InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dead Famous ❯ Love Lift Us Up ( Chapter 26 )

Authors Notes: Ok, first of all I'd like to issue a small warning.

This:

"I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR AN UPDATE FROM YOU FOR LIKE YEARS! THANK YOU FINALLY FOR UPDATING...BUT CAN YOU UPDATE TOMORROW? TODAY? NOW?! IT'S SO SAD! POOR INUYASHA AND KAGOME! BUT EVEN WORSE...ARGH...INUYASHA! POOR GUY! UPDATE NOW! PLEASE!"

And this:

"I hate you know you dont know how much i do. anywayz good chappie ..."

And this:

"I hate you, i hate you, i hate you, i hate you, I hate you, I hate koga, i hate koga, i hate koga, i hate urami, i hate urami, i hate urami, i hate urami, i hate urami, i hate koga, i hate koga, i hate you. man your mean sometimes i think you do things i hate just to make me pissed off."

Or this:

"good story so far...UPDATE YOU STUPIDHEAD!"

And even this:

"GET YOUR LAZY ASS UP AND WRITE THE REST gosh take your time will you"

Is NOT how to review. When I read reviews like this I wonder why I bother writing the story if that is the kind of reaction I get. THESE are the types of reviews that keep making me as reviewers to be a little politer. I really don't mind if you leave a civil review with a little "hope you update soon!" at the end - that is appreciated. The ones above are not.

Simple.

Don't leave reviews like that. You know who you are and you've been warned.

(Ooh, I sound so scary! ^_^ Wait… I've ruined it now…)

Dead Famous

Chapter 26

Love Lift Us Up

Kagome sighed sleepily as she roused from her deep slumber. She reached out a half-awake hand to find Inuyasha - he should only have been a foot away. But her hand landed on cold concrete, and nothing else.

Now that was odd… Kagome frowned slightly as she opened her eyes a little to look at her hand. Where was Inuyasha? The cuffs that had joined their hands together was now cut neatly across the chain, leaving her with one half dangling around her wrist. The other half was gone.

"Inuyasha?" she tried sitting up, but she didn't quite seem to have the energy. So instead she rolled over limply and spotted a fuzzy blur on the other side of the room. She knew it was Inuyasha from the big, white blob of hair. "Whatcha doin'?" she murmured, a croak in her voice.

"Making a bomb."

"Oh good." She closed her eyes, not really having listened, and dropped her head back down. "I'm over here if you need me…" she drifted off back to sleep.

Inuyasha wasn't sure how much time they had left. The sun was already starting to creep towards the horizon to break dawn. The sky was beginning to lighten up, leaving him only an hour or so before Fushira awoke, and decided to start a brand new day of torture. That man was sick…

And with the last dose of tranquilliser still remaining in his system, he didn't know how much he could do physically to get himself out of there… so perhaps he needed a little bit of help. Judging by the movement downstairs and the different voices, he could guess that there were at least thirteen people in the house.

Thirteen people against one hanyou was a fair enough match on a good day… but today he barely felt strong enough to fend off one man, let alone Fushira Hashimoto. What he needed was a distraction.

That was where the bomb came in.

The empty water bottles wound up making their use, along with the batteries from the old radio. Jinko would have to find some other way to dye her roots, since Inuyasha would be using all her peroxide. He tipped it all into the water bottles, and began working on opening the batteries by slitting his claws down the middle. It was dangerous, and more than once he got sprayed with a little acid, but he had no time to mope and whine, so he bore it and used the end of a rusty spoon to scrape out the black sticky stuff inside.

The last time he'd tried to do this was when he was ten… he'd nearly lost his hand in the process (a body part which didn't grow back). He knew to be more careful this time… now if only he could remember exactly how it worked…

If memory served him, he was supposed to leave the black stuff from the batteries to dry, but he didn't have time for that. He needed out now!

