InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Shrine Prostitute ❯ Escalation ( Chapter 14 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: FlameTwirler 
In which Kagome finds herself falling in deeper and deeper
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Hentai / Drama / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 11.09.2007 | Updated On: 06.29.2013 | Pages: 5 | Words: 8.3K | Visits: 4.4K | Status: Work In Progress
In which Kagome finds herself falling in deeper and deeper
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Hentai / Drama / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 11.09.2007 | Updated On: 06.29.2013 | Pages: 5 | Words: 8.3K | Visits: 4.4K | Status: Work In Progress
Shrine Prostitute by FlameTwirler
~ ~ ~
A/N: Normally I hate putting stuff at the top of a chapter but oh well. I’m the author, I can do whatever the heck I want. ^_-
I know it’s been a long time since the last update and it’s great you’ve all been hanging in there. I just wanted to thank each and every one of you who’ve been reading/reviewing this story. I know this sounds totally cheesy but my life has sucked lately and it has honestly been a little sparkle of joy knowing there are people who actually enjoy this fic. Haha, see? Told you I’m lame. So thank you all for giving me a bit of a push in an otherwise craptastic life ^_^
~ ~ ~
Chapter 14: Escalation
----- to increase in intensity, magnitude, etc
----- an increase to counteract a perceived discrepancy
----- an increase in the intensity or geographical scope of a war or diplomatic confrontation
~ ~ ~
Inuyasha paced the small confines of his room, wishing desperately for something to punch.
Why hadn’t he picked up the damn phone? It wasn’t all that difficult, was it? He knew he was acting the idiot, avoiding Kagome like that. He’d have thought she would hate him after the way he’d stormed out on her, but what else could he have done? He had to protect them both from whatever maniac crusade she thought she was on. If that hadn’t been enough though, then the way he was currently behaving should surely be enough to turn her off, but no. She still called.
Why the hell was she so damned persistent? Couldn’t she get it through her head that nothing could happen between them? That just because she thought something was there didn’t mean anything really was, or that it would continue to be? She was deluded, that was all, and the sooner she realized that the safer and better off they’d both be.
As if it were possible for someone to actually love a hanyou. Although she had been the first to ever like him, aside from Ryu…
With an agitated jerk he shook his head violently to dislodge even the merest trailing web of that idea. He resumed his pacing, his stride increasing until he was almost jumping completely from side to side of the room in his agitated state with his growing restless energy.
He still didn’t understand why that meant he couldn’t pick up the phone. At least then he could yell at her and take his frustration out on the person who’d caused it all, maybe even snap her out of her psychosis a bit sooner so that they could behave like normal around each other.
Where the hell had that come from? Growling he spun and tore into his pillow, not caring if his client for the night wanted one or not. Behave like normal? There shouldn’t be anything normal about it! He didn’t have long standing relationships with people; he didn’t have people who cared to be around him for long enough; he shouldn’t have any type of standard for any relationship with a clearly misguided good-doer. So there wasn’t any normal to go back to because hopefully she would never come back!
Yeah, hopefully he’d never have to see her ugly mug again…
Inuyasha deflated a moment before ripping into the small bit of fluff left in his hands, all that was left of his decimated pillow. Despite all his anger he still didn’t really get why he was avoiding her, and that bothered him just as much as anything else since things in his life had always been simple and clear cut before. All this girl did was muck stuff up and churn up things that would have been better off left alone.
At the knock on his door he snapped, finally giving into his anger and punching a hole in his wall.
~ ~ ~
“Good, then you’re coming with me,” the boar youkai said.
The words echoed in Kagome’s head as the moment seemed to freeze in time, each second taking an eternity. She watched as he reached for her and spun her in front of him, one arm wrenched behind her back in a tight hold, the other still clamped tightly over her mouth from when she’d first started to scream. It was from that hand that she noticed his trembling. She could only surmise it was either from whatever anger he held that pushed him to abduction or from nerves at the act he was committing. It didn’t really matter which, though, as she knew either one was dangerous to her as his captive.
Turning, he frog-marched her in front of him, then at the end of the alley came to an abrupt stop. “I’m taking my hand off and you’re going to follow me like a good little girl. Not a peep out of you, you hear?”
Kagome nodded again, too terrified to make a sound even if her mind could've still formed coherent words. Everything she’d ever learned about self-defense came into her head and she thanked the school system for the mandatory nominal lessons all girls had to go through on self-defense. For some reason, one she’d never understood, they taught to go along with whatever your captor said, to do anything to prevent from angering him. She still didn’t understand it but it was the easiest alternative she had to follow, and she did so unerringly until her thoughts halted again as he quickly shoved her through an open door into a tall house, shutting the door swiftly and silently behind them.
Gathering all the courage she could muster she turned to face her abductor, despite her embarrassment that she couldn’t control the shaking in her limbs. “What do you want with me?”
He merely grunted and gestured her over with a wave of his hand, thankfully not putting hands on her again. The closer she looked at him, though, the more she saw how apparently nervous he was – and that could be bad her. She’d always heard that a nervous or jumpy captor was more dangerous than a calm one, more likely to be set off at any given moment. Still, something about him seemed slightly…off. He was fidgeting but the way he was looking at her made her think that he wanted something specific from her, something out of the norm for this type of situation, but…what?
She walked over hesitantly then watched as he pulled back a door and stepped away, gesturing for her to enter. Swallowing she stepped up to the door, keeping more attention on him than the room. Satisfied that he wasn’t coming closer, or that if he did once she turned her back there was nothing she could do about it, she focused on what lay beyond the entry.
At first she couldn’t make heads or tails of the situation her abductor had just tossed her into. There was a boy huddled in the far corner of the room under a blanket, and when the boar youkai behind her flipped on the light she was heartbroken to see the boy appeared only about five or six years old and was stark terrified. She took a step toward him but when he flinched she stopped immediately and chanced a quick glance back at the youkai behind her.
Unable to prevent herself from staring at the poor boy, she tried to soak in every detail she could. Though the resemblance between he and the adult behind her was undeniable, they still seemed oddly distinct. The one in front of her had no tusks, or at least none that she could see from across the room, and had significantly less hair all over his body. In fact, he looked more like a hairy human than a youkai. This all added up to one terribly odd picture and suddenly something clicked: the questions, the nerves, the quick departure…the poor boy huddled in a corner like he was terrified of the world. She didn’t turn her eyes away from his as she asked of the youkai behind her, “Is he…?”
“Hanyou?” he supplied, and she watched in pain as the young boy flinched as though he’d been slapped by the ‘dirty’ word.
She nodded and the youkai confirmed, “Yes. He’s my sister’s son.”
Ah, she thought, and there is that hideous dissociation. Must make sure to point out it’s your sister’s problem, her fault and not yours. She shook her head sadly and entered the room, walking toward the hanyou slowly as he was obviously wary of her. How often did he have contact if he was this skittish?
The boy focused briefly on her before his eyes snapped to the youkai towering behind her. Before she could contemplate making a move the boar snatched her back out of the room, the door sliding shut with an audible clack in front of her face.
“What are you doing? What are you on about?” she yelled in his face, fear forgotten after seeing that child.
“What does it look like?” he bellowed back, though not before moving her further away from the hanyou’s door to the other side of the room. “I’m showing you what you’ve been asking about all over town!”
Her next words caught in her throat as she was stunned. She’d been so preoccupied with everything going on that she hadn’t thought to wonder why he’d risk introducing her to his nephew. Actually, come to think of it, she still only knew how he’d picked her, not why he’d taken the chance on her.
“Why did you bring me here?” she asked quietly. She couldn’t tell enough of him yet to be sure whether it was because he wanted to foist the bothersome hanyou onto someone else, wanted to rub her face in the reality of the situation, quiet her up by giving her what she wanted, or if he truly wanted to do something for the situation of the young boy.
The youkai blithely ignored her question though and continued slowly pulling her toward the door with the grip he still maintained on her upper arm. “Are you free next Thursday afternoon?”
Puzzled she tried her best to stop him, which was a pathetic attempt compared to his strength, but he acquiesced to her (unspoken request) and didn’t make any further movement toward the door - though he didn’t relinquish his hold on her either. "I'm going to be in class," she hedged, not sure she wanted to give away her specific location to this...interesting individual. "Why?"
“I want you to come back, visit the boy. I wasn’t sure if or when I’d find you so he wasn’t prepared for meeting you today, as you could see. He’s not particularly comfortable around humans.”
