InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Til Death Do Us Part ❯ The Amends pt1 ( Chapter 13 )

Disclaimer: All I own is the plot. -

AN: And here I am with the next installment. See, it didn't take me a month with this chapter::licks out tongue haughtily: I love having no school. And what I love even more is people commenting on my fic. They inspire me to write faster, which is why this is out so soon. I hope you like. This is dedicated to all my loyal fans out there who have stuck with this baby and reviewed. I love you guys!

 

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The Amends pt.1

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Kagome took a subtle sip of the fruit punch from the plastic cup in her hand, her eyes straying across the dance floor where couples gyrated to the upbeat tempo of the band that play on a stage not too far from her current position. Tables clad in red satin and adorned with candlelit centerpieces and an assortment of roses were set up alongside the dance floor. Those persons whose forte wasn't moving nimbly to the rhythm of the music mingled and circulated around the lavishly decorated ballroom, gossiping and sharing useless information that didn't concern her in the least bit.

She had yet to understand what dressing up for an evening of elegance and coming to a gathering where all you did was talk about the stock market and how one's businesses were coming along had anything to do with giving to charity. This was supposed to be a charity function, so why were people flouncing how rich they were by dolling up and being decked out in diamonds, Armani suits, and high-priced vehicles when they were hypothetically dedicating this night to those who were less fortunate?

Why her parents insisted on bringing her to these meaningless soirées was beyond her. But she had long since stopped asking to her purpose for attending, knowing full well that she would only receive lectures about duties and responsibilities in response. She was fourteen for crying out loud. You'd think that after reaching a certain age one would be able to get a little liberation or input in whether or not she wanted to be present at these things. At least they let Sango come along for the ride. She was not going to be bored to death alone.

Kagome frowned upon seeing that her friend had yet to return from the lady`s room. What was taking her so long anyway? She took another swig of the fruity concoction and once more stared monotonously amongst the crowd.

“You look about as bored as I feel,” a vaguely familiar voice suddenly whispered in her ear.

The muscle in Kagome's jaw twitched as she matched voice to face in her head. It was a little older, a little deeper, but still possessed the same undertones of arrogance and self importance that he had yet to rid himself of even after all these years of knowing him. “May I be so bold as to ask why you are here?” she inquired without turning to face him.

He snorted in reply. “Do you even need to ask?” She didn't need to ask because for the past seven years they both had been made to come to the same charity event that was held every year. And every year she had to put up with his childish pranks and belittling comments about herself and her family. There hadn't been one time she could vividly recall when that they hadn't argued or fought. She immediately snapped out of her mental daze when she felt his eyes roaming her newly bloomed assets, instantly becoming self conscious.

Kagome, jumping past annoyance and into anger, whirled around to face him but faltered at his appearance. Smugness glittered mischievously in his sun kissed eyes, detracting very little from the exquisiteness of them . Writing off the way her heart skipped a beat and trying in vain to ignore just exactly how much he had grown and filled out in all the right places over the past year, she focused her eyes on his face instead of assessing his overall gorgeousness.

He smirked when he saw her struggling to maintain composure upon witnessing his newly developed features. “Like what you see?”

A flush spread across her cheeks much to his amusement. “Don't kid yourself. I've seen better.” She crossed her arms and looked away to hide her mortification and the fact that she may have developed a small crush on him.

The silver haired hanyou leaned over toward her and rested his chin on her shoulder. “You know, you don't look half bad yourself,” he murmured softly into her ear.

An unwanted tremor was sent down her spine at his gentle declaration. Kagome tried to steel herself against the emotions that threatened to give her away. “What do you want, Inuyasha? Are you hoping to catch me off guard and put another oyster down my dress? Or perhaps more itching powder? Or maybe you want to throw more jello in my face?”

He chuckled in amusement. “They had crossed my mind, but I am older now and have grown out of those petty habits that I used to find entertaining in the past.”

“So now you've taken up womanizing as a hobby?” she questioned arching a brow.

“Its not a hobby. More like a profession.” A devilish gleam alighted his golden eyes as a wicked smile curved on his lips.

