InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Aftermath's Destruction ❯ Journey Home ( Chapter 15 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Fay-of-Faerie 
As Shippou works on getting back to where he really belongs, Kagome and the others return to work, unaware of the turn their lives are about to take. It's going to get even worse than before soon enough.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Drama / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 10.05.2007 | Pages: 5 | Words: 4.2K | Visits: 339 | Status: Work In Progress
As Shippou works on getting back to where he really belongs, Kagome and the others return to work, unaware of the turn their lives are about to take. It's going to get even worse than before soon enough.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Drama / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 10.05.2007 | Pages: 5 | Words: 4.2K | Visits: 339 | Status: Work In Progress
A/N: I keep getting distracted, so I apologize. Here's another new chapter for this site.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha
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Aftermath's Destruction
Chapter Fifteen: Return Home
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“Inuyasha?”
“Hm?” He mumbled in answer, but ended up just rolling over and going back to sleep, oblivious to the finger prodding him awake.
A sigh sounded. “…Inuyasha?”
“Wha?” He asked groggily, frowning as he rolled onto his back and sliding one eye open a slit. Through his eyelashes he saw Kagome sitting over him. “'Nother nightmare?” The blurry head of black hair shook, Inuyasha took it as a no. “Than what's the matter?”
“I…just can't really sleep. So I was wondering if I could, you know.”
“No I don't know,” He muttered as he propped himself up on his elbows to look at the young woman a little more clearly. Peering through the dark, Inuyasha noted that Kagome looked flighty, and maybe a little nervous. Like she was embarrassed or scared or something. “What's wrong now?”
Kagome scrutinized him a bit, making him squirm under her intense blue eyes. She then bit her lip and looked to the side, the lightest shade of pink dusting her nose. “Well…I couldn't really sleep and I was remembering when, a while ago, you'd let me sleep next to you when we were going through the whole Naraku episode, and…”
“You wanted to know if you could sleep in here tonight,” Inuyasha finished for her, rolling his eyes at her timid ness. “Come on, then,” he pulled the sheets back and shivered a little when some cold air floated in.
Kagome eyed the spot some before sighing and crawling further into the bed, plopping down next to him. She couldn't really explain it, but every time she couldn't settle enough to go to sleep, it felt nice to be next to him. She just felt safe, and safety meant familiarity and that made her feel comfortable. After awhile, it was just easy to sleep. “Thanks, Inuyasha.”
“Uh huh, pipe down and sleep,” he commanded, his own eyes already starting to drift closed. It was around midnight and he had to work the next day, sleep was welcomed. “G'Night.”
“Hm, you too,” she murmured as she shifted until comfortable, ending up curled against his side. After awhile, once he was asleep and Kagome was on the verge to it, he ended up rolling over so she was next to his chest. It felt so natural to just slip his arms around her loosely. So, feeling protected and like the world was a lot simpler, she drifted off too. The world just wasn't so complicated when you knew Inuyasha would be there to force it to behave.
Sometimes it helped to be so stubborn and demanding.
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Shippou huffed angrily as he glared along the street. It was dark and he was a lot further into town. There were a few people walking around, the city didn't sleep completely at night, but the little boy managed to stay pretty hidden. His intelligent green eyes darting around, the redhead made his way to the next snow bank.
With Bankotsu's `help', the boy was a lot closer to home than he would have been if he'd tried to go on his own. Luckily, he was almost out of the dangerous part of downtown and at the business area. Once he got far enough in, it wouldn't be too hard to get his bearings. Inuyasha and Kagome had taken the boys on so many trips around the city, Shippou was bound to find at least something he recognized.
“Yeah, `help',” Shippou scoffed, glaring at one or two drunkards moving on to the next dirty bar. Once they were past, the little boy started off again, keeping to the shadows and out of the streetlights.
True to his word, Souta forced Bankotsu to give Shippou some guidance. It took a lot of complaining, almost pleading, but something was done. To protect from the December cold, he had more sweaters and another pair of shoes. He'd also been given a short ride to give him a head start.
Sure, it'd cut down a few blocks from his journey, but it was more for The Boss' sake than for Shippou's. The ride had been in a window tinted car so that Shippou wouldn't be able to recognize the warehouse if he ever came back to try and bust up the sweatshop.
“Whatever,” Shippou muttered, walking as fast as his little legs could carry him. Inside his inner pocket was the letter that he was supposed to give to his Okaa-san so that Kagome knew what to give Bankotsu so that Souta could be released. The youngest Higurashi didn't get was his surrogate mother would have that The Boss would want so much.
But something was wrong.
“Ow, my tummy…” Shippou groaned under his breath, holding his stomach with one hand while swiping at his eyes with the other. He didn't feel so good. The feeling in his abdomen gave him the urge to throw up and his eyes weren't working well. His sight was blurred and a few spots of colors danced here or there at the corner of his vision.
