Chapter 18: Back in Business

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha!

"Where we at with business?" Inuyasha asked Miroku and Sango as they stood on the other side of the hospital room while Kagome slept in the bed. At first the hospital staff wanted to refuse service for Kagome due to the physical abuse done to one of the nurses, however, Inuyasha towered over them, threatening them to stop his generous donations as well as making their hospital go down in ruins if Kagome were to get less than fair treatment from them. He also promised that if she had the best care possible, he'd make an even bigger donation in the near future.

With the threats making sweat drip down their foreheads and the promise of a big donation making them excited for all the hospital upgrades that they could do, they accepted Kagome back into the hospital with conditions that she is not to leave unless released by the doctors. Inuyasha agreed with the conditions and with a shake of hands, the hospital staff got busy on fixing Kagome's wound.

"Last I checked, the Haiku family didn't pay their bill this last month and Hatchie called asking for another loan. I told him that you were busy at the moment, but you'd call him back once you had the time. Also, a new client called asking for your services, again I told him that you were busy and that you'd call them back." Miroku updated Inuyasha on what was happening. "I also got a call from Leo and Guiseppi; they said that some dude in our district came and offered them a proposition if they joined him to move against us."

Inuyasha sighed as he looked over his shoulder at the still sleeping Kagome before focusing back on Miroku. "Okay, once Kagome wakes up, we'll go to the Haiku's house before going to Hatchie's, I need to speak with him anyway. Then we'll call Leo and Guiseppi to see if we can set up meetings to talk about what's going on and see if we can rely on them to back us up, then we'll call that new client to set up a meeting place to go over what they want."

Miroku nodded in agreement as he shoved his hands into his pockets with a sigh. "Sounds like Naraku is moving along to other mafia bosses to make an army to cut us out of the picture." He mused out loud. "If he went to Leo and Guiseppi what's to say he hasn't gone to Sal? Then what's to say, since he hasn't called us to give us a heads up, that he hasn't agreed with him in moving against us?"

"Yeah," Inuyasha said with a sigh as he drove his hand through his hair, "that's what I was thinking too, so I'm also going to call him up and make a meeting with him as well and if I find out he's a double crosser he'll die."

"N'sha."

At Kagome's broken whimper of his name, Inuyasha dropped the conversation immediately and went to her side. "I'm here." He whispered as he grabbed her hand.

"It hurts." Kagome whimpered with her eyes still closed tight in pain.

"I'll go get the doctor." Sango said as she began walking to the door then exited the room in search of the doctor.

"It'll be okay." Inuyasha said as he moved Kagome's hair out of her face, he noticed her face was covered in sweat and her breathing was labored as pain wrecked through her body. "Sango went to go get the doctor, he'll give you something for the pain."

Kagome opened her eyes to look at Inuyasha making his breath hitch in his throat when he saw the amount of pain that was clouding her eyes, he had to gnash his teeth together when he saw the tears start escaping pass her eyelashes. He vowed that he'd do everything he could to make sure Naraku and everybody else that dared laid their hands on her would die - he'd make sure that it was slow, violent and painful when he took them out of this world. He whispered reassuring words in her ear as he ran his fingers through her hair while wiping at her tears with his free hand as they waited for the doctor to come.

A few moments later, the doctor walked in holding a clipboard. "Where are you hurting at?"

"My arms, shoulders and stomach." Kagome said with pain laced in her voice.

The doctor nodded as he wrote some notes in his clipboard before looking at Kagome. "You've reopened your wound giving you some new damage that needs to be healed and you overworked your arms, all that pain is normal."

"Well, are you going to give her something for the pain?" Inuyasha asked in his cool deadly tone as he stood up to tower over the doctor.

"U-uh, well, that is-" The doctor rambled as he fidgeted with the clipboard in his hand while sweat dripped down his face.

"Go get her something for the pain." Inuyasha demanded still using the cool deadly voice as he took a step closer to the doctor.

"Y-yes, right away sir." The doctor stammered as he exited the room as fast as he could.

"Bastard." Inuyasha muttered before turning back to Kagome to continue talking to her as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"When the pain meds kick in, I need to leave to do a few business deals." Inuyasha said as he wiped at the tears that were still silently making their way down Kagome's face.