He quickly glanced over at Kagome, who still slept on obliviously. She was still cuffed to the pole, so he quickly went over and cut her loose, rolling her onto her side so he could pick her up in a hurry if need be. Then he went to the window, and stooped to peer out of the gaps in the broken glass. To his surprise, he saw a lake. Saltwater by the smell of it… he'd assumed that the salty smell had been Kagome since she'd been abducted by way of the sea, so it was logical. But perhaps her boat had arrived at this lakeside, cabin-like building from across the lake that was outlet into the sea.

He spotted the boat a few hundred yards away and decided that it was their best chance of escape. There were no other boats around to follow them, and even a car wouldn't be able to go where a boat could, no matter how fast it travelled.

With the escape route formed, he headed back over to the workbench. He couldn't waste any more time.

The batteries, sticky black stuff, and spoon were dumped straight into the water bottle of hair dye. He quickly screwed on the lid and hurried to the window. He only had a few seconds.

It was difficult manoeuvring his arm through the gaps in the window, and it cut through his shirt into the skin in several different places. But his reward was the nice, meaty bang it made when it hit the hard ground below. Not exactly atomic bomb material, but it sounded enough like a gunshot to the people downstairs. Inuyasha heard them all drop what they were doing and scurry off outside… Leaving the way clear for Inuyasha to get Kagome to a safer hiding place in the building.

Quickly, he withdrew his arm before someone below saw, and ran to Kagome's side. She grunted a slight protest in her sleep as he lifted her up and slung her over his shoulder, but stayed limp and unconscious as he made his way to the door. As he predicted, everyone had gone outside to check out the noise, meaning no one was there to guard him and Kagome.

Inuyasha was at a loss for which way to go. Downstairs seemed to be the most sensible bet. With everyone outside, he could find the back door maybe. He held his breath as the stairs squeaked when he descended, and it was only then that he realised how hard his heart was beating.

But it even began picking up its tempo when he heard someone stomp back through the front door just as he reached the bottom step. It was too late to run back up - he'd be heard, and there was no place to hide in the large room that the stairs had led him to. So he quickly, and silently, headed further into the back of the house, away from the sound of those footsteps. He desperately tried to find a place to hide himself and Kagome…

The heavy boots stomped across the hallway floor, accompanied by some bitter grumbling. Fushira was back again, and if Inuyasha didn't find a place to hide, he would be seen. He dived towards the nearest door, and found himself in a cloakroom of sorts. Hurriedly, he let Kagome slide to the floor, and tugged down a light blue coat to drape over her. It was probably Jinko's, but he'd rather it was her's than Fushira's.

Now he had to go face the music.

Inuyasha stepped quietly out of the cloakroom and shut the door slowly behind him, listening intently to where Fushira might have been. When he heard the man's footsteps on the stairs, he realised that Fushira was going upstairs… and would no doubt discover in a few seconds that his captives had broken free. The real hell would start then.

Inuyasha quickly began hunting around for something to defend himself with. He would normally have depended on his fists, but this time his fists weren't quite up to scratch, in a manner of speaking.

He re-entered the large room where the stairs started, just in time to hear a bellow of anger and frustration emanate from upstairs. Inuyasha's heart was doing flip-flops again. He was convinced he was screwed… this was the day he was going to die.

And then his desperate gaze landed on the revolver. It was old, black and scratched, much like the one he'd confiscated off the fake driver at the limo incident. Three bullets lay beside it on the table against the wall, just begging to be picked up.

There was no sense in letting them go to waste…

He quickly ran over and scrambled to get the bullets loaded, painfully aware of Fushira's thundering steps running down the hall upstairs, checking in every room for his victims. Inuyasha hastily snapped the gun's semi-loaded cylinder back into place, and dashed to hide under the stairs…

Just in time… for Fushira Hashimoto chose that moment to come blundering down them at full throttle. Inuyasha had never seen him so mad. He swallowed hard and clasped the gun tightly in his hand.

Fushira immediately resumed his hunt, looking under obvious places like the sofa, the table, and in the small cupboard beside the Tv. He was steadily heading in the direction of the cloakroom where Kagome lay sleeping.