That answered that question for her. It was obvious to her now that, despite all his bravado and rough exterior, this youkai cared at least somewhat for the hanyou. Turning to face him fully she bowed formally, or tried since she could only move her upper body a few inches down with the fierce grip he still had on her arm. When he saw what she was doing though he released her, puzzled.
That answered that question for her. It was obvious to her now that, despite all his bravado and rough exterior, this youkai cared at least somewhat for the hanyou. Turning to face him fully she bowed formally, or tried since she could only move her upper body a few inches down with the fierce grip he still had on her arm. When he saw what she was doing though he released her, puzzled.
“My name is Kagome Higurashi and I would be happy to come back sometime. Pleased to meet you.”
The boar youkai huffed as though expecting any reaction out of her except that one. After all, he had just man-handled her to his home and thrust this situation on her. He hadn’t expected her to accept it with any amount of grace under those conditions. “I’m Yami.”
“And your nephew?”
He viewed her skeptically. Though she had been asking around about hanyou diligently and seemed a nice enough girl there was really no telling what her motives were. Still, he supposed he couldn’t do any further damage by giving her the boy’s name, not after he’d already given his and shown her where he and his nephew lived. “His name’s Josef.”
Her eyebrow raised in question.
“His father was German. Some family name or another from his side.”
Well, she thought, that explains that."What about Friday?"
He looked at her in surprise and she realized that he must've been half-expecting her to not follow through in her promise to come back. Slowly though he shook his head. "Not during the day, but what about the evening?"
"I'm attending a clinic," she frowned, not sure how else to phrase the time she spent in Professor Hirohito's lab discussing her research and progress. "Tuesday?"
Gazing into the distance for a few seconds he finally nodded. "Yes, that'll work fine."
"Wonderful," she returned. “I guess I’ll be going then and we’ll meet again next week.”
As soon as she set her hand on the door Yami’s gut clenched as he realized the enormity of what he’d just done. He could handle it if he got himself into trouble but what if the girl turned against them or made a simple slip up and it hurt Josef? Hell, even getting himself into trouble would land the young hanyou in an untenable position since no one else wanted to take the boy on.
He hissed after her, using the most threatening and sinister voice he was able to manage. “You won’t tell anyone you’ve been here, especially not what you were here for.”
Kagome froze immediately at his tone, continuing to face out the doorway as she schooled her features into some semblance of control. “Of course I won’t. Do you think I’m stupid?”
He nodded once. “Good. But I tell you now, if anyone does find out then I will hunt you down and personally gore you through myself.”
That took her off the defensive and made her angry. “You most certainly will not.”
Yami was taken aback and blinked at her, not expecting any resistance. “I beg your pardon?”
“If anyone finds out then I’ll expect you to back me up. If you won’t stand with me in support of your nephew then who will?” She turned then to look at him over your shoulder. “But I’ll keep quiet. I don’t want conflict for that precious child anymore than you do, believe me. For whatever reason, you trusted me this much to bring me this far into your home so don’t worry. I have my own reasons I’m fighting for here as well and wouldn’t do anything to betray it or you.”
She smiled at him then and the mood lifted slightly, though both were left dazed with the enormity of the undertaking they’d just entered in together. “Does human food suit your taste as well? I really have no idea about such things.”
He wasn’t sure he could get used to this strange girl with her random mood and topic changes. “Most of it suits well enough,” he shrugged.
“Fine, then I’ll be here at 1pm on Tuesday with plenty of food.” She nodded to him one last time before she slipped out the door.
~ ~ ~
Inuyasha lay on his stomach, the open lash wounds on his back – courtesy of a new toy from one of the regulars – prevented him from turning over, or from moving much at all really, not if he wanted the skin to heal correctly and keep from pulling in odd ways later on. He’d learned that one the hard way. Luckily for him, in that particular case, another, later client had ripped open the same patch of skin, allowing it to heal correctly the second time.
Head turned to face the wall he resolutely tried to keep his mind occupied and in his last ditch effort he even attempted to make faces out of the chips and cracks in the finish. Not that he hadn't done so countless times before. When the last visage he conjured looked vaguely like Kagome’s smile he sighed, defeated, and closed his eyes. Reluctantly his mind drifted back to the closet he’d been trying desperately to ignore. He kept her letters stashed safely inside but it honestly wouldn’t matter even if something did happen to them. He had every word memorized, could almost hear exactly how she’d pitch each line.
That bothered him more than he could say, but since he didn’t really have anyone to own up to or explain himself to it didn’t really matter. Turning restlessly to face the closet he wondered for the hundredth time why she still bothered, why she continued to call and write him when she’d gotten no response. How she could persevere when there were so many things against her, against them?
Oh well. It was still a relatively fresh situation to her and he was still a novelty. It would wear off in time and she’d learn soon enough.
With a frustrated sigh he shifted to face the wall again, willing his mind to shut off long enough to let him get some sleep.
~ ~ ~
Over the next several weeks Kagome visited with Yami and Josef multiple times and not only had she and the boar youkai gradually become friends, but the young hanyou was finally loosening up around her.
It turned out the boy had lived with his mother and father in a ningen community first and, though he was loved by his parents, still hadn’t been allowed out of the house because they had feared for his safety.
His parents had then drowned together in a storm, trying to cross a flooded road in their small car. In the beginning it had seemed that the father’s family was going to be loving and accepting to the new adoptee, as had been hoped for when the parents had chosen their son’s name, especially when the extended relatives took the trouble to fly him all the way to Germany to live with them. It hadn’t been long though until the family became abusive to the point where he had nearly died several times. Apparently they blamed him for his parents death; they claimed the couple had been attempting to get home to him, and if his presence hadn't been such a burden then they'd still be alive.
At first Yami hadn’t wanted the bother of taking in his nephew, not when he was a bachelor, and not a hanyou by any means. After finding out the extent of how Josef was treated though his familial pride and honor kicked in and he pulled the now physically deformed boy from the situation he was in, albeit reluctantly. The young hanyou still walked with a limp from when the family had repeatedly broken his right leg when he was only three old, never allowing it to heal correctly.
The past few years had been good to the pair though and they obviously cared for each other. Yami now had a wife as well, Mitsuki, who cared for Josef as well she could. They admitted that she was still too prejudiced and would need more time but by both Yami’s and Josef’s words she had made great strides considering where her original standing had been.
Yami had refused to give Josef up in order to marry and wouldn’t deceive a woman and stick all of them in an uncomfortable situation so he told Mitsuki about his charge when he asked her to marry him. Just the fact that she’d been willing to marry Yami when she knew about Josef was proof enough in itself that not only did she have great love for her betrothed, but she was also willing to change her worldview, despite how long it would take. Kagome had yet to meet the boar youkai’s wife but it seemed that she traveled often on business and would be out of the country another two months at least. It seemed an okay arrangement for the family though as it gave them all the breathing room they needed to make adjustments at their own pace. She truly admired them all for being so patient with each other.
“I need to be getting to class,” she said suddenly as she glanced at her watch, rising from the table. “Thanks for lunch again.”
Walking around the table she patted Josef on the head. It still surprised her how soft his hair was despite its scraggly appearance. “I hear someone has a birthday coming up soon,” she whispered conspiratorially and smiled as his face lit up and he beamed up at her. “And eight years old too, such a big boy now!” She’d found out privately from Yami that the reason he looked so young for his age was because the continual beatings he’d had early on had stunted his growth. Still, now that he'd been under his uncle’s care for a while he was looking healthier all the time and started looking closer to his age.
“Now let me see…”she said straightening, tapping her index finger against her chin. “I think this calls for a party.” She turned to Yami, trying hard to keep the smile from her face as Josef was practically bouncing in his seat. “What do you think? Has he been good enough this year to warrant one?”
Yami took his time to contemplate the question. “Well, I don’t know…there was that one time he spilled juice all over the floor…”
Josef couldn’t contain himself any more and burst out of his seat. “Oh come on, I promise I’ll be good. Please? I’ve never had a party. You know you want to give me one.” He spun from his uncle and turned on Kagome then, nearly tackling her to the floor. “Please, Kagome, pretty please? Will there be cake? And balloons?”
She couldn’t help herself anymore and burst out laughing as she fell to the floor under Josef’s attack, returning in kind until they were in an all-out tickle war. “Of course you get a party, you silly goof. Who else do Yami and I have to spoil?”
He bolted out from under her and nearly jumped on his uncle. “Really uncle, really? I get a party?”
