InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Heart's Landfill ❯ Unexpected Truths ( Chapter 43 )

A/N: As always all characters will be walking that fine line called OOCness. Well, I've celebrated my birthday, Christmas, and the New Year, so I guess its back to the drawing board, right? (lol) I was attempting to post this chapter before the New Year, but I got more than a little side-tracked. Therefore, I decided that today would be the day!! Anyway, thanks for your outstanding patience, my friends-old and new-and I hope this chapter does not disappoint any of you. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you all got everything your little hearts desired. Santa left me a lump of coal in my stockings, but that's okay because I had a great birthday, which lasted a total of five days! Anyway, thanks for all of your wonderful reviews, and a special thanks to my wonderful beta, Neko!!

 

Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership to anyone with the exception of Dinshu, Nya, Nola, Dr. Aikio, Gage, and Takira. All others belong to the wonderful Rumiko Takahashi.

 

Chapter 43:

 

Unexpected Truths

 

Dropping the key to the door into a bowl that Kagome kept on the table nearest the front door, Inuyasha bent down quickly and unfastened Ashton's leash releasing the dog to his own endeavors.

 

He sighed lightly as he watched the pup charge into the kitchen and attack the food and water that Kagome must have replenished when he'd told her that he would take the dog for a walk.

 

It was weird how he was so against her getting a dog at first, but now, he honestly couldn't see her or him without the pathetic animal.

 

A stupid thought occurred to him then, When…If we break-up, I might have to sue for custody, huh, runt? Mentally laughing that off since it had to be the stupidest thing in the world to even consider, suing for shared custody of Ashton, the hanyou quickly kicked his shoes off and set them by the door.

 

After they'd reluctantly parted long enough for him to go and tell Rin, Sesshomaru, and the pups he'd be back tomorrow, he met her back down by her car and they'd left to go get something to eat and finish talking, or so he thought. However, it seemed like nothing more than an impromptu make-out session, not that he minded in the least.

 

In-between her heated kisses and what would be considered as inappropriate public displays of affection-that he didn't fend off-he'd tried to broach the topic of Ginta again, but decided quickly against it. Because even if they were officially an item now, that really didn't mean that she wouldn't still snap on him. And knowing the topic that they were going to be discussing, he figured that it would be best if he waited until they were at least behind closed doors.

 

Brushing off his thoughts since he honestly didn't really want to think about it, Inuyasha glanced around the darkened living room area, taking in the place slowly as if he was expecting something to be missing. Walking up to the entertainment center, he slowly eyed a few of her pictures that he'd looked at hundred times before.

 

One was of a nice looking, dark haired, older woman with shoulder length hair and a small smile on her face. Kagome had told him over a month or so ago, when he'd first come to her house that she was her mother. There was another picture with four young woman-including Kagome-and he knew that she said that those were her best friends back in Kyoto, but for the life of him, he just couldn't recollect what their names were.

 

His eyes quickly ran over the next picture, which was of a young guy about the age of 15 or 16 who was leaning on a much shorter older gentleman with silvery gray hair and he'd known at the time he'd first seen it that it was her brother, Souta whom she bought the ukulele for, and her grandfather that she'd told him about when they were in Hawaii.

 

Walking passed the television to the other side of the entertainment center; he stopped as his eyes fell on his favorite of all of the pictures he'd seen of her and her family.

 

It was a close up of her face as she stared down at something, or maybe she was thinking about something pleasant, he didn't know which. Whatever it was, she had the softest smile on her face that it almost seemed sad in a very profound sort of way. Her dark hair was cascading down over her right shoulder and her bangs were covering part of her right eye. The way her mouth turned up ever so slightly at the ends while she gazed down into oblivion made him want to find out what it was that had her so enraptured.

 

Reaching for the picture, he pulled it down and stared at it as if he'd be able to see the item if he took a closer look, or perhaps if he pulled it close enough, she'd whisper her secret to him. He brushed his fingers over the image's hair, across her eyes, and frowned despondently.

 

Was this when you were with that idiot, Kagome? Was he the one that shot this picture? he pondered quietly as he ran his hand over the picture again and reached up and placed it back in it's spot.

 

Stepping back away from the picture, he smirked as he heard the shower in the master bathroom turn on. It doesn't matter anymore, does it? It's in the past and we'll…I'll make sure it stays there, he declared vehemently as he turned and started down the hallway, but hesitated in his steps.

 

He wanted to go and join her, didn't he? He wanted to partake of a little make-up sex. Well, maybe not just a little. He wanted to go in there and make love to her. He wanted make to her shiver, and scream, to claw at his back, and his chest as she promised him her undying faithfulness.

 

He wanted to show her that he meant what he said, and that this really was a new beginning for them, but he knew… Deep in his heart, he knew he couldn't just go in there and make love to her like that. He knew that he couldn't truly start over with her until he told her about his fight with Ginta and some of the things that the youkai had said.

 

This is not going to go over well, he acknowledged as he glanced down at the dog that padded towards her bedroom ahead him without a care in the world. Yeah, you little bastard, she's not going to try to chew you up and spit you out!