It wasn't very fun.
But he decided to tough it out. “I think…I think that's the company Inuyasha took over last month,” Shippou muttered as he gazed up at a tall building. The month before, Kagome's company had shut down and took over this company. Yep, Shippou definitely recognized it. His mother had taken him there with Inuyasha to check it out.
`Good,' he thought, `I'm getting closer. At least I'm closer to home.'
Crouching behind a broken down car on the side of the road, Shippou waited for a pair of scantily clad woman to stroll by before darting out and across the street. Once on the other side, he crawled slowly back into the shadows, all the while without being seen. Some people might have wanted to be found, because than they could get some help home, but he didn't like the looks of these people. He'd rather wander aimlessly around than to try and get help from them.
“All I have to do is get home, give Kagome-Okaa-san the letter, than wait for Souta to come home. And the other kids. Maybe if Bankotsu gets what he wants, he won't need them to make money anymore!” Oh, great, now he was talking to himself…again.
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It was morning. Inuyasha could tell by the light seeping under his eyelids from the window, but he didn't feel like getting up yet. It was so warm…he could feel Kagome's back to his front, molding to his chest, like she belonged there. It just felt so right to have his arms around her waist and to be waking up beside her.
`Keh,' he grumbled. `Don't get used to it, lover boy, it's not going to be something that happens all the time!'
Grumbling about stubborn wenches who refused to leave well enough alone so that he'd have a chance to talk to her about his `feelings', he snuggled deeper into the covers. His alarm clock would go off when it was time to get up, no reason to be awake until then.
Kagome was thinking along the same lines, still sleeping lightly. She didn't get good night's sleep very often, and she felt like taking advantage of it this time. Normally nightmares would plague her, especially around hard times like these, other nights she couldn't stop thinking about `what ifs' and it took forever to get to sleep. Add to that the fact that she wasn't a morning person and it took forever to wake her up [or a hot drink or cold shower] she didn't get enough sleep.
So why look a gifted horse in the mouth and refuse a few more minutes of blessed sleep?
And then the infernal beeping started. A loud slap of a fist later, she felt a finger poking her in the shoulder. “K'gome…time to wake up. Gotta work…”
“Uh uh,” she moaned, burying her face into his pillow.
“Oh, come on. Suck it up, I don't want to go either,” he growled to the back of her head.
“But I'm tired!” She wailed, it coming out rather…pitiful by being muffled so much.
“I'm not,” he muttered under his breath. He hadn't had such a great night's sleep since…well, the last time he'd slept in the same bed with her. “Come on, I'll go make some tea if Sess hasn't already.”
“Hn,” she grunted, struggling to keep awake.
“I'll take that as a `Yes, Inuyasha, I'll be right out' and leave you to it,” he muttered, pulling a robe over his sleeping clothes and slipping into a pair of slippers. They were fluff covered and a matching pale pink. One was a furry little kitty, from Kagome, and the other was a dog, a gift from Rin. At least they matched his robe…which was pink, too.
“Hfpht,” he heard from his bed faintly. Smirking, he stepped into the hall and made his way to the kitchen. He found Kagura, Sesshoumaru, and even Kouga already at the table. Ignoring the jabs made by the wolf-man about his outfit, he slumped at the table.
“When the hell are you leaving?” He growled at Kouga.
The brunette let it roll right off his back. “Today…this morning, really. Right now to be exact,” he corrected as he looked at the clock. “Where's Kagome? Could you guys tell her sorry and `bye' for me?”
“Sure,” Kagura muttered, ignoring Sesshoumaru while reading his section of the newspaper over his shoulder.
“Good, thanks, see ya!” He waved and stalked from the room, leaving Inuyasha blinking after him.
“It was that easy to get rid of him?”
“Yes, little brother,” Sesshoumaru drawled while glaring at Kagura's head, trying to burn through it.
“Keh.” Ten minutes later, Kagome still wasn't at the table. “That's it, I'm not waiting for her to get her lazy ass out of bed…” Without an explanation to the other two, he got up and put together some of the breakfast on a tray and hefted it back to his room. He entered to find Kagome curled up where he had slept, soaking up the warmth he'd left behind, and snoring lightly.
…
“Oh, come on!” He groaned, setting the tray next to the bed and shaking Kagome's shoulder until she looked blearily back at him. “Wake up, I brought food.”
“Oh, goody, breakfast in bed…” Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Kagome let him drop the tray into her lap. Sitting up in bed, the blankets pooling around her waist, she ate her breakfast. “Thank you,” she mumbled as soon as she was awake enough to comprehend the fact that, not only did he bring her the food, he was waiting for her to finish so he could take the dirty dishes away.
“Keh.”