Yami smiled, a look Kagome still had to get used to with all the rows of teeth combined with the tusks. “Yes, kiddo, you do. I’m glad to have you here and we all get to celebrate together that you’re turning a year older. How’s that sound?”
“Yay! Terrific! Yay! Yay!” Josef was bounding around the room, jumping on his good leg as he shouted his joy. This was the one room in the house where he was allowed to do whatever he wanted to because Yami had been able to afford to outfit the one small area with sound-proofing. It wouldn’t fool some youkai but thankfully most wouldn’t be bothered to go out of their way trifle with a hanyou of all things. It did provide some sort of insurance though and a sense of security that soothed the worries of all involved, including Mitsuki, who was still more worried about others finding out than anything else.
“Josef,” Kagome called, getting no response over the boy’s raucous laughter. “Josef!” she called again, pulling him into a hug this time. “I still have to go.”
“Aww…” he pouted.
She just smiled and tweaked his cheek. “No worries. I’ll be here on Friday night for your p-a-r-t-y.”
He slowly sounded out the letters, brow furrowing in concentration. It was harder for him since Yami was having to school the young boy in his free time but it was still better than she supposed most hanyou got, and besides she aided in whatever ways she could. Luckily he was still at a basic enough level that she could help him in his math. “My…party?”
“That’s it,” she confirmed. Before he could start another tirade of unintelligible happy noises she made her way over to Yami. The other bonus about helping Josef with his schoolwork was that meant his uncle got to teach her some things too. “I nearly forgot. Did you happen to find that book?”
He smiled again as he pulled it out from under the table and handed it to her. “Now mind you, these are still just basic – extremely basic – medical remedies that can be applied across almost all youkai species. Anything more advanced and you’d have to go on a race by race basis.”
She waved his concern aside. “It’s better than nothing.” She looked almost as excited as Josef now.
“I still haven’t found anything about hanyou, in any context. I sincerely doubt there’s anything in print.”
Nodding, she sobered immediately. “Yeah, unfortunately I’m beginning to agree with you. Maybe we’ll just have to be the first ones to put something together, ne?”
“Well what about that boyfriend of yours?” he asked blithely.
Slowly she shook her head, just as much at Yami’s continued insistence to call Inuyasha that, despite her objections, as at the situation. “He’s still not answering my calls or returning my letters. It’s still another month and a half until I see him in person and I honestly have no idea what his reaction’s going to be. For now it’s best to count him out of the picture as anything other than a figurehead.”
His heart hurt for the girl. It was obvious that everything she’d accomplished had been spearheaded by her love for the blind fool, despite her insistence that he’d only kick started the idea. She hadn’t gone into much detail about everything that had gone on between them or Inuyasha’s past but he understood the hanyou had a terrible time of things and would take a long time to come around, if he ever did.
Looking over at his nephew he was immensely grateful that he’d found him when he had. There were still times that he wondered what it would be like if he didn’t have Josef to take care of but those were greatly overshadowed by the joy he had in the boy and in knowing he was doing something important and worthwhile.
He didn’t completely understand Kagome’s insistence to keep the extent of her work from Inuyasha, despite how many times she’d explained it. She insisted that he had to love her before he could know due to his trust issues and pride. He, on the other hand, still figured that the hanyou would see her dedication to him if he could see how much she’d changed her life in order to fight to give him the right to change his. Only love could spur such a sacrifice. But he’d never met the whelp and figured if Kagome was truly this gung-ho about him then she had to know him pretty danged well.
It just pained him to see such a conflict without an easy resolution anywhere in sight, especially for someone who he’d come to care for so much. He knew that every time she wore that dazed look or her head was off in the clouds it was because she was thinking of him. He still didn’t understand how the boy could question it. Maybe if he ever had the chance to meet him he’d set him straight. But those were only wishes. For now…
He shook his head to clear it, becoming aware that Kagome was giving him a questioning look. “Sorry, busy planning the party already.” He smiled and hoped she bought it, but if she didn’t she didn’t say anything.
“Ne, I must be off then. I’ll probably be late to class as it is.” At least now she had the book to sooth Professor Hirohito afterward so maybe he wouldn’t reprimand her too harshly.
With one last wave to Josef she jogged out the door and down the street, already composing her next letter to Inuyasha in her head. She needed to get it out tonight since all her time would soon be taken up in shopping for Josef’s present, studying her new youkai medical book, and preparing for exams. Still, it wasn’t that bad. At least being so busy kept her from having time to dwell on how much she missed him every day.
~ ~ ~
Kagome left Josef’s party, a big smile plastered across her face. As soon as the door shut behind her the mask dropped and her smile faded to a bittersweet recollection. She couldn’t help it – there were just too many similarities between the boy and Inuyasha.
At first she’d been delighted to see how overjoyed the young boar-hanyou had been at having an actual birthday celebration, complete with presents, cake, and games for the three of them to play. (Yami had confided in her the week before that his wife had actually been willing to attend but that she had worried that the tension between Josef and herself would ruin the boy’s day. No amount of arguing or cajoling on his part had been able to convince her otherwise.)
As the night wore on though it struck her how sad it was that such a small celebration could mean the world to him – to have people who truly appreciated the fact that he was alive. It had suddenly hit her how much sadness she could still see hidden behind his eyes, held at bay for the moment, but still there nonetheless. Not only that but it was exactly how her hanyou had looked so often, and just as it broke her heart every time then it did again now. However, knowing Inuyasha’s reactions and suspecting Josef’s to be similar, she made her smile extra bright and hoped her realization didn’t show through.
Now, as she wandered her way out of the youkai sector, her mind reluctantly shifted back to Inuyasha despite willing herself to stay away from thoughts of him. He still hadn’t written or called her back. The gall he had to ignore her! Only another 6 weeks, 2 days, 3 hours…she glanced at her watch…37 minutes and 12 seconds until she saw him again and could clobber him for making her feel like that.
She suddenly had to repress the urge to scream.
Somewhere in the back of her mind she could still feel the worry eating at her, that she was becoming a bother to him or that he’d only used her. Of course, she told herself she knew better, but even though it didn’t make sense with what she knew about him she still couldn’t help it. She just had so much invested in him…
Deliberately she pushed the thoughts aside yet again. She knew he cared for her, at least on some level. Whether it was as strong as her feelings she wasn’t sure – actually she wasn’t sure if he was capable of such at the current time, what with how emotionally stunted his life had left him. She almost snorted at the idea. Yet if she truly loved him she shouldn’t have a problem giving him all the time he needed and waiting, however impatiently, for him.
She had no idea what could be keeping him from replying for this long – though if it truly was just pride she actually might follow through on all her mental threats to maim him. So all she could do in the meantime was hope, praying that would be enough to carry her through the next six weeks.
“Halt, thief!”
She was jerked abruptly from her musings as the sounds of a commotion erupted behind her. She pivoted on the sidewalk to see two policemen chasing an adolescent boy, who obviously had something stashed under an oversized jacket. What surprised her most was that each man had his gun in hand instead of in its holster.
The boy was making a break down the street she was on, set to pass her and likely turn the corner in just a few more seconds. She shifted her gaze back to the pursuers and to her horror she saw that one had stopped and now had his gun trained on the thief.
Before she even got a chance to scream she heard the crack of the gunshot and the boy went down, blood immediately seeping out from beneath him onto the asphalt.
Without thinking of what she was doing she ran to the felled boy, horribly understanding the situation now. The impact of the shot had knocked his hat off and in the light of the sinking sun everything had come to show. Though he didn’t have any extremely obvious markings his skin was an odd, almost shiny, translucent shade, unnatural for any human.
In other words…he was hanyou. Kagome choked back a sob as she cradled his head in her lap. Her hysterics wouldn’t help the boy any, but it wrenched her gut to realize he was about the same age as Souta…even had eyes kind of like his. It was even harder to control herself when he half turned to look up at her and blinked already glazing eyes. He was dying even as she held him.
He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but then the awful death rattles started. She clenched up, desperately wanting to look away from the scene but she forced herself to watch, feeling bound to honor him by being there to witness his final moments, to let his last memory on earth be a compassionate embrace instead of two ugly cops full of hatred.
His hands inched up hers until he grasped her around the forearms, his grip tightening as he went into his final convulsions. She wished she had something, anything to ease him on but the hospital was a world away and a bullet in the lung was dangerous at any time. She couldn’t even think of a single measly word to say, not that anything would be of much comfort to him anymore.