Kagome turned wide panicked eyes towards Inuyasha as her heart hammered against her chest in fear and she felt as her body started to shake as her fear settled in her heart. She didn't want him to leave, she was afraid that this whole thing was a dream still and she'd wake up without him there and still with Kikyo. She was also afraid to be left alone, she was scared that someone would come and take her away again while everyone was gone.

Seeing her react the way she did knowing that he was leaving made his heart drop and shatter in his chest, she had been through so much and it stole her confidence and her independence that she worked so hard for. "Shh," Inuyasha soothed as he moved to cup her face in his hands, "you'll be okay, no one will hurt you here."

"Will it make you feel better if I stayed?" Sango asked softly as she stepped up next to the bed.

"Please." Kagome said through her pain.

"Okay," Sango said with a nod, "I'll stay."

A few minutes later a nurse came back in with some pain meds as she pushed the meds through Kagome's IV. "Do you need anything?" She asked and at the shake of Kagome's head she left without another word.

Ten minutes later Inuyasha felt Kagome's muscles relax as the pained expression melted off her face letting him know that the pain med was finally kicking in. "Feel better?" He asked as he gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yes." Kagome said as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good." Inuyasha said as he kissed Kagome's nose making her giggle, he sighed in happiness, it had been too long since he's heard her giggle - he missed it. "I have to go shake some people up." He said as he bent down to kiss her lips before turning for the door, however, he only made it one step away from the bed when he felt Kagome grip the back of his shirt making him stop.

"Promise me you'll come back." Kagome asked once he looked back at her.

Inuyasha's heart cracked at Kagome's eyes clouded with her fear once again and he bent down to cup her face in his hands and lean his forehead against hers. "You have my word, as soon as I'm done, I promise I'll be back by your side."

"Okay." Kagome whispered as her hands came up to grab his wrists, keeping his hands against her face for as long as possible, she missed his touch and now that he was leaving - she wanted to bask in it for as long as she could.

Inuyasha leaned down further and claimed her lips once again in a slow kiss that didn't last nearly as long as either of them wanted. "Come on, Miro, I want to get back as soon as I can." He said as he left the room.

"Okay." Miroku said as he gave Sango a quick kiss before leaving the room as well.

*X*

Pulling up to the Haiku residence, Inuyasha and Miroku stepped out of the car before making their way to the front door and knocking. However, when they received no answer, Inuyasha kicked the door in not in any mood to be kept waiting all day. Moving through the house with their guns drawn, they made their way back to the office room before kicking that door down as well. They found the man that they were looking for as he cowered underneath his desk.

"Mr. Haiku, you have exactly five seconds to get your fucking ass out from under your desk before I start shooting." Inuyasha growled as he cocked his gun. "One.. two.. thr-"

"Okay, okay, don't shoot!" Mr. Haiku said as he crawled from beneath his desk with his hands held up in surrender.

Inuyasha walked around the desk before grabbing Mr. Haiku by the collar of the shirt and shaking him a could times. "You owe me money." He said as he placed the barrel of his gun against Mr. Haiku's temple.

"Please!" Mr. Haiku plead as his heartbeat faster in his chest. "I-I don't have it!" He stammered as sweat dripped down his face. "I-I invested it! I'm still waiting for it to pay out and then I'll give you the money, I swear!"

Inuyasha pushed the gun harder against Mr. Haiku's temple making the man grunt in pain. "And what if the stock market crashes, what then?"

"I-it wasn't with the stock market. A man came to me saying that if I invested money to him then in the near future, I would get my money back plus ten times the amount that I put in!" Mr. Haiku cried with fear. "I-I'm still waiting for the pay out!"

"Are you fucking stupid?" Inuyasha growled as he jerked Mr. Haiku closer to him as anger coursed through his veins. "You've been fucking scammed, and I want what you fucking owe me!"

"P-please!" Mr. Haiku begged even louder. "I-I promise I'll get you the money!"

"You have one week!" Inuyasha said in his icy deadly voice before pushing Mr. Haiku back and making him land on his butt.

With that done, Inuyasha and Miroku left Mr. Haiku's house to go to their next destination, Hatchie's.