Inuyasha couldn't allow him to find her. He quietly stepped out of his hiding place under the stairs and followed Hashimoto, raising the handgun unsteadily as he moved forward. Fushira, for his part, was oblivious to the danger he was in, and went on scouring the place. He thumped into the hall and started opening and shutting doors to every room in his search. Inuyasha followed silently, steeling himself.

Shoot him, shoot him, you idiot… he reprimanded himself. Fushira was getting closer to Kagome's hide-out; he was only two doors away now.

But it was beneath Inuyasha to shoot someone in the back… it was beneath him to shoot anyone, period. Back when Fushira's man had killed his driver on that roadside, he'd considered killing him for a split second… but only for that split second. He'd shoved that thought aside in favour of just scaring him shitless…

But now…?

Fushira's hand was reaching for the cloakroom door. If Inuyasha didn't act, Kagome would be in danger.

For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to squeeze the trigger…

But at that crucial moment, as Fushira jerked the handle down, Inuyasha's thumb slipped on the safety hammer with an audible click. Hashimoto whirled around to face him… and Inuyasha reacted out of pure fright.

He didn't hear the sound of the shot when he pulled the trigger, but he saw Hashimoto jerk back as the bullet impacted his chest. The man just stared in stunned surprise at Inuyasha… but he still remained standing.

Inuyasha's face twisted into a grimace as he pulled the trigger again, and then again. He pulled again, but he was out of bullets. His fingers went numb, and the gun dropped from his hands, hitting the floor only a few seconds before Hashimoto did.

Inuyasha stared at him in dumb silence. He was sprawled out on the floor, probably dead before he'd hit the boards. His eyes had already glazed over, and his mouth hung open.

That infinitely shocked expression would remain on his face forever.

Inuyasha couldn't move.

People were coming. They'd heard the gunshots and were coming to see what had happened. Jinko's scream was enough to rip him out of his daze, and he blinked up at the kitchen door to see her standing there with her hands clasped over her mouth, shaking with tears. The men behind her were too stumped to make a move.

How long were they supposed to stand like this… across the man he'd just killed?

No… he had to get out of here.

He made a grab for the fallen gun, and levelled it at Jinko's group across the hall. "Get on the floor or I shoot!" he sounded braver than he felt.

No one moved.

"I said, lie down!" Inuyasha repeated in a louder voice. It was a bluff - he had no more bullets, but maybe they didn't know that.

They only took a moment's more hesitation before they began sinking to their knees before they lay down completely, hands clasped over their heads. Only Jinko remained standing. Inuyasha turned the gun on her. The last person in the world to be trusted was that woman - she was unpredictable at the best of times. "Lie down." He told her.

She ignored him. Her eyes were only on Fushira, and tears were visibly running down her cheeks now. She stumbled a few steps forward, alarming him, but all she did was fall onto her knees beside the dead man and continue crying, touching his face.

She really loved him, didn't she?

Inuyasha watched her, unnerved for a moment, before edging around her and Fushira to the cloakroom door. With one hand, he twisted the handle down and, while keeping the gun trained on Jinko, he bent down. Scooping an arm under the unconscious Kagome, he gently lifted her up onto his shoulder. She seemed unusually heavy in his weakened state, but he put that down to all the doughnuts she'd consumed last night.

He left Jinko sobbing over Fushira's body, and carefully stepped over the prone men at the entrance of the kitchen. There was the back door, open and beckoning freedom. He cast one look back at the motionless gang members - and a broken-hearted Jinko - before slipping out the door.

How long did he have before they leapt up, grabbed their weapons, and came after him? Inuyasha didn't want to think about it, so he broke into a run… though he had the odd feeling that he didn't know how to stop. The lake was opened up before him, and the boat was still in its moorings on the shore. He raced towards it, dropping the gun in his haste and pulling Kagome down from his shoulder and into his arms. He didn't mean to be so rough, but he really was in a hurry.