With one last deep, shuddering sigh his hands fell from her and his head went limp against her thighs.
She didn’t move; she couldn’t. If she tried she knew the world would break into a thousand sharp, jagged pieces that would cut her apart. She stared down at the empty body that used to house the life of a boy, only coming out from her daze when she heard the snide remarks of a man beside her.
“Wasn’t worth the waste of the bullet. You know this vermin?” The question was obviously directed at her so she peeled her eyes away to look up at the man. He was the older of the two policemen and the one who had fired the shot.
Numbly she shook her head.
“Then what you doing holding his sorry ass for?”
Kagome squinted her eyes at the man. Is he for real? “He was shot down in the middle of the street, away from any family or friends. I couldn’t let him die alone,” she finished quietly.
“Hah, as if his kind have any friends, or any family that would own up to them for that matter.” She had the distinct impression that if she hadn’t still been holding the body then the policeman would have kicked it, despite the fact that he didn’t seem angry. In fact he almost seemed…bored?
“A life is still a life,” she retorted in the only way she could think of.
The man shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, and strutted – actually strutted – away. It was the first time she’d been exposed to this kind of abject species-arrogance from anyone. It was strange, in a way, because he made it seem like it wasn’t an emotion at all. He just took it for granted that hanyou weren’t worth anything, weren’t even worth the air they breathed, and that was just that. There was no burning anger behind it, no righteous indignation, just a complete way of ignoring that hanyou were a race of sentient beings. He’d probably have reacted more harsly or been more regretful had he had to put down a rabid street dog.
She’d thought Kazuma had been bad, and as much as she still loathed that man, she now knew that once her emotions returned in full force she’d hate this man more. At least Kazuma had a genuine dislike for Inuyasha as a person as well as his race that guided his actions. This policeman would just sit from a distance, bomb an entire race away, then yawn and go about his daily business as if nothing significant had just happened at all.
As he walked away the older man clapped his partner on the shoulder. “I’m going to get my motorcycle so we can start putting the report in. Be careful with that one,” he nodded at Kagome over his shoulder, “I think she must have escaped from a loony bin.” He walked away, guffawing loudly at his own joke or apparent lack of confidence in her sanity.
The younger man approached in a much more solemn manner, though considering he was half of the responsible duo, she still didn’t care to have him standing there.
“I’m sorry you had to get involved in this,” he said evenly, almost a touch regretful.
She wasn’t sure if she was sorry or not. She knew she’d likely have nightmares for weeks because of this but at the same time she’d kept the boy from dying alone. In the end she let her silence speak for her as much as it could.
The officer shuffled his feet a bit, looking visibly relieved when the ambulance slowly made its way around the corner. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” he started and she could almost believe him. Unfortunately for him it was too little too late.
“Sorry?” she hissed, seething at his trite way of putting this situation, even if he wasn’t as bad as his partner. “You think sorry cuts it? You gunned down a pre-pubescent boy for what, stealing?”
“Armed robbery,” he interjected quickly.
“Armed robbery,” she repeated, not bothering to keep the snide tone from her voice. “With what?”
“Those claws of his are as dangerous as any concealed weapon. He sliced at a couple people on his way – they’re going to need some pretty heavy stitching up.” He glanced pointedly at her arms as well but she chose to ignore his leading. She hadn’t even noticed that after the boy’s nails had sunk into her skin they’d apparently ripped down the entire front of her arm. There was no sting at all – shock she figured – and she didn’t think she could bring herself to care even had the cuts burned like hell.
She took a long look at the hanyou in her arms. She wondered what he was like in life – what had prompted him to such brutal action. Had he been cornered? Was he hungry? Orphaned? Stealing to live? Or was he was of those hardened criminals who did it just because he could, because it made him feel more powerful? She felt disinclined to believe the last one but she had to admit it was possible. Still, even in the worst case scenario, this scene still wasn’t justified.
Her eyes glittered with rage as she shot a glare at the man, nodding her head slightly in the direction of the still-bulging jacket. “Is that what you call justice?”
The man looked affronted for all of a moment, straightening in surprise as his eyes widened, but then he slumped and slowly shook his head. “No, ma’am, I don’t.”
“Then why?” she half sobbed, half screamed at the shaken man. “Why shoot him for something any other kid his age would get juvenile detention for? Why go so far as to end his life, then just clean up the mess and move on?”
He paused a moment, and it seemed to her he was truly considering the question, which appeased her at least somewhat. “What else could we do? Our jurisdiction is to protect humans from crime – whether from themselves or other species. That kid put some people in the hospital, and from the look of your arms there might be another one added to his roster. We couldn’t ignore it and let him go, but there’s nothing we could do by picking him up. There’s no juvie for hanyou; our court system has no jurisdiction over him to send him anywhere. None of the bureaucracy could really do anything and so we’re in a bind as well. We only have two options: ignore the threat or eliminate it. With human casualties you can guess which the system encourages us to do.”
She nodded, only vaguely aware that two people were now trying to pry the still warm body from her. Her only thought was that at least they were gentle.
“As soon as we get the body bagged we’ll be right back to treat you, okay honey?” came a disembodied voice from somewhere around her. The way they were speaking so kindly and quietly to her made her wonder if she’d been right about the shock, or if they just thought she would snap. Maybe the older cop’s ‘loony bin’ crack hadn’t been a joke at all.
The only thing she could think of at that moment was that she most definitely could not be part of the reasoning they used to authorize killing that boy. She wouldn’t go to the hospital as one of his ‘victims,’ so while the medical team was busy and the policeman had gone off to compare notes on the report his partner was filling out, she quietly slipped away.
She wandered aimlessly for a bit before realizing she was attracting stares, both because of the blood covering her clothing and the cuts down her forearms. She felt numb, like her mind was stuck in molasses, and wondered what she should do. It took her a full ten minutes to come up with her plan, and when she finally did she could have kicked herself for her stupidity and slowness. Of course Professor Hirohito would take care of her. If nothing else she felt she could trust his sensitivity to the situation in that he wouldn’t be reporting her ‘attack’ to any authorities.
With a sigh she turned around and half-heartedly began trudging her way toward the school, though she quickly became lost in thought.
The more she learned the more hopeless the hanyou plight seemed to become. How much garbled legal junk could surround something? Apparently a lot. The more she understood the higher up the problem seemed to go. Now it wasn’t only about getting people to accept hanyou in their families and communities, it was about legal rights they didn’t have to walk the street.
Sure, she’d known about it. After all, that was the reason Inuyasha was stuck in the Shrine and needed that blasted rosary to go out with her...but it was still a completely different thing to see someone shot down in front of her for no worse reason than being born mixed. Yes, the boy had stolen and hurt people, and yes that was wrong, but why was he treated so differently than a youkai or ningen? It just didn’t make sense! So now it was also a legal battle. From what she’d read in her history books there couldn’t be complete equality in any society (if any culture ever became completely free from prejudice) until both the political and social factions treated people equally.
And, darn it, but she’d never felt so useless or so in over her head. She wondered dully if she’d ever be able to do anything for Inuyasha or if he was right to leave her when he did. It saved him from being pulled into her hype only to have herself and her promises fall abysmally short.
With a start she heard her name being called and brought her thoughts back to the present to see Houjo jogging up the sidewalk to her.
“Kagome, what happened? Are you all right?” He broke from his usually very proper decorum by taking her left hand gently and pulling her arm up so he could examine it.
She didn’t know how to explain, how to put her jumbling thoughts into coherent sentences but it appeared he caught on quickly enough after watching her mouth open and close a couple times. “It’s all right, you don’t need to say anything now. Why didn’t you head straight to the hospital though?”
Taking a look around she realized she was on the wrong street. When she got lost in her thoughts she must have gone on autopilot and taken the most habitual route – the one to her house. She was actually almost home already and could only suppose that Houjo was heading back from the university to his own house as well. “Dr. Hirohito…” she trailed off lamely.
“Okay, if that's what you want. I'll walk you to make sure you arrive safe and sound.” He was too polite to say so but she was guessing by his tone he thought her appearance would at the least cause a commotion in the more congested commercial area, at the worst get her questioned and picked up for being suspicious and covered in blood. Logical, she supposed.
“That sounds good.”
~ ~ ~
A/N:
First, there are many people who’ve requested to be put on the update list but never gave me an email. I obviously need one for you to be able to send out an alert. So if you didn’t receive one for this chapter, you know I don’t have yours.