She grinned at him lopsidedly. Chewing slowly, she looked around his room. Besides the king sized bed, with a few charcoal feather comforters and red sheets, there was a black poofy recliner and a few tables piled with comics. A dresser and bookshelves were leaning against the red walls. The carpet underneath was black. All the furniture was blond wood. Not bad, a little more clean cut than she'd expect from Inuyasha, but not bad.
Of course, the dirty clothes strewn on the floor and collected weapons only added a certain charm to the room.
“Like what you see?” he joked, seeing her eye his bedroom. She'd never really looked at it before.
“Actually, yeah.”
“Glad you approve,” he muttered, “Done yet?”
“You have such a way with words,” she said dryly, the tea already kicking in, making her feel more awake. “Hey, Yash?”
“What?”
“I have a good feeling about today,” her blue-gray eyes sparkled.
“Good, go get dressed.”
“Yes, sir!” Kagome mock saluted before hopping from his bed and trotting next door to her own room. A few minutes later she reappeared, a brush in hand as she struggled her black silky locks into a pony tail. Brushing down her pleated skirt, she took a seat at the table.
“Good morning, Kagome-san,” Sesshoumaru drawled, not looking up from his food.
“Good morning, Sesshoumaru-sama,” she greeted back politely. “You too, Kagura-san.”
Kagura smirked before going back to her book. A few minutes later, the scarlet eyed woman excused herself from the table to go check on the girls. Kanna and Rin were still sleeping.
Since it was a weekday, Rin's nanny person would be coming back to look after them both, leaving Kagura free for the day to do whatever she wanted. Which meant shopping, eating, a nice bubble bath with a good book, and then a good night club party. And a shower when she got home. Pure bliss not having to go to work like those suckers.
“Giving me a ride one of you guys?” Kagome looked back and forth between the Youkai brothers while adjusting her loose blouse.
“We can all head over in my car since we'll be leaving at the same time,” Sesshoumaru got up from the table and retrieved his keys, a moment later he and Kagome walked out to his expensive Mercedes with Inuyasha trailing behind.
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“The ice cream pallor!” Shippou almost shouted in joy. He would have jumped for joy if he wasn't feeling like he'd keel over any second. Not only had he gone without sleep in the past day, he also didn't eat so well for a long time.
`Let's see,' he mentally calculated. All around him people hurried on their way to work; Shippou didn't bother to hide any longer since he was back into a safer part of Tokyo and these people weren't as dangerous. Plus it was daylight and no one could really hurt him with so many witnesses.
`The Sakura-Hide Away was really close to the ice cream pallor,' he knew that much. And then Inuyasha's house was down the same street and out of the city, he was already close to the edge. Not much further down a street that branched off that and into some leftover woods, and then the Youkai estate would come into view. Maybe another two and a half hours of walking for his tiny legs?
Or…it would have been if Shippou didn't feel like he'd die right there. His mind searched through everything Bankotsu had said.
Couldn't he somewhere now and get help? Did it matter? But…Bankotsu had said not to tell anyone anything. What if that included an explanation to someone so that he could get help?
It was so screwed up, and Shippou was so confused. He was afraid to go anywhere to get a ride to Inuyasha's house because he was scared that Bankotsu would find out and execute Souta. But he didn't have much choice in the matter.
A few minutes later, near the SHA where he and Kagome and Souta had first showed up at so long ago, Shippou fainted.
He was lucky that Jinenji, the kind man that worked at the shelter with Sango, found him. Or else Shippou never would have made it to the hospital in time.
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“Inuyasha! Come on, stop that!” Kagome giggled as her male friend poked her in the side so that he could grab some of her files out of her hands.
“Oh come on,” he smirked. “I thought I told you to lay low on working, you don't want to over stress.”
She grinned up at him and snatched her papers back. “I'm fine, now quit fussing and actually go and do your work.”
“Nah, too boring,” Inu shrugged, sitting on the corner of her desk and watching her stare up at him semi-angrily. She looked pretty today.
While he was eyeing her flushed cheeks, she trying hard not to ogle him. Something about waking up next to him that morning had her acting weird around him. Like she was drawn to him, more so than usual. Or…more like three months before around the time of Naraku. He was her rock. He was where she grabbed on for dear life and clung until she was sure she wouldn't be pulled into chaos.
Inuyasha just surprised her all the time, that was the problem. Unpredictable jackass.
Of course, if he was unpredictable…well, she was temperamental. A pretty good pair.
Life was just weird…
“…Lunch?”
“Huh?̶ 1; Kagome dragged herself back to reality. “What?”
Inuyasha glared at her. “Pay attention to me when I'm talking to you, woman! I said do you want to go out to lunch?”
“Um, not right now…I have,” she gestured at her desk which was cluttered with papers.
Inuyasha was disappointed, but refrained from pouting. “Alright, I'll be back when I'm done eating.” When Kagome nodded and buried herself back into her work, he shrugged and left. Riding down the elevator he made it to the ground floor. Looking around and seeing everything relatively normal, he left.