Knocking on Hatchie's door, it was opened immediately as Hatchie appeared in the doorway. "Oh, hello Phantom, Mr. Miroku - please, come in." He said as he stepped to the side to allow the two men to enter his home.

"Hello Hatchie, how goes it?" Inuyasha asked as he followed Hatchie towards the office room with Miroku by his side.

"It goes as well as it can be." Hatchie answered as he opened his office door and allowed Inuyasha and Miroku to enter before him.

"I hear you're in need of another loan?" Inuyasha asked as he sat down in one of the chairs in front of Hatchie's desk while Miroku sat in the other one next to him.

"Ah, well, yes - a business deal opened up for me and I'm needing extra funds to get it off the ground." Hatchie answered with a nod.

"I see." I replied in his deadly cool voice as he leaned back and brought his leg up to rest his ankle on his opposite knee. "I have a few things to ask you first, before I agree or disagree to give you the funds you need."

"Oh, of course, I'll try to give you the answers you need." Hatchie said as sweat started to gather on his brow.

"Have you any news on Kio and what his next move will be?" Inuyasha asked, his voice still icy cold.

"Well, no." Hatchie said as he itched the back of his head in thought. "The last thing I heard was that he was put in the hospital after someone beat him up pretty good. Whoever did it broke both of his knees so bad that he needed full knee replacements, they broke four ribs and completely shattered his shoulder so bad he also needed a shoulder replacement. I heard that he was released the other day, though I haven't heard of any plans that he has - probably wants to heal fully before making any plans."

Inuyasha's lips kicked up in a half smile as pride for Kagome's work on the bastard settled in his heart, he sat up placing his foot back on the ground as he glowered at Hatchie. "Now tell me, did you know of anything about Kio or Naraku kidnapping Hiro and Kagome?"

Shock overtook Hatchie's face as his jaw dropped. "N-no, I haven't heard them talking about anything like that. Kio doesn't trust me enough for me to be very privy to their plans."

"Okay," Inuyasha sat back, placing his ankle back on his knee as he folded his hands together before placing them on his chin satisfied that Hatchie wasn't lying, "now, what business opportunity opened for you?"

"There's an old warehouse on the outside of town on the south side that's pretty beat up, I was told that I could have it for a small price so I could start up a business that I've been trying to get up and started from my basement. With the warehouse I could get it up and running much faster than what I could in my basement. I just need help from you to afford the warehouse as well as to fix it up once it's mine." Hatchie answered.

"Hm," Inuyasha hummed as he kept his folded hands against his chin, "and what business are you trying to get up and running?"

"Just a cannabis infused food business." Hatchie answered. "I am needed the extra space of the warehouse to house the cannabis and other equipment that I need for the business. It'll be an online ordering only facility until I'm able to open up a restaurant then people would be able to come and dine at my restaurant. It's been my dream for a long while now."

"And how much would you need from me?" Inuyasha asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Twenty grand." Hatchie said as he looked through his notes. "That'll be enough to buy the warehouse, fix it up and get the equipment that I'm needing to start my business."

"If I agree to give you this loan and you try to withhold your payment from me again, your business will be destroyed, if you still don't pay up you will die." Inuyasha said while still using his icy cool voice.

"Y-yes, sir, no need to worry about that! I promise that I'll make every payment on time!" Hatchie said as sweat dripped down his temple.

"Okay," Inuyasha said with a sigh as he leaned forward, "I'll agree to give you the money you need, and you will be billed at the first of every month."

"T-thank you, Phantom!" Hatchie said happily as he stood up and held his hand out for Inuyasha to shake.

"You're welcome." Inuyasha said as he too stood up to shake Hatchie's hand before writing out the check and leaving.

As they got back in the car, Inuyasha used the screen on the dash to make a call to the west side's mafia boss, Leo.

"Phantom!" Came Leo's voice as the call was answered. "How goes it?"

"Eh, not as good as I would hope." Inuyasha answered as he began to drive away from Hatchie's house. "I heard that someone came with a proposition for you?"

"Oh, yes!" Leo said. "A weird looking man with long inky black hair and red eyes. He didn't tell me his name."

"Sounds like Naraku to me." Miroku said out loud.

"Agreed," Inuyasha said, "Leo, would there be any way that we could set up a meeting in the near future?"

"Absolutely!" Leo said. "I can meet for lunch at noon on Monday!"