Second, I hope you all know I don’t plan to ever give this fic up until I finish. I’m rather stubborn about finishing things, regardless of the fact that it may take me a long time…sorries? Anyhow, if you’re ever wondering about status or updates you can check my livejournal. Hopefully it’ll let you know I’m not dead ^_-
Thanks to Akihana for giving this the once over, even when so busy, and thanks to everybody again!
~ ~ ~
A/N: Normally I hate putting stuff at the top of a chapter but oh well. I’m the author, I can do whatever the heck I want. ^_-
I know it’s been a long time since the last update and it’s great you’ve all been hanging in there. I just wanted to thank each and every one of you who’ve been reading/reviewing this story. I know this sounds totally cheesy but my life has sucked lately and it has honestly been a little sparkle of joy knowing there are people who actually enjoy this fic. Haha, see? Told you I’m lame. So thank you all for giving me a bit of a push in an otherwise craptastic life ^_^
~ ~ ~
Chapter 14: Escalation
----- to increase in intensity, magnitude, etc
----- an increase to counteract a perceived discrepancy
----- an increase in the intensity or geographical scope of a war or diplomatic confrontation
~ ~ ~
Inuyasha paced the small confines of his room, wishing desperately for something to punch.
Why hadn’t he picked up the damn phone? It wasn’t all that difficult, was it? He knew he was acting the idiot, avoiding Kagome like that. He’d have thought she would hate him after the way he’d stormed out on her, but what else could he have done? He had to protect them both from whatever maniac crusade she thought she was on. If that hadn’t been enough though, then the way he was currently behaving should surely be enough to turn her off, but no. She still called.
Why the hell was she so damned persistent? Couldn’t she get it through her head that nothing could happen between them? That just because she thought something was there didn’t mean anything really was, or that it would continue to be? She was deluded, that was all, and the sooner she realized that the safer and better off they’d both be.
As if it were possible for someone to actually love a hanyou. Although she had been the first to ever like him, aside from Ryu…
With an agitated jerk he shook his head violently to dislodge even the merest trailing web of that idea. He resumed his pacing, his stride increasing until he was almost jumping completely from side to side of the room in his agitated state with his growing restless energy.
He still didn’t understand why that meant he couldn’t pick up the phone. At least then he could yell at her and take his frustration out on the person who’d caused it all, maybe even snap her out of her psychosis a bit sooner so that they could behave like normal around each other.
Where the hell had that come from? Growling he spun and tore into his pillow, not caring if his client for the night wanted one or not. Behave like normal? There shouldn’t be anything normal about it! He didn’t have long standing relationships with people; he didn’t have people who cared to be around him for long enough; he shouldn’t have any type of standard for any relationship with a clearly misguided good-doer. So there wasn’t any normal to go back to because hopefully she would never come back!
Yeah, hopefully he’d never have to see her ugly mug again…
Inuyasha deflated a moment before ripping into the small bit of fluff left in his hands, all that was left of his decimated pillow. Despite all his anger he still didn’t really get why he was avoiding her, and that bothered him just as much as anything else since things in his life had always been simple and clear cut before. All this girl did was muck stuff up and churn up things that would have been better off left alone.
At the knock on his door he snapped, finally giving into his anger and punching a hole in his wall.
~ ~ ~
“Good, then you’re coming with me,” the boar youkai said.
The words echoed in Kagome’s head as the moment seemed to freeze in time, each second taking an eternity. She watched as he reached for her and spun her in front of him, one arm wrenched behind her back in a tight hold, the other still clamped tightly over her mouth from when she’d first started to scream. It was from that hand that she noticed his trembling. She could only surmise it was either from whatever anger he held that pushed him to abduction or from nerves at the act he was committing. It didn’t really matter which, though, as she knew either one was dangerous to her as his captive.
Turning, he frog-marched her in front of him, then at the end of the alley came to an abrupt stop. “I’m taking my hand off and you’re going to follow me like a good little girl. Not a peep out of you, you hear?”
Kagome nodded again, too terrified to make a sound even if her mind could've still formed coherent words. Everything she’d ever learned about self-defense came into her head and she thanked the school system for the mandatory nominal lessons all girls had to go through on self-defense. For some reason, one she’d never understood, they taught to go along with whatever your captor said, to do anything to prevent from angering him. She still didn’t understand it but it was the easiest alternative she had to follow, and she did so unerringly until her thoughts halted again as he quickly shoved her through an open door into a tall house, shutting the door swiftly and silently behind them.
Gathering all the courage she could muster she turned to face her abductor, despite her embarrassment that she couldn’t control the shaking in her limbs. “What do you want with me?”
He merely grunted and gestured her over with a wave of his hand, thankfully not putting hands on her again. The closer she looked at him, though, the more she saw how apparently nervous he was – and that could be bad her. She’d always heard that a nervous or jumpy captor was more dangerous than a calm one, more likely to be set off at any given moment. Still, something about him seemed slightly…off. He was fidgeting but the way he was looking at her made her think that he wanted something specific from her, something out of the norm for this type of situation, but…what?
She walked over hesitantly then watched as he pulled back a door and stepped away, gesturing for her to enter. Swallowing she stepped up to the door, keeping more attention on him than the room. Satisfied that he wasn’t coming closer, or that if he did once she turned her back there was nothing she could do about it, she focused on what lay beyond the entry.
At first she couldn’t make heads or tails of the situation her abductor had just tossed her into. There was a boy huddled in the far corner of the room under a blanket, and when the boar youkai behind her flipped on the light she was heartbroken to see the boy appeared only about five or six years old and was stark terrified. She took a step toward him but when he flinched she stopped immediately and chanced a quick glance back at the youkai behind her.
Unable to prevent herself from staring at the poor boy, she tried to soak in every detail she could. Though the resemblance between he and the adult behind her was undeniable, they still seemed oddly distinct. The one in front of her had no tusks, or at least none that she could see from across the room, and had significantly less hair all over his body. In fact, he looked more like a hairy human than a youkai. This all added up to one terribly odd picture and suddenly something clicked: the questions, the nerves, the quick departure…the poor boy huddled in a corner like he was terrified of the world. She didn’t turn her eyes away from his as she asked of the youkai behind her, “Is he…?”
“Hanyou?” he supplied, and she watched in pain as the young boy flinched as though he’d been slapped by the ‘dirty’ word.
She nodded and the youkai confirmed, “Yes. He’s my sister’s son.”
Ah, she thought, and there is that hideous dissociation. Must make sure to point out it’s your sister’s problem, her fault and not yours. She shook her head sadly and entered the room, walking toward the hanyou slowly as he was obviously wary of her. How often did he have contact if he was this skittish?
The boy focused briefly on her before his eyes snapped to the youkai towering behind her. Before she could contemplate making a move the boar snatched her back out of the room, the door sliding shut with an audible clack in front of her face.
“What are you doing? What are you on about?” she yelled in his face, fear forgotten after seeing that child.
“What does it look like?” he bellowed back, though not before moving her further away from the hanyou’s door to the other side of the room. “I’m showing you what you’ve been asking about all over town!”
Her next words caught in her throat as she was stunned. She’d been so preoccupied with everything going on that she hadn’t thought to wonder why he’d risk introducing her to his nephew. Actually, come to think of it, she still only knew how he’d picked her, not why he’d taken the chance on her.
“Why did you bring me here?” she asked quietly. She couldn’t tell enough of him yet to be sure whether it was because he wanted to foist the bothersome hanyou onto someone else, wanted to rub her face in the reality of the situation, quiet her up by giving her what she wanted, or if he truly wanted to do something for the situation of the young boy.
The youkai blithely ignored her question though and continued slowly pulling her toward the door with the grip he still maintained on her upper arm. “Are you free next Thursday afternoon?”
Puzzled she tried her best to stop him, which was a pathetic attempt compared to his strength, but he acquiesced to her (unspoken request) and didn’t make any further movement toward the door - though he didn’t relinquish his hold on her either. "I'm going to be in class," she hedged, not sure she wanted to give away her specific location to this...interesting individual. "Why?"
“I want you to come back, visit the boy. I wasn’t sure if or when I’d find you so he wasn’t prepared for meeting you today, as you could see. He’s not particularly comfortable around humans.”
That answered that question for her. It was obvious to her now that, despite all his bravado and rough exterior, this youkai cared at least somewhat for the hanyou. Turning to face him fully she bowed formally, or tried since she could only move her upper body a few inches down with the fierce grip he still had on her arm. When he saw what she was doing though he released her, puzzled.