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“Kagome, you confuse the hell out of me…” Inuyasha growled under his breath. “Damn woman, when this is all over I swear I'll finally start to date you…”
He continued to curse the woman of his dreams aloud while waiting for his food to be prepared. He didn't even notice a young woman near him gaping at him. Grabbing the bag and saying a hasty `thank you' to the restaurant worker, he left quickly with his take out.
The redhead was left watching her boss leave with a confused green gaze, before Ayame's food was ready and she left too, following Inuyasha at a safe distance. What had she just heard?
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“Kag?” Inuyasha called as he re-entered her office. When she looked back up at him with a smile, he smirked back. “I brought us both some food from down the street so we can eat here. You won't have to leave your precious work.”
“It's not precious,” Kagome deadpanned. “I just wanted to get it done so that I wouldn't have to worry about bringing any home. Thanks for getting some food.”
“So you are hungry,” Inu stated, dropping the bad of food on top of the paper she was currently writing on. Sitting down across from her, he opened it up and started to separate their meals. “I got you some-”
“Oden?!”
“…No, some vegetable fried rice,” he finished, handing her some chopsticks. “I got the calamari.”
“Good,” Kagome snatched some out of his little bowl. Eating it, looking innocent when he glared at her, she offered him some of her own food.
“Keh.”
Kagome grinned and continued eating.
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Ayame walked back into work slowly, her take out hanging in the bag clutched by her hand.
`Did I just…?'
Hear Inuyasha talking about dating Kagome at a restaurant? Yeah…
The redhead smiled brightly, looking around the office building before stepping onto the elevator to go up to her floor. So her two bosses had a crush on each other. She'd known it for awhile, Inuyasha was always protecting her from the male population and hanging out with Kagome. And her black haired friend was always talking about the younger Youkai brother.
But now she had proof!
`Gah…They really need to go out together. I mean on a date, not on those little hanging out sessions that they always do. They'd make a cute couple…'
Inuyasha was the tall, dark, and handsome type. He had tan skin and long, silky black hair. Not to mention the fact that he was muscular, but lean. Kagome was pretty short, but she had great hair too. Not to mention the most beautiful eyes Ayame had ever seen…except for her own green ones, of course. They'd just go so well together.
Kagome was the old fashioned type of girl who like her men macho. And Inuyasha practically dripped testosterone. Different heights, sure, and definitely different attitudes but they'd balance each other out. Kagome would keep him calm and fun while he'd keep her not so…innocent…
Yeah. Meant in more ways than one.
Not that Kagome was very `innocent' or naïve. Not after Naraku. But still…she'd always be a sweet girl, the damsel in distress type.
Ayame picked at her food. All that was left was to get them together. Maybe Sango would help? The two young women had been going on girls night out's for awhile now with Kagome, maybe some of the other women too. Like Yura. Sure, Yura was Inuyasha's most recent ex, but she was…nice, sorta.
`Nobunaga and that new little girlfriend of his too,' Ayame added to her list of her personal army. `I'd ask Hojo too, but I think that he has a crush on Kagome…'
Who knows? Maybe Kagome had a lot more friends that could help Ayame out with setting her bosses up.
Ayame could remember Kagome talking about Kyoto, her home, all the time. What were some of the names of people? Yuka, Eri, Ayumi…maybe that Kouga guy too.
`Out of all the old school friends Kagome mentions, Kouga is the only guy. I guess Naraku didn't let her associate with men or something…I wonder what this `Kouga' is like…'
Plans began to form into the redhead's mind.
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Kagome and Inuyasha sat in her office, her work pushed aside, talking and chatting. It was so easy to forget about all her problems when she was with him, which is why she often did. Inuyasha had this air about him that made you think he controlled the world. If he felt so safe to be around, you couldn't help but feel totally protected.
Kagome soaked in the feeling.
Inuyasha opened up a lot more and easier when he was with her. He loved it.
Finally the phone ringing broke the conversation up. Picking up the phone Kagome chirped into the receiver, “Moushi, Moushi. Inutaisho Company, Higurashi Kagome's office.”
Inuyasha watched as the smile slipped a little and her stormy eyes darkened with confusion.
“The Tokyo hospital? What can I help you with?”
Then the smile broke all together and her hand loosened so much it was amazing that the damn phone didn't fall out. Inuyasha was about to ask what was wrong when Kagome spoke again, her voice unsteady and wavering.
“Yeah…I'm here, sorry…can you repeat that?”
Silence to Inuyasha.
“Oh, my…T-thank you for calling…um, could you t-tell me…w-when?” Kagome stuttered, both hands clutching at the phone like it was her lifeline. “Thank you, what room?”
Pause.
“Ok, I'll be…right there…”
Click.
“…Kagome?” Inuyasha began cautiously when Kagome just sat in her chair, her hand still hovering over her phone. Then the tears streamed down her face. “Kagome? What's going on? Who called from the hospital?”
