The last thing she remembered before sleep finally took a hold of her was the scent of Derek, a last glimps of his face illuminated by the light outside her window and then darkness.
AN: Only a few more chapters and then this one is done! But let's concentrate on this story while it's still here. Hopefully you all enjoy this update! Read, enjoy, and review!