CH 4

"Noooo!" the girl shrieked. She tried to run, but it was too late.

The serial killer pushed her against the wall and stabbed his knife through her stomach. She collapsed limply over his forearm, eyes sliding closed as dark blood flowed down the knife hilt and the killer's arm. Grinning maniacally, the killer leaned forward and captured her lips with his own. He laughed when she coughed up blood right into his mouth and swallowed the hot life-liquid. He pulled back after a minute, licking his lips.

"Okay, now that's just gross," said Inuyasha. He rolled his eyes at his television. He knew he shouldn't have picked this movie. It was so old, and the cover was cracked and peeling. The acting was awful, the characters were cliche, and actors themselves weren't even good looking. The only thing the movie had going for it was the fact that it had cost ten yen at the yard sale. Inuyasha wanted a refund.

Yawning, he shut off the television and just sat there on the couch for a couple minutes, munching on his popcorn. If only Kikyo was sitting next to him. Then they could make fun of the movie together. He could try out lame pickup lines on her, she would throw back her head and laugh, and he would watch, fascinated by her slim white throat. But no, his gorgeous girlfriend had to go to Paris for some modeling gig. He would have gone, if only to beat up anyone with a dick who looked at her twice, but his boss had been adamant; no more days off. To be fair, though, Inuyasha had already used up all his personal days for this month. Besides, where would he get the money? Kikyo was paid for by her modeling agency, duh, but Inuyasha was middle class. He couldn't just randomly go traipsing off overseas whenever he wanted. And hell if he was going to go begging to his asshole half brother, who also happened to be rolling around in money, that corporate icicle.

Bored, Inuyasha turned on the television again, but switched the input to channel, not wanting to waste any more of his time with that two-hour-long recording of shit that they called a movie. He started flipping through the channels, looking for a good movie. His eyes lit up when he landed on a famous old horror movie, one of his retro favorites. Aw yeah! He resettled the huge, repeat huge, bowl of popcorn on his lap, and glued his eyes to the screen.

"Did you hear that?"

"...Hear what?"

"Listen."

...scrrrch….rrrrtsch…

"Oh my god, what's that noise?"

"Maybe it's a stray dog scratching at the door."

"Why the hell would it do that? Strays don't go around door-to-door begging for handouts. That's those stupid fundraising people."

"Hahahaha…"

...scrrrch...rrrtsch…

"There it is again."

"Miri, go check it out."

"What? Why me?"

"Cuz all the rest of us have our asses planted to the floor."

"So do I. Go get the door yourself, Lani."

"Your ass is smaller, and therefore lighter than the rest of ours. Easier to move."

"Forget it."

"..."

...scrrrch...rrtsch...

"Oh my god, just someone go get that goddamned door! Kick the mutt if you have to! I keep messing up on my nails because of it!"

"You know what? You all are pathetic. I'm the biggest person here-"

"The hell you are. I happen to know that you're only five and a half. That's barely even average, dude."

Laughs.

"...Whatever."

Inuyasha grinned, revealing fangs caked with kernels. He couldn't wait for the 'stray' to be revealed. He reached into his bowl of popcorn and frowned when his claws came up empty. Seriously? And he was just getting into the good part. Rrgh. He was about to toss the bowl away in disgust, when, in real life…

...scrrch...rrrtsch…

His eyes just about popped out of his head. He quickly clicked the power button on the remote. The screen went black, but the horror persisted.

...scrrch...rrrtsch…

"Fuck!" That noise wasn't from the movie! His dog ears pricked up and strained to hear noise while the rest of his body remained stiff and motionless. But he heard nothing, and he was just relaxing when…

...scrrch...rrrtsch…

Inuyasha gulped. He took a deep sniff, but he couldn't smell anything through the haze of junk food smell that clouded his apartment. Popcorn, pizza, ramen, and chicken wings, he could smell, but he couldn't catch a trace of the scent of anyone or anything that might be beyond his door. He stared at his trembling hands, then realized what a wuss he was being. "Hell no!" He was descended from the finest bred inu youkai line in the world. He wasn't gonna cower to nobody (here Inuyasha conveniently forgot the terror of his full-demon half-brother in major pissant mode). He leapt to his feet and stomped to his door with loud steps, letting whoever it was know that he was pissed. He unlatched and unlocked the door and whipped it open.

"What the hell do ya wan-" He broke off when he saw that there was no one there. Then his eyes moved down. "Aw, shit!" Another drunkard. Great. Just great.

There was a dark form slumped on the ground. Inuyasha breathed in, expecting the stench of alcohol, but instead a familiar sweet scent met his sensitive nose. ...Da fuck?

"Kagome?" A bewildered inu hanyou squatted down, his voice marked clearly in concern. "What the hell are you doing here, wench?" He took another breath, and his heart skipped a beat.