The moment he reached the boat, he dumped Kagome inside and pushed it away from the shore, not caring that he was wading hip-deep into muddy lake water fully dressed.

A shout sounded behind him, but he didn't waste time to look over his shoulder. He concentrated on pulling himself over the wooden rim of the boat and grabbing the pull-string on the engine. It revved, but didn't start.

Gunshots sounded not far behind him, and he felt a bullet whiz by his ear, skimming his hair. He still kept his focus on the engine, determined to get it started.

"Come on… come on!" he whispered frantically, as if that would convince it to get going.

On the seventh pull, it finally caught, and the engine roared to life. Finally! He mentally gasped with exasperation, and caught hold of the rubber bar with both hands to steer it.

Another gunshot sounded, this time from the shore only a few metres away. A pain stabbed through his shoulder and lodged there. Inuyasha grimaced, but clung onto the rudder, determined to get them out of there.

It was sheer luck that none of the bullets hit the engine, or blew a nasty hole in the side of the boat. The idiots seemed more intent on shooting Inuyasha than his getaway vehicle. Kagome remained safe from fire, sheltered as she was under the seats.

Inuyasha more or less followed his nose, heading where the lake led in an effort to find the open sea, and the way back to his villa. When he was a good distance away, he finally looked back over his shoulder and saw the shrinking figures of the men on the shore. He was out of range of their guns now, and they knew it… some knew they'd been had, and were heading for the cars.

Too bad Inuyasha had already made a note of their license plate numbers.

"Don't touch that frog!"

Inuyasha jerked his gaze sharply to Kagome, who was thrashing wildly in her seat. "Or the lamb burgers…" she trailed off and calmed down, but had somehow levered her arm over the rim of the boat. Her hand dangled down over the edge with her fingers nearly skimming the water.

Inuyasha sighed, and gently nudged his foot under her elbow, bringing the renegade hand back into the boat. His shoulder ached badly, and he felt cold and numb.

But that was nothing compared to the misery his conscience was in.

He'd actually killed a man…

~*~

"The police didn't find anything at the old warehouse." Miroku informed Kikyo as he entered her office. "If that was where they kept him last time, they've changed location."

"Not surprising." Kikyo passed a hand over her cheek as she leant back in her chair and considered. "Kagome's been gone a day now. Inuyasha nearly as long… how is it that he was kidnapped in broad daylight, but no one noticed?"

Miroku sighed and slid into the chair opposite her desk. "Sango's freaking out… Mrs Higurashi even more so - she's been on the phone twice so far asking for news. Cook won't stop crying, and Sesshomaru seems intent on lodging here because his wife just kicked him out… though why he insisted on bringing Rin…"

Kikyo regarded her lamp silently.

They sat in contemplative silence for a while, before Miroku sighed. "I don't understand why this has happened again…"

Kikyo glanced up at the ceiling. "Well, last time he was tortured for three months straight. I'm guessing that if this is indeed the same group of people as before, they intend to do the same thing… though I still don't know their motives."

Miroku gave Kikyo a disparaging look. He didn't like the way she talked so coldly about these things. She talked about torture like she talked about ice cream - with hardly any emotion or compassion at all. But he supposed he couldn't blame her… that was Kikyo's way after all. "Do you think we did the right thing, informing the police?" he asked her.

Kikyo hesitated before nodding. "Last time they said they would execute him if anyone was told… they gave us no such threat this time. It's fair game."

Miroku frowned. "If you're wrong about that, I'll-"

"Something suspicious was going on in 1992. Something which isn't happening now… something's different about this kidnapping." Kikyo said shortly, frowning in thought. "I just wish I knew how to find him…"

Miroku stared at her. "He has Kagome with him. I'm sure if they stop being so stubborn and put their heads together for once, they can figure things out."

"They're still just teenagers, Miroku." Kikyo admonished.

"So you think they'll do nothing?" he challenged.

"I'm just telling you not to get you hopes up too high on silly whims." She shrugged before leaning forward to shuffle through her paperwork. "You can go back to work now. I need to focus."