“…A nurse. She said, she said that,” gulp, “Shippou showed up there this morning a few hours ago.”
“Shippou? Our Shippou? He's here?!”
“Yeah. Inuyasha?”
“What?” He asked, running a hand through his hair, wondering at how she was able to stay so calm.
“I think we should go see him now.”
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha
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Aftermath's Destruction
Chapter Fifteen: Return Home
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“Inuyasha?”
“Hm?” He mumbled in answer, but ended up just rolling over and going back to sleep, oblivious to the finger prodding him awake.
A sigh sounded. “…Inuyasha?”
“Wha?” He asked groggily, frowning as he rolled onto his back and sliding one eye open a slit. Through his eyelashes he saw Kagome sitting over him. “'Nother nightmare?” The blurry head of black hair shook, Inuyasha took it as a no. “Than what's the matter?”
“I…just can't really sleep. So I was wondering if I could, you know.”
“No I don't know,” He muttered as he propped himself up on his elbows to look at the young woman a little more clearly. Peering through the dark, Inuyasha noted that Kagome looked flighty, and maybe a little nervous. Like she was embarrassed or scared or something. “What's wrong now?”
Kagome scrutinized him a bit, making him squirm under her intense blue eyes. She then bit her lip and looked to the side, the lightest shade of pink dusting her nose. “Well…I couldn't really sleep and I was remembering when, a while ago, you'd let me sleep next to you when we were going through the whole Naraku episode, and…”
“You wanted to know if you could sleep in here tonight,” Inuyasha finished for her, rolling his eyes at her timid ness. “Come on, then,” he pulled the sheets back and shivered a little when some cold air floated in.
Kagome eyed the spot some before sighing and crawling further into the bed, plopping down next to him. She couldn't really explain it, but every time she couldn't settle enough to go to sleep, it felt nice to be next to him. She just felt safe, and safety meant familiarity and that made her feel comfortable. After awhile, it was just easy to sleep. “Thanks, Inuyasha.”
“Uh huh, pipe down and sleep,” he commanded, his own eyes already starting to drift closed. It was around midnight and he had to work the next day, sleep was welcomed. “G'Night.”
“Hm, you too,” she murmured as she shifted until comfortable, ending up curled against his side. After awhile, once he was asleep and Kagome was on the verge to it, he ended up rolling over so she was next to his chest. It felt so natural to just slip his arms around her loosely. So, feeling protected and like the world was a lot simpler, she drifted off too. The world just wasn't so complicated when you knew Inuyasha would be there to force it to behave.
Sometimes it helped to be so stubborn and demanding.
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Shippou huffed angrily as he glared along the street. It was dark and he was a lot further into town. There were a few people walking around, the city didn't sleep completely at night, but the little boy managed to stay pretty hidden. His intelligent green eyes darting around, the redhead made his way to the next snow bank.
With Bankotsu's `help', the boy was a lot closer to home than he would have been if he'd tried to go on his own. Luckily, he was almost out of the dangerous part of downtown and at the business area. Once he got far enough in, it wouldn't be too hard to get his bearings. Inuyasha and Kagome had taken the boys on so many trips around the city, Shippou was bound to find at least something he recognized.
“Yeah, `help',” Shippou scoffed, glaring at one or two drunkards moving on to the next dirty bar. Once they were past, the little boy started off again, keeping to the shadows and out of the streetlights.
True to his word, Souta forced Bankotsu to give Shippou some guidance. It took a lot of complaining, almost pleading, but something was done. To protect from the December cold, he had more sweaters and another pair of shoes. He'd also been given a short ride to give him a head start.
Sure, it'd cut down a few blocks from his journey, but it was more for The Boss' sake than for Shippou's. The ride had been in a window tinted car so that Shippou wouldn't be able to recognize the warehouse if he ever came back to try and bust up the sweatshop.
“Whatever,” Shippou muttered, walking as fast as his little legs could carry him. Inside his inner pocket was the letter that he was supposed to give to his Okaa-san so that Kagome knew what to give Bankotsu so that Souta could be released. The youngest Higurashi didn't get was his surrogate mother would have that The Boss would want so much.
But something was wrong.
“Ow, my tummy…” Shippou groaned under his breath, holding his stomach with one hand while swiping at his eyes with the other. He didn't feel so good. The feeling in his abdomen gave him the urge to throw up and his eyes weren't working well. His sight was blurred and a few spots of colors danced here or there at the corner of his vision.
It wasn't very fun.
But he decided to tough it out. “I think…I think that's the company Inuyasha took over last month,” Shippou muttered as he gazed up at a tall building. The month before, Kagome's company had shut down and took over this company. Yep, Shippou definitely recognized it. His mother had taken him there with Inuyasha to check it out.
`Good,' he thought, `I'm getting closer. At least I'm closer to home.'