Kagome rolled her eyes and was about to comment on the lack of tact in his mannerism when she saw Sango approach her, a look of plain disgust and embarrassment written all over her features. “Sango, what's wrong?” she asked worriedly as the girl came up to her.

“Some perv near the bathroom asked me to bear his child and then have the nerve to feel me up!” she hissed. “I've never been so embarrassed in my life. The bastard was lucky I had on this dress or I would've kicked a new hole into his ass.”

“I see you've met my friend Miroku,” Inuyasha mused aloud. “Sorry about that. For a monk in training he has no tact when it comes to females.”

“I could say the same for you,” Kagome muttered under her breath before turning her attention back to Sango. “Are you ok?

Her brown eyes narrowed as her sight fell upon the pervert headed right toward them. She suddenly wished she had hit him hard enough to render him unconscious. “I'm leaving. I love you Kagome, really I do, but a girl can only take so much humiliation in one night. I'll see you later.” Hitching up her dress, she stalked past the quizzical couple and to the exit in a huff.

Kagome had no time to run after her friend to obtain further knowledge as to why she was so stressed out over a guy, because no sooner had her friend left when a young man stepped into her line of sight. He wasn't half bad looking, but he wasn't in the same league as the hanyou with his thick frame glasses, scrawny physique, and sporting a red handprint on the side of his face.

“I see your `condition` has earned you another physical reprimand ?” Inuyasha smirked.

“What can I say? The ladies love my adorability and the silkiness of my skin,” Miroku shrugged with an award winning smile as he rubbed his smarting cheek. His eyes fell upon the raven haired beauty in front of Inuyasha, violet eyes instantly warming with naughtiness and appreciation.

Catching sight the perverted gleam in his friend's eyes, Inuyasha blocked her from view before the monk in training could initiate proper introductions. “Don't even think about,” he growled in a low and slightly possessive tone. He didn't want the monk taking a shot at her before he had a chance to. Maybe after she forgave him for all of the childish stunts and pranks he pulled on her when they were younger, they could hook up. She wasn't half bad looking and still retained that fiery attitude that had first captured his attention.

“Think about what?” Miroku asked feigning naiveté and tried to peek over his shoulder to get a closer look at the beautiful maiden before him. “Is she yours?”

Inuyasha blushed in response. “No stupid! She's not my type,” he lied, hoping that she couldn't hear their conversation for what he was about to say.

Kagome discreetly leaned over a bit to hear their conversation. “Besides, you don't want that bitch,” the hanyou whispered with a snide tint to his words for emphasis, “the wench ain't that pretty, is stubborn as a pig, boring, and is kind of on the slow side if you know what I mean.”

Hurt registered on her face before fury did. She thought he had grown more mature by now and had developed feelings for her by the way he had been staring at her earlier. `Once an ass, always an ass,' she thought angrily. “Oh so now I'm an ugly, stubborn, dull, and stupid wench?” she snapped. “You know, for a second there, I `d actually thought you'd grown up. I guess for some, wisdom doesn't come with age or brain cells in your case.”

Inuyasha swore. “Kagome, I didn't mean it like that!” He reached for her hand.

Recoiling from touch, she glared at him while backing away slowly. “Just leave me alone Inuyasha. I thought you had changed and evidently I was wrong. You are still the same asshole you were then. Good-bye.” Kagome spun around irritably and stalked off.

“Kagome, wait!” Inuyasha ran after her, but she had already been swallowed up by the mass of conversing contributors to the charity fund.

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Six days. Six days since the last time she had had a decent meal. Six days since the last time she had had hot running water pummel her body through a showerhead. Six days of wearing nothing but the clothes on her back. Six days since she had utilized a toilet. Six days since she had last seen her family and friends. Six days since the plane had crashed and left her stranded on a desert island with her unwanted husband. And it didn't help that they weren't exactly on speaking terms since the shark attack. Sure he provided protection over her at night as she slept at the base of a tree while he maintained lookout in the branches above and always shared whatever game he caught whenever he hunted after the Ramen had run out, but that was the extent of his company and companionship.