Miroku sighed and rolled his eyes, but stood anyway and stomped out of the room. Kikyo could be such an cold ass sometimes. He glanced back at her when he reached the doorway and stopped dead.

She was crying.

Not big sobbing tears, that wasn't the Kikyo way. But he was certain he'd just heard her sniff, and swipe the back of her hand across her eyes. "Kikyo… why are you-"

She clapped a heart-stopping glare on him, but its frostiness was diffused by the tears swimming in her eyes. "Keep walking." She snapped.

"Walking." He concurred, and swiftly pivoted on his heel to walk out again.

Wait till Sango hears about this!

~*~

"Dammit!" Inuyasha spat as he kicked the lifeless engine of the motorboat. "How come you work for the bad guys and not for me?! Asshole!" He kicked it again for good measure.

But taking out his anger on the engine was only wearing him out, and decreasing the chances of him getting it to work again. He took a deliberately deep breath to calm himself, and moved his stiff arm a little to keep the feeling in it.

He'd landed the boat on a rocky beach. It was empty, and quiet, and there wasn't a sign of human life anywhere. He had no idea where he was in relation to the villa, and he knew that he had to hurry. He needed to find a house, or a phone box to call the police or someone at the villa to come and get him. They needed to apprehend the kidnappers he'd left back at the lakeside cabin before they made their getaway.

But the only promising thing he could see was the grey tarmac road up the slope above the beach. Maybe if he was lucky, a car would come along and he'd be able to hitchhike.

With another put-out sigh, he reached down and gently eased Kagome out of the bottom of the boat, putting her weight on his good arm. It was still a painful move, and his shoulder screamed in agony, but he just gritted his teeth and bore it. It wasn't like he could leave her behind. As if his conscience wasn't in enough trouble as it was…

"Come on… you doughnut-eating whale…" he gasped as he balanced her on his good shoulder, and clamped his arm over the backs of her thighs to hold her in place. He assessed which way up the slope would be the easiest, and then continued on his journey back home.

Kagome flexed slightly in her sleep. "No… don't…"

He ignored her. She was quite a chatterbox when she slept, and she'd been groaning out negative words ever since they'd left the lakeside.

"…not… the handle…"

"She's probably clinically insane." He told himself aloud as he began the arduous task of climbing up a slope with a seven stone broad over one shoulder. "Then again, so are you. You're talking to yourself."

Somehow, after only a couple of stumbles, he managed to reach the summit, and staggered onto the hard surface of the road. He paused for a minute or two, looking up and down it in the hopes that someone would come by…

But he couldn't even hear the distant sound of an engine. He was miles from anywhere.

"Shit…" he muttered, disheartened.

Well… if he was miles from anywhere, it was probably a good idea to keep moving while he still had the strength. The bullet in his shoulder was going to fell him if he didn't get some medical attention within the next few hours.

Kagome continued to sleep talk… only now it seemed like she was sleep-singing. "…love lift us up… where we belong…"

"Oh dear god." He didn't know how much more he could take of this. Why had she felt it so necessary to eat both doughnuts? It would certainly have saved him a lot of trouble if she was awake enough to carry her own weight and not sing at the same time.

Although… if she hadn't eaten that drugged food, he probably wouldn't have had the strength to be walking where he was now. He'd still be sitting in that dinky old junk room with her.

Actually, no, he wouldn't have been.

Inuyasha glanced reproachfully towards the sun that had now risen a good distance from the ocean horizon. If he was still back with Fushira, he would have been sitting in that chair having his teeth pulled out.

Kagome was a blessing in disguise.

"Where eagles fly… over mountains…"

She'd be more of a blessing if she could sing in tune, though. But he couldn't help himself. "Love lift us up where we belong." He sang gently, more to himself.