That answered that question for her. It was obvious to her now that, despite all his bravado and rough exterior, this youkai cared at least somewhat for the hanyou. Turning to face him fully she bowed formally, or tried since she could only move her upper body a few inches down with the fierce grip he still had on her arm. When he saw what she was doing though he released her, puzzled.
“My name is Kagome Higurashi and I would be happy to come back sometime. Pleased to meet you.”
The boar youkai huffed as though expecting any reaction out of her except that one. After all, he had just man-handled her to his home and thrust this situation on her. He hadn’t expected her to accept it with any amount of grace under those conditions. “I’m Yami.”
“And your nephew?”
He viewed her skeptically. Though she had been asking around about hanyou diligently and seemed a nice enough girl there was really no telling what her motives were. Still, he supposed he couldn’t do any further damage by giving her the boy’s name, not after he’d already given his and shown her where he and his nephew lived. “His name’s Josef.”
Her eyebrow raised in question.
“His father was German. Some family name or another from his side.”
Well, she thought, that explains that."What about Friday?"
He looked at her in surprise and she realized that he must've been half-expecting her to not follow through in her promise to come back. Slowly though he shook his head. "Not during the day, but what about the evening?"
"I'm attending a clinic," she frowned, not sure how else to phrase the time she spent in Professor Hirohito's lab discussing her research and progress. "Tuesday?"
Gazing into the distance for a few seconds he finally nodded. "Yes, that'll work fine."
"Wonderful," she returned. “I guess I’ll be going then and we’ll meet again next week.”
As soon as she set her hand on the door Yami’s gut clenched as he realized the enormity of what he’d just done. He could handle it if he got himself into trouble but what if the girl turned against them or made a simple slip up and it hurt Josef? Hell, even getting himself into trouble would land the young hanyou in an untenable position since no one else wanted to take the boy on.
He hissed after her, using the most threatening and sinister voice he was able to manage. “You won’t tell anyone you’ve been here, especially not what you were here for.”
Kagome froze immediately at his tone, continuing to face out the doorway as she schooled her features into some semblance of control. “Of course I won’t. Do you think I’m stupid?”
He nodded once. “Good. But I tell you now, if anyone does find out then I will hunt you down and personally gore you through myself.”
That took her off the defensive and made her angry. “You most certainly will not.”
Yami was taken aback and blinked at her, not expecting any resistance. “I beg your pardon?”
“If anyone finds out then I’ll expect you to back me up. If you won’t stand with me in support of your nephew then who will?” She turned then to look at him over your shoulder. “But I’ll keep quiet. I don’t want conflict for that precious child anymore than you do, believe me. For whatever reason, you trusted me this much to bring me this far into your home so don’t worry. I have my own reasons I’m fighting for here as well and wouldn’t do anything to betray it or you.”
She smiled at him then and the mood lifted slightly, though both were left dazed with the enormity of the undertaking they’d just entered in together. “Does human food suit your taste as well? I really have no idea about such things.”
He wasn’t sure he could get used to this strange girl with her random mood and topic changes. “Most of it suits well enough,” he shrugged.
“Fine, then I’ll be here at 1pm on Tuesday with plenty of food.” She nodded to him one last time before she slipped out the door.
~ ~ ~
Inuyasha lay on his stomach, the open lash wounds on his back – courtesy of a new toy from one of the regulars – prevented him from turning over, or from moving much at all really, not if he wanted the skin to heal correctly and keep from pulling in odd ways later on. He’d learned that one the hard way. Luckily for him, in that particular case, another, later client had ripped open the same patch of skin, allowing it to heal correctly the second time.
Head turned to face the wall he resolutely tried to keep his mind occupied and in his last ditch effort he even attempted to make faces out of the chips and cracks in the finish. Not that he hadn't done so countless times before. When the last visage he conjured looked vaguely like Kagome’s smile he sighed, defeated, and closed his eyes. Reluctantly his mind drifted back to the closet he’d been trying desperately to ignore. He kept her letters stashed safely inside but it honestly wouldn’t matter even if something did happen to them. He had every word memorized, could almost hear exactly how she’d pitch each line.
That bothered him more than he could say, but since he didn’t really have anyone to own up to or explain himself to it didn’t really matter. Turning restlessly to face the closet he wondered for the hundredth time why she still bothered, why she continued to call and write him when she’d gotten no response. How she could persevere when there were so many things against her, against them?
Oh well. It was still a relatively fresh situation to her and he was still a novelty. It would wear off in time and she’d learn soon enough.
With a frustrated sigh he shifted to face the wall again, willing his mind to shut off long enough to let him get some sleep.
~ ~ ~
Over the next several weeks Kagome visited with Yami and Josef multiple times and not only had she and the boar youkai gradually become friends, but the young hanyou was finally loosening up around her.
It turned out the boy had lived with his mother and father in a ningen community first and, though he was loved by his parents, still hadn’t been allowed out of the house because they had feared for his safety.
His parents had then drowned together in a storm, trying to cross a flooded road in their small car. In the beginning it had seemed that the father’s family was going to be loving and accepting to the new adoptee, as had been hoped for when the parents had chosen their son’s name, especially when the extended relatives took the trouble to fly him all the way to Germany to live with them. It hadn’t been long though until the family became abusive to the point where he had nearly died several times. Apparently they blamed him for his parents death; they claimed the couple had been attempting to get home to him, and if his presence hadn't been such a burden then they'd still be alive.
At first Yami hadn’t wanted the bother of taking in his nephew, not when he was a bachelor, and not a hanyou by any means. After finding out the extent of how Josef was treated though his familial pride and honor kicked in and he pulled the now physically deformed boy from the situation he was in, albeit reluctantly. The young hanyou still walked with a limp from when the family had repeatedly broken his right leg when he was only three old, never allowing it to heal correctly.
The past few years had been good to the pair though and they obviously cared for each other. Yami now had a wife as well, Mitsuki, who cared for Josef as well she could. They admitted that she was still too prejudiced and would need more time but by both Yami’s and Josef’s words she had made great strides considering where her original standing had been.
Yami had refused to give Josef up in order to marry and wouldn’t deceive a woman and stick all of them in an uncomfortable situation so he told Mitsuki about his charge when he asked her to marry him. Just the fact that she’d been willing to marry Yami when she knew about Josef was proof enough in itself that not only did she have great love for her betrothed, but she was also willing to change her worldview, despite how long it would take. Kagome had yet to meet the boar youkai’s wife but it seemed that she traveled often on business and would be out of the country another two months at least. It seemed an okay arrangement for the family though as it gave them all the breathing room they needed to make adjustments at their own pace. She truly admired them all for being so patient with each other.
“I need to be getting to class,” she said suddenly as she glanced at her watch, rising from the table. “Thanks for lunch again.”
Walking around the table she patted Josef on the head. It still surprised her how soft his hair was despite its scraggly appearance. “I hear someone has a birthday coming up soon,” she whispered conspiratorially and smiled as his face lit up and he beamed up at her. “And eight years old too, such a big boy now!” She’d found out privately from Yami that the reason he looked so young for his age was because the continual beatings he’d had early on had stunted his growth. Still, now that he'd been under his uncle’s care for a while he was looking healthier all the time and started looking closer to his age.
“Now let me see…”she said straightening, tapping her index finger against her chin. “I think this calls for a party.” She turned to Yami, trying hard to keep the smile from her face as Josef was practically bouncing in his seat. “What do you think? Has he been good enough this year to warrant one?”
Yami took his time to contemplate the question. “Well, I don’t know…there was that one time he spilled juice all over the floor…”
Josef couldn’t contain himself any more and burst out of his seat. “Oh come on, I promise I’ll be good. Please? I’ve never had a party. You know you want to give me one.” He spun from his uncle and turned on Kagome then, nearly tackling her to the floor. “Please, Kagome, pretty please? Will there be cake? And balloons?”
She couldn’t help herself anymore and burst out laughing as she fell to the floor under Josef’s attack, returning in kind until they were in an all-out tickle war. “Of course you get a party, you silly goof. Who else do Yami and I have to spoil?”
He bolted out from under her and nearly jumped on his uncle. “Really uncle, really? I get a party?”
Yami smiled, a look Kagome still had to get used to with all the rows of teeth combined with the tusks. “Yes, kiddo, you do. I’m glad to have you here and we all get to celebrate together that you’re turning a year older. How’s that sound?”