Kagome sneezed and rubbed her irritated nose. She was sick of this damned place. Every day that passed her hope for being rescued waned, leaving both her and Inuyasha aggravated and edgy, in which is why during the day, he would leave to go off doing whatever his heart desired while Kagome stayed along the beach with a pile of wood ready to be ignited if a plane happened to cross the skies. But neither ever saw a plane, not even a ship in the distance. It was like the world had banished them from existence and had labeled them as outcasts. And it was slowly driving Kagome to insanity.

Growling in a manner similar to that of the hanyou, she got down on all fours and leaned into the lagoon where wide ripples in the water were created by the gushing waterfall only ten feet from her. After splashing her face and scrubbing away the grime that may have accumulated overnight, then stared at her reflection in water and sighed. What she needed was a good shampoo and conditioner and a facial.

“Oi bitch.” Inuyasha watched in mild amusement as she squeaked in surprise before tumbling into lagoon.

Her head emerged from the surface seconds later, sputtering water and gasping for air. “Y-you jerk! Next time warn me when you want scare the living daylights out of me!”

“Maybe you should just pay more attention next time,” he smirked leaping down from the tree and walking over to the water where she waded glaring at him. In one swift movement, he plucked her from the lagoon and placed her on dry land.

No sooner had her feet touched the grassy patch of earth when she quickly snatched her arm from his grasp angrily and would have fallen back in had he not seized her hand again to prevent the plunge. “Would you get off of me?” she snapped irately taking back her appendage.

“Well next time I'll let your dumb ass drown,” he retorted, amber eyes narrowed in annoyance. “What the hell's the matter with you?”

“Nothing's the matter with me,” she ground out through gritted teeth while wringing water from her sopping wet hair. “I'm perfectly fine…other than the fact that we've been stranded here for six days and have absolutely no chance of returning back to civilized society. Oh, and then there's the minuscule fact that I'm stuck on a deserted island with a husband I had no desire to wed in the first place who completely hates my guts and wishes that I was some French bimbo he could screw daily.” Done wringing out her hair she started removing the wet layers of clothing that clung to her dripping body. “And I'm tired of eating wild animals and berries and taking baths in this freezing lagoon.” She heatedly threw her shirt on the ground. “And I'm sick of sleeping at the base of a tree and waking up with creepy crawlers slithering across my skin.” She flung her socks. “And I'm fed up with not knowing if someone was trying to intentionally kill to us with the plane crash and thinking about potential suspects who may have resentment against us.”

Kagome squirmed out of her pants so that she was only clad in her bright blue bikini and threw them alongside her shirt and turned to glare at the hanyou, who had been silently watching her vent, his unreadable expression revealing nothing of what he may be feeling, which further amplified her frustration. “How can you stand there and act so calm!” she accused stepping to him and shoving her finger aggressively into his chest. “But naturally the great inu hanyou Inuyasha wouldn't be troubled by this occurrence. He fears nothing.” Kagome threw her head back and cackled haughtily, like some kind of deranged lunatic that had just escaped from a mental institution.

She stopped laughing abruptly, promptly sobering up. “If only I could be as strong as you. If only I could act as though nothing is wrong, like being here doesn't effect me in the least.” Her voice began to crack as moisture began to brim sapphire eyes. “Someone did plan on killing us, I know it. But I don't know if my family is ok or if the murderer went after them or our friends. And its killing me inside because they might be dead or dying and there's nothing I can do about it.”

Inuyasha caught her slumped form in his arms before she crashed to the ground and slowly lowered them gently onto the grass, pulling her lithe form into his lap so that her head rested on his shoulder.

“But do you know what really pisses me off?” she murmured quietly into his neck as the tears trickled down her cheek. “I'm tired of us fighting like cats and dogs and you avoiding me like I've got some terminal contagious flesh eating virus and us evading what happened four years ago. Everything would be so much simpler…”

Inuyasha felt the heartstrings in his chest tugging sharply at her heartfelt words, the scent of her salty tears stirring a certain unnamable emotion that made him reflexively tighten his hold on her. He had always hated to see her cry and had always felt helpless when there was nothing he could do about it. But there was one subtle difference this time around. This time, he knew why she was hurting. He knew that part of the reason was the fault of his own stupidity and ignorance. And this time, he was going to rectify his mistakes.