"Far… from the world below…"

"Up where the clear winds blow." When Kagome didn't follow up he simply continued on his own with a slight smile. "Time goes by, no time to cry… just you and I… alone…"

He trailed off, losing the smile as he was swallowed up in his own thoughts for a moment. But he finally smirked slightly and shook his head to rid himself of his thoughts. "Just you and me now, girl." He smirked. "No one to stop me from taking advantage of you if I so… wished…"

He lost that train of speech as his ears caught a distant, but unmistakable sound.

Someone was approaching in a car.

Inuyasha quickly turned and looked back up the road he'd been walking down. A small speck was gradually gaining size as the vehicle toddled closer at an agonisingly slow pace. Inuyasha stayed where he was, waiting… and waiting… and tapping his foot with impatience.

Dear god, what a slow driver.

But eventually, it approached close enough for him to see the driver. It was a middle aged woman with a load of shopping bags in the passenger seat beside her. Not much of a threat, so he quickly raised his pained arm and waved.

She began slowing down until she rolled to a complete stop beside him.

The window wound down, and the woman poked her head out with narrowed eyes. "You two kids aren't up to anything kinky, now are you?" she quizzed.

"No, Madame Speed Demon." He jerked a thumb at himself. "My name's Inuyasha, and this is Kagome Higurashi…"

"…just like star trek…" greeted Kagome.

"And we just got kidnapped." Inuyasha continued to explain. "But now we've escaped, and we'd really appreciate it if you could take us to the nearest phone box or police station."

"Or your mansion perhaps?" Was that sarcasm in her voice?

"What, you don't believe me?" Inuyasha scowled at her.

"Oh no, I do. I recognise you, too!" the woman shrugged. "My daughter has your pin-up above her bed. You're much paler in real life, you know."

"Will you give us a ride then?" Inuyasha asked.

"Hop in." she gestured to the back seat. "I'll take you back to your villa. It's only five miles up the road."

"Oh…" Closer than he'd thought. He opened up the back door of the old car and put Kagome inside before crawling in beside her.

"Try not to bleed over my upholstery." The woman warned. "I only just cleaned this thing."

"Really? You can hardly tell." But he said it so pleasantly that it just bounced off her like water off a duck's back. Obviously, this was a woman who didn't pick up insults very well.

And she was still an annoyingly slow driver, even despite the fact that she was carrying a gunshot victim and an unconscious girl. As well as lacking in an insult radar, she also lacked a sense of urgency.

But at least it gave Inuyasha time to catch his breath, and recover from the exertion he'd put his body through. He let his head fall back against the head rest and slept most of the journey.

The villa was only just coming into view when he woke up again. The moment he spotted it, he felt a surge of relief. He sat up quickly and watched it eagerly. But his movement caused Kagome to stir, and she grunted slightly as she began to regain consciousness.

He turned to glance back at her as she blinked open a sleepy set of eyes. "You ok?" he asked.

She stifled a yawn with the back of her hand as she nodded. "I had the weirdest dream…" she scratched her head. "I dreamt that we were all living on this space ship, and that aliens were invading the ship, and they sort of looked like the orcs out of Lord of the Rings, but with ray guns… and then we found out that the only way to defeat them was to sing "Love lift us up" in out of tune voices."

A smile quirked his lips. "Really?"

"And you were there." She told him. "You're a terribly good singer in my dreams."

"I'm a terribly good singer in real life, too."

She shook her head. "No, I heard you in the shower last week. No one can slaughter a Madonna song like you can… like a virgin my arse…" she stopped as she finally noticed the woman driving the car, and then the car that they were sitting in. "Uh… where are we?"

"Near the villa."

Her face brightened with a sleepy smile. "We escaped then?"

He nodded.

She grinned even wider. "I knew you could do it." She closed her eyes and sighed as she rested her head on his good shoulder. "I told you so…"

Inuyasha smiled grimly. She probably wouldn't be so chipper if she knew what measures he'd taken to get them out of there in the first place…

AN: If you haven't noticed from the lack of errors I now have a beta reader, who I'd like to thank profusely. Thanks Aithril! You've saved me from all the readers who have pet peeves about grammar and spelling! (You've saved them too ^__^)