“Yay! Terrific! Yay! Yay!” Josef was bounding around the room, jumping on his good leg as he shouted his joy. This was the one room in the house where he was allowed to do whatever he wanted to because Yami had been able to afford to outfit the one small area with sound-proofing. It wouldn’t fool some youkai but thankfully most wouldn’t be bothered to go out of their way trifle with a hanyou of all things. It did provide some sort of insurance though and a sense of security that soothed the worries of all involved, including Mitsuki, who was still more worried about others finding out than anything else.
“Josef,” Kagome called, getting no response over the boy’s raucous laughter. “Josef!” she called again, pulling him into a hug this time. “I still have to go.”
“Aww…” he pouted.
She just smiled and tweaked his cheek. “No worries. I’ll be here on Friday night for your p-a-r-t-y.”
He slowly sounded out the letters, brow furrowing in concentration. It was harder for him since Yami was having to school the young boy in his free time but it was still better than she supposed most hanyou got, and besides she aided in whatever ways she could. Luckily he was still at a basic enough level that she could help him in his math. “My…party?”
“That’s it,” she confirmed. Before he could start another tirade of unintelligible happy noises she made her way over to Yami. The other bonus about helping Josef with his schoolwork was that meant his uncle got to teach her some things too. “I nearly forgot. Did you happen to find that book?”
He smiled again as he pulled it out from under the table and handed it to her. “Now mind you, these are still just basic – extremely basic – medical remedies that can be applied across almost all youkai species. Anything more advanced and you’d have to go on a race by race basis.”
She waved his concern aside. “It’s better than nothing.” She looked almost as excited as Josef now.
“I still haven’t found anything about hanyou, in any context. I sincerely doubt there’s anything in print.”
Nodding, she sobered immediately. “Yeah, unfortunately I’m beginning to agree with you. Maybe we’ll just have to be the first ones to put something together, ne?”
“Well what about that boyfriend of yours?” he asked blithely.
Slowly she shook her head, just as much at Yami’s continued insistence to call Inuyasha that, despite her objections, as at the situation. “He’s still not answering my calls or returning my letters. It’s still another month and a half until I see him in person and I honestly have no idea what his reaction’s going to be. For now it’s best to count him out of the picture as anything other than a figurehead.”
His heart hurt for the girl. It was obvious that everything she’d accomplished had been spearheaded by her love for the blind fool, despite her insistence that he’d only kick started the idea. She hadn’t gone into much detail about everything that had gone on between them or Inuyasha’s past but he understood the hanyou had a terrible time of things and would take a long time to come around, if he ever did.
Looking over at his nephew he was immensely grateful that he’d found him when he had. There were still times that he wondered what it would be like if he didn’t have Josef to take care of but those were greatly overshadowed by the joy he had in the boy and in knowing he was doing something important and worthwhile.
He didn’t completely understand Kagome’s insistence to keep the extent of her work from Inuyasha, despite how many times she’d explained it. She insisted that he had to love her before he could know due to his trust issues and pride. He, on the other hand, still figured that the hanyou would see her dedication to him if he could see how much she’d changed her life in order to fight to give him the right to change his. Only love could spur such a sacrifice. But he’d never met the whelp and figured if Kagome was truly this gung-ho about him then she had to know him pretty danged well.
It just pained him to see such a conflict without an easy resolution anywhere in sight, especially for someone who he’d come to care for so much. He knew that every time she wore that dazed look or her head was off in the clouds it was because she was thinking of him. He still didn’t understand how the boy could question it. Maybe if he ever had the chance to meet him he’d set him straight. But those were only wishes. For now…
He shook his head to clear it, becoming aware that Kagome was giving him a questioning look. “Sorry, busy planning the party already.” He smiled and hoped she bought it, but if she didn’t she didn’t say anything.
“Ne, I must be off then. I’ll probably be late to class as it is.” At least now she had the book to sooth Professor Hirohito afterward so maybe he wouldn’t reprimand her too harshly.
With one last wave to Josef she jogged out the door and down the street, already composing her next letter to Inuyasha in her head. She needed to get it out tonight since all her time would soon be taken up in shopping for Josef’s present, studying her new youkai medical book, and preparing for exams. Still, it wasn’t that bad. At least being so busy kept her from having time to dwell on how much she missed him every day.
~ ~ ~
Kagome left Josef’s party, a big smile plastered across her face. As soon as the door shut behind her the mask dropped and her smile faded to a bittersweet recollection. She couldn’t help it – there were just too many similarities between the boy and Inuyasha.
At first she’d been delighted to see how overjoyed the young boar-hanyou had been at having an actual birthday celebration, complete with presents, cake, and games for the three of them to play. (Yami had confided in her the week before that his wife had actually been willing to attend but that she had worried that the tension between Josef and herself would ruin the boy’s day. No amount of arguing or cajoling on his part had been able to convince her otherwise.)
As the night wore on though it struck her how sad it was that such a small celebration could mean the world to him – to have people who truly appreciated the fact that he was alive. It had suddenly hit her how much sadness she could still see hidden behind his eyes, held at bay for the moment, but still there nonetheless. Not only that but it was exactly how her hanyou had looked so often, and just as it broke her heart every time then it did again now. However, knowing Inuyasha’s reactions and suspecting Josef’s to be similar, she made her smile extra bright and hoped her realization didn’t show through.
Now, as she wandered her way out of the youkai sector, her mind reluctantly shifted back to Inuyasha despite willing herself to stay away from thoughts of him. He still hadn’t written or called her back. The gall he had to ignore her! Only another 6 weeks, 2 days, 3 hours…she glanced at her watch…37 minutes and 12 seconds until she saw him again and could clobber him for making her feel like that.
She suddenly had to repress the urge to scream.
Somewhere in the back of her mind she could still feel the worry eating at her, that she was becoming a bother to him or that he’d only used her. Of course, she told herself she knew better, but even though it didn’t make sense with what she knew about him she still couldn’t help it. She just had so much invested in him…
Deliberately she pushed the thoughts aside yet again. She knew he cared for her, at least on some level. Whether it was as strong as her feelings she wasn’t sure – actually she wasn’t sure if he was capable of such at the current time, what with how emotionally stunted his life had left him. She almost snorted at the idea. Yet if she truly loved him she shouldn’t have a problem giving him all the time he needed and waiting, however impatiently, for him.
She had no idea what could be keeping him from replying for this long – though if it truly was just pride she actually might follow through on all her mental threats to maim him. So all she could do in the meantime was hope, praying that would be enough to carry her through the next six weeks.
“Halt, thief!”
She was jerked abruptly from her musings as the sounds of a commotion erupted behind her. She pivoted on the sidewalk to see two policemen chasing an adolescent boy, who obviously had something stashed under an oversized jacket. What surprised her most was that each man had his gun in hand instead of in its holster.
The boy was making a break down the street she was on, set to pass her and likely turn the corner in just a few more seconds. She shifted her gaze back to the pursuers and to her horror she saw that one had stopped and now had his gun trained on the thief.
Before she even got a chance to scream she heard the crack of the gunshot and the boy went down, blood immediately seeping out from beneath him onto the asphalt.
Without thinking of what she was doing she ran to the felled boy, horribly understanding the situation now. The impact of the shot had knocked his hat off and in the light of the sinking sun everything had come to show. Though he didn’t have any extremely obvious markings his skin was an odd, almost shiny, translucent shade, unnatural for any human.
In other words…he was hanyou. Kagome choked back a sob as she cradled his head in her lap. Her hysterics wouldn’t help the boy any, but it wrenched her gut to realize he was about the same age as Souta…even had eyes kind of like his. It was even harder to control herself when he half turned to look up at her and blinked already glazing eyes. He was dying even as she held him.
He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but then the awful death rattles started. She clenched up, desperately wanting to look away from the scene but she forced herself to watch, feeling bound to honor him by being there to witness his final moments, to let his last memory on earth be a compassionate embrace instead of two ugly cops full of hatred.
His hands inched up hers until he grasped her around the forearms, his grip tightening as he went into his final convulsions. She wished she had something, anything to ease him on but the hospital was a world away and a bullet in the lung was dangerous at any time. She couldn’t even think of a single measly word to say, not that anything would be of much comfort to him anymore.
With one last deep, shuddering sigh his hands fell from her and his head went limp against her thighs.
She didn’t move; she couldn’t. If she tried she knew the world would break into a thousand sharp, jagged pieces that would cut her apart. She stared down at the empty body that used to house the life of a boy, only coming out from her daze when she heard the snide remarks of a man beside her.