“Kagome,” he began softly sitting her up in his lap and with one clawed hand brought her tear streaked face to meet his. “You may believe that I am the essence of strength, but I'm not. I'm just as frustrated and angry and hurt as you; the difference is that I hide it all beneath a mask instead of on my sleeve like you.” With the calloused pads of his thumbs, Inuyasha tenderly wiped away her tears. “Now you are going to suck it up and stop acting like a big baby. Our family and friends are well protected and perfectly safe from harm so there is nothing you have to worry about. They are wholly capable of defending themselves.”

She gave him a weak smile before wrapping her arms around his torso in a hug, which he awkwardly accepted. “Thanks Inuyasha and sorry for my little lapse of insanity.”

“Keh,” he struggled to fight down the arising heat to his cheeks, “nothing I couldn't handle. Now get up wench, I want to show you something.”

Kagome released him from the embrace to roll her eyes up at him. “Back to wench I see.”

He smirked and said nothing and fluidly returned to his feet with Kagome by his side. Inuyasha crouched down. “Get on.”

“Hold on and let me get my stuff.” She turned and bent down to retrieve her belongings when a fit of lung wrenching coughs began to rack her body, preventing her from successfully gathering the various articles of clothing.

In a flash, Inuyasha was by her side. He slipped one hand around her waist and the other on her wrist to steady her jerky movements as she wheezed and gasped for air. A frown marred his face as he listened to her erratic breaths and took notice of the difficulty she was having in inhaling oxygen. Why hadn't he detected this before? She was coming down with a cold and he hadn't even been aware of it until now.

Mentally berating himself for his idiocy, Inuyasha waited patiently until her fit of coughing passed and her breathing evened out. “Are you ok?”

Kagome waved him off as she caught her breath and scooped up her wet things. “I'm fine. Just a little cough. Its nothing.”

“The hell it is.” He shrugged off his shirt and draped it over her shoulders. Ignoring her objections, the hanyou swept her off her feet into his arms bridal style and started for the forest.

“Put me down! I can wa-,” she broke off when another coughing attack assaulted her lungs, effectively cutting off her words.

“You're coming down with a cold though I don't know the hell why since its eighty degrees out here. Therefore I will be not letting you out of my eyesight until you're better. So just shut up, accept it, and stay still bitch.” He took off running once her coughing died down, a look of determination settled on his features as he whizzed past the trees in a vivid blur of greens, whites, and browns.

Kagome hid a small smile behind her hands at his blatant concern and contented herself with burrowing herself into his warm chest. No matter how foul his mouth or how irascible his temper got, he had and always would remain her pillar of support. Her hanyou savoir.

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Kagome stormed out of the building in a huff. `How dare that rude, inconsiderate bastard call me names. He hasn't changed a bit. I am so stupid for thinking he would have grown up by now. He's just the child he was when I first met him. He's merely traded his tricks for charm. ' Thoroughly disgusted with herself for becoming another victim to his entrancing charm, Kagome, with her heated contemplation and chaotic emotions, thoughtlessly pursued an unfamiliar route that with each step put her farther and farther away from the ball.

Kagome stopped in her tracks, suddenly realizing that she had absolutely no idea where she was. It was dark, she was in a strange city, and she had no money. Definitely not good. Mentally chastising herself for her lack of common sense, Kagome turned around, intent on retracing her footsteps back to the building she had just departed from when she saw them.

There were four of them, each appearing as though they had just stepped off the screen of some clichéd black and white movie with their leather jackets and slicked back hair. The tattoos and facial piercings further exemplified the passé impression. Elongated fangs peeked out from their mouth as they sneered derisively at her. But unlike the corny films she had watched as a child growing up, she was the victim here and there was no hero that would come along and rescue her from the impending doom that these formidable youkai promised because this was reality, not some fictional fantasy where everybody lives happily ever after.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” the wolf youkai in the front of the group approached her first, his hands fisted in the side pockets of his worn jacket, the florescent light from the lamp post only a foot away from her clearly exposing just how menacing those fangs looked in the light. “Why don't you look pretty. Did you get all dolled up just for me?”

“Not on your life,” Kagome snapped disdainfully at the pack of advancing wolves as she kept backing up.