Crouching behind a broken down car on the side of the road, Shippou waited for a pair of scantily clad woman to stroll by before darting out and across the street. Once on the other side, he crawled slowly back into the shadows, all the while without being seen. Some people might have wanted to be found, because than they could get some help home, but he didn't like the looks of these people. He'd rather wander aimlessly around than to try and get help from them.
“All I have to do is get home, give Kagome-Okaa-san the letter, than wait for Souta to come home. And the other kids. Maybe if Bankotsu gets what he wants, he won't need them to make money anymore!” Oh, great, now he was talking to himself…again.
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It was morning. Inuyasha could tell by the light seeping under his eyelids from the window, but he didn't feel like getting up yet. It was so warm…he could feel Kagome's back to his front, molding to his chest, like she belonged there. It just felt so right to have his arms around her waist and to be waking up beside her.
`Keh,' he grumbled. `Don't get used to it, lover boy, it's not going to be something that happens all the time!'
Grumbling about stubborn wenches who refused to leave well enough alone so that he'd have a chance to talk to her about his `feelings', he snuggled deeper into the covers. His alarm clock would go off when it was time to get up, no reason to be awake until then.
Kagome was thinking along the same lines, still sleeping lightly. She didn't get good night's sleep very often, and she felt like taking advantage of it this time. Normally nightmares would plague her, especially around hard times like these, other nights she couldn't stop thinking about `what ifs' and it took forever to get to sleep. Add to that the fact that she wasn't a morning person and it took forever to wake her up [or a hot drink or cold shower] she didn't get enough sleep.
So why look a gifted horse in the mouth and refuse a few more minutes of blessed sleep?
And then the infernal beeping started. A loud slap of a fist later, she felt a finger poking her in the shoulder. “K'gome…time to wake up. Gotta work…”
“Uh uh,” she moaned, burying her face into his pillow.
“Oh, come on. Suck it up, I don't want to go either,” he growled to the back of her head.
“But I'm tired!” She wailed, it coming out rather…pitiful by being muffled so much.
“I'm not,” he muttered under his breath. He hadn't had such a great night's sleep since…well, the last time he'd slept in the same bed with her. “Come on, I'll go make some tea if Sess hasn't already.”
“Hn,” she grunted, struggling to keep awake.
“I'll take that as a `Yes, Inuyasha, I'll be right out' and leave you to it,” he muttered, pulling a robe over his sleeping clothes and slipping into a pair of slippers. They were fluff covered and a matching pale pink. One was a furry little kitty, from Kagome, and the other was a dog, a gift from Rin. At least they matched his robe…which was pink, too.
“Hfpht,” he heard from his bed faintly. Smirking, he stepped into the hall and made his way to the kitchen. He found Kagura, Sesshoumaru, and even Kouga already at the table. Ignoring the jabs made by the wolf-man about his outfit, he slumped at the table.
“When the hell are you leaving?” He growled at Kouga.
The brunette let it roll right off his back. “Today…this morning, really. Right now to be exact,” he corrected as he looked at the clock. “Where's Kagome? Could you guys tell her sorry and `bye' for me?”
“Sure,” Kagura muttered, ignoring Sesshoumaru while reading his section of the newspaper over his shoulder.
“Good, thanks, see ya!” He waved and stalked from the room, leaving Inuyasha blinking after him.
“It was that easy to get rid of him?”
“Yes, little brother,” Sesshoumaru drawled while glaring at Kagura's head, trying to burn through it.
“Keh.” Ten minutes later, Kagome still wasn't at the table. “That's it, I'm not waiting for her to get her lazy ass out of bed…” Without an explanation to the other two, he got up and put together some of the breakfast on a tray and hefted it back to his room. He entered to find Kagome curled up where he had slept, soaking up the warmth he'd left behind, and snoring lightly.
…
“Oh, come on!” He groaned, setting the tray next to the bed and shaking Kagome's shoulder until she looked blearily back at him. “Wake up, I brought food.”
“Oh, goody, breakfast in bed…” Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Kagome let him drop the tray into her lap. Sitting up in bed, the blankets pooling around her waist, she ate her breakfast. “Thank you,” she mumbled as soon as she was awake enough to comprehend the fact that, not only did he bring her the food, he was waiting for her to finish so he could take the dirty dishes away.
“Keh.”
She grinned at him lopsidedly. Chewing slowly, she looked around his room. Besides the king sized bed, with a few charcoal feather comforters and red sheets, there was a black poofy recliner and a few tables piled with comics. A dresser and bookshelves were leaning against the red walls. The carpet underneath was black. All the furniture was blond wood. Not bad, a little more clean cut than she'd expect from Inuyasha, but not bad.
Of course, the dirty clothes strewn on the floor and collected weapons only added a certain charm to the room.
“Like what you see?” he joked, seeing her eye his bedroom. She'd never really looked at it before.
“Actually, yeah.”