Blood.

Lots of it.

-oOo-

Inuyasha gently lowered the unconscious Kagome onto the worn leather couch. His hands were steady, his movements purposeful and fluid, but his eyes burned with anger. How the hell had she gotten into this state? No, he knew the answer; his nose told him as much. It was enough to make him want to tear down the city looking for the bastards who had done this. But where the hell was Sesshomaru? He should have been there for her. Growling, he called Sesshomaru on his phone, ready to give him a piece of his mind, but the bastard didn't pick up. He called again, but after half a minute of ring tones, it went to voicemail. What could the fucker be doing? (Inuyasha didn't know that the question was who, not what.) Without bothering to leave a message, he ended the call.

Shaking his head, he heated up some water and poured it into a pan. He set it down on the ottoman and stacked some towels right next to it. He soaked one in the hot water and wiped the blood off Kagome's arm gently, trying not to make her various scratches worse. He dried the now pink water off with a clean towel, and repeated the process for the other arm.

Suddenly, just as he was wiping her fingers free of crusty brown blood, snarling softly at the bruises that marched up and down her pale forearms, she jerked in his hold. Thinking she was awake, he quickly pasted on a confident, reassuring smile (or at least what he thought was one). But it slipped off his face like butter off hot metal when she started to scream.

"N-no! Stop!" She was awake, but not awake. He could see that now. Unseeing eyes wide, she thrashed and twisted like a fish, and Inuyasha backed up a little, inadvertently knocking over the pan of hot water.

"Shit!" Ignoring his soaking wet behind, he grabbed her wrists to try and hold her still. She couldn't be moving around like this, not with her wounds. But restraining her only made her more frantic, and it occurred to him with horror that this was what the bastards must have done to her. He let go of her like she was a hot potato and watched her writhe on his couch in horrified silence. He didn't know what to do. "Kagome, calm down!"

She was staring up at the ceiling with blank, marble-like eyes as she struggled against an invisible foe. "Don't! Let me go! Stop that!" She started to shake uncontrollably. "STOP IT!" she wailed, tears cascading from her eyes.

"Kagome, I'm not going to hurt you!" He grabbed her shoulders and shook her hard, then cried out in surprise as she lunged forward and bit his arm. "Ah!" He let go and retreated a couple paces, rubbing the bite. "Kagome…" His eyes flashed, and he turned on his heel and hurried to the kitchen.

When he returned, she had stopped thrashing around, and was now huddled up against a corner of the couch, hugging herself as if she could make herself disappear if she made herself small enough. He looked at her blank eyes and knew she was still in that horrible trance.

Firmly, before he could change his mind, Inuyasha tossed the bowl of lukewarm water in her face.

She was silent for several seconds as water dripped down her face. Then she shrieked and leapt for his throat like a wildcat, knocking him flat on his back. She leaned over him, panting, eyes still terribly blank. And then her eyes cleared.

"I-Inuyasha?"

He was so relieved he almost pissed his pants. "Kagome!" He grabbed her cold hand in his and looked deep into her clear blue irises. "Kagome! It's alright. You're safe now. I got you."

She was trembling as she slowly climbed off his chest, moving away to kneel on the floor. "I… I'm safe? No… no more…the...they...?" She broke off miserably.

Inuyasha nodded firmly. "Hell yes you're safe, wench. You're on my watch now." His facade of smug confidence dropped quickly to reveal wholehearted concern when she started to full-on shake. "Oi, wench, what's wrong? Don't go crying on me, you know I hate that."

"I...I was so scared, Inuyasha." Her voice was small, and she curled into herself as if to make herself as tiny as possible.

Inuyasha watched with horror as one of the strongest people he knew collapsed in on herself. His claws dug into his palms, and the resulting pang of pain was accompanied by a rush of deep hatred, burning his lungs and setting fire to every breath he took. He felt, no, he was hatred for the disgusting bastards he could smell all over her, hatred for Sesshomaru who should have been there to protect her… hatred for himself, for sitting there watching a movie when at that very moment his friend was being brutalized. His hands curled into fists, and he slammed them on the floor, wishing he could do something, anything to relieve this terrible anger. His breath came in harsh pants, his blood felt like it was boiling, and Inuyasha knew he was in danger of losing himself to his demon blood, but he didn't care. Let him go berserk! Let him become a monster, so he could exact terrible revenge on the scum who had the filthy audacity to land a hand on his Kagome, his pack, his friend!

A faint whimper captured his attention, and Inuyasha looked up with scarlet eyes to see Kagome staring at him with fright. He instantly uncurled his fists and grabbed her hands, stopping her from pulling away. "Don't be scared," he said, and he was surprised at how rough and deep his own voice was. He really was close to losing himself. He wouldn't be surprised if his eyes were crimson, like the blood he longed to spill. "Don't be scared," he repeated. "Kagome… I will never hurt you. You know that." She simply stared wide-eyed at him, and he bared his elongated fangs as his demon blood roared at his pack's reluctance to voice her faith in him. "I will protect you!" The apartment rang with the vehemence of his declaration.