“Ah, you wound me, that you do. And here I thought he could be friends.” He grinned spitefully at her before signaling for the others to surround her.

The remaining wolf youkai encircled her with such a speed that it made her momentarily dizzy. And before she knew it, each had latched on to her, one from the left, one from the right, and one holding her from behind. “Let me go you fiends!” she screamed, futilely trying to squirm her way out of their vice grip hold, and resorted to biting, kicking, and head butting to get her point across.

The one of the left yelped when she attached her blunt teeth to his forefinger. “Oww! Get off you little bitch!” He raised his free hand to strike her when the lead youkai grabbed his appendage and twisted it to a sickening position that further incited a round of screams and protests.

“We don't hit ladies, Ginta,” the leader male growled, promises of pain glittering in his black orbs.

“But she bit me, Tai” Ginta whimpered bowing his head submissively as much as his trapped hand would allow him.

A smirk alighted his dark orbs. “Well, then. We'll just have to teach her a lesson she will never forget.” Ginta breathed a sigh of relief as his hand was released. “As for you, doll face,” the leader turned his attention back to the writhing female in front of him. “I have something special for you.”

Kagome froze when she felt his clawed hand trace the contours of face and slowly trail down to her collarbone. “Why are you doing this?”

Tai leaned in to whisper softly into her ear, “Why not?”

“Because dip shit, women are supposed to treated with respect, love, and care, not like some fucking whore.” Sheer elation and hope lifted Kagome's spirit when Inuyasha stepped into the light from the shadows, a look of utter disgust and restrained fury twisting his features although his voice betrayed none. “And scum such as yourself should be eradicated from the face of this planet.”

Tai moved away from her to face the enemy, the playful gleam in his eyes being replaced by coldness and spite. “That's funny, I was thinking the exact same thing about insignificant half breeds.”

“Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental,” Inuyasha spat and threw his tux jacket onto the ground. “I suggest you step away from Kagome, lest you want my fist down your fucking throat.”

“The girl is mine, half breed. Go find some lamppost to hump.” The wolf turned his interest back to Kagome. “I'm busy here.”

“Face me, ass wipe, unless you're too ball-less to accept my challenge,” Inuyasha barked, flames of wrath surging through his veins at the fear in her usual high spirited orbs. Anger twisted and coiled and thrashed relentlessly inside of his gut, his youkai instincts urging and begging and pleading to be released so that it may relish in the feel of tearing the skin from the wolves' bodies. But he kept his anger in check, for fear that he may accidentally hurt Kagome and so that he didn't get too out of control. What would she think of him if she saw him rip them piece by piece in front of her?

Tai gave a heavy hearted sigh. “I'm getting tired of his incessant yapping. Boys, go give him a taste of full blooded youkai power.”

No sooner had the three wolves released their grasp on Kagome when the leader male clamped his arms around her body from behind her, effectively pinning her to him. “Now watch sweetie,” he murmured rubbing his cheek against hers affectionately, “as my boys tear your puppy dog limb from limb. You should know better than to hang around worthless hanyou filth. They are weak bastards and do not fully meet up the strength and might of full blooded youkai.”

Kagome grinned at Inuyasha, unfazed by his words. “I think you should rethink your position.”

The wolf cursed and pushed her aside as he saw how wrong he had been about the inu hanyou, who was currently standing cockily on top of a motionless pile of bloodied wolves that lay unconscious under his feet.

“You were saying?” Inuyasha smirked.

A loud growl escaped the esophagus of the pack leader, his eyes flashing red occasionally. “You presumptuous piece of shit! I'll make sure to rip that smirk off of your face!” Tai launched himself at the hanyou, not giving a second thought to Kagome.

“Not if I do it first,” Inuyasha snorted easily dodging the wolf's ill aimed punch by shifting to the right, then quickly kicked his legs from under him, successfully knocking Tai to the ground. Before he could recover from the fall, Inuyasha pounced onto his back and grabbed a fistful of his black hair. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn't slit your throat right now,” the hanyou snarled, his claws embedding themselves into his neck. With one flick of the wrist, he could effortlessly cut open the wolf's jugular vein and just let him slowly bleed to death.

“Fuck you,” Tai hissed, furious with himself for becoming at the mercy of a lowly hanyou.