“Glad you approve,” he muttered, “Done yet?”
“You have such a way with words,” she said dryly, the tea already kicking in, making her feel more awake. “Hey, Yash?”
“What?”
“I have a good feeling about today,” her blue-gray eyes sparkled.
“Good, go get dressed.”
“Yes, sir!” Kagome mock saluted before hopping from his bed and trotting next door to her own room. A few minutes later she reappeared, a brush in hand as she struggled her black silky locks into a pony tail. Brushing down her pleated skirt, she took a seat at the table.
“Good morning, Kagome-san,” Sesshoumaru drawled, not looking up from his food.
“Good morning, Sesshoumaru-sama,” she greeted back politely. “You too, Kagura-san.”
Kagura smirked before going back to her book. A few minutes later, the scarlet eyed woman excused herself from the table to go check on the girls. Kanna and Rin were still sleeping.
Since it was a weekday, Rin's nanny person would be coming back to look after them both, leaving Kagura free for the day to do whatever she wanted. Which meant shopping, eating, a nice bubble bath with a good book, and then a good night club party. And a shower when she got home. Pure bliss not having to go to work like those suckers.
“Giving me a ride one of you guys?” Kagome looked back and forth between the Youkai brothers while adjusting her loose blouse.
“We can all head over in my car since we'll be leaving at the same time,” Sesshoumaru got up from the table and retrieved his keys, a moment later he and Kagome walked out to his expensive Mercedes with Inuyasha trailing behind.
.
---
.
“The ice cream pallor!” Shippou almost shouted in joy. He would have jumped for joy if he wasn't feeling like he'd keel over any second. Not only had he gone without sleep in the past day, he also didn't eat so well for a long time.
`Let's see,' he mentally calculated. All around him people hurried on their way to work; Shippou didn't bother to hide any longer since he was back into a safer part of Tokyo and these people weren't as dangerous. Plus it was daylight and no one could really hurt him with so many witnesses.
`The Sakura-Hide Away was really close to the ice cream pallor,' he knew that much. And then Inuyasha's house was down the same street and out of the city, he was already close to the edge. Not much further down a street that branched off that and into some leftover woods, and then the Youkai estate would come into view. Maybe another two and a half hours of walking for his tiny legs?
Or…it would have been if Shippou didn't feel like he'd die right there. His mind searched through everything Bankotsu had said.
Couldn't he somewhere now and get help? Did it matter? But…Bankotsu had said not to tell anyone anything. What if that included an explanation to someone so that he could get help?
It was so screwed up, and Shippou was so confused. He was afraid to go anywhere to get a ride to Inuyasha's house because he was scared that Bankotsu would find out and execute Souta. But he didn't have much choice in the matter.
A few minutes later, near the SHA where he and Kagome and Souta had first showed up at so long ago, Shippou fainted.
He was lucky that Jinenji, the kind man that worked at the shelter with Sango, found him. Or else Shippou never would have made it to the hospital in time.
.
---
.
“Inuyasha! Come on, stop that!” Kagome giggled as her male friend poked her in the side so that he could grab some of her files out of her hands.
“Oh come on,” he smirked. “I thought I told you to lay low on working, you don't want to over stress.”
She grinned up at him and snatched her papers back. “I'm fine, now quit fussing and actually go and do your work.”
“Nah, too boring,” Inu shrugged, sitting on the corner of her desk and watching her stare up at him semi-angrily. She looked pretty today.
While he was eyeing her flushed cheeks, she trying hard not to ogle him. Something about waking up next to him that morning had her acting weird around him. Like she was drawn to him, more so than usual. Or…more like three months before around the time of Naraku. He was her rock. He was where she grabbed on for dear life and clung until she was sure she wouldn't be pulled into chaos.
Inuyasha just surprised her all the time, that was the problem. Unpredictable jackass.
Of course, if he was unpredictable…well, she was temperamental. A pretty good pair.
Life was just weird…
“…Lunch?”
“Huh?̶ 1; Kagome dragged herself back to reality. “What?”
Inuyasha glared at her. “Pay attention to me when I'm talking to you, woman! I said do you want to go out to lunch?”
“Um, not right now…I have,” she gestured at her desk which was cluttered with papers.
Inuyasha was disappointed, but refrained from pouting. “Alright, I'll be back when I'm done eating.” When Kagome nodded and buried herself back into her work, he shrugged and left. Riding down the elevator he made it to the ground floor. Looking around and seeing everything relatively normal, he left.
.
---
.
“Kagome, you confuse the hell out of me…” Inuyasha growled under his breath. “Damn woman, when this is all over I swear I'll finally start to date you…”
He continued to curse the woman of his dreams aloud while waiting for his food to be prepared. He didn't even notice a young woman near him gaping at him. Grabbing the bag and saying a hasty `thank you' to the restaurant worker, he left quickly with his take out.