After a stunned silence, she nodded, her eyes shining with tears. "I know, Inuyasha," she said quietly. "I know you would never hurt me…" Her lips twisted bitterly. Lifting her chin, his Kagome looked into his feral, crimson eyes, and Inuyasha felt deep satisfaction as she said, "So protect me." Leaning forward, she nuzzled the side of his face, rubbing her nose against the jagged markings that only appeared when his demonic blood rose.

With an affectionate growl, Inuyasha licked her cheek. Slowly, his human blood returned to balance out his youkai side, and he drew back, much calmer than before. He smirked at Kagome, his amber eyes glowing like jewels in the dim light. "Just like in high school."

She smiled wearily, then winced as if that tiny movement hurt her black-and-blue face. "Yeah…" She coughed, and her entire frame shook. "Can I... have some water?" Her voice was hoarse, but worse, her breath reeked of semen. Hot anger flushed his cheeks at this realization, his youkai blood threatening to overwhelm the human of him again, and he didn't hear her request. She had to repeat it.

"Yeah! Why didn't you say so sooner?" Inuyasha almost ran to the kitchen to get her a drink. When he presented the (almost) clean glass of water to her, she tried to sit up. "Aw hell no, wench!" He slid an arm under her back and gently helped her up to a sitting position. "Take it easy." He tipped the glass carefully to her lips and watched as she swallowed. "Listen, we have to get you to the hospital. And what the hell does Sesshomaru think he's doing?"

Pain. So much pain in her eyes.

Inuyasha immediately felt like shit. "Okay," he said, changing the subject abruptly. He picked up the phone again. "Let's get you some treatment. I can't do it here myself."

"N-no!" She tried to wrestle the phone from his hand, but failed miserably. "Don't!"

"Why ever not, wench?"

"Th-they'll want to call Se-him. I-I can't see him."

Inuyasha stared at her for a long moment. "Alright," he said suddenly, startling her. "Kagome, tell me right now what's been going on. Everything. Including why after you got married, you started avoiding me." He didn't even try to hide the hurt that resurfaced when he remembered how his best friend had practically shunned him.

"I-I...no."

He shook his head. "No? ...Why? Why can't you tell me, Kagome?"

She gazed at him miserably. "I can't… talk about it. I'm s-sorry, Inuyasha. Not now."

He looked away. "Fine," he said gruffly. "But don't think I won't ask again." Clearing his throat, he turned on his phone again. "I'm calling 119."

Alarm crossed her face. "Please d-don't."

"You have to go to a hospital!" he exploded. She shrank back. Lowering his tone guiltily, he continued, "Your condition is way too serious to just take care of here. Besides, you could end up pregnant. You don't want that, do you?"

Horror flashed in her eyes. "N-never!" she exclaimed, then paid for her bout of energy with a round of coughing.

"Exactly," Inuyasha said, rubbing her back soothingly. "Calm down, Kagome. I have friends over there. They won't call Sesshomaru if you don't want them too." He wanted to know what had happened between his brother and friend, he wanted to know now, but he would not push her when she was so fragile.

"Al-alright."

Happy he had won this argument, he proceeded to call 119 and told them the situation. After being assured they would be there promptly, he hung up. "They'll be here in ten minutes, Kagome." His nose twitched at a sudden salty scent. "Kagome?" A helpless look entered his eyes. "Kagome… don't cry."

Tears were flowing steadily down Kagome's cheeks. "I-I can't help it," she sniffled. "I'm just so g-glad you're here, Inuyasha…" Her voice cracked. "I just d-don't know what to do… anymore…" Her halting words transformed into sobs; deep, heart-wrenching cries that forced themselves out of her body. She slid off the couch and huddled up against it, crying harder than she had ever done in her entire life.

Inuyasha struggled to swallow past the lump in his throat. He had never known how to handle tears back when he was in school, and he still hadn't learned after graduating into college. "Kagome…" Falling to his knees in front of her, he pulled her into a hug. She buried her face into his shoulder, her tears soaking his t-shirt. Slowly, with trembling hands, he stroked her hair. Agony was rolling off her in waves, and Inuyasha was drowning in his own sea of guilt. She was hurting so much… His high school sweetheart. His beautiful, kind Kagome was in so much pain… and he, Inuyasha, who had sworn to protect her, couldn't do a damn thing about it.

Before he realized it, his eyes were sliding closed, and a single tear made its lonely way down his cheek; a mere tiny outward clue of the violent turmoil inside of him.