"Perfect, see you then." Inuyasha said before ending the call and calling the North side's mafia boss, Guiseppi.

"Hello, Phantom, what can I do for you?" Came Guiseppi's calm voice.

"Hello Guiseppi, I heard that someone came to you with a proposition for you?" Inuyasha said.

"Yes, a dude with long black hair and red eyes came to me wanting me to join him." Guiseppi explained.

"Would you be able to meet me and Leo for lunch at noon on Monday?" Inuyasha asked.

"Let me look at my schedule." Guiseppi murmured as he pulled his calendar up on his computer. "Yes, I'll be able to do that."

"Great, see you then - I'll message you the details later." Inuyasha said before ending the call. "Call that new client and see if they can meet me tomorrow for lunch and we'll go over what they need then." He instructed Miroku as they pulled in the hospital's parking lot. He made another call to the south side's mafia boss, Sal before putting it up to his ear.

"Hello, Sal, how goes it?" Inuyasha asked then waited as the man on the other side started talking. "That's good, hey, are you free for a meeting on Tuesday? I'll come meet you at your house if that'll be easier for you." He waited as Sal talked. "Great see you then." He said before hanging up the phone.

As they walked into Kagome's room, they saw that Kagome and Sango were playing a card game to pass the time. Kagome looked up when she heard the door open, her eyes widened with happiness as a wide smile spread across her face. Seeing the way Kagome reacted to him whenever he was near made Inuyasha's heart melt as he smiled at her in return.

"You're back!" Kagome chirped with her smile still in place as she held her hand out for him.

"I'm back." Inuyasha replied as he grabbed Kagome outstretched hand before bringing her hand up close to his mouth and placing a kiss on the bend of her wrist. "What game are you playing?" He asked as he sat on the bed behind her before wrapping his arms around her waist and placing his chin on her shoulder.

"Rummy." Kagome answered as she made a move and discarded a card before waiting for Sango to go. "You wanna play next round?"

"Nah," Inuyasha said as he pulled her closer, "that would mean I'd have to let go of you." He said as he nuzzled the crock of her neck.

Kagome giggled as she tilted her head to give him more access to her neck as she took her next turn.

"Rummy!" Sango shouted as she took a card out of the discharge pile and placed it on her side of the bed before taking her own turn.

Before Kagome could take her next turn the doctor walked in with a nurse following him in. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing okay right now." Kagome said as the nurse stepped up to take her vitals.

"That's good." The doctor said as he went over the charts on his clipboard. "We would like to keep you here for another two days, just to make sure your vitals stay normal. You still need to talk with the hospital's therapist as well before you are released, will tomorrow be okay that she comes to talk with you?"

Kagome sighed as she looked down at the bed, she really wasn't ready to talk about what happened, but she knew that if she wanted to go home, she didn't have a choice. "Um, yeah that will be fine." She said in a small meek voice that made Inuyasha wanted to throw the doctor out and shield Kagome from the world around her.

"Okay." The doctor said as he wrote notes down on the clipboard before looking back up at Kagome. "She'll be in here right before dinner tomorrow."

"Okay." Kagome said as she still looked down at the bed as she played with the edge of the sheet.

"Do you need anything?" The nurse asked once she was done taking Kagome's vitals.

"Um, could I have a cup of water with extra ice please?" Kagome asked as she looked up at the nurse.

"Absolutely!" The nurse chirped as she left the room.

"Are you okay?" Inuyasha whispered with his lips right next to Kagome's ear making a shiver run down her spine as his breath fanned across her skin.

"Yeah," Kagome said with a sigh as she leaned more against Inuyasha, "just I'm not ready to talk about what happened. It sucks that I have to talk with someone that I don't even know about what happened." She said as her hands started to shake and her vision grew blurry as tears gathered in her eyes. "Will you stay with me while I talk with the therapist?"

Inuyasha hooked Kagome's chin with his finger as he gently lifted her head up to meet his eyes with her own. "As long as you want me here, there will be nothing or no one that would be able to remove me from this room." He then turned to look at Miroku. "Call that new client and tell them that something came up for tomorrow, ask them if we can meet the day after tomorrow for lunch."

Miroku nodded as he made the call.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Until next time, bye!