“Wasn’t worth the waste of the bullet. You know this vermin?” The question was obviously directed at her so she peeled her eyes away to look up at the man. He was the older of the two policemen and the one who had fired the shot.
Numbly she shook her head.
“Then what you doing holding his sorry ass for?”
Kagome squinted her eyes at the man. Is he for real? “He was shot down in the middle of the street, away from any family or friends. I couldn’t let him die alone,” she finished quietly.
“Hah, as if his kind have any friends, or any family that would own up to them for that matter.” She had the distinct impression that if she hadn’t still been holding the body then the policeman would have kicked it, despite the fact that he didn’t seem angry. In fact he almost seemed…bored?
“A life is still a life,” she retorted in the only way she could think of.
The man shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, and strutted – actually strutted – away. It was the first time she’d been exposed to this kind of abject species-arrogance from anyone. It was strange, in a way, because he made it seem like it wasn’t an emotion at all. He just took it for granted that hanyou weren’t worth anything, weren’t even worth the air they breathed, and that was just that. There was no burning anger behind it, no righteous indignation, just a complete way of ignoring that hanyou were a race of sentient beings. He’d probably have reacted more harsly or been more regretful had he had to put down a rabid street dog.
She’d thought Kazuma had been bad, and as much as she still loathed that man, she now knew that once her emotions returned in full force she’d hate this man more. At least Kazuma had a genuine dislike for Inuyasha as a person as well as his race that guided his actions. This policeman would just sit from a distance, bomb an entire race away, then yawn and go about his daily business as if nothing significant had just happened at all.
As he walked away the older man clapped his partner on the shoulder. “I’m going to get my motorcycle so we can start putting the report in. Be careful with that one,” he nodded at Kagome over his shoulder, “I think she must have escaped from a loony bin.” He walked away, guffawing loudly at his own joke or apparent lack of confidence in her sanity.
The younger man approached in a much more solemn manner, though considering he was half of the responsible duo, she still didn’t care to have him standing there.
“I’m sorry you had to get involved in this,” he said evenly, almost a touch regretful.
She wasn’t sure if she was sorry or not. She knew she’d likely have nightmares for weeks because of this but at the same time she’d kept the boy from dying alone. In the end she let her silence speak for her as much as it could.
The officer shuffled his feet a bit, looking visibly relieved when the ambulance slowly made its way around the corner. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” he started and she could almost believe him. Unfortunately for him it was too little too late.
“Sorry?” she hissed, seething at his trite way of putting this situation, even if he wasn’t as bad as his partner. “You think sorry cuts it? You gunned down a pre-pubescent boy for what, stealing?”
“Armed robbery,” he interjected quickly.
“Armed robbery,” she repeated, not bothering to keep the snide tone from her voice. “With what?”
“Those claws of his are as dangerous as any concealed weapon. He sliced at a couple people on his way – they’re going to need some pretty heavy stitching up.” He glanced pointedly at her arms as well but she chose to ignore his leading. She hadn’t even noticed that after the boy’s nails had sunk into her skin they’d apparently ripped down the entire front of her arm. There was no sting at all – shock she figured – and she didn’t think she could bring herself to care even had the cuts burned like hell.
She took a long look at the hanyou in her arms. She wondered what he was like in life – what had prompted him to such brutal action. Had he been cornered? Was he hungry? Orphaned? Stealing to live? Or was he was of those hardened criminals who did it just because he could, because it made him feel more powerful? She felt disinclined to believe the last one but she had to admit it was possible. Still, even in the worst case scenario, this scene still wasn’t justified.
Her eyes glittered with rage as she shot a glare at the man, nodding her head slightly in the direction of the still-bulging jacket. “Is that what you call justice?”
The man looked affronted for all of a moment, straightening in surprise as his eyes widened, but then he slumped and slowly shook his head. “No, ma’am, I don’t.”
“Then why?” she half sobbed, half screamed at the shaken man. “Why shoot him for something any other kid his age would get juvenile detention for? Why go so far as to end his life, then just clean up the mess and move on?”
He paused a moment, and it seemed to her he was truly considering the question, which appeased her at least somewhat. “What else could we do? Our jurisdiction is to protect humans from crime – whether from themselves or other species. That kid put some people in the hospital, and from the look of your arms there might be another one added to his roster. We couldn’t ignore it and let him go, but there’s nothing we could do by picking him up. There’s no juvie for hanyou; our court system has no jurisdiction over him to send him anywhere. None of the bureaucracy could really do anything and so we’re in a bind as well. We only have two options: ignore the threat or eliminate it. With human casualties you can guess which the system encourages us to do.”
She nodded, only vaguely aware that two people were now trying to pry the still warm body from her. Her only thought was that at least they were gentle.
“As soon as we get the body bagged we’ll be right back to treat you, okay honey?” came a disembodied voice from somewhere around her. The way they were speaking so kindly and quietly to her made her wonder if she’d been right about the shock, or if they just thought she would snap. Maybe the older cop’s ‘loony bin’ crack hadn’t been a joke at all.
The only thing she could think of at that moment was that she most definitely could not be part of the reasoning they used to authorize killing that boy. She wouldn’t go to the hospital as one of his ‘victims,’ so while the medical team was busy and the policeman had gone off to compare notes on the report his partner was filling out, she quietly slipped away.
She wandered aimlessly for a bit before realizing she was attracting stares, both because of the blood covering her clothing and the cuts down her forearms. She felt numb, like her mind was stuck in molasses, and wondered what she should do. It took her a full ten minutes to come up with her plan, and when she finally did she could have kicked herself for her stupidity and slowness. Of course Professor Hirohito would take care of her. If nothing else she felt she could trust his sensitivity to the situation in that he wouldn’t be reporting her ‘attack’ to any authorities.
With a sigh she turned around and half-heartedly began trudging her way toward the school, though she quickly became lost in thought.
The more she learned the more hopeless the hanyou plight seemed to become. How much garbled legal junk could surround something? Apparently a lot. The more she understood the higher up the problem seemed to go. Now it wasn’t only about getting people to accept hanyou in their families and communities, it was about legal rights they didn’t have to walk the street.
Sure, she’d known about it. After all, that was the reason Inuyasha was stuck in the Shrine and needed that blasted rosary to go out with her...but it was still a completely different thing to see someone shot down in front of her for no worse reason than being born mixed. Yes, the boy had stolen and hurt people, and yes that was wrong, but why was he treated so differently than a youkai or ningen? It just didn’t make sense! So now it was also a legal battle. From what she’d read in her history books there couldn’t be complete equality in any society (if any culture ever became completely free from prejudice) until both the political and social factions treated people equally.
And, darn it, but she’d never felt so useless or so in over her head. She wondered dully if she’d ever be able to do anything for Inuyasha or if he was right to leave her when he did. It saved him from being pulled into her hype only to have herself and her promises fall abysmally short.
With a start she heard her name being called and brought her thoughts back to the present to see Houjo jogging up the sidewalk to her.
“Kagome, what happened? Are you all right?” He broke from his usually very proper decorum by taking her left hand gently and pulling her arm up so he could examine it.
She didn’t know how to explain, how to put her jumbling thoughts into coherent sentences but it appeared he caught on quickly enough after watching her mouth open and close a couple times. “It’s all right, you don’t need to say anything now. Why didn’t you head straight to the hospital though?”
Taking a look around she realized she was on the wrong street. When she got lost in her thoughts she must have gone on autopilot and taken the most habitual route – the one to her house. She was actually almost home already and could only suppose that Houjo was heading back from the university to his own house as well. “Dr. Hirohito…” she trailed off lamely.
“Okay, if that's what you want. I'll walk you to make sure you arrive safe and sound.” He was too polite to say so but she was guessing by his tone he thought her appearance would at the least cause a commotion in the more congested commercial area, at the worst get her questioned and picked up for being suspicious and covered in blood. Logical, she supposed.
“That sounds good.”
~ ~ ~
A/N:
First, there are many people who’ve requested to be put on the update list but never gave me an email. I obviously need one for you to be able to send out an alert. So if you didn’t receive one for this chapter, you know I don’t have yours.
Second, I hope you all know I don’t plan to ever give this fic up until I finish. I’m rather stubborn about finishing things, regardless of the fact that it may take me a long time…sorries? Anyhow, if you’re ever wondering about status or updates you can check my livejournal. Hopefully it’ll let you know I’m not dead ^_-
Thanks to Akihana for giving this the once over, even when so busy, and thanks to everybody again!