 

He knew that this was no way to start a new relationship, but he by no means wanted to start it off with secrets and innuendos of deceit.

 

Okay, so maybe by him telling her, there would be no make-up sex tonight, or the next night, or the night after that, but at least his conscious would be clear and she…she would be aware of what was going on around her.

 

I'm so fucking dead, he hissed silently as he stepped into her bedroom and pulled off the long sleeved gray shirt he was wearing. Tossing it on top of Ashton, who had already made himself at home in the middle of her bed; the hanyou rolled his eyes and turned down the short hallway towards her bathroom while smoothing out the black wife-beater he tended to wear under his shirts when he wasn't working.

 

The scent of vanilla and rose's assaulted his nostrils causing him to inhale deeply as he stepped over the threshold to the bathroom. Steam rose up out of the glass shower that was currently so steamed up that he doubted she could see his face even if she wanted to.

 

She was humming something, he realized quickly. I've never heard her hum; it's nice, he admitted as he reached for the glass shower door and pulled it open.

 

Kagome spun around, dropping the soap she was using, and tried to hide herself from him, but the suds that were in her hair started dripping down into her right eye. She blinked a few times, blew at it, and tried to cover herself in order to maintain some modicum of decency as she glared at him, silently asking him what he thought he was doing.

 

Reaching into the shower, Inuyasha grabbed her gently by the back of her neck and pulled her head towards him, moments before he met her half way and descended on her lips.

 

She protested at first, but as the kiss deepened she slowly brought her hands up to his bare shoulders gripping them as if she was planning to pull him in with her.

 

Releasing her slowly, the hanyou quickly brushed the suds that were about to drip into her eyes out of her face as he placed one final chaste kiss to her waiting mouth.

 

“What was that for?” she questioned stepping back under the hot water in order to offset the cold air that was blowing in through the open shower door.

 

Taking her in from head to toe methodically, he replied, “Do I really need a reason?”

 

She stared back at him, a slow smile forming on her face as realization dawned on her. Bringing her hands up to her head; she began to work the lather through her hair slowly as she replied softly, “No, I suppose you don't.” Her breasts bounced hypnotically in a circular motion as she continued to lather her hair.

The water from the shower seemed to be taunting him by the way it trailed slowly down between her breasts, over her flat stomach, down her perfectly curved hips, only to disappear into her slit…his slit.

 

Eyeing it hungrily, he whispered as he licked his lips, “Damn.”

 

“You know, you can join me if you want to,” she offered, a blush staining her rose colored cheeks.

 

Inuyasha swallowed and stepped back. “Next time. Go ahead and finish washing your hair. Besides, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about. And since you're in the shower…” Glancing around the interior of the shower, he continued, “…and you don't have anything you can break or throw at me, I figured now would be the perfect time to discuss it.”

 

Kagome looked at him, one eyebrow quirked higher than the other, before she spoke, her voice laced with skepticism, “Oh, gods! Don't tell me… Don't tell me, you're just separated not divorced yet!”

 

Takahashi chuckled at the incredulity in her tone, but decided he'd snuff that thought out before it gained any real fuel. “I'm totally and completely divorced, woman. I told you within 24 hours of the wedding, the marriage was annulled. Sesshomaru made sure of it.” Laughing as he stepped back and closed the door, he finished, “I think if I hadn't signed the damn papers, he would have signed them for me.”

 

Kagome pushed the door open and peeped at him as he lowered the toilet cover and sat down. “Are you sure, Inuyasha, because I can't take being with another married man. I swear I just can't.”

 

He glanced up at her, saw the seriousness in her eyes, and he smiled ruefully. “I would never do that to you, Wench. Trust me; it's over between me and that…that woman…Kikyo. It's just me and you, okay? Just us, that's it.”

 

She stared at him for a moment longer as if she didn't believe him, before her frown slowly turned into a sigh of relief and she quipped with a grin, “Good, because I'd hate to have to kill you or something,” as she pulled the shower door close again.

 

Her laughter was a soothing thing, he confessed to himself. It was a shame really…an utter shame that in the moments to come it was quite possible that that soothing sound would be replaced by more of her tears.

 

I'm definitely the ultimate bastard.

 

That thought was enough to make the hanyou want to rethink what he knew he had to do, because he'd seen her cry one too many times in the past few days. He'd smelled the salt of her tears enough for two lifetimes. He didn't want to smell it again, not now when they…when she seemed to be really happy for once, but he knew…he knew that sometimes doing the right thing was the hardest pill to swallow.

 

This is the last time. She'll cry this one last time, and then…and then I'll kill the next son of a bitch that makes her cry again…even if it's me, he vowed as he sighed, closed his eyes, and began cautiously, “Wench?”

 

“Hmm,” she murmured, responding to his infamous pet name for her.

 

“You remember that night that I came to your house unannounced?”

 

“Yeah, your eyes were red and you followed me around like a puppy. Why?”

 

Inuyasha blustered with indignation, “No…the hell I didn't follow you around like a goddamn puppy!”

 

Kagome giggled. “How do you know you didn't? You don't even remember how you got to my house, remember?”