The redhead was left watching her boss leave with a confused green gaze, before Ayame's food was ready and she left too, following Inuyasha at a safe distance. What had she just heard?
.
---
.
“Kag?” Inuyasha called as he re-entered her office. When she looked back up at him with a smile, he smirked back. “I brought us both some food from down the street so we can eat here. You won't have to leave your precious work.”
“It's not precious,” Kagome deadpanned. “I just wanted to get it done so that I wouldn't have to worry about bringing any home. Thanks for getting some food.”
“So you are hungry,” Inu stated, dropping the bad of food on top of the paper she was currently writing on. Sitting down across from her, he opened it up and started to separate their meals. “I got you some-”
“Oden?!”
“…No, some vegetable fried rice,” he finished, handing her some chopsticks. “I got the calamari.”
“Good,” Kagome snatched some out of his little bowl. Eating it, looking innocent when he glared at her, she offered him some of her own food.
“Keh.”
Kagome grinned and continued eating.
.
---
.
Ayame walked back into work slowly, her take out hanging in the bag clutched by her hand.
`Did I just…?'
Hear Inuyasha talking about dating Kagome at a restaurant? Yeah…
The redhead smiled brightly, looking around the office building before stepping onto the elevator to go up to her floor. So her two bosses had a crush on each other. She'd known it for awhile, Inuyasha was always protecting her from the male population and hanging out with Kagome. And her black haired friend was always talking about the younger Youkai brother.
But now she had proof!
`Gah…They really need to go out together. I mean on a date, not on those little hanging out sessions that they always do. They'd make a cute couple…'
Inuyasha was the tall, dark, and handsome type. He had tan skin and long, silky black hair. Not to mention the fact that he was muscular, but lean. Kagome was pretty short, but she had great hair too. Not to mention the most beautiful eyes Ayame had ever seen…except for her own green ones, of course. They'd just go so well together.
Kagome was the old fashioned type of girl who like her men macho. And Inuyasha practically dripped testosterone. Different heights, sure, and definitely different attitudes but they'd balance each other out. Kagome would keep him calm and fun while he'd keep her not so…innocent…
Yeah. Meant in more ways than one.
Not that Kagome was very `innocent' or naïve. Not after Naraku. But still…she'd always be a sweet girl, the damsel in distress type.
Ayame picked at her food. All that was left was to get them together. Maybe Sango would help? The two young women had been going on girls night out's for awhile now with Kagome, maybe some of the other women too. Like Yura. Sure, Yura was Inuyasha's most recent ex, but she was…nice, sorta.
`Nobunaga and that new little girlfriend of his too,' Ayame added to her list of her personal army. `I'd ask Hojo too, but I think that he has a crush on Kagome…'
Who knows? Maybe Kagome had a lot more friends that could help Ayame out with setting her bosses up.
Ayame could remember Kagome talking about Kyoto, her home, all the time. What were some of the names of people? Yuka, Eri, Ayumi…maybe that Kouga guy too.
`Out of all the old school friends Kagome mentions, Kouga is the only guy. I guess Naraku didn't let her associate with men or something…I wonder what this `Kouga' is like…'
Plans began to form into the redhead's mind.
.
---
.
Kagome and Inuyasha sat in her office, her work pushed aside, talking and chatting. It was so easy to forget about all her problems when she was with him, which is why she often did. Inuyasha had this air about him that made you think he controlled the world. If he felt so safe to be around, you couldn't help but feel totally protected.
Kagome soaked in the feeling.
Inuyasha opened up a lot more and easier when he was with her. He loved it.
Finally the phone ringing broke the conversation up. Picking up the phone Kagome chirped into the receiver, “Moushi, Moushi. Inutaisho Company, Higurashi Kagome's office.”
Inuyasha watched as the smile slipped a little and her stormy eyes darkened with confusion.
“The Tokyo hospital? What can I help you with?”
Then the smile broke all together and her hand loosened so much it was amazing that the damn phone didn't fall out. Inuyasha was about to ask what was wrong when Kagome spoke again, her voice unsteady and wavering.
“Yeah…I'm here, sorry…can you repeat that?”
Silence to Inuyasha.
“Oh, my…T-thank you for calling…um, could you t-tell me…w-when?” Kagome stuttered, both hands clutching at the phone like it was her lifeline. “Thank you, what room?”
Pause.
“Ok, I'll be…right there…”
Click.
“…Kagome?” Inuyasha began cautiously when Kagome just sat in her chair, her hand still hovering over her phone. Then the tears streamed down her face. “Kagome? What's going on? Who called from the hospital?”
“…A nurse. She said, she said that,” gulp, “Shippou showed up there this morning a few hours ago.”
“Shippou? Our Shippou? He's here?!”
“Yeah. Inuyasha?”
“What?” He asked, running a hand through his hair, wondering at how she was able to stay so calm.
“I think we should go see him now.”