“Inuyasha no!” Kagome hitched up her dress and ran over to where he held the wolf captive under his claws. “If you kill him, you'll sink to a level lower than him.” As soon as she reached him, Kagome attached herself the arm that detained a fistful of hair. “Just let him go Inuyasha, and then we can go back to the ball.” She gazed pleadingly into his amber orbs.

Inuyasha hesitated, then reluctantly gave in. There was no way he could resist her entreating eyes and beseeching voice. “Fine,” he grumbled, but rather than release the wolf unharmed, Inuyasha slammed his face into the ground for good measure and so that he wouldn't inflict any type of injury to Kagome or himself.

“Inuyasha,” she scolded lightly as he got off the now cataleptic wolf. “I don't think you had to-” She felt her cheeks warming as he began to run his fingers down her face and quickly scanned over the rest of her body to see if she were hurt. “Inuyasha, I'm fine.”

He frowned. “Are you sure?” Amber eyes alighted with righteous fury. “Did they touch you inappropriately? Because if they did I swear I'll break all their fucking jaws and rip each of their fucking fingers off and-” His rant was tragically cut short when he felt her lips press timidly against his own. Her sweet, petal soft lips cleared his mind of everything except her, and how intoxicating the scent that enveloped her. His lips on hers, his fingers slowly beginning to delve into her beautiful raven tresses, her arms clutching her to him. It was more than perfect; it was surreal.

And when they finally pulled apart, their cheeks flushed and eyes radiating, Kagome, smiling shyly, wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. “Thank you, for saving me.”

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“Dammit! Its been six fucking days and you still can't find them?” Inutaisho bellowed irately slamming his fist on his desk for emphasis and making a considerable crack appear in the polished oak wood. “Is this police agency run by idiots?”

The detective in the overcoat maintained his calm façade and took the inuyoukai's anger with a composed disposition, an acute contrast to his deputy, who was visibly shaking with fear at the feral inuyoukai only feet in front of him. “Takeda-san, we are doing everything in our power to locate the whereabouts of your son and daughter-in-law-”

“Well you aren't doing enough!” he growled, ready to lift the detective off of his feet and pin him to a wall to get the answers he wanted, and would have had not his wife been holding him back.

“How long do you suppose it will take for you all to find some type of verification or proof that they are still living,” Ryo asked quietly, Hitomi clutching his arm beside him. The dark rings that hung under their eyes and the haggardness of their appearance illustrated just how much sleep they had gotten over the past couple of days.

“Its hard to say at this point, but we do have a lead-”

“And just how substantial is this lead, Myouga-san?” Megumi cut him off, wringing her hands worriedly as she waited for an answer.

“If you would allow me to continue without cutting me off then perhaps I would be able to inform you of recent developments,” Myouga offered coolly.

“If you would get to the point and tell us just the hell what is going on instead of standing here taking up space and wasting breath, maybe we could.” Inutaisho was quickly silenced by a slap from his mate and the glares of the other occupants of the office.

“I'm sorry, please continue,” Hitomi said earnestly, her hand tightening around her husband's.

Myouga nodded. “Up until this point in the investigation, we have examined the situation from every angle that has involved the airline services here in Tokyo and those in the surrounding cities. But what we have neglected to check up on is those private planes and jets that could have been taken.”

“Wait, we arranged for them to fly via Tokyo Airlines, not private plane,” Ryo commented in confusion.

“I know that sir, but what if this was some kind of convoluted scheme? What if someone was purposely hired to take your son and daughter to an air strip after making up some phony story about you wanting them to have some alone time or something of that nature? My point is that they could be held captive somewhere or they could already be dead,” he finished gravely.

“So, this is just some elaborate hunch that you've come with due to lack of real evidence?” Inutaisho drawled, his expression revealing that he wasn't convinced.

“This isn't some random hunch,” the short detective huffed indignantly. “There is a real possibility that you're kids could have been set up and the conspirator may still be at large.”

“But who would want to kill Inuyasha and Kagome? What motive would they against setting up this so called `elaborate scheme'? And if they have been kidnapped, why haven't their captors contacted us for ransom?” Megumi questioned frantically.