 

Narrowing his eyes at the silhouette of the one woman that could get him heated quicker than anyone he knew, he rolled his eyes. “Doesn't really matter what I remember, I know I didn't do no shit like that!”

 

“Well, I was there, and I say you did, because… Well, you did,” she confirmed, pushing the door open to look at him. Smiling sweetly, she spoke softly, “You know I'd never lie to you, especially about something like that, right?” Fluttering her eyelashes at him, she finished, her tone filled with sugary whip cream toppings and candy land dreams, “You do believe me, don't you?”

 

What the hell have I gotten myself into, he thought as he listened to her pour it on thick. Shaking his head since he could feel himself slowly bending to her will; ready at any moment to admit to something that he just didn't believe, Inuyasha picked up her towel off the counter and threw it at her, but she closed the door before it connected.

 

Her laughter filled the bathroom, the bedroom, and caused Ashton to walk into the bathroom and stretch out across the doorway. It filled his heart with so much peace that as he stared at her profile while she continued to work the soapy lather through her hair, he couldn't help but to smile and secretly declare, If you continue to laugh like that, I'll follow you to the bowels of hell and back, Wench, just to hear it.

 

Shaking his thoughts off, he heard her ask, “So, what are you trying to tell me about that night, besides the fact that you followed me around like Ashton used to do?”

 

Inuyasha glared from her silhouette to Ashton who was looking up at him questioningly having heard his name. Deciding quite quickly that he wasn't going to follow her up, he stated, “Anyway, I told you that that night I got into a fight with someone, right?”

 

“Yeah, that was your excuse. Was it a lie?” she queried, her movement coming to complete stop as if she didn't want to take the chance of missing his answer.

 

Takahashi swallowed convulsively and cleared his throat. “No, no I didn't lie to you. I did get in a fight.”

 

“Okay, so you're bringing this up now because, why?” she questioned in-between humming that little tune that he was starting to like the longer he heard it. “Did the guy die or something?”

 

“No”

 

“So then why are you bringing this up? Was it over your ex-wife?”

 

“Don't call her that and hell no!” he shouted. “I swear to the gods if that bitch was burning in an eternal fire and only my piss could put it out, I wouldn't piss on her.”

 

Kagome ran her hand across the glass and looked at him, her eyes soft…caring. “Inuyasha-”

 

He cut her off, “She doesn't have anything to do with this. Anyway, the guy that I was fighting…” He swallowed looked up and met her eyes as she stared at him through the quickly fogging up glass. “I…I think you might know him. At least, he said he knew you.”

 

She was quiet for a moment as if internalizing something. “That doesn't make sense, Dog-boy. Outside of you, Miroku, your brother, and my clients that are males, I don't know any men here.”

 

Inuyasha stood up, shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned back against her marble counter stop so that his back was to the wall length mirror as he stared at her outline. “He wasn't from Tokyo, Kagome. He said he was from Kyoto.”

 

He heard her gasped loudly and straighten her back as what sounded like the soap, slipped from her hands. He knew she was looking at him or what she could make out of his blurred figure, and for once he was glad that he couldn't see her and she couldn't see him.

 

He knew her mind must have been running a mile a minute and he wished he could help but…but he couldn't. There was nothing he could do for her at this moment accept tell her what he'd needed to tell her for sometime now.

 

She cleared her throat as she bent down and retrieved the soap that had fallen from her fingers. “Who…who was he?”

 

“He said his name was Ginta.”

 

Inuyasha's head tilted slightly to the side as he watched her bring her hands up to her mouth in an attempt to cover the gasp that he still heard as she stepped back into the wall of the shower. At that moment something occurred to him that hadn't occurred to him before.

 

Sure, he was wrong to hold this information back from her, but now…now that they were in a relationship, or at the very least working towards building one, he could use this information to gauge her feelings about her ex, that prick, Kouga. He could use it to get a better understanding of how she felt about him, and hopefully determine if she still had feelings for that bastard.

 

Of course, he knew what a total jackass the idiot was, but she didn't-not really. All she knew was that he'd lied to her and that he'd gotten married to someone else without her knowledge.

 

He also knew that some women… Well, most women were complete airheads when it came to their hearts. They tended to submit themselves to insurmountable amounts of heartbreak just because they thought they loved someone. Sometime they thought that the prick that they were with, would change if they just hung in there just a little bit longer, and miraculously after being a son of a bitch for so long, he'd transform into Mr. Wonderful.

 

So, he could only hope that she would prove him wrong.

 

In a way, it may have seemed cruel, but he didn't mean for it to be that way. He just…he just couldn't take another chance after what Kikyo had done. He couldn't…he just couldn't go blindly into this, especially with that damnable ex of hers running around.

 

Sure, he cared for her and wanted this to work, but he had to be smarter this go round. He had to at least act like he'd learned something from his previous relationship. Otherwise, it would have truly been a waste of time.

 

Before he gave her his all, he had to make sure that she was over that prick and that she had no desire to venture back to that side of the fence. If she did, as hard as he knew it would be, he'd just have to let her go.

 

Maybe keeping this to myself was for the best. Maybe…maybe I can use this to my benefit.

 

Shaking off his thoughts, he pushed back so that he was sitting on the bathroom counter. She hadn't moved from her previous position, but he figured that that was alright because what he'd just told had to have come as something of a shock.

 

“What was he doing here in Tokyo, Inuyasha? And how was it that you and he got in a fight?” she questioned softly as she finally pushed off of the wall and stepped back under the water.

 

Takahashi ran his fingers through his bangs and spared a moment to blow at them as he cogitated over exactly how much she needed know and how to tell her without it coming out sounding as crass as it had when he heard it.

 

He'd already decided that he was not going to tell her that her prick of an ex gave her to his friend for a night, because that was honestly something that just didn't need to be repeated, ever.

 

“Well, a few weeks ago when we were walking from lunch, I noticed that there was someone following us. At first I thought that whoever it was, was following me, but when I stopped by your place a few days later to drop off some food for Ashton I noticed that the same aura was hanging around outside your building.”

 

“What?” she gasped softly.

 

“Anyway, that's when I realized that maybe the prick wasn't after me, but after you, so I started following him.”

 

“You what? Why didn't you tell me this when it was happening?”

 

Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders offhandedly. “I didn't want to worry you until I knew what was going on.” He watched her slowly begin to rinse the suds out of her hair as he continued, “Anyway, after two days of following him, I cornered him in a bar on the other side of town and-”

 

“That's the night you got in a fight with him. That's the night you showed up here, isn't it?” she queried almost rhetorically.

 

“Yeah, that's the night.”

 

“Did…did he say why he was following me? Did…did he say how he…he found me?” she asked unsurely as she turned the water off and started squeezing the water from her wet mane.

 

“No, he didn't tell me exactly how he found you, but…but he did tell me that your-”

 

Kagome pushed the door open forcefully, cutting him off, and almost making him jump. She stared at him, and then reached down and picked up her towel that was still sitting on the floor where he'd thrown it earlier.

 

Quickly wrapping the towel around her, she grabbed a smaller towel off the towel rack and wrapped it around her wet mane as she started out the door of the bathroom. She stopped momentarily, but didn't turn around to face him as she responded, her tone impassive, “I…I don't want to hear anymore, Inuyasha.”

 

One eyebrow raised higher than the other, Inuyasha stared at her retreating back wondering exactly what she was thinking. He hadn't expected this. He hadn't expected her to clam up or rather basically tell him that she wasn't interested in hearing anything else.

 

Sliding off the countertop, he proceeded into the room behind her. “Kagome?”

 

“Hmm?” she replied distantly as she rummaged through her dresser drawer for something to slip into.

 

“I'm sorry I didn't tell you this before,” he admitted honestly.

 

He watched her back stiffen before she retorted, “No, I'm sorry you didn't keep it to yourself. I really didn't need to know about this.”

 

A frown marring his brow, Inuyasha stared at her as she dropped the towel that was wrapped around her body to the floor and quickly stepped into a pair of black panties. He didn't understand what was going on. Was she saying that she didn't want to know because it changed things for them, him and her? Or was she saying she didn't want to know because, well, she didn't want to know? Or…or was he just totally off target?

 

The sound of the drawer slamming shut and another sliding open drew him from his thoughts. He could almost see her mind working a mile a minute and he wished that he was in there with her, seeing her thoughts.

 

She pulled a red spaghetti strapped shirt over her head and stepped back towards the foot of the bed. “Pass me the lotion, would you?”

 

Glancing around at the dresser closest to him, he reached for the bottle of lotion in question and handed it to her. “Kagome, talk to me. What are you thinking?”

 

She smiled up at him as she took the lotion from him. Squirting a small amount in her hand, she lifted her right leg and rubbed the substance slowly into her skin. “I've never considered myself a stupid person, but it seems that when it comes to one person in particular, I'm damn near ignorant.” She looked up at him a rueful smile on her face. “Why is that, Inuyasha?”

 

Walking over to her, he sat down on the bed next to her and offered, “I don't know, Kagome, it depends on who you're talking about?”

 

She looked at him, her eyes telling him that in the short time that had passed since he'd let Ginta's name slip from his lips, she'd figured out more than he expected her too. “What did he tell you?” She laughed and looked down, squirting some more lotion into her hand. “I'm sure it had to be something really bad for you to actually fight him.”

 

What the hell is going on? Why isn't she freaking out? Why isn't she screaming at me and calling me a liar and telling me that I used her?

 

The hanyou didn't understand what was happening. He'd prepared himself for her iniquitous temper, but this… She was so calm, so reserved that he didn't know what to think about it or to make of it. It was almost as if she'd resigned herself to some fact that she wasn't letting him in on.

 

Applying the lotion to her right arm, Kagome began softly, “He told you about Kouga, didn't he?”

 

Leaning forward, his elbows balanced on his knees, Inuyasha confirmed, “Yeah, he did.”

 

“Did he tell you that I was in love with him? Did he tell you that there was nothing that I wouldn't do for him? Did he tell you that…” She stopped and squirted some more lotion in her hand, and then continued detachedly, “Did he tell you that…” She smiled reminiscently as she finished, “Did he tell you that to me the sun rose and set because I was with Kouga?”

 

Inuyasha glanced at her out the corner of his eye, a frown on his face. He didn't like hearing the things she was saying, because she was telling him how much she loved the asshole, but he hoped that this was in the past.

 

He didn't know where she was going with this or what she was trying to get him to understand, but he knew he was not about to sit here and let her worship this bastard when he honestly didn't deserve it.

 

“No, he didn't tell me that. He told me that Kouga never deserved you. He told me that he used you and played with you because he knew you loved him. He told me that he wanted to tell you the truth about Kouga on countless occasions, but he was too pathetic to do so. He let Kouga play with your emotions, and he told me, to tell you, he was sorry and that for once you actually seemed happy.”

 

“Why did he tell you all of that, Takahashi? Did you beat it out of him?” she questioned with an accusatory glare.

 

Inuyasha snorted as if that was the stupidest question he'd ever heard. “He thought I was your boyfriend or something. Well, that and I think he just needed to tell someone. I…I think he honestly wanted to apologize to you.”

 

She smiled at him. It was soft and hesitant, but it was a smile and it was genuine. “It makes sense now, you know?”

 

“No, I don't know.”

 

“My companies' computer getting hacked into… It kind of fits, you know. Ginta, he was always good with computers.” She sighed lightly and looked away as she continued, “Ginta doesn't do anything without Kouga's say so. If he was here… If he was following me then that means that Kouga knows where I am.”

 

“I don't know this Kouga, Kagome, but I know that Ginta wasn't here because he sent him,” Inuyasha answered reassuringly. “I think the poor bastard thought that he was making everything that he'd allowed your ex to do to you, right. I think he thought he was making amends.”

 

“If that's what he was doing by following me, then after he told you, why did you fight him, Inuyasha? Ginta has never been violent-that I know of-so why…what could he have said to you to make you fight him like you did?”

 

He knew the ultimate reason why he fought the demon, but by no means was he going to tell her. She didn't need to know; it wouldn't be beneficial to either of them for him to tell about that atrocity.

 

“I don't know, Kagome. I guess I just lost my temper.”

 

“I saw your hands, Inuyasha; you did a little more than lose your temper.”

 

He scoffed at that. “Yeah, well, I told you earlier that I've had feelings for you for a while now. So having heard how you were treated by that bastard… I guess, I just wanted to hurt someone behind it and Ginta just happened to be the one there.”

 

She seemed to internalize that for a moment, but reluctantly accepted his answer in the end. Sighing, she questioned, “This is bad, isn't it?”

 

“It doesn't have to be, but I need to know how you feel about this? How you feel about your Ex looking for you?”

 

She stood from the bed with a sigh and shuffled over to the window that looked out over the city. Once again he wished that the gods had blessed him with the ability to read minds, because then she wouldn't have to speak, he'd automatically know the truth.

 

“If you're really asking if I still want to be with him, Inuyasha, the answer is no, I don't. I guess when you told me about Ginta following me, it should have surprised me, but it didn't-not really. Kouga, he always did stuff like this. He'd disappear out of my life for weeks, sometimes months at a time and then just magically reappear as if nothing had changed, and I'd always go along with it. I'd always run back to him.”

 

Inuyasha swallowed and stood to his feet as she continued, “He's married. He's mated; I met his wife.” She turned to face him. “Did Ginta tell you about that?”

 

He gnawed on his lower lip and asked the gods to forgive him for this lie as he replied, “No, he didn't.”

 

Turning back to the window, Kagome sighed as she wrapped her arms around her scantily clad body. “The last time I saw Kouga… The last time that he and I were intimate, his wife…his mate walked in on us in bed. If she hadn't, I would probably still be in that relationship pretending that everything was fine when deep down I knew it wasn't.”

 

Walking up behind her, Inuyasha slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her back so that her back was flush against his chest. “He's a real son of a bitch, isn't he?” he ground out rhetorically.

 

Rubbing her hands over his arms that were wrapped around her, she agreed detachedly, “Yeah, he is.”

 

A moment of comfortable silence passed between them before she spoke again, “I don't know why he's looking for me or what he's hoping to accomplish if or when he finds me, but I don't want him. I don't want to see him or talk to him. I…I don't want to hear a word he has to say, and I don't want him to ever…ever touch me again.” Turning in his arms, she buried her head in Inuyasha's chest, breathing in his sublet cologne as she finished in a whisper, “I just want this. I just want what I have right now, Takahashi.”

 

Tightening his hold on her, he rested his chin on the crown of her head and sighed in relief as he stared out the window behind her. “If that's what you want, Wench, then that's the way it's going to be.”

 

“Promise?” she questioned leaning back enough to look up at him, her eyes begging him to not lie to her…to not give her false hope.

 

Frowning down at her with a rueful smile on his face, he avowed, “If you let me, Kagome, I'll protect you from this bastard even if it costs me my life.”

 

She giggled softly. “I doubt it's going to cost you your life, Inuyasha. After all, it's not like Kouga is some big bad crime boss or something. He's just a youkai that doesn't know when to leave well enough alone.”

 

“Maybe, but sometimes the obsessed Ex's are the worst to deal with,” he retorted quickly as he leaned down and kissed her lightly in the center of her forehead, and then snuggled her back into his arms.

 

Simonkal of Inuy

“Is it done?”

 

Dinshu rolled his eyes, and squatted down deeper into his hiding place as he adjusted the cell phone to his ear. “That bitch is kind of hard to reach right now.”

 

“What the fuck do you mean, hard to reach?” Kouga bit out from the other end of the phone. “You're a fucking youkai, she's human; how fucking hard could it be?”

 

Groaning exasperatedly, Din advised, “I staked out her place all yesterday, and even asked a couple of her neighbors about her whereabouts, but no one knew where she or her boyfriend was.”

 

“Dumb-ass, did you try the fucking hospitals?”

 

“Yeah, I was just about to get to that. After I had no luck at her house, I did call around to a couple of hospitals pretending to be her brother and I was able to locate the one she was being kept at.”

 

He heard Kouga growl in annoyance before he snapped, “So then why the fuck is she still alive? Throw her out a fucking window for all I care! Just get rid of that bitch, Din!”

 

“I'm fucking trying-” he started to say, but Kouga cut him off.

 

“Don't fucking try, Din, get the job done, damn it! In case you've forgotten, the longer this cunt-bitch is alive the more time she gets to remember small insignificant little details that could lead the police to you, and then you, dumb-fuck, that will lead them to me!”

 

“Yeah, don't you think, I already know that! I was at the hospital last night and today, but every time I try to get close to her, a fucking doctor or nurse appears, and that fucking boyfriend of hers doesn't leave her side!”

 

“You're making up fucking excuses, Din! Just toss his fucking ass out a fucking window behind her!”

 

“No, for once I'm being smart about this,” he challenged. “I can't just run up in there all half cocked and take her out, damn it! That place is filled with cameras and fucking security guards! Some of whom are demons themselves, Kouga! So, no, I can't just run in there and just kill her; it's going to take some planning!”

 

“We don't have time for fucking planning, and you know it!”

 

“Why the hell not; because you need to get to your precious Kagome?” he added for spite since he'd been following her since she left the hospital with her new boyfriend in tow.

 

“Don't you ever say her fucking name again, Din! If you do, I swear to gods, I'll cut your fucking tongue out of your head!”

 

“Yeah, yeah whatever,” he quipped, peeping up over the side of the rooftop and into the window in the distance that he'd been watching for the past few hours. “Kouga, have you ever thought that maybe Kagome doesn't want to be with you? Have you ever thought that maybe…just maybe she is in a relationship with someone else?”

 

Dinshu removed the phone from his ear and tried to muffle his laughter as he heard his boss growl and curse about what he would do to the prick that was with her or thought that he could keep him from getting what he wanted.

 

Placing the phone back to his ear, Dinshu heard, “…ucking bastard better not be touching her! She's mine, do you understand me? Besides, if she is with someone it's only because she doesn't know that I'm looking for her!”

 

“Yeah, but what if she doesn't want you?”

 

“Din, don't be stupid! She'll always want me,” he ground out. “Matter of fact, make this the last time you even think about Kagome; just get rid of that bitch, and her boyfriend if you have to!”

 

The phone went dead in the wolf youkai's ear causing him to laugh as he flipped it closed and shoved it in his back pocket.

 

We'll see who the dumb one is, he thought as he peered up over the rooftop wall and at the darkened window.

 

What seemed to be working to his benefit was that unlike Hakkaku and Ginta, she had only met him once for about 5 minutes or less, which explained why she hadn't recognized him at the restaurant or at the hospital.

 

When he'd gone to the hospital to look for the woman, Sango, he hadn't expected to come face to face, literally with Kagome, but damn he was happy.

 

She was in tears and so broken that if it hadn't been for the tall white demon's intervention, he knew he probably could have gotten her out of there with little to no problems. What made that even worse was the demon seemed to have noticed him as well, but he didn't worry too much about that because as far as he knew, he was probably just a nosey bystander.

 

It wasn't until the white haired hanyou walked in that he realized that the two demons were related, brothers or something like that, so he turned and made his way quickly out of there so that the hanyou wouldn't notice him.

 

Then when he'd stepped into the elevator only to have her force her way in behind him, Dinshu had thought that he'd hit the jackpot. Especially when the doors closed in the hanyou's face locking him out and locking her inside with him and a few human doctors.

 

He was so close to her that he could've touched her hair if he wanted to. He was so close that as her scent invaded his mind he couldn't help but to think about that night, that one night that they shared, before he got mated.

 

She was actually the best lay he'd ever had. Her pussy tasted so much like fresh baked cinnamon rolls that he had to force himself not to gnaw at her clit. And the tightness of her womb… As he slid into her while her nails raked down his back, his chest, seeking out his head so that she could draw him down to her to kiss his lips sensuously, he found it almost impossible to not speak to her, to not tell her just how fucking good she was.

 

That night he'd wondered a hundred times if he'd wondered once, why Kouga would pawn such a magnificent thing off or treat her the way he did. However, as he came, as he plunged into her repeatedly, he couldn't help but to be thankful that the bastard thought so little of her.

 

Reaching down, he grasped his hardened dick through his pants and hissed achingly as he stared at her darkened bedroom window.

 

After he'd followed her out of the elevator and into the parking lot, he'd thought about snatching her then, but he could feel the hanyou's aura coming at them with such speed and voracity that all he could do was turn away and pretend that he was just a passerby.

 

At first he'd thought the hanyou was going to recognize him for sure from the restaurant. Thankfully, he seemed so enamored with whatever disagreement they were having that he wasn't paying attention, and for that he was more than a little glad.

 

Because of the hanyou's preoccupation, Dinshu followed them out of the parking lot, to the restaurant, and then back to her home, with very little interference.

 

Not willing to let her out of his sight if he was to find the right time to get to her, he'd known that based on where her unit was positioned he'd need to get to a rooftop. So, he'd found the perfect spot three buildings away with an ideal shot of her living room and bedroom.

 

To hell with the bitch, Sango, I'll get to her when I can, but this one… I'll get to her first.

 

Simonkal of Inuy

 

Faces… So many faces swirled around her taunting and teasing her that she couldn't make all of them out.

 

“You're responsible! It's your fault,” they shouted accusingly.

 

“No…no, it's not! I didn't…I didn't ask for any of this!” she yelled back.

 

The faces faded away, but one remained. She was so sad, tears streaming down her face. The pain she was feeling evident in every flicker of her eyes, every waver of her nostrils as she silently wept.

 

“Sango, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry,” Kagome whispered stepping towards her friend. “Please believe me, I would never-”

 

Sango's form faded and reappeared a few feet away from her. “Why didn't you help me, Kagome? I called you…I called you but you…you wouldn't answer. How…how could you let them do this to me? I thought…I thought you were my friend. I thought-“

 

“Sango, I am your friend! I…I didn't know. I…I didn't, I swear I didn't know!”

 

Sango's face disappeared to be replaced by Miroku's hatred filled face. He sneered at her venomously, forcing her to step back into the darkness behind her.

 

“She says she's sorry, Sango, maybe we should forgive her,” he hissed maniacally.

 

“I…am. I am sorry that this happened to her, but...but it's not my fault!”

 

If you're so sorry, Kagome,” he bit out. “Take her place! Give her…us back what that bastard took from us! Give us back what you took from us!”

 

“Miroku, I wish I could! Gods, I wish I could reverse time for the both of you, but I can't, I don't know how!” she shouted back at him, begging him to understand.

 

He scoffed at her, his eyes filled with hatred and rage! “I know how to make this right! Don't we boys?”

 

Kagome stepped back and screamed into the darkness as an unseen forced gripped her and slammed her to the ground. She looked around, trying to see who it was, but there was only darkness and his face, Miroku's face looming over her laughing as she felt the unseen force tug and pull at her clothing.

 

“Stop it! Miroku, make them stop this!” she shouted as her heart hammered in her chest, echoing in her ears!

 

“Make them stop!” he mimicked in a whiney voice as his face barreled towards hers grinning mischievously. “Did he stop when Sango begged? Did he stop then, you bitch?”

 

Her head twisted fitfully from right to left as she felt hands, hundreds of them all over her body, touching her in places where they shouldn't have been!

“Please,” she screamed, tears coming to her eyes! “I didn't have anything to do with this! I…I… Sango's my friend, my only friend, I would never!”

 

His face loomed closer so that it was a breath away and he hissed coldly, “But you did. It was your fault that she was assaulted! It's your fault that she can't have children! It's your fault that her insides were ripped to shreds like newspaper!”

 

“No…no, it wasn't!” she screamed as she felt her legs being pulled apart forcefully.

 

His face pulled back, flickered between Sango's and his as their voice, both of them, hissed hatefully, “It is your fault! All of this! And now you will experience what she/I went through!”

 

“No!!!” she screamed sitting up on the bed clutching at her chest, her breathing heavy and labored.

 

“Kagome, what's wrong,” Inuyasha questioned urgently sitting up beside her.

 

She looked at him, her eyes searching his face quickly before she collapsed unto his tank top clad chest and started to cry softly, her fist gripping the front of his shirt.

 

He hadn't planned on falling asleep when she'd asked him to lay down with her for a little while, which would explain why he was still in his clothes, but he figured that that was okay because at least he was here with her.

 

“Kagome, what's wrong? Did you have a bad dream or something?”

 

“It was so real, Inuyasha,” she blustered. “They… All of them, Detective Shu, Detective Lui, Yamaguchi-sama, Sango, and Miroku… All of them were yelling at me telling me that it's my fault that Sango got attacked!”

 

“Kagome, you know that's not true, don't you?”

 

She didn't answer his question as she continued, “Miroku… The things that he said to me, Inuyasha. He was so cruel! He hates me; he yelled at me and told me that if I was truly sorry I would take her place! I would let that bastard rape me in the same manner that he did to Sango!”

 

Inuyasha stared down at her shoulders as she sniffled and slowly began to calm down. He had known she'd think along these lines once she knew the truth, but he hadn't expected it to be quiet this bad. “It was only a dream, Kagome. I'm sure Miroku and Sango know that it's not your fault, and those damn detectives, they're paid to think people are guilty.”

 

She shook her head vehemently and pushed up off of his chest. “No…no, at the hospital… When I went to see Sango, Miroku, he told me that it was my fault! He was so… Oh gods, Inuyasha, he was so cold to me! He said that I was just glad that it wasn't me!”

 

That son of fucking bitch! How dare he? Taking a few moments to calm his temper, Inuyasha reached for her and pulled her back so that her head was laying on his chest. While running his hand soothingly up and down her back, he advised softly, “He was just angry, Wench, he didn't mean a word of it, I'm sure.”

 

“His eyes, Inuyasha! If you'd seen them, you would know that he meant it! He really thinks that this is my fault!”

 

“Nonsense,” he retorted quietly as he kissed the top of her head. He didn't know what else to say to that. He was pissed that Miroku would say something like that to her, but on the other hand he could understand the man's ire too.

 

If something like that had happened to her or to Rin for that matter, the things he would've done and said to the person semi-responsible for her attack would have been things that he would have never been able to take back. So yeah, he could understand the man's rage, but to direct it at Kagome was crossing the proverbial line!

 

Kagome wiped at her eyes and sniffled as she listened to the hanyou's soothing heartbeat. How fair was it that when it seemed that her life was just coming together everything else around her was falling apart?

 

First, Sango get's attacked and then she finds out that Kouga might have sent Ginta here to look for her. Sure, she could've been mad at Inuyasha because he kept this from her, but she wasn't mad about that, not even a little bit, believe it or not. She was more confused than anything else.

 

What exactly did Kouga think would happen when he found her? Did he really expect her to forget the lies that he told her? Did he really expect her to just forget about all the tears he caused her to shed, and the manner in which he decimated her heart, and her very soul? Did he expect her to just run into his arms as if she was some desperate twit of a woman with no self-esteem, and little respect for herself?

 

Not this time, Kouga. Not ever again, she thought as she snuggled a little closer to Inuyasha and brought her arm up so that it wrapped around his mid-section. I was a fool for you before, but I won't do it again. I…I won't…I can't do it again.

 

Inuyasha stared down at her as she stared off into the darkness of the room. “Kagome, do you think Kouga is capable of something like this…of attacking Sango?”

 

She looked up at him, a frown marring her brow. “I…I don't think so, Inuyasha. I mean he did a lot of mean spirited things to me, but he's not that horrible of a person that he'd do something like that to Sango. I just can't see him doing that. And if he did, how would that aid him in getting me back; if that's what he wants? It just doesn't make sense.”

 

Takahashi stared down at her an empathetic look on his face. He knew that there was a very good chance that the Kouga that she knew back in Kyoto was a totally different person now, so it was quite possible that he was capable of these hideous acts.

 

It was also possible that maybe she didn't know the man she laid with. Based on everything that he'd been told combined with that of what he'd learned from Yamaguchi, this was more than just a coincidence regardless of whether she wanted to admit it or not.

 

Pushing that thought to the back of his mind, he pulled away from her, stood up as he quickly unfastened his jeans and stepped out of them. It doesn't really matter what she believes, I'm just going to have to keep this idiot away from her, he thought as he started towards the bathroom for his nightly piss.

 

As she heard him start to drain his bladder, she smiled sadly and wrapped her arms around herself as she stared out the window of her bedroom. This isn't right; I shouldn't be finding happiness at the expense of everyone else's happiness.

 

“Come on, Wench, you need to get some sleep,” Inuyasha advised stepping out of the bathroom a few minutes later and over to the bed where he began to pull the covers back down on the bed. At first she didn't look like she was going to comply, but as she slowly situated herself in the middle of the mattress, he crawled in behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

 

Pulling her to him, Inuyasha mumbled something that she couldn't quite understand, but she smiled just the same as she snuggled a little closer to him a soft smile on her face. Not this time, Kouga. Not this time…

 

Until Next Time… (Your .02 cents are appreciated!!)

 

Next Chapter: Proof Positive

 

Acknowledgements:

 

Earthsong ~ Miss_Marilyn69 ~ Meru ~ Inufan987 ~ Bre'Auna Kemp ~ Niicko ~ Johneotaku4life ~ Ladykaa28 ~ Xyanblue ~ 1love1 ~ Caree ~ Loulou4729 ~ Lunabell ~ Zetsuii ~ Deipurple ~ Olddog333 ~ Madmistress65 ~ Nicc85 ~ Angel-up-above-heaven ~ Mynera ~ Inuyoukai24 (Thank You) ~ Silverwolfhalfbeast ~ Ai Kisugi ~ ThisIsMeSmiling ~ Scherezade ~ InuGoddess715 ~ Silent Reader