InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Heart's Landfill ❯ Unprecedented Moments of Insanity ( Chapter 53 )

A/N: As always, all characters will be walking that fine line called OOCness!! I'm posting this chapter early for no other reason than I want to, and I like it!! Some of you may not like this chapter and because of that I'm more than a little prepared for the screams and the flames that will surely follow. That said, thanks for your wonderful reviews and continued support. A special thanks to my beta, Neko, for all of her hard work!!

Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership to anyone with the exception of Nya, Nola, Dinshu, Gage, Takira, and Dr. Aikio.

Chapter 53:

Unprecedented Moments of Insanity

The loud hum of the private jet's engines strummed in his head causing his ears to lie back flat on his head as if trying to bury themselves with in his thick silvery mane.

He leaned back in the leather seat, trying to force his mind to focus on anything but what he and Sesshomaru had discussed the day before. He'd replayed their conversation a million times in his head throughout the night and still, he found it damn near impossible to make sense of.

Was he supposed to just take his word for it and go with the flow? Was he supposed to accept it as if it were the gospel-for lack of a better description-and just…just well… Well, what? What the hell was he supposed to do now?

This wasn't right. It didn't make any sense! How was it that something as watered down as his blood could choose… Could decide for him, who he wanted to be with? How could he…it have a voice? No, none of this was making a lick of sense to him!

Flashback

“Unlike myself and other full-blooded demons, who are aware of their inner selves from birth, I believe that your inner demon was only awakened when you found your mate.”

“My what?” he scoffed belligerently.

“Your mate, Inuyasha. Based on everything that you've told me thus far, I believe that to be the case.”

“But that doesn't make any goddamn sense! I haven't found my mate! I haven't chosen anyone! I…I…”

“I think you're confused about something. You don't choose your mate, your blood does.”

“What!?! Wha…what the hell are you talking about? Of course, I choose my mate! I choose who I fuck, don't I? I choose who I date, right? I choose whether I get into a relationship with someone or not! Me, not my freaking blood! That's ridiculous!”

His brother crossed the room, his patience clearly wearing thin, but the hanyou didn't care. He was not going to just listen to this half cocked crap of an explanation and accept it!

“Inuyasha, when you saw Totosai, what did he tell you?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“What did he say,” Sesshomaru questioned again, his voice leaving no room for defiance.

“I don't know,” he intoned slowly, reaching up to scratch his head as if that would help him recall the conversation a little better. “He said something about watching for the signs and listening. I don't know, he was babbling; it didn't make any sense then and it still doesn't.”

Sesshomaru paced the room in front of him slowly. “You said that the first time you heard it, it whispered the word, mine, right?”

“Yeah, but now that I think about it, I don't think that was the first time that I heard it. I think it started talking to me the night I got in that fight with Ginta, but I'm not sure. I was too pissed to actually pay attention to anything but my anger.”

“And after that, you said it's been sporadic, right? But it generally says the same thing, right?”

“Mostly, yeah. Does that mean something?”

“I don't know, but it could mean that because your blood is watered down, your inner demon can't focus well enough to form an in depth conversation with you. It can only tell you part what it wants you to know.”

Inuyasha frowned deeply. “Riiight. Suuuree. That makes a whole lot of sense,” he retorted sarcastically.

“You can lead a dog to water, but you can't make him drink,” the full demon grumbled under his breath, and then went on, “So if you don't believe a word of what I'm telling you, what do you think is happening?”

“I think I'm just losing my fucking mind. Maybe I had a nervous breakdown after Kikyo left me and this is the after effects of not getting the right treatment for it. Maybe, maybe senility runs in my mother's family. Maybe…maybe…” he finished, but his thought continued, Gods, I knew I should've continued seeing the quack doctor Rin had me going to,”

“And maybe pigs really can fly,” Sesshomaru cut in brusquely. “Don't be ridiculous, Half-breed, you've never been sick a day in your life. That aside, I do find this idea of mental illness rather intriguing.”

“You would,” the hanyou ground out with a roll of his golden orbs. Leaning forward he questioned eagerly, “So…you hear voices too?”

“Pfft, this Sesshomaru, never,” he responded dismissively.

“But you just said-”

“I know what I said and that is true, but if you're strong enough you can learn over time to silence it.”

“Silence it?” the hanyou whispered totally intrigued. “How?”

His brother almost smiled at him, one side of his lips quirking slightly before it descended back into his copyrighted grimace. “You give it what it wants.”

Give it what it wants, the hanyou thought idly. Deciding quickly that he'd just set that aside with the rest of the things he didn't understand. He queried quickly having thought back to a comment his brother made a few minutes earlier, “So, you're saying that my youkai blood is seriously repulsed by Rin? That's why it's uncomfortable when she's near me?” Just the thought was enough to cause him to shiver.

“That is how I understand it. However, and this remains to be seen, but I wonder if it's all women and not just Rin.”

“All women?” the hanyou questioned rhetorically staring off aimlessly into space. “No, no, no. That's just not going work.”

His brother was obviously ignoring him as he continued, “It seems that this new knowledge or rather acceptance has it longing for its mate; it will not accept any substitutes.”

End Flashback

Inuyasha sat forward in the leather seat, his elbows balanced on his denim clad knees. It won't accept any substitutes? This is fucking crazy! He's talking about this…this thing like it's a person, when it's not! It's just a figment of my damn imagination. That's all!

Okay, so let's say he believed it. Did that mean that who his blood chose would have to choose him? If that was the case then would that mean that he'd have to suffer through this agony on a daily basis? Not only that, but who the hell had it chosen?

This is just not good, he thought. Kagome is going to have a fucking cow when I tell her that my mate is not chosen by me, but by my youkai blood, and she's probably not the one it chose. Yep, I'm, damned to the seven bowels of the holiest hells!

The hanyou shook his thoughts off at the sound of voices drawing closer to the outside of the jet; his brother and Rin, he realized accompanied by Hoko.

Hoko was the first to climb the stairs and enter the plane, one baby bag hanging over each shoulder and two black leather satchels in each of his hands. Both bags were monogrammed with either TH or GH; the lettering extravagant and rich, be-lying wealth.

“Sorry we're late,” Rin chirped, stepping over the threshold, Gage locked protectively in her arms. She smiled at him, turned in his direction, and he knew what she was coming for.

He could feel it churning slowly in his stomach, a slow burning fire that grew steadily stronger with each step she took closer. He knew there was no way out of this. He couldn't pretend as if he didn't know what she wanted. They greeted each other in the same manner every time they saw each other.

I can do this. I can do this, he hissed to no one in particular as he stood slowly to his feet, a tight grimace on his pale face. “Don't worry about it; I only got here a few minutes ago.” He leaned in slowly as if he was an old man with arthritis, his joints burning hotter with each twitch of his muscles. I can give my fucking sister-in-law a hug. I can do this!

Her free arm slipped around his neck and she leaned in kissing him lightly on the cheek. A growl fueled with rage ripped through his tortured mind, his arms locking up as they loosely came up to encircle her waist. He patted her back lightly in a patronizing manner and hoped against hope that she wouldn't notice.

The hanyou tried to lean back, but she held on whispering something in his ear, but for the life of him, he couldn't hear it above the sickening growls and snarls going on in his head and crippling pain that was twisting vigorously through the marrow of his bones.

“Rin, perhaps you should lay Gage down before he awakens,” he heard his brother say and Inuyasha knew that he'd be forever in his debt.

The ecstatic woman twisted quickly away from him and sauntered over to her mate at the back of the cabin. Inuyasha fell back in his seat lethargically, his breathing heavy, his head pulsing painfully in tune with the blood that was thrumming swiftly through his body.

I can't do this! I can't deal with this shit! Damn it…damn it!

He wanted to believe that he was strong enough to fight this and to make the supposed beast inside of him submit to his will, but shit, how the hell was he supposed to do that when he felt like he was dying from the inside out. “You fucking bastard, this is my life, do you understand me! This is my decision! I choose who I'm with, not fucking you,” he snapped with a growl, talking to the invisible thing in his head.

He waited impatiently for a response, and was thankful when he didn't get one. “I'll take your silence as your confirmation,” he hissed.

“That seemed rather painful,” Sesshomaru observed mildly taking the seat beside him.

Inuyasha glanced at him, but didn't complain because he knew had he not taken the seat, his lovely sister-in-law would have danced her way back in his direction, oblivious to the agony she was causing him.

Inuyasha ignored the unattractive stewardess as she made quick work of securing the cabin and rechecking the locks on the doors. A few minutes later, the plane began to slowly taxi backwards on the runway and then straight forward, beginning to pick up speed until everything that flew past the windows on either side of the plane was nothing more than a blur.

The hanyou allowed his head to fall back against the headrest, his eyes closing as the jet began to swiftly climb into the sky leaving Tokyo far behind and below them. His ears popped and his jaws felt like they were locking up, but he didn't find this disturbing in the least.

As the jet started to level off, he finally opened his eyes, and glanced quickly around him at the other occupants. Rin was sitting in the back of the cabin with one of the twins on either side of her while she stared out the window at the thick, fluffy, white patches of clouds that zipped by. Hoko, was flipping through a book as if looking for the last section he'd read, and the stewardess appeared to be preparing to stand to her feet so that she could take their drink orders. He decided not to look at his brother, because what he was doing really didn't matter.

Turning his attention back to the window, Inuyasha sighed in resignation and said softly so that no one else would hear him, “Let's say I believe you, which I don't, how do I find her?”

“Find who?” his brother questioned without missing a beat.

“Her, the one it wants,” Inuyasha clarified softly while glancing quickly at the other occupants in order to make sure that none of them were listening.

Sesshomaru's head turned slightly, one eyebrow raised higher than the other, a dubious look on his face, but he didn't respond vocally.

“Damn it Sesshomaru, you told me it's chosen it's mate, but how the hell am I supposed to know who that is? I can't go around Kagome like this. I…I can't even imagine her understanding half of what you told me.” The hanyou sat back in his seat. He gnawed on his lower lip nervously, his leg bouncing anxiously.

Leaning forward, he pulled out one of the magazines from the rack in front of him and started flipping through it quickly without actually seeing the pages. “What the hell am I supposed to do with Kagome? I can't leave her. I can't hurt her like that, Sesshomaru. She won't survive it. Shit, I might not survive it,” he said quickly, closing the magazine and shoving it back in the rack.

His fingers twitched nervously in front of him, causing his claws to click noisily against one another. “I don't believe a word of this bullshit, but just in case it's true, I have to find her.”

“And do what?” his brother questioned condescendingly. The tone fell on deaf ears.

Inuyasha glanced around them again, and leaned in towards Sesshomaru. “You said that in order to be mates, we'd both have to accept each other, right? We'd have to want to be one unit. Well if I make her despise me… If I make her hate the ground I walk on, then this whole mess will go away, right?”

Sesshomaru turned to him, an incredulous glint in his eyes, his face otherwise unchanged. “You can't really be this dumb, Inuyasha.” It was a statement not a question.

The hanyou sat back away from his brother, his mind working a mile minute, trying desperately to figure a way out of this mess. He leaned forward, picked up another magazine and started flipping through that one too without seeing it. “What? You think it won't work? Well, it has to! It fucking has to, Sesshomaru, because I can't hurt her. I can't hurt Kagome, not like that fucker did. I won't do it.”

“You're not joking, are you?” Sesshomaru questioned. When he didn't get an answer, he sighed dejectedly and sat back in his seat, his hands gripping the armrest of his chair until his knuckles turned white. If he hated anything, he absolutely loathed ignorance. “Clueless,” he intoned curtly. He knew he could've just easily told Inuyasha the answer he so desperately needed to hear, but what would be the fun in that?

Simonkal of Inuy

Kagome glanced from Souta to her mom, who was moving quickly around the kitchen preparing lunch. They still weren't any closer to figuring out what was wrong with her, but for the most part, she did seem to be healthy and happy enough.

Yeah, but that's how it works, right? The person looks and acts healthy, and then one day they just don't get out of bed. Her gaze shot to her younger brother who was sitting across the table from her conspicuously watching his mother's every move.

When he wasn't in school or out in the shed with their grandfather, he was just as, if not more than watchful over Mrs. H than Kagome was. Every time she tried to pick up something heavy, or was reaching for something just out of her reach, he'd jump up and do it for her.

Of course, they knew that wouldn't help, but it made the both of them feel that much better about the circumstances.

“Mom, are you sure you don't want me to help you with lunch?” Kagome questioned, pushing slowly from her seat.

“No dear, I'm fine. Just enjoy your brother's company.”

“But Mom, I can help.”

“I know you can,” she retorted while turning to face them, a gentle smile on her face. “But I don't want you to.”

Kagome sat back down slowly, a frown on her face. Okay, so that wasn't really that weird. Anytime, I ask if I can help her cook, she says no.

“Besides, shouldn't you be talking to that boyfriend of yours?”

Kagome shook her head, and then jerked up towards her mother. “Who? What?”

“Don't be silly, dear. You've been following behind me foot to foot today, and I don't remember you talking to him at all. Are the two of you fighting?” Mrs. H. questioned conversationally, her back now turned to her children.

“Ah, no, we're not fighting. I've just been busy I guess,” Kagome replied with a shrug.

Her mother giggled lightly, and turned her attention to Souta. “And you, have you spoken to Nola today?”

“Mom, are you trying to get rid of us?” Souta questioned quizzically, not a trace of pretense in his tone.

“Don't be silly, Souta. I'm just not use to the two of you watching me every minute is all.”

“We're not watching-” Kagome started to say.

“You noticed that,” Souta confirmed, cutting his sister off.

Mrs. H took a moment to smile at each of them, before crossing her arms over her chest. “It's not nice to lie, Kagome. And Souta, yes, I noticed. So please stop it.”

Kagome hung her head ashamed that she'd been caught in a blatant lie.

“Mom, are you okay?” Souta asked quickly standing to his feet. “I mean…I mean if you were sick or something, you would tell us wouldn't you?”

Kagome scowled at her younger brother and his inability to keep a secret, but she didn't say anything because maybe this was better than watching her every move.

“Sick?” her mother intoned as if that was an asinine question that didn't honestly deserve an answer.

“Yeah, you'd tell us wouldn't you?” Kagome finally added, standing up as well.

Mrs. H smiled and stepped towards her daughter and son, her arms snaking out encircling both of them and pulling them into a tight hug. She kissed Kagome on the cheek and Souta on the forehead, before stepping back and whispering as she patted both of them on the cheek, “Of course, I would. Now run along, I'm sure the both of you have significant others waiting to hear from you.”

Kagome stared at her mother her face aghast. She's sick, I knew it! She's sick! My mom's dying! Oh god!! I told them she would do that! I told them!!

Souta wore a similar mask, but his eyes seemed to be watering up quickly.

Mrs. H laughed cheerily and waved her hand dismissively as she turned back to the food she was preparing. “I'm fine, you two. Go ahead call that boyfriend of yours Kagome, and Souta you call Nola and invite her over for lunch and tell her to bring her gloves, we have some gardening to do.” Glancing over her shoulder, she winked and finished, “Stop worrying about nothing, I'm fine.”

“Mom?” Kagome whined feeling like she was ten years old again.

“Go!” her mom demanded in soft but no nonsense voice and both children jumped and darted out of the kitchen.

Having no intention of actually using her cell phone, Kagome picked it up off the end table near the door and followed Souta out of the house. She knew where he was leading her without having to pay attention and she was fine with that, because the sooner they got to their talking spot away from the house, the sooner they would be able to figure out their next move.

Taking a seat on the ground next to her brother, she pulled her knees up to her chest and sighed heavily. “What now, Souta?”

He shifted, leaning back against the thick trunk of the tree, his hands behind his head as if he was relaxed and didn't have a care in the world. “Why are you asking me? You're the oldest.”

Kagome frowned at him, but didn't argue because she was the oldest that was a fact. “Well, maybe she's not sick. Nola did say she didn't smell anything wrong with her scent, didn't she?”

“Yeah, she did but she also smells things that aren't really there too,” Souta acknowledge. “This one time, she swore to me that she was smelling strawberry crepes.”

“Maybe she was.”

“I doubt it,” he advised offhandedly. “She didn't have a clue as to what a strawberry crepe was until I explained it to her.”

Kagome laughed and elbowed her younger brother. “You sure know how to pick them, don't you?”

He grinned and grabbed her hand as she tried to poke him with her pointer finger. “I could say the same thing about you, Sis.”

Her face dropped momentarily as she stared down at him and then brightened just as quickly. “You could, but you won't because I can still kick your butt, Munchkin.”

“Munchkin? I'm taller and stronger than you!” Souta declared, pushing up further on his elbows so that he was almost sitting up.

“Yeah, you might be, but I'm a girl; you'd never hit me back,” she quipped, punching his arm to prove her point.

“Ow,” he shouted feigning innocence while grasping his forearm. “Mom, Kagome's hitting me!” he whined.

“Kagome, stop beating up on your brother,” they heard their mother call from the kitchen window and they both sighed, their upbeat moods darkening instantly as just the thought that one day, he'd shout that and there would be no response.

The two sat quietly for a long moment before Souta started quietly, turning the pending subject away from their possibly ailing mother, “Hey, did I tell you about the woman from the other night?”

“Who?”

“There was this lady standing out here a few nights ago. She was like just standing there on the sidewalk staring up at the shrine. I was just coming back from Nola's when I saw her.”

“Yeah, so? People always stand there like that,” Kagome told him.

“Yeah, I know, but this was different. She was more than distraught, Kagome. It was like she'd lost her best-friend, her husband, her child, and was condemned to die all in one day. It was…it was really sad.”

“Oh, that was the night you missed dinner.”

“Yeah, but I didn't mind, you know? She was just so lonely and so sad that I was happy to just be there for her.”

Kagome sighed and leaned forward, remembering all too clearly how that feeling felt and not ever wanting to go back there. “Did she say what was wrong?”

“Not really, but she did mention something about losing a friend.” He sighed, his eyes going bright and then dimming at the memory. “I asked her if I could call her husband for her when I notice this huge rock on her finger, and she said that he wouldn't come for her. She said…she said the he was in love with someone else.”

Kagome snorted as she raised her head and stared up into the bows of the ancient tree. It's never easy, is it? It doesn't matter who you are, heartbreak doesn't care. It's like a disease or something. It's like death, inevitable, knowing no color, creed, or age.

“I wonder how she's doing?” Souta questioned rhetorically, his tone telling her that his mind was miles away. “I wonder if she's still crying.”

Not looking down at him, Kagome answered softly with a shrug of her shoulders, “Heartbreak is like that. It's not something that anyone gets over right away. When she's through crying, she'll go into a brief state of denial, and then she'll cry some more; eventually, she'll accept it for what it is. After that, she'll grow cold, hateful, and jaded.” She was quiet for a moment, her face still staring into the limbs of the tree overhead. “She'll hate herself and she'll try to find a reason to hate everyone around her. That hatred will become her protection, eventually.”

She hadn't even felt him move, but as his arms slipped around her, she glanced over at him and smiled softly. “You suck,” she whispered leaning her head down on his well defined bare shoulder.

“I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you were going through that mess with that Jackass,” Souta whispered sullenly. “If you want, I can still kick his ass.”

Kagome laughed her voice heavy with unshed tears. Wiping at her eyes quickly, she told him, “You against Kouga? Nah, Mom would never forgive me for getting her baby boy killed.”

“I could take him,” Souta hissed, setting the bicep of his free arm in order to drive his point home. He seemed to rethink his last statement and then sighed heavily. “Okay, so maybe I can't take him, but for you, I'd damn sure try.”

The pride that filled her at the moment was a fresh heavenly thing that forced her to wipe at her eyes again in order to hide the errant tears that trickled over the edges of her lids. “I know you would, but thankfully that won't be necessary; I'm fine now. Actually, I'm better than fine. I'm great!”

“Really? You're seriously happy with this Inuyasha fella?”

She leaned back and looked up at him. “Yeah, Inuyasha is wonderful. He's not perfect by any means, but I think…I think he's perfect for me.”

Souta moved his arms from her shoulders and grinned at her. “So when do we get to meet him? Is he going to come visit you? I mean if it was Nola that had been gone away from me for this long, I probably would be losing my mind right now.”

Kagome twisted around his question only paying attention to the end. “Are you really that in love with her that you can't go a few weeks without her? That's pathetic, Souta! She has you whipped!”

He shrugged his shoulders in an embarrassed manner, and answered timidly, “She's my mate, at least that's what she says.” He frowned in thought as he finished, “The more time I spend with her, the more I'm starting to believe her. I've tried and I can't really imagine my life with her, you know?”

“Wow, aren't you two too young to be talking like that?”

“That's what I was thinking too, but I don't think that there is an age requirement for falling in love. I think that some people just find the right person right away, some people have to search a little bit harder, and then some never do.” He frowned down at the dirt below him and picked at a piece of grass as he finished, “I don't know what's supposed to happen with Nola and I, but I don't really have any doubts where she's concerned. It just feels like something that's meant to be.”

“Your feelings for her are that strong, eh?” Not waiting for an answer, she threw another question at him. “What changed?”

“I don't really know. I mean once I started to accept what she was saying, I noticed that I could kind of feel when she was near, you know? Like at school, I'd walk into the cafeteria or into the courtyard and just know where she was. Once, she was walking over here to surprise me-she didn't tell me or anything. Anyway, something told me to go to her house. I didn't know why, but I did and I caught her half-way here. Some guys were following her and harassing her and stuff. I said it was a coincidence, but she said it's some kind of mate sense.”

“Mate sense? That sounds a little more than farfetched, doesn't it?”

He shrugged his shoulders again and continued, “I don't know how true that is, but at times it seems as if I can read her mind or better yet, like sometimes she knows what I'm going to do or say before I even do it.”

“Really,” Kagome whispered, intrigued now.

“Yeah, and I have noticed that she relaxes me, you know? It's kind of like taking a hot steaming bath or getting one of those deep tissue massages. When I'm mad or frustrated or anxious or just pissed off about something all she has to do is touch me and I can think clearly again. I can focus and rationally dissect the situation I'm facing.” He chuckled huskily and leaned back on his elbows. “Sometimes, especially when I'm mad at her; all she has to do is touch me.” He wanted to say more, but stopped himself knowing that that probably had less to do with her simple touch and more to do with the actual act that generally involved them making up.

Kagome stared at him for a moment, not really doubting what he was saying, but just finding it hard to believe that she was sitting here actually having this kind of conversation with her little brother. “When did you grow up?” she questioned.

He blushed and looked away from her, but didn't reply.

Kagome decided that was okay with her, because it didn't take away from this most precious moment that she'd always hold close to her heart.

“I love you, Souta,” she cooed softly.

“Love you too, Sis.”

Simonkal of Inuy

He glared out the window of the penthouse suite, his anger boiling over; festering hot and thick only to subside and roil forward again like overcooked milk.

Fucking bastards, he hissed as his fists clenched and unclenched, begging for something, anything to tear into.

“It's not my fault, you didn't ask,” she had said in that happy little sing-song tone of hers that he realized was really starting to irritate the living shit out of him.

“He moved,” she continued with an off-handed shrug as if it was of no consequence.

A growl slipped from his lips, and he turned away from the window angry and frustrated. Upset at the knowledge…the fucking knowledge that he was this fucking close. This goddamn close and he couldn't…he fucking couldn't…

His fist hit the nearest wall punching straight through to the other side and he felt no better about his current situation.

He'd had a plan damn it! He had a fucking plan that was going to buy him more time, but now everything that he'd thought about, everything that he was going to do was fruitless because the chances of him lasting another night…

A growl ripped from his lips and he reached up grabbing the sides of the heavy red oak entertainment center and pulled it forward throwing it across to the other side of the room as if it was nothing more than a hard backed book.

Bastards!

Simonkal of Inuy

Kagome stared down at her cell phone in disbelief; she'd tried calling him 3 different times during the day. Once after she and Souta had finished their bonding session; his phone was off that time. She tried him again an hour or so after lunch, and the call was forwarded to his voicemail. So, she left him a message and figured that he'd call her back when he got a chance.

It was almost 9 at night and still he hadn't even attempted to call her, not once. She tried a third time and her call went directly to his voicemail again. After that, her worry started to twist into anger.

She was having flashbacks of a time long gone. Calls being made to a number she once knew, repeated calls, no answers, and days later a barely plausible excuse.

No, Inuyasha wouldn't do that to me. I know I've been distracted, but he wouldn't, right?

She picked up her cell and dialed his home number. Still no answer, but his answering service clicked on so she decided that she'd leave a message just in case something was wrong with his cell phone.

“Hey Takahashi, it's me. I haven't talked to you all day, what's up with that?” She wanted to say something that wouldn't come off to him as if she was upset. “Anyway give me a call, okay?” She waited a moment in case he was coming in the house and needed a moment to pick up the line.

He didn't.

Flipping her phone closed, she quickly dialed her home number to check her messages and to see if he would answer-if he was there-but she knew deep down that he wasn't.

Her mind wouldn't focus on the messages, so she hung up quickly, her mind reeling with what ifs.

What if he got in a car accident? What if he went to the bank today, and got caught up in the middle of a robbery? What if Ashton ran away from him, and while he was chasing him, he got hit by a car? What if he's laying somewhere in a cold hospital room all alone?

She shook her head, refusing to let her imagination go any further. Before she could stop herself, she paged through her phone book and found a number she promised herself she would never call again.

It rang twice before a husky impassive voice answered, “Takahashi Sesshomaru.”

“Takahashi-sama, hi, it's Higurashi Kagome.”

He was quiet for a moment as if she'd caught him off guard. “Higurashi, to what do I owe this call?”

She was beyond nervous. This was stupid and it was childish. So what if Inuyasha hadn't called her all day. So what! He was a grown man. He didn't owe her anything, did he?

Kagome shook her head and steeled her resolve as she fought to hold back the bile that was starting to rise in her throat, and the angry tears that were beginning to creep up from the corners of her eyes.

Yes, yes he definitely did! She was his girlfriend! He definitely owed her a believable explanation, but was it right for her to involve his brother?

“Uhm, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called you,” she stated quickly removing the phone from her ear and trying to hang it up, but she stopped when she heard Sesshomaru's voice break into her musings.

“What's wrong? Are you alright, Higurashi?”

She didn't miss the way he stressed her name, but she couldn't really focus on that right now. “No…nothing, I just was wondering… Uhm, have you heard from Inuyasha today? I mean, well, uhm… ” And then she just blurted out the rest, her hands and voice shaking ridiculously, “We…we talk everyday at least 4 or 5 times a day, and today he didn't call me once. I even left him a few messages and he hasn't returned any of them. This isn't like him, Sesshomaru? Is he okay? Has he been hurt? When last did you speak with him? Have you seen him?”

“Calm down, Higurashi,” he directed, his tone soft. “He's just a complete idiot, but I assure you, he's fine.”

“You've talked to him? Where is he?” She heard the phone shift and go from muffle to clear a few times while voices whispered back and forth, and then her heart soared only to crash into the cliffs just below the edge that she was teetering on.

“Oi,” he whispered softly, his tone reluctant.

“Inuyasha?”

“Yeah, it's me.”

“Are you okay? I mean did something happen? Why haven't you called me all day? Why didn't you return any of my calls? Is Ashton okay?”

He sighed exasperatedly before he replied, “I'm fine. Nothing's wrong.”

At that moment, as the last words fell from his lips a heavy black curtain dropped, locking away the sensible part of her mind. Her sanity folded into a little corner of a napkin and shoved itself away in the furthest corner of her mind and allowed her ire to take over.

“You're fine?” she asked carefully. “No broken bones? No bank robberies? No hospitals?”

“Yeah, I'm fine,” he answered as if he was answering the stupidest question he'd ever been asked in his life.

“You obnoxious son of a bitch! How dare you do that to me! I was calling you all goddamn day! Were you ignoring me? You were fucking ignoring me! Inuyasha, how could you? What the hell is wrong with you?”

He started to say something, but she wouldn't let him. “I was sitting here thinking that something had happened to you or that you were laying up in a hospital room somewhere half-way dead, and you're fine?” she questioned in disbelief. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water and he took that moment as his in.

“Wench, calm down it not what-”

She was screaming so loud at this point that, she wasn't at all surprised when her brother and mother stepped into the room with her, both their faces looking rather comical.

She ignored them, and hissed into her cell phone as she turned her back to them, “Don't wench me, damn it! Matter of fact, you don't have that right anymore! How could you do that me? How could you just ignore me? I would never do that to you, not for anyone! I can't believe you, Takahashi! You didn't want to talk to me! You… You…”

“Baby?”

She shook her head, angry tears now trailing down her face. She knew she was going way overboard, but all she could see was that she'd been here before and she had no desire to revisit it.

Not even for him.

“I'm not your baby, Takahashi, because if I were you would've called me! I wouldn't have had to call your damn brother to find you!”

“Kagome, please don't do this. I can explai-”

“Spare me your lies, Takahashi!” she ground out while wiping fitfully at a few errant tears that were trailing down her flushed cheeks.

“Don't do this, Kagome. Just…just let me-” he tried again, his tone soft and pleading.

“I didn't do anything,” she hissed angrily. “You did!” She closed the flip of the phone hanging up on him and hurled it across the room so that it bounced off the wall and shattered into several pieces on the floor.

She turned away from the device curling herself into a tight ball and buried her face into the cushions of the sofa and cried. At that moment, she didn't care who was watching or how stupid she might have looked to them.

Simonkal of Inuy

“Ka…Kagome,” the hanyou whispered into the phone. “Wench?” Silence greeted him.

His hand fell away from the side of his head as he stared down at the screen that read disconnected call. No, this wasn't happening. This was not fucking happening right now.

He blinked away his dismay and dialed her number quickly. It went straight to her voice mail. He hung up and dialed again. Once again, it went straight to her voicemail.

The hanyou stared at the phone, his nerves coming unraveled slowly from the inside out. He ran his hand from the back of his head to his crown and back again as he stared into oblivion and tried desperately to hold onto what little sanity he had left.

“This is not fucking happening. This is not…fucking happening,” he repeated like a mantra as his feet started moving him in a tight circle.

“Inuyasha?”

“Don't…fucking…speak…to…me,” he hissed at Sesshomaru. His fist clenched around the plastic device in his hand. “Why the fuck couldn't you just tell her that you hadn't seen me? You know what the fuck is going on,” he roared.

“This Sesshomaru, lie for you, over something like this? Never,” he hissed, disdain lacing his tone.

Inuyasha growled. “She's fucking crying now, you know that, right? She thinks that I was out fucking around on her or that I don't want to be with her! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”

“You're a complete moron,” the full demon observed mildly.

There was a loud crack, the plastic device in the hanyou's hand fell to the floor in pieces at his feet, but he paid it no mind. “I'm a moron? No, you don't fucking seem to get it! I can't touch my own sister-in-law, your mate, without my fucking limbs feeling like their being pulled from my torso. What the hell do you think is going to happen when I see her, Sesshomaru? Do you seriously think that I'll be able to keep her from touching me? Do you think I'll fucking want too? What the hell do you think is going to happen, huh?” He didn't wait for an answer as he snapped, “I'm going to fucking die, that's what going to fucking happen.” He growled low in annoyance and finished, “I'm going to let her fucking kill me, because I don't fucking know how not to want her.”

“Complete and utter…jackass,” Sesshomaru mumbled, his eyes trained on the broken cell phone that Rin had purchased for him as a birthday gift a little less than a month ago.

The hanyou slouched down on the couch, his shoulders heavy, his mind a muddled mess of incoherent thoughts. This just wasn't happening! It wasn't fucking happening! She couldn't be breaking up with him over this bullshit! He hadn't even told her about the idiot inside of him yet! This…their relationship just couldn't be over! Not like this!! Not…over some misunderstanding!!

“Inuyasha, maybe you're thinking about this in the wrong way,” Sesshomaru stated.

The hanyou stood abruptly to his feet and stomped towards the door. “You can go fuc-” he started to say, but turned instead deciding against it and stomped out the door, slamming it behind him.

Before he could make sense of what he was doing, his feet broke into a sprint heading for the stairs. Instead of going down, he went up. He'd take to the roofs, clear his head and come up with some way of fixing this mess without Sesshomaru's help and without losing the one woman that seemed to fit just too perfectly in every facet of his life.

This is my decision, damn it! It's my decision!

Simonkal of Inuy

“Kagome, honey?” her mom cooed rubbing her back gently, but still she refused to budge from where her face was pressed firmly into the cushions of the chair.

How long had she been lying like this? An hour, two hours? She didn't really know and she couldn't actually say that she cared.

“Sis, come on get up. It's probably not half as bad as you're making it out to be. Maybe he was just having problems with his cell.”

She spun on him, her face beet red and sweaty, and her fists gripping the cushions beneath her. “Don't you dare make excuses for him! He's an ass! A complete ass and I'm sorry I wasted my time on him!”

“Kagome?” her mom tried softly.

Kagome pushed away from her, not really upset at her, but more upset at herself for not controlling her emotions better than this. “No, Mom, it's not fine and it's not going to be fine.”

“Honey, did you even let him explain?”

She rolled her eyes rudely and crossed her arms over her chest. “For what? So he could lie to me?”

“Sis, come on,” Souta interjected. “You're acting like he's Kou-”

“Don't you dare!” she roared. “He's nothing like Kou-” she cut herself off hating her weak heart for wanting to defend him when he was clearly just like him.

He didn't want to talk to me. He was avoiding me; I can't believe he was actually avoiding me! She sniffled loudly and wiped at her runny nose with the back of her hand. I'm so stupid! I can't believe that I talked so good about him to them, only to have him make me look like such a fool! I can't believe I… Yuka was right. Gods, Yuka was right!

“Kagome, don't do anything hasty, dear,” her mom advised. “Just sleep on it. Tomorrow it'll all work itself out.”

She glared at her mother. “There's nothing to think about, Mom. It's over. Inuyasha and I are…are finished. I don't want to talk to him or see him.” Saying that hurt her more than she'd ever willingly admit, but she refused to be anyone's patsy again. She just…refused. Her head dropped so that her chin was resting on her collar bone. “It's…over.”

Her mom tried to wrap her arms around her to console her, but Kagome flinched away from her. “Please, just leave me alone for a minute. Just let me think,” she said, knowing there was nothing she needed to think about. She just wanted to be left alone and out of sight of their sympathetic gazes.

She could feel the both of them staring at her, and willed herself not to jump up and run to her room. She was bigger than that. She was stronger; she had to be.

“Fine, but I still think that before you make this final, you should at least let him explain,” Souta advised while standing to his feet. “After all, he is perfect for you, right?”

Kagome wanted to glare at him and curse him to the ninety-ninth bowel of hell, for using her earlier words on her, but she refrained and fought to hold in a loud moan instead.

Her mother patted her knee gingerly and leaned in to kiss her forehead without a word before standing to her feet and shuffling towards the stairs behind Souta. When she was sure that they were gone, she pulled her knees up to her chest, laid her head on them and sobbed like a brokenhearted widow.

This wasn't happening; it couldn't be. She was happy with him, she wanted to be with him, and she had thought that he wanted the same thing. So, how did they go wrong? Where did they go wrong, and why didn't she see it happening?

Was he that undisciplined that he'd lose interest that quickly? If that was the case then how could she ever trust him? How could she have ever expected something more to come out of this…this joke of a relationship?

Her heart throbbed within her brittle chest and she cursed it violently for its weakness, she hated it for making her believe that it was possible to love again. She despised it for fooling her into trusting him, for wanting him, for craving his touch.

Kagome's sobbing slowly started to quiet down, leaving her head aching painfully. She could feel that her eyes were swollen and probably bloodshot, but she didn't care. She didn't care about anything anymore, nothing.

Wiping at her eyes with the palms of her hands, she sighed lethargically and pushed slowly to her feet. Turning off the light on the end table, she started slowly towards the stairs and her bedroom, but stopped.

She glanced around the room slowly, eyeing the darkness behind her curiously as if she was missing something. Did I just hear something? Did someone just call… She shook that thought off and started toward the stairs again, but stopped again at the sound of a light tapping on the glass pane of the door.

She didn't have time for this! Not now! She didn't care who it was or what they wanted. It was late, the shrine was closed, and she was not about to open it for anyone, she was more than sure of that. Besides, she had her own problems to deal with and so whoever it was could just come back in the morning!

She stomped quickly towards the door again as the person on the other side knocked again this time more urgently than before. She reached for the dead bolt unlocking it quickly and reached for the knob turning it.

Pulling the door open, she started disgruntly, “Look the shrine is closed. You'll have-” Her words caught in her throat, her breath coming out in fragments of broken gasps as her eyes widened. Her hand gripped the door tightly in preparation to slam it closed again, but he was fast, much too fast.

He took a quick step forward gripped her wrist that was closest to him, and yanked her out the door and towards him. She pushed against his chest furiously, angry tears sprouting to her eyes. One of his arms encircled her waist holding her firmly to him, while the other one reached in and lightly closed the door as to not draw any attention to him.

Was he kidnapping her? she couldn't help but to think in a haze of short incoherent thoughts.

She pushed back away from him again roughly while kicking out with her feet that she realized were no longer touching the ground. A tiny voice told her to shout and scream for help, but she couldn't find her voice! This whole mess…this whole situation just wasn't making any sense. Her eyes had to be playing tricks on her!

Kagome opened her mouth to scream at him…to tell him to leave her alone, that she hated him, and to go away, but his crushingly hot lips against hers silenced her at once!

She vaguely noticed that her back was now pressed against the side of the house near the kitchen and that they…he was standing in her mother's garden, but she couldn't think about that, she couldn't waste time thinking about that. She needed to stop him and she needed to scream for help!

Her fists pounded against his chest telling him that this was not okay, but she felt like nothing more than a flea trying to swat an elephant.

His lips moved against hers timelessly forcing her lips to part. He nibbled lightly at her lower lip as a growl deep and throaty slipped from him. She didn't know what it was, but her mind, her body seemed to want to react to it…that growl. No, not react, submit.

No, she hissed desperately within her mind as she pulled what little strength she had left to the forefront, which wasn't much.

“St…op,” she whispered into his mouth, her tone holding not an ounce of resentment, rage, or hatred, but a whole lot of confusion. Did she really want him to stop? Was there any reason why he needed to?

“Yes,” common sense whispered, but she didn't hear it and wouldn't ever hear it where he was concerned.

His tongue was warm against hers, forcing her to forget Tokyo, Kyoto, her pain from a few minutes ago, and everything else that at one point or another had mattered to her.

No, she hissed in her head, her body losing what little fight it had left. No!

Her mind told her not to fall for it again, to not let him do this! It screamed at her to stop him, because this wasn't making any sense and she deserved better, but her body betrayed her so severely that an unwarranted shiver ran up and down her spine.

The battle was over and she'd lost, again.

Her hands came up slowly locking into his thick main, the front of his shirt, and any other part of him that she could reach. Her legs wrapped themselves around his defined waist as her hips ground hungrily into him while her lips responded enthusiastically to his need with an insatiable desire of her own.

In that moment…in that solitary second in time everything else-with the exception of the two of them-melted away as if it never existed.

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

Next Chapter: Where We Left Off

Acknowledgments:

Miss_Marilyn69 ~ InuKagLuver101 ~ Zetsuii ~ Ravens_Ashs ~ Little_Wierd ~ Crazykiss ~ Ryo5492 ~ Mynera ~ Hentai Strumpet ~ Niiicko ~ Luvininu28 ~ Angel-up-above-heaven ~ Bre'Aunna Kemp ~ SplendentGoddess (The last chapter happened a few days after the Yuka/Kagome fight. This chapter takes place the day after the last one) ~ Bigfanofiykag ~ AvidRabid ~ InuGoddess715