“I don't know all of the specifics. We're working on it as of now and the investigation would move along faster if you would allow me to get back to my job instead of managing all of your insecurities.” He and his deputy got up to leave. “We'll be taking our leave now.”

Ryo stood and gave Myouga a handshake. “Thank you for all of your work. I have absolute faith in your abilities and those of your co-workers to find our children.”

Myouga and apprentice bowed before exiting through the doubled doors.

“That was a waste of time,” Inutaisho grumbled folding his arms across his expansive chest.

Megumi touched her mate's arm. “We're going to have to have confidence and reliance on the police force. Even our private detectives couldn't trace their whereabouts.”

“This is all our fault,” Hitomi murmured dismally sinking further into her chair. “If we hadn't pressured them into filling our shoes, we wouldn't be in this position in the first place.” She didn't even want to think about how this was going to influence the company and the employees.

“They are alive,” Inutaisho spoke up, his golden eyes hardened with fidelity. “My son is no pushover, and my daughter-in-law has the will of steel. They both are survivors and can handle anything that come their way, that is if they work together. And I guess for the time being I'll have to have trust in that 3-ring of a circus of a police department, even though they all full of shit.”

“Inutaisho!” Megumi snapped.

“Sorry,” he mumbled under his breath.

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“Y-you built this?” Kagome stared in awe at the cavern mouth as Inuyasha set her down carefully on to the grass.

“Yep,” he said self-righteously, proud of his feat. “Took me a couple of days to dig it out. That's why I was always gone during the day. I know you were tired and uncomfortable sleeping on under a tree all night and since its going to be a storm today, we`ll be drier in here than out in the open or in the forest. Come on.” He tugged on her sleeve and led her into their humble abode.

The cave had been engraved into the base of a cliff that overlooked the entire beachside and was out in the open enough so that if a plane or ship did happen to fly by, it wouldn't take long for them to make a fire since it wouldn't take long to get to the beach. It was roughly around six feet in length and four feet in width. He had put bushes and an assortment of branches in front of the face of the cave to keep out animals and protect the interior from the oncoming storm. The inside was spacious enough for three people to lie contentedly in all directions. A bed of flattened moss and palm tree leaves covered the cave floor to provide comfort to the occupants as well as so they wouldn't have to sleep in the dirt. In the center was a cluster of sticks and dry grass encircled by rocks on all sides for the fire and small exhaust tunnel in the ceiling leading to the outside so that the smoke wouldn't cloud the inside.

Kagome stared up at the trodden walls and ceiling of the cave, and was moderately surprised. “Inuyasha, you did all of this?” she asked in amazement and carefully touching the walls as if trying to convince herself that they were truly there.

“Of course I did woman,” he snorted lightly plopping down on the floor with arms crossed. “You don't believe me?”

“This is kind of unbelievable,” Kagome said taking a seat next to him. “But you did a really good job. Thank you Inuyasha.” She gave him a heart warming smile.

“Keh. Whatever,” he, as usual when embarrassed and not knowing how to respond, looked away, efficiently hiding his blush.

Grinning at his modesty, Kagome shifted her gaze to the overcast sky beyond the foliage. The sky was darkening rapidly. The friendly cumulus clouds that had arched over the horizon like giant brows only minutes ago, had now disappeared beneath the gloomy sheet of gray that had overtaken the sky. The palm trees down the beach began to rock back and forth as the wind picked up.

Her grin wilted until it faded away completely, leaving a grim expression its wake. The weather was probably taking a turn for the worse as a reflection of their conversation to come. They always say better late than never. “Inuyasha?”

“What?” he asked, even though he knew what was to be expected.

“Why do you hate me?”

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End.

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AN: I've decided to leave here basically because this chapter mainly served as an introduction for what is to come. The answers to all the questions you've always had about these two will finally be acknowledged. And since I'm already on a roll, due largely to the fact that I've got a half a tub of chocolate icing sitting in front of me and because I finally narrowed down choice scenarios, the next chapter should be up either by Saturday or Sunday. So stay tuned….if you dare….muhaaaaaaa::squeals: I love sugar rushes. You go by now and review::crams more chocolate icing in mouth greedily: