InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Heart's Landfill ❯ Dazed and Confused ( Chapter 59 )

A/N: As always all characters will be walking that fine line called OOCness. This is a long one, so settle in for the ride. Oh, and thanks for your patience and for NOT throwing bricks at my bedroom window…lol. Neko, my wonderful beta, you did an outstanding job as always!! Thanks!!

There is only one kind of person that I despise more than I do a snitch, a person that willfully steals someone else's work and tries to pass it off as their own. That's right a plagiarizer. I don't understand why a person would do such a thing, seriously I don't. Isn't it more important to write crap and know that it's yours rather than to steal someone else's work and receive hoorays, and bonsais' for it? Then again, maybe it's just me. On a more serious note, and I'm not pointing any fingers at this time, if anyone that is reading this is considering copying and pasting anything that I've written, I'm warning you now, the only thing that's going to come out of it is an enemy for life. So, please don't do it.

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

Chapter 59

Dazed and Confused

The teapot squealed loudly in the small kitchen, but the occupants-none of them-seemed to hear it.

Souta stood at the backdoor staring out into a space that he didn't really see, Nola sat quietly beside her soon to be mother-in-law in case the woman broke down, and the woman in question sat inert, her fingers intertwined with one another as she stared down at the phone on the table before her.

She glanced away from the phone momentarily and at the clock that hung over the kitchen sink, her heart sinking with every minute that trickled by. She's fine, she told herself again for the millionth time since she'd gotten the call at 4 that morning from Takahashi Inuyasha.

At first, she'd told him that he was overreacting and that Kagome was fine; she always hung out late when she went out with Yuka. He'd quieted her when he told her that Kagome had called him crying for him to coming pick her up, but the phone went dead before she could tell him where she was.

Sure that upset her, but it wasn't until he said that Kagome had hinted that Kouga was in the club with her. She didn't understand why, but for some reason just the mention of Kouga's name was enough to send shivers down her spine and make the already disheveled hairs on her head stand on end. She wasn't sure if it was fear that she thought her only daughter would be stupid enough to fall back in with the dastardly demon, or if she was just afraid because of the anxiety that she could feel rolling through the hanyou as he talked to her via the phone. Whatever it was, the feeling hadn't lessened as the hours passed; it only grew stronger and delved deeper into the crevices of her heart and mind.

Nola moved from beside her and the squealing…that annoying squealing stopped and she was thankful, but she didn't move from where she sat.

She glanced at the clock again. 9:45 in the morning and she's still not home. She turned from the clock, reached to pick up the phone and was stopped by the sound of her son's masculine voice.

“Who are you calling, Mom?”

She stared at him for a moment almost not seeing him, before a soft smile broke over her face. “I was going to check for a dial tone.”

Souta turned to look at her then, a patronizing expression on his face before he turned back to staring at nothing. “It's working, Mom. Besides, do you really want to be on the phone if she tries to call?”

She sat back, her eyes trained on his masculine bare back. The manner in which his sinewy muscles rippled up and down in a perfect dance around one another mesmerized her. When did he grow up? Was I sleeping these last ten years? She tore her gaze away from him and glanced over at the beautiful demon girl that had become almost more than a daughter to her.

Nola was moving around the kitchen as if it were her own or as if she'd lived everyday of her life in the home. Her movements were so fast, so smooth that she seemed to be gliding or rather floating. She made no sounds. There wasn't a clink of the cups against the tray or the clank of the spoon against the ceramic serving kettle as she stirred a small amount of honey into the brewing tea.

Mrs. H. turned away from her and sighed as she reached for the phone again. She will make a wonderful wife and mate for him, she told herself as her hand came to rest against the cool plastic of the cheap phone that she purchased too many years ago.

“Mom, wha-” Souta started to say, but stopped.

Nola'a hand rested on her shoulder with a gentle squeeze, no words leaving her lips and Mrs. H. hesitated for fraction of a second before she pulled her hand back with a soft, “I'm sorry, I just…I just…” She sniffled and wiped at her eyes, catching a tear before it gained any real momentum. “Where is she?” she whispered to everyone and no one. “Where's my baby? Why hasn't she called or come home yet?” She looked up at Souta who had his head turned away from her, but she could see the simmering anger and rage within in his tightly wrapped body.

“Mom,” Nola began while setting the tray down on the table before her, “She's fine. Maybe she was drunk so she slept at Yuka's house. Maybe…maybe…”

Souta growled low his head dropping, his fist clenching, but he didn't say anything.

Mrs. H. tore her gaze away from her son and smiled up at the helpful, optimistic girl, whom she knew was simply reaching for some explanation that would make all of this okay and she loved and adored her for that. Unfortunately, deep down in the very pit of her now barren womb, she knew better. Something was wrong; very, very wrong. Her daughter was out there somewhere and she wasn't okay. If she was, she would have at the very least called Inuyasha and checked in. She would've called her or Souta, but she hadn't.

“I bet she'll be walking through that door at any moment with a smile and apologizing for making us worry,” Nola said, sounding just slightly more chipper but not enough to fool anyone.

“Maybe you're right,” Mrs. H. told her as she leaned forward and lifted one of the cups to her lips. “I pray to the gods that you are.”

Souta grunted out something then, his fists connecting with the screen door forcing it to swing violently open and he was gone.

“Souta,” she heard Nola whisper as she stood to her feet preparing to go after him, but hesitating because she wanted to stay with her as well. She knew why she wanted to go after him; it wasn't that she wanted to, she needed to. There was a pull unlike anything she'd ever witnessed between the two youngsters. It was palpable and strong; real and vibrant and it was lasting. “Go,” she whispered, setting the cup down on the table before her again. “He needs you now more than I do. Go to him. Tell him this will be alright. She'll come home; she has to.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, go,” she told the young girl again with a motherly pat on her hip.

Nola leaned in, kissed her on the cheek and turned towards the door, disappearing through it without another word.

Mrs. H. sighed as she stared up at the clock again. 9:50; now is as good a time as any I suppose, she thought as she picked up the phone in one hand and pulled a sheet of paper out her apron pocket with the other. She dialed the first number that was scribbled there, and then placed the phone to her ear.

The phone rang, and rang, and rang before the voicemail clicked on and she left her 8th message since she'd found out that her daughter was missing, “Yuka, if you and Kagome are there please pick up. Kagome, pick-up. We're worried about you. Inuyasha and his brother have been looking everywhere for you, please call us as soon as you get this message. I love you, Honey.”

She waited a few extra seconds before she hung the phone up and dialed her daughter's cell phone number. There were a few clicks, what sounded like a wheeze and just like the 20 time before when she'd called, a female voice came on telling her that the mailbox was full and to call back later.

She slammed the phone down, tears trailing out her eyes now. “I don't want to call back later, damn it! I want to talk to my daughter! I want to talk to my baby,” she hissed.

Forcing herself to take a few deep breaths, she slowly began to calm down; her hands shaking as she fought away the more sordid horrific thoughts that the darker recesses of her mind wanted her to entertain. She's fine, she told herself, She's just being irresponsible. She knew that was a lie because her daughter was nothing if not responsible, but she desperately needed to hold on to that. If she couldn't…if she didn't, she'd fall apart; she knew that much.

Wiping at her face with her hand, she glanced down at the sheet of paper again. She'd already talked to Eri, and Ayumi and neither of them had seen or heard from Kagome in the last 48 hours. However, they both promised to keep trying her cell phone and to call as soon as they heard something.

Per Inuyasha's brother's request, she tried to find out from them if they knew what club Yuka was taking Kagome to. They didn't know that either and they hadn't talked to Yuka since she and Kagome had supposedly had a fight. Basically, they-as lovely as they were-were dead ends. She needed to go to the heart of this terrible situation. She needed to get answers from the horse's mouth before she involved the police and before…before she lost what little sanity she had left.

Picking up the receiver again, she glanced down at the last number on a list of four and dialed before she could talk herself out of it.

Her heart was racing within her chest as if it were going to burst through her breast bone at any moment, her stomach dropped and did a flip or two before settling somewhere near her knees; the entire time the phone continued ringing loudly in her ear.

She was about to give up and hang-up when a raspy masculine, seemingly out of breath voice spoke to her, “Yeah?”

“Nashitaku Kouga?” she questioned, standing to her feet.

“Who wants to know?” he drolled as if bored.

“This is…this is Kagome's mom. You…you used to date her about a year-”

He cut her off, his tone changing, almost becoming respectful for a fraction of a second before twisting back into that arrogant worthless tone that she remembered whenever he called the house for her daughter. “Yeah, I remember. What's up; why you calling me?”

“Well,” she started, “I was wondering if you'd seen Kagome. I…I was wondering if she was with you. Maybe she…maybe she spent the night or something.”

He laughed, a cold calculating laugh. “So she's missing and you call me of all people?” he taunted.

“Well, she called me last night from the club that her and Yuka went to and she was upset.” She didn't want to say she called, Inuyasha, because she knew men-no matter who they were-didn't take kindly to finding out that their ex was with someone else.

“Did she?” he queried seeming uninterested, “And what does that have to do with me?”

She swallowed thickly as she coiled her finger around the cord on the phone. “She said that you were there at the club. Did she go home with you?”

He was quiet for a moment before he sighed, his tone losing just a small amount of his gusto, “Yeah, I saw her at the club. Hell me and half of the male population of Kyoto, but she didn't leave with me. She left with that bitch Yuka.”

“She did?” Mrs. H. asked as if making sure she'd heard him right.

“Well, yeah. I'm married and shit. I couldn't really do anything with her even if I wanted to.”

“I see,” she intoned not sure if she should believe him or not. “Do you know what club they were at?”

He laughed again. This time it wasn't as cold but more obnoxious. “Isn't she a little old for this, Doll? I mean she's grown, right?”

“Regardless of how old she is, Nashitaku Kouga, she's still my daughter and staying out all night has never been something she has done! Surely, you know this!” she bit out totally annoyed at his nonchalant attitude.

“I forgot; I always had to have her home by 1 am.” He laughed. “I guess things really don't change, eh?”

Feeling as if she was wasting her time, she pushed the conversation forward not wanting to waste any more time on him, “Could you please tell me the name of the club you were at with her?”

He grunted and muffled the phone briefly and she could've sworn she heard a woman's voice in the background but she didn't pay attention to that as she silently counted the seconds until he came back to the line.

“I can't be sure because I went to several clubs last night, but if I had to guess, I'd say it was The Delk on 7th or maybe Croon over on the west side.”

She stepped up to the table and scribbled the two names on the sheet of paper. “Thank you so much, Kouga, I wish you and your wife all the best.”

“Yeah, whatever,” he responded dismissively, and then said just as she was about to hang up, “Whichever club it was that I saw her and that bitch Yuka at; they didn't leave alone. She was hanging all over some fucking Yank.”

“Yank?”

“Yeah, a fucking American. Ugly as fuck and fat too, but I guess that's the type she goes for now.”

More than a little taken aback by his choice of words, she started to ask him if he could tell her anything else, but he hung up, leaving her listening to the dial tone and her own thoughts. Kagome leave with an American? That's something that Yuka would do, but not my Kagome. She…she wouldn't. Not when she's in a relationship, she told herself as she placed the phone back on the hook and stared down at the names of the two clubs he'd given her.

Glancing up at the clock again, she mentally counted and decided that it had been 2 hours since Inuyasha or his sister-in-law had called to check in. When he calls again, I'll give him the names of the clubs if he hasn't found her and I'll call the police. She felt like she'd just accomplished something. She felt like she was step closer to finding her daughter.

Wherever you are, Honey, stay safe and call home if you can.

Simonkal of Inuy

“I shouldn't be here doing nothing,” Souta ground out as he paced over a small section of grass. “I should be out there! I should be out there looking for my fucking sister,” he bellowed, his anger rising swiftly only to subside again.

“If you were out there, Souta, what would you do? Where would you go?” Nola questioned patiently as not to anger him more than he already was.

He turned and glared at her before he started pacing again. “I'd be beating down that fucker's door!”

“You don't know that he has her, Souta. You're just assuming.”

“Who's side are you on, Nola?” he roared. He stepped towards her, his fist balled up. “That fucker has her! I know he fucking does!”

“If he has her…” she started, but changed her mind and stated, “Let's say she is with him; how do you know that it's not by choice.”

He growled as if she was the dumbest person in the world. “She hates him, okay? She…Kagome wouldn't be that fucking stupid to go with him again. Not after what he did to her; the way he just…he just fucking tossed her to the side as if she was nothing! My sister isn't that dumb, Nola!”

She stepped towards him carefully and he stepped back just out of her reach. “Souta, please calm down. You're talking about this guy like he's some kind of monster or something.”

“You met him, and you said it yourself there was something wrong with him, so don't stand here now telling me to calm fucking down when he has my damn sister!”

“All I'm saying is that you don't know for sure,” she clarified. “Kagome could be anywhere right now. She could be on her way home, asleep at her friend's house, or-”

He cut her off, “Or shit! You weren't here when Inuyasha stopped by. You didn't see the fear in his eyes, Nola! And neither you nor Mom heard about the shit that went on in Tokyo just before Kagome came home, so save me the devil's advocate shit!”

She stared at him for a long moment as if trying to read his mind. She understood his pain, she did and she was just as worried as he was, but she couldn't allow herself to be as consumed by it as he was. One of them had to keep a cool head. “What happened in Tokyo?”

Souta paced a few times as if he hadn't heard her. His hands at his sides, his face set in a deep scowl, and his eyes trained on the ground before him as if he was afraid if he looked away he'd trip over a blade of grass.

“Souta, tell me what happened in Tokyo,” she ordered softly.

He stopped then, his jaw clicking, showing his annoyance. “Inuyasha said that bastard had come looking for her. He'd sent two of his cronies. One acted like he wanted to warn her, but the other one, tried to rape her assistant to find out where Kagome was and when that didn't work, he tried to break into her place.” He paced some more and continued, “Then while she was staying with Inuyasha, the same son of a bitch broke into his place and tried to kidnap her in the middle of the night and he almost got away with it too.”

“What?” Nola gasped in disbelief. “Are they sure it was this Kouga guy.”

Souta growled in annoyance. “No, they don't know it was him for sure, but Inuyasha thinks that he had everything to do with it since the first guy told him that Kouga was looking for Kagome, and all of this shit happened right around the same time. He also found out that while all of this shit was going on, Kouga was in Tokyo at the same fucking time!”

Nola covered her mouth, unable to believe that anyone could be so calculating and deceitful.

Souta paced for a few seconds longer before he came to a complete stop as if he'd just hit a brick wall. “I don't know if he has her for sure, okay, but what I do know for certain is that if she was okay, she would've called us or Inuyasha by now.”

Nola stepped to him then, hugging him from the back. She could feel him trying to fight her, but she refused to let go. This anger…this rage that was burning inside him wasn't a good thing.

“This isn't a coincidence, Nola, it can't be. Things like this don't just happen to one fucking person over, and over and over a-fucking-gin! He has her, he fucking has her! I know it in here,” he hissed while stabbing himself in the chest with his pointer finger.

“Baby,” Nola whispered and she moved around him quickly and pulled him closer to her, her head resting in the center of his chest just below his breast bone. His shoulders started to shake and it broke her heart, but what more could she do? What more could she say?

Maybe they weren't overreacting; maybe Kagome really was in real danger. Maybe this Kouga person was the monster that everyone seemed to be making him out to be. Maybe… Maybe… Maybe…

His arms came up to her hips reluctantly as his head lowered to the crown of her head and she could feel the wetness of his tears as he tightened his hold on her and whispered brokenly, “Where's my sister, Nola? Where's my sister? Why hasn't she come home? Why hasn't she called?”

She had no answer for him so she just held onto him and silently prayed that this wouldn't end as badly as everyone seemed to believe it would.

Simonkal of Inuy

Guilt ravaged Yuka to her very core as she eyed the flashing button on her answering machine; twelve messages-six of them from her, Kagome's mom, three from Ayumi, and three from Eri.

What was she supposed to do now? She couldn't call the police because she'd have to implicate herself. And even if she didn't implicate herself right away as soon as she led them to him, that prick, he'd tell them the role she played in this…this mess!

She stood from the worn chair she'd been sitting in and stalked across her tattered Oriental rug and back towards the chair.

She'd tried to follow them, she had, but Kouga's car was so fast and new, and hers so old and decrepit.

Damn it, she hissed.

She'd tried to tell herself that she wasn't in the wrong for what she'd put into action; it wasn't her fault, because she didn't know what he had planned. If she had known… If she had an inkling that something like that was going to happen, she would've never gone through with it.

He'd told her that he simply wanted to see for himself that Kagome was okay. He'd said that he wasn't even going to approach her, but just watch her from the sidelines as she enjoyed herself. He'd told her that the whole night would be his treat and a way of apologizing to Kagome and to her for the way he treated the both of them.

I should've known better! I…damn it; I should've known not to trust him!

Her eyes fell on the boots that started this whole mess and she growled and jumped to her feet again. Snatching them up from the floor, she stomped into her tiny kitchen cove and shoved the boots into the trash can, angry tears coming to her eyes. “That son of bitch! That sorry son of a bitch,” she hissed as she wiped at her eyes with one hand while she continued to force the boots into the already overflowing garbage can. “For a pair of boots,” she hissed. “A pair of fucking boots!”

The boots wouldn't fit, so she grabbed a knife from the counter and started stabbing them angrily as if that would alleviate some of the guilt and pain she was feeling.

“How could I do that? How could I do that?” she chanted as she continued to stab angrily through the rich leather material of the boot and into the trash can. “How could I betray her like this for a pair of boots?”

She knew whatever Kouga had in store for Kagome wasn't good. If it was, what was the point in drugging her? What was the point of him making sure that she couldn't follow them? No, nothing good would come of this!

He's going to rape her! He's going to fucking rape my best-friend and it's my fault! She stab into the material again, her hand slipping down the blade but she didn't feel it. He's going to rape her and she won't remember! She won't remember any of it because I…because I took her to that fucking club! She brought the knife over her head again and plunged it into the waste basket not seeing the blood that was gushing from her torn hand. She'll hate me! She'll have every right to hate me because it's my…it's my fault! I betrayed my best friend for a pair of fucking boots and a thousand dollars that I didn't even get!

Yuka dropped the knife, picked up what was left of the boot and swung it around the kitchen. She banged it into the cabinets, the jars that lined her rarely used stove, and a canister filled with used grease.

That son of a bitch! That fucking son of a bitch, she hissed as she spun and slammed the boot into the counter no longer seeing the boot, but instead Kouga's grinning manipulative face, his blue lying eyes, and his deceitful mouth.

Tears were draining from her eyes, leaving tracks in her make-up and causing her mascara to run but she didn't care, she'd never care again. Not after this, not after what she'd done to the only person that tried to help her, and that truly was a friend.

Kagome had never asked her for anything. She'd done nothing but helped her every chance she got and this was how she chose to repay her? Kagome listened when she cried late at night after she'd been with some no named stranger, and she never judged her, not once. When she'd call her because she couldn't make her rent or didn't have money for groceries or to keep the lights on, she'd send her money without expecting it back, and this was how she thanked her?

Yuka stilled, her shoulders quivering uncontrollably as her head fell back and she screamed into the stark white ceiling above. She screamed, and she screamed, and she screamed for forgiveness, knowing she'd never get it; knowing that this was not something that even the gods would forgive her for.

She collapsed to the floor in the middle of her tiny kitchen not caring that she was sitting in a puddle of old grease, the knife slipping from her bloody hand and sliding across the floor away from her. She stared down at the palms of her hands, one covered in blood the other in grease and as the phone sang to life for millionth time that morning she brought her hands up to her face and wept into them.

The guilt was killing her, but she was too much of a coward to do the right thing; to go to the police or Kagome's mother and tell her the truth.

She doubled over clutching her stomach as if someone had just stabbed her as Kagome's mom, her second mother's voice, came over the answering machine, “I just thought that I'd try again in hopes that maybe you guys were just getting in. Please call me as soon as you get there, Yuka. Kagome hasn't gotten home and no one knows where she is. I love you, Yuka, and Kagome if you're there and you're listening to this; you know that I love you more than life itself.

Yuka closed her eyes to the voice and continued to cry knowing that it was only a matter of time before Souta or the police showed up at her door wanting and demanding answers that she just could not give them.

I'm sorry. I…I…I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Please forgive me.

Simonkal of Inuy

Rin tipped around the hotel room, pacing as she gnawed at her lower lip. She wanted to be out there with Inuyasha and Sesshomaru doing something. She didn't want to be sitting by a phone that only rang when Inuyasha called to see if Kagome had called.

Sure, before Inuyasha and Kagome had started dated, she hadn't known Kagome all that well, but over the short time that had passed she had come to really like the woman. If for no other reason than she'd brought back life to Inuyasha's eyes.

Gods, this is going to kill him, she told herself, If anything happens to her… This will destroy him. After that mess with Kikyo, he'll never survive this.

She turned, sat down on the couch and picked up the remote. Staring at the television without seeing it, she continued to gnaw on her lower lip as she tried not to think about her brother-in-law and his missing girlfriend, but failed miserably.

Glancing over at the clock that read 11:43 a.m., she moaned softly as the bottom dropped out of her belly.

Surely Kagome would've called by now, she told herself, She wouldn't just stay out all night like this and not even call her mother even if she didn't call Inuyasha. I mean, sure, I don't know her that well, but based on what I know of her, she wouldn't, right?

Rin stood to her feet again and moved quietly across the living room to the sliding glass doors that led to the balcony. Pulling it open, she stepped out on the cement slab oblivious to the cool air twisting around her.

When Inuyasha had first stormed into her and her mates' hotel room shouting about how `he had her', she didn't have a clue as to whom `he' was. Automatically, she'd thought that her brother-in-law was overreacting as he sometimes did, and would calm down soon.

Once she'd gotten the full story, which wasn't until a few hours later from her husband who had called to check in with her, Rin's mind automatically concocted a story about how Kagome was just out two timing Inuyasha. She didn't dare voice that opinion to Sesshomaru seeing as how he seemed just as emotional about all this as Inuyasha, and that was really saying a lot. When she considered that, it had pissed her off more than she ever wanted to admit. She'd promised herself that the next time she saw Kagome she was definitely going to get the what for from her for upsetting her family over something like this and for breaking Inuyasha's heart.

However, as the hours continued to pass, she started to think that maybe something really was wrong. She suppose that it wasn't until she'd spoken to Kagome's mother that she understood that Kagome wasn't the cheating type and that she never-ever stayed out all night without calling her. At least, not when she was staying in her mother's home, she didn't.

Still, she'd had her doubts because if Kagome was with some guy shacked up somewhere then that meant that she wasn't really in danger, right? If that was the case then it meant that she was okay and healthy and that there was a chance-though small-that Inuyasha would recover from this. Believing that really was better than believing what everyone else was telling her, wasn't it? Though sad, at least it gave her a silver lining and she simply adored silver linings.

Pushing away from the stone sculpted balcony, Rin sat down in one of the cushioned patio chairs and pulled her legs up to her chest. Hold on to your silver lining, Rin, she told herself, knowing that with every hour that was passing that silver lining was getting shorter and shorter. Soon even she, Mrs. Optimism and Sun Shine, would have to face the truth. Something was wrong.

The phone jumped to life and Rin sprang to her feet and dashed inside before it could complete its ring.

“Kagome?”

There was a pause and the person spoke softly, her voice cracking, “No. I guess that means that she hasn't…”

“No,” Rin answered as she spun and sat on the couch, her feet tucked beneath her. “Have you heard anything?”

“No, I haven't. I was hoping that you had.”

Rin couldn't stand the sadness in the woman's voice and just wanted to reach through the phone and hold her until all of this was okay. Briefly she thought, Kagome you better be in trouble, because if you're making your mom worry like this for a piece of…I'll seriously hurt you. Instantly she hated herself for even thinking such a thing.

Pushing her thoughts back, she stated, “Well, Sesshomaru called and said that they had checked out those two clubs you gave Inuyasha, but Kagome's scent wasn't there.”

“I know, Inuyasha called me,” Mrs. H. replied. Rin heard the woman sigh heavily before she continued, “Inuyasha told me to wait, but if I don't hear from her by 1 this afternoon, I'm going to have to call the police and report her missing.”

A moment of silence passed between them, and Rin knew and understood why Inuyasha wanted her to wait. If she reported Kagome missing, it would make this real…too real. It would make the idea that she was just out gallivanting all over town with God knows who, nothing more than a totally fabricated dream.

Not only that, but she was the girlfriend of a Takahashi; a name that was internationally known. The media would get wind of it and they would turn the Higurashi compound and Kagome's disappearance into a three ring circus. There would be whackos coming out of the woodworks looking for handouts in return for false information with regard to her disappearance. And there would be crazies calling in saying they'd seen her when they hadn't, or talking about how she got abducted by aliens. Basically, it would do more harm than it would good.

Even knowing all that, Rin knew she couldn't tell the woman not to do it. If it were her child…one of her boys, she would've done it hours ago, and that wouldn't have been a damn thing that anyone could say to her to deter her.

“Okay, I understand.”

The woman started to sob softly into the phone and Rin's heart sank and wept for her. “Higurashi-sama, I'll make the call, okay? I'm going to get dressed and come over and I'll make the call to the police at 1,” she told her softly, hoping that at least that would be one weight that the woman would not have to carry. Knowing that if she were the one to make the call and if she was there when the police arrived, she'd be able to keep the Takahashi name out of the report all together.

If it was necessary and she was sure she'd have to, at least for herself, she would use one of their aliases that they used when they traveled abroad or just didn't want to be seen.

The woman's sobs quieted as she intoned brokenly, “Thank you so much, Rin. Thank you, because I don't think I have the strength to do it myself; even though, I know it must be done.”

“It's nothing. I'll be there in 30 minutes, okay? Perhaps you should have Souta or Nola locate a picture of Kagome; I'm sure the police are going to ask for one.” That sounded cold even to her ears, but it was the truth and it needed to be done.

“Okay,” the woman responded softly and the phone disconnected in Rin's ear.

Hanging up the phone, Rin shuffled over to the baby's room where Hoko was and stated as she pushed the door open, “I'm going over to Kagome's mother's house. Please answer the phone if it rings, and if it's her give her my cell phone number and tell her to call her mom.”

He looked up at her and nodded his head in understanding.

Rin looked away from him, stepped into the room, and made her way quickly to the cribs that held her sons. Leaning over the bars, she placed a gentle kiss to each of their silky white covered heads and thanked the heavens that she knew where they were.

Turning away from the two infants, she started towards the door as she spoke softly as not to rouse the sleeping children, “If my mate or Inuyasha calls, tell them where I will be and that at 1 pm Higurashi-sama will be contacting the police.”

“Of course, Lady Rin,” Hoko responded as she opened and closed the door behind her.

Closing her eyes as she stood still for a moment, attempting to center herself, she chanted quietly, “This will end well. This will end well. This will end well, because it has to and because Inuyasha deserves it.”

Simonkal of Inuy

Disgusting, the full demon thought as he turned away from the vagabond that was digging through a bag of rotten vegetables at the end of a musty trash filled alley.

Shoving his hands into the pockets of his rumpled slacks, he stuck his head into the air and sniffed liked he'd been doing for the past few hours, and like every time before, he smelled everything and nothing that he was looking for.

He'd gone to every rundown, out of the way, ghetto, sweat filled, and abhorrent club located on the south and east sides of town and he hadn't been able to locate a single solitary whiff of the damn woman. It was almost as if she had just vanished off the face of the planet.

For his brother's piece of mind, he'd even ventured into a few of the places and asked the bouncers and door patrons if they'd seen anyone fitting Kagome's description, but he'd only done that twice because he quickly realized that describing her was just like describing the other 5 million woman that walked these streets on a daily basis.

Futile, he scoffed to himself not really wanting to feel half as pessimistic as he did, but he'd never been a man to live or dwell in worlds made of fairy tale dreams and gumdrop trees.

The truth was the truth, they all knew it regardless of whether it was a fact that anyone wanted to face. She wasn't out here in these streets wondering aimlessly like some lost child. She wasn't asleep at some friend of her's house, drunk, and based on what he knew of her, she wasn't stepping out on Inuyasha with some `Yank' like whoever her mom talked to said.

Sure, any of that would have been much nicer to believe than the obvious, but sometimes life just wasn't that pretty. Sometimes…sometimes it was ugly, and hurtful, and it destroyed the things that people held dear to them, and his brother was no exception to this.

Yes, the truth was the truth; there was no doubt about that.

Sesshomaru glanced down at his watch then back up at the bright sun that was positioned almost perfectly in the sky and he scowled at it as if it had somehow offended him.

12:27, he thought idly and turned down the next street, the wind blowing through his silver mane, wrapping it around him; he paid it no mind and continued down the street and into the park that sat at the end of it.

Pulling the disposable phone that he'd purchased during the wee hours of the morning out of his pocket, he considered calling Rin just to hear her voice, but thought better of it as it would only serve to raise her and the Higurashi's spirits only to dampen them again.

He shoved the phone back in his pocket; he may have been known as an impassive bastard, but he was by no means cruel.

Disappearing into the forest, he stopped and sniffed, searching for any onlookers that may have been hanging around watching.

Sensing that no one was there, he dissolved into his energy form and zipped forward low to the ground while making sure to be careful of the approaching trees and the raised large roots.

He honestly had no desire to go where he knew he had to go because he hated dealing with other people's emotions, but this was sort of family even if no one but he and his brother knew this little fact; the Higurashi's were indeed family.

It was also for that reason and that reason alone that he's stayed out as long as he had-almost 14 hours-searching for her when he knew without a shadow of a doubt seven hours into it that what they were doing would bring forth no results.

This wasn't some sort of love story where the hero was going to rush in and save the heroine in the nick of time. No, he knew even if no one else wanted to admit it; this was no love story or fairytale; this was the real world, and things like that just did not happen.

They would see Kagome when he, the wolf demon, chose to let them see her. She would be free when he, the wolf demon, felt it was time for her to be free, and not before. And as much as he would've liked to play in the river of denial with the rest of them, which he just couldn't do, he knew that there was a very real and genuine possibility that they would never lay eyes on the woman again.

He knew that if anyone would've heard his thoughts it would've seemed as if he really didn't care one way or the other, but that wasn't the case at all.

He cared, he did.

He cared and he worried, though no one would ever know, about his brother's well-being if this ended badly and there was an 85 percent chance that it would. He cared about how her mother and brother would deal after the fact, and he cared and worried about whether Higurashi would be made to suffer because of his brother's thoughtless actions to claim her.

He cared, he really did. He was just a realist, first and foremost. He knew that simply caring was no better than a lazy fat slob with good intentions of getting in shape; it truly served no purpose unless some kind of action was put behind it.

He slowed as he came up on the Higurashi compound. His energy form swerved and rolled against the force of velocity that was trailing behind him and as it slowly dissipated he allowed his humanoid form to come forth, leaving him just a little dizzy and not quite breathless, but on the verge of it.

He absolutely hated using his energy form-one of the three forms he could take-but it was the fastest one of all of them, and perhaps that's why even with age it still affected him.

Brushing off the sleeves of his shirt, he stared at the two-story home that set a few yards away from him looking as if death itself had come to pay them a visit. It seemed lifeless, but he knew and could feel the auras penetrating through the walls inside the home.

There was six people inside; his mate, whom he longed to hold, Kagome's mother and brother, the cat demon, and two other human women he had not met as of yet.

Sesshomaru started forward, but stopped. He wasn't afraid and couldn't think of one time that he'd ever been afraid, but he did feel something buried deep within his gut, tugging at him as if it was slowing unwinding or was it simmering waiting patiently for…

What is this feeling? he questioned, his hand coming to his belly. Clutching it, he understood that it was empathy for the family…his distant and new family that had just had a part of their very being ripped away. It was empathy, understanding, pity and compassion all rolled into one like an unevenly kneaded and baked loaf of bread.

He pushed that feeling to the side, shoved it away as if it was the fingers of a diseased slut and started forward. There was no time for these trivial emotions, there was no more time to waste on thinking and dreaming and hoping, and there was no more time anymore for doing this the Higurashi way.

If she, Kagome, wasn't already raped, beaten, and possibly killed…

He couldn't allow that thought to finish. Not because he wanted to test the waters of denial, but because there was no time for that…for thinking…for contemplating.

Simonkal of Inuy

Souta watched the two useless cops leave, Rin closing the door politely behind them and he growled. Stomping out of the living room where his mother, Rin's husband, Eri, Ayumi, and Nola were sitting; each looking more useless than the other.

“We can't make an official report until she's been missing for 24 hours,” one of the cops had said, sounding just as sorry and pathetic as he looked.

“You have to understand, she is an adult; if she chooses to go off on her own then it is her business,” the other short, fat, sloppy, and gnawed-faced one had added.

They'd tried to get them to understand that Kouga was dangerous and that Kagome was in a committed relationship so she wouldn't just run off like that not with all of the people she knew and loved accumulated in the same city, but the sorry ass troll looking cop had said in a joking teasing tone, “Women run off all the time for no apparent reason. Maybe she and this ex of her's decided to hook back up and pick up where the left off.”

Souta had wanted to rip the fuckers head off and shit down his neck at that point, and damn if he wouldn't have tried had it not been for Nola. She had stepped up next to him at that point and laid a soothing hand on his shoulder.

In the end, the assholes simply took the report with no intentions of doing anything about it. The fat gnawed faced man slipped a picture of his sister in his back pocket and Souta knew the prick would be masturbating to it later. The cops then shot each of them apathetic patronizing looks before they turned and headed out the door.

The teenager that was nearly a man reached up and opened one of the cupboards and slammed it shut, wanting and needing desperately to break something or punch something! No one was doing anything with the exception of Inuyasha! He was out there bone tired searching…scouring the city looking for her by himself. He'd refused to come and speak to the police! He'd told them that it was a waste of time and that they wouldn't help, but his mother-as much as he loved her-just wouldn't listen!

Running his hand through his hair, he felt more than saw when Nola stepped into the room and he stepped back away from her, scowling angrily as if she was responsible for his sister's disappearance.

“Souta?”

“Don't fucking touch me,” he hissed hatefully, his anger not directed at her, but she was here...she was close…she would get the brunt of his rage.

“Souta?” she said again, and he stepped back again away from her, his stance changing as if at any moment he was going to attack.

She looked at him, confused almost afraid and he looked away hating that he was making her feel this way when all she wanted to do is help, but he needed this. He needed to feel this anger, this rage. He needed to let it run its course. He needed to deal with it the only way he knew how.

“This isn't healthy, Souta, let me help you. Let me…”

“You don't think I know it's not?” he questioned increduosly. “But what else do I have, Nola? What fucking else do I have? I can't go out and look for my damn sister because my mom is falling apart, and the fucking police that's suppose to fucking protect and serve don't know the fucking meaning of it! What else am I suppose to do, huh? Tell me that!”

He was screaming now, certain that everyone in the house could hear him, but he didn't care. He was past caring! So far past it that he knew that he'd be groveling and apologizing to her for days, months, and years to come. Still, he didn't care.

“Souta, please,” Nola begged, tears coming to her eyes.

He looked away from her again, and reached down, grabbing the back of the chair closest to him and pulled it away from the table, throwing it across to the other side of the kitchen. “No!” he bellowed, “Let me be angry, Nola! Let me have this one fucking thing! Just let me have this,” he finished his arms shaking as small veins started to pop up at his temples and forehead.

He knew she just wanted to touch him, hold him, and caress him. She just wanted to make everything better for him and she wasn't wrong for wanting that, but he also knew that to him she was like calming sedative…a bottle of valium.

He didn't want that! Not now! Not while his sister was missing! He felt he had no right to be nestled against her feeling like all was right with the world when it fucking wasn't!

Souta turned from her abruptly and stormed out the back door, ignoring the way it slammed behind him as he stomped into the yard, not sure of where he was going or why. He just needed to get away from her…from them for a few minutes.

He paced when he got near the front steps, stopping every few seconds to look down them as if he was thinking of running, or as if he'd see Kagome walking up towards him a big grin on her heart shaped face.

His heart sank at that thought, palpitated within his chest and he inhaled deeply and threw his head back, refusing to allow one more tear to fall. That would solve nothing! His sister would still be missing, his mother would still be on the edge of having a mental break down, and his girl friend's heart would still be broken because of the way that he'd just spoken to her.

It would solve nothing!

He wasn't sure how long he'd stood there staring up at the blue picturesque sky above, but at the sound of a voice, heavy and smooth, he turned.

“If you're through throwing your temper tantrum, I could use your help,” Sesshomaru stated still a few feet from him.

Souta scowled at him, but didn't say anything about the gibe at his one-sided shouting match with Nola. Instead, he replied hastily, “If it gets me off this property, whatever it is, I'll do it.”

Sesshomaru passed him without looking at him and started down the cement steps towards the silver Infinite that Rin had arrived in and for a moment he thought the demon wasn't going to tell him what it was he need help with.

“Are you coming?” he questioned over his shoulder, his unreasonably long hair trailing out behind him.

Souta spared not even a second glance back at the house before he was trailing down the steps behind Sesshomaru.

The two were quiet as they both climbed into the car; Sesshomaru in the driver's seat, Souta the passenger seat. As they pulled away from the curb Sesshomaru stated as Souta watched Nola come to a stop at the top of the stairs, her arms at her sides, her face drawn, “Do you know where this Yuka person lives?”

Tearing his eyes away from her, he retorted, “Yeah, but my mom has been calling all morning; there's no answer.”

“That doesn't mean she's not there,” Sesshomaru told him, and then added, “How about Nashitaku Kouga, do you know where he lives?”

Souta stared at the demon for a long dry minute before answering, “I know where he used to stay, but not where he lives now.”

“You will take me to both these places.” It was a statement of fact, not a question by any means.

Souta couldn't help but to wonder if the demon knew what he was doing by going to Kouga personally. He quickly pushed that thought aside, because if it meant bringing his sister home safely then he would do what he had to. Already, he was feeling a little more relaxed…a little more useful. Anything was better than standing around doing nothing.

“Do you have a gun or something?” Souta questioned seriously, reaching down and opening the glove compartment. The demon didn't reply, so he added as he closed the compartment, “Well, I'm all for going in there half cocked if my sister is there, but I must warn you; even though I hate the guy, he's no push over.”

The demon snorted and remained silent and Souta spared just a fraction of a second to glance at him, then at the clock on the dash board that read 2:25 before turning his attention to the road. “Turn right here and go four blocks down,” he said to Sesshomaru, “Then we're going to make a right by the Sake Dive and its 15 minutes down that road on the…”

Simonkal of Inuy

Her eyes fluttered open slowly and for a minute, the briefest second in time; she didn't know here she was. However, all of that went away when she looked over her head and saw her things…everything that she owned in the world slanted awkwardly as if she was in some upside down world.

She pushed up slowly, ran her hand through her mussed hair, and saw for the first time the damage she had done in her moment of blind stupidity and rage.

There was a deep, long gash running the length of her palm. The blood had dried, leaving not an inch of her skin visible. Glancing down at the floor, she noticed that the blood that had made it to the floor and had not mixed with the grease that her head had been laying in, all of which had coagulated.

Groaning, Yuka pushed up further from the floor to her knees and reached for the counter to gain some leverage. Pulling herself fully to her feet she stepped towards the sink and turned the tap on. Sticking her hand beneath it, she washed the dried blood off quickly and grabbed a dish towel and looped it around the damaged area before it could start gushing blood again.

She looked down at the mess she'd created, and carefully stepped over it as not the track it through the house. She decided quickly that she'd get her cut cleaned up and clean up the mess after she did the right thing.

She didn't know when exactly she'd decided this, but there was no longer any doubt in her mind about what she had to do. She needed to call Kagome's mom and tell her the truth, and then she'd go to the police and tell them her part in this and suffer whatever the consequences were, but she'd do the right thing.

Even if it was already too late, at least Kouga would pay for what he'd done, and to her, that's what really mattered.

If he'd hurt Kagome… Hell, that didn't even matter; he just needed to be made to pay for everything he'd done to her friend from the time they met and to everyone that had ever unknowingly gotten mixed up with him and paid the price.

The right thing, she told herself as she stepped into the living room and glanced at the digital clock. 2:03; there's still time. There has to be.

Stepping further into the living room, she ignored the flashing numbers on her answering machine that read 20, and picked up the cordless phone.

“I thought you were never going to get up,” a husky male voice stated from somewhere behind her.

Yuka stilled, her heart rate increasing so much that she could hear it pumping in her ears. Turning slowly to look at the owner of the voice, she sprang backwards, knocking over the cheap stand she'd purchased when she first moved into her apartment.

“What… Who…who are you? How did you get in here?”

He laughed, his emerald green eyes glistening as deep cratered dimples appeared on either side of his face. His teeth were perfect; straight and white; perfect. His hair cut close to his head gave him a boyish charm that she knew under normal circumstances she would have gravitated to.

He wasn't full Asian, she knew that much, because of his nose, his sculpted cheek bones and the shape of his eyes, but at least he seemed all human. “Looks can be deceiving a small voice whispered,” and she shied away from the man like a wounded dog.

“Now, now,” he told her conversationally as he reached back behind him and pulled out the shiniest, biggest gun that she'd ever seen in her life, “Do you really want to bother with such trivial things?”

Yuka tried to speak, to say something, but the shine of the gun, the stranger, and the feeling in the pit of her stomach that told her that this was not a good situation for her to be in, wouldn't allow her to speak, let alone move.

She knew she should've been screaming or throwing something at him so that she could make her way to the door. She knew she should be doing something…anything to alert her neighbors-even though she hated all of them-that she was in trouble and needed help, but she couldn't move.

The fear…the knowledge of not knowing gripped her and rode her until she was trembling in the spot where she stood. Something warm and wet started flowing down the inside of her leg, but she only knew that vaguely because she knew she shouldn't have been feeling anything in that area at this point and time.

He gasped tauntingly and threw his head back and laughed as her reached behind him again. This time he pulled out a pristine white rag and began wiping the barrel of his gun as if he was sensually caressing a woman before sex. “Tinkle, tinkle,” he teased pointing the gun at her in a flippant manner before bringing it back to his person, “I would've let you go to the bathroom. I mean, I'm not a monster.”

His voice was so soothing that it didn't fit the situation; it was like a blatant oxymoron; it just didn't fit, but neither did his appearance. Monsters weren't supposed to be well dressed with expensive shoes and platinum watches. They weren't supposed to be drop dead gorgeous and well spoken, and they weren't…they weren't supposed to be in her home.

He sighed lightly, shoved the white cloth back into his back pocket, reached around to his other side with the same hand and brandished the longest hunting knife she'd ever laid eyes on. He stared at the device for a long minute. Flipped it from side to side, brought it up to his nose and sniffed it, and then he glanced at her.

He was staring at her as if he was trying to decide something; his gaze boring into her, delving into the deepest parts of her soul with those green haunting eyes of his. He looked down again at the knife and then at the gun and shrugged before shoving the knife-without looking-back into it's hiding place.

Nodding his head in her direction, he questioned mildly, “Who were you calling?”

She glanced down at the phone quickly having forgotten she was even holding it, and then back up at him. “No…No one.”

He pouted, his mouth making a disapproving `tis' sound softly. “Now, you see, I may be a lot of things, but I'm not liar. I can't stand liars,” he hissed, his face transforming into something monstrous before going back to his debonair persona. He shrugged his wide shoulders again and sighed. “I suppose it doesn't really matter, does it?”

Yuka stepped back away from him, the phone slipping from her hand. She could hear the soft beep of the receiver letting her know that the phone was off the hook and she shrank back away from the man subconsciously.

This couldn't be happening to her! She had to be sleeping! This…this had to be a dream; it had to be!

“Who are you?” she managed softly as a solitary tear slipped down her face.

He scowled at her for a moment before he leaned back against the counter comfortably and retorted in a playful tone, “Trivial things, Yuka. Does it really matter who I am?” He crossed his feet at his ankles and allowed the gun to dangle lifelessly from his fingers as he continued, “If I were you,” one finger came up to the side of his mouth in a feminine sort of way as if he was thinking hard, and then he finished, “I would ask if I was going to rape you.” He kissed the tip of his finger slightly and let it drop back to his side.

She swallowed hard and backed up again until she was against the wall. “Ar…are you going to…rape me?”

“That's really not a fair question since I gave you that one, but if that is how you want to play, then so be it.” He looked at her for a long minute before he actually answered her, “Nah, I do a lot of things, but I don't do that. Besides, I've heard that you've been around the block more than a few times.”

He was toying with her! Why was he toying with her? If he was going to hurt her why hadn't he done it yet? Why was he playing with her?

Yuka stared at him as he stared at her as if he was checking her out across some bar. “Are you going…are you going to hurt me?”

He laughed soft and endearingly as he reached into the front pocket of his loose fitting slacks and pulled out a small chrome circular object. “Now you're asking the right question,” he told her with an approving nod of his head. He gripped the gun tighter in one hand and screwed the cylinder thing onto the end of the barrel with his other hand, his eyes never leaving her face. He waited a moment more before he answered her, a polite smile on his devilish face, “And to your question; yes, yes, I have every intention of hurting you, Yuka.”

Her knees started to give out as a whine escaped her lips, “Why? Why? What did I do? What did I do to you?”she cried, grasping on to the wall to steady herself. The fact that he'd used her name registered with her, but it didn't mean much because a lot of people knew her.

“We're back to trivial things,” he told her, totally unaffected by her tears. “Now, you should ask me how bad I'm going to hurt you?”

“No, no,” she wept shaking her head as she slid down the wall to the floor. “I don't want to know. I…I… Help me. Someone, please help me,” she pleaded too softly for anyone to actually hear her and help her.

He walked towards her slowly, his feet barely touching the carpet. “You don't want to play anymore?” he questioned after squatting down in front of her, his elbows resting on his knees, his hands dangling between his legs; the gun with its additional 3 inch cylinder attachment still a prominent accessory.

She leaned into the wall away from him, tried to disappear into it…through it as she shook her head slightly in a negative fashion.

“Are you sure?” he questioned, his tone caring, soothing, and so…so warm.

“Yes,” she replied weakly, hope soaring within her.

“Well, I don't force a woman to do anything she doesn't want to,” he advised her politely.

She closed her eyes and turned her head away from him.

There was silence, dead…defeaning silence and she thought even though she felt no movement from him that he'd left somehow, but as she was about to open her eyes something whispered in the back of her mind that maybe she shouldn't open them just yet and for once she listened, just listened.

A throaty groan rumbled up the back of his throat and he leaned in closer to her so that his mouth was a breath away from her ear. “I was told to tell you, that she was always…always better than you,” he whispered and her heart flipped and her stomach twisted and she knew why he was here and who had sent him.

There was a pressure, cold and hard against her chest to the right of where most people believed their hearts were, but she knew it was dead on. She could feel the steel through the thin shirt she wore, and then there was a snap not much louder than a soft clap, and the pain was there, ripping through her chest, her back, running up and down her spine, numbing her limbs almost instantly. Her body slumped to the side; her extremities shaking, trembling, and twisting.

She gasped, tried to suck in air, but she couldn't. Her eyes were focused on the ceiling above her, darkness ebbing in slowly from the corners of her vision; her ears felt muffled as if she were underwater, and she tried to breathe in again, but still she couldn't.

He was there over her, staring into her face, an almost apologetic but more a curious look in his eyes. He smiled at her bright and welcoming as the darkness ebbed in faster expunging the light she was desperately trying to hold onto.

The world that she'd known was becoming something foreign and unknown. She reached for it frantically with mental fingers and begged with a silent tongue for this not to be real…for this not to be happening.

As the last of his ungodly green eyes vanished she knew…she knew it would be the last thing she ever saw.

“Don't fight it,” she heard him whisper and she was gone…erased…removed…deleted.

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

Next Chapter: Useless Hands

Acknowledgements:(Wow, most votes ever in the history of this fic!! Way to go!!)

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