InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Heart's Landfill ❯ Unsung Heros ( Chapter 61 )

A/N: As always all characters will be walking that fine line called OOCness!! Guys I'm really sorry about the long wait, but my life has been in utter chaos for the past few months. First, on Super Bowl Sunday while I was sitting at home, alone, trying to catch the commercials, some jerk-off decided he wanted to kick my patio door in. He made it as far as the kitchen, but Poly-anne, my 9mm Glock, ran his butt off with quickness. Even to this day, it still bothers me so much so I can barely focus on writing. Anyway, just when I'm starting to believe everything is going to be okay, I learn my beautiful, wonderful, loving, and inspirational beta for the past 6 years, Shawn Laverne aka Neko, passed away on the 1st of February. That news, my friends, crushed my very soul. I know many of you did not know her, but trust me, to know her was to love and adore her. She will be missed until the day I leave this earth and pass into the next. To her family, Jess, Linus and her son, please accept my deepest condolences and know that you are not alone in your grief.

For reasons already explained, this chapter has not been properly edited.

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

Chapter 61:

Unsung Heroes

Ayame fidgeted as she gazed out the window of the Lexus and into the forest lining the small clearing. Hakkaku had been in the cabin for less than 7 minutes, but it felt like he'd been gone for an eternity. At this point she wasn't sure if she was more afraid for his safety, her mate's safety or for the girl's. She leaned forward, her anxiety rising as she heard the sound of glass breaking in the back of the cabin.

She didn't realize this, but her first thought wasn't of Kouga or the girl, it was of Hakkaku. Before she could stop herself, her hand was on the handle, her promise forgotten. She was out the car, up the stairs and down the short hall way before she knew what she was doing.

As she drew closer to the master bedroom the sounds and scents of mayhem grew more poignant. The metallic scent of blood clogged her nostrils and brought her up short as she reached out to push the already ajar bedroom door further open.

Ayame gasped and stepped back at the sight that greeted her. Kouga and Hakkaku were violently tearing at one another with claws and teeth. Kouga was trying to tear open Hakkaku's jugular with his teeth, but every time he got close, Hakkaku would either kick him back or punch him in the side of his head, sending him flying to the side. Kouga would rebound quickly, but Hakkaku was fast…too fast. He jabbed and ducked, rounding on Kouga ever so often, but he never allowed Kouga to get his hands on him. Ayame figured Hakkaku knew Kouga was stronger than him, so he used what he had to combat it, his speed and his stamina.

Her eyes moved from the two men, around the room, and across the broken destroyed décor she'd spent months tediously picking out. She sighed deciding all of it could be replaced and stepped into the room being careful not to involve herself in their fight.

She stopped short, her attention riveted on a blood soaked bundle lying across the disheveled bed. Her world slowed as she neared the bed. She reached out slowly, one finger pushing tentatively against the bundle.

There was no response.

She repeated her action, but this time with a little more force.

Still, there was no response.

Ayame stepped forward, crawled up on the bed, and un-wrapped the blanket. She didn't know what she thought she was going to find, but what she saw caused her to leap back off the bed as a wayward scream rose up from the back of her throat and escaped through her lips.

How could he do this? How could he… He's an animal! He's… Oh gods! Oh…oh…oh gods, she wept as she stared at the bloodied mess before her.

The portion of the woman's face and head she could see no longer looked human or even demon for that matter. Her skull appeared deformed as if it had collapsed in on itself. The area where a closed eyelid should have been was swollen shut and bruised purple. Her nose looked as if it was smashed into her face and her lips-the portion she could see-was split and hanging open showing a few broken teeth.

Ayame turned away from the macabre display, her heart racing in her chest, filled with anger and resentment for the thing that had done this. Regardless of the issues she had with this girl; no one deserved this! No one!

Before she knew what she was doing, Ayame threw herself in the middle of the fight. She was on Kouga's back, her legs wrapped around his waist, her nails digging into the face she once kissed and caressed with love and adoration.

“How could you do this?!” She felt her nails break through his skin and she yanked back bringing his flesh with her. Warm blood gushed down his face and over her hands, but she didn't care. He twisted, growled and tried to throw her off, but she held on tight. “You're an animal, a fucking animal,” she shouted, her nails moving down to his neck in raking motion. “Monster!”

Someone was shouting her name, but she was too angry…too incensed to care. She knew she couldn't beat Kouga, but she'd be damned if she let him walk away from this unscathed. “I hate you! I hate you!” Her eyes flitted over the girl's prone form for just a moment as he pushed back knocking her against the far wall so that she jostled loose. In that moment, she wasn't sure if she was angry at him for what he'd done here or if she was just angry with him for the way he'd treated her over the years. Her legs slipped and he took that moment to reach back and throw her across the room.

Ayame landed hard, but the adrenaline pumping through her forced her back to her feet. She glared at him, red flames burning in her green irises. She brought her bloodied right hand to her mouth and licked at his blood as she snarled at him, silently promising him a fight to the death. In this moment she was more beast than she'd ever been in her whole life. She didn't know what was making her this way, but she knew if there was a breath of life left in the human, she was going to protect it. It didn't matter if she was at one time his love interest. None of that mattered now, because this…killing…beating was more than deplorable.

“I'll see you dead,” she growled.

“Fuck…you,” Kouga hissed as she dropped low to the ground, her hands going to the ground between her legs ready to pounce.

He grinned at her, his fangs bared. “Now you choose to act like you're more than just a cold fucking fish? Well, fuck you and the wolf you rode in here on.”

They charged at one another simultaneously. His eyes were filled with hatred and hers with vengeance, but they never had the chance to connect, or rip each other apart like they both wanted to. Instead, there was a loud bang, and then another one and she found herself pinned against the wall behind Hakkaku, his gun gripped tightly in his hand. Her ears were ringing, her blood pulsing swiftly through her veins as she gasped for air while trying to control the extra charge of adrenaline racing through her. It fed her need for vengeance and violence.

She pushed away from Hakkaku and stared at where Kouga stood looking at the two of them, a look of disbelief on his face. He staggered forward, blood bubbling up out of his mouth as he mouthed something indiscernible. He staggered momentarily, reached for her, and fell flat on his back, his arms out to his side, his legs together as if he was Jesus and Judas had just betrayed him.

Ayame stared down at the carnage as Hakkaku walked around and behind her without shooting a passing glance at his longtime friend. The madness she'd been feeling faded slowly as she stared at Kouga's prone body. He stared vacantly up at the ceiling, his lungs laboring for what little air they could get.

She started to move, her feet carrying her towards him aimlessly. Kouga, she thought forgetting about the things he'd done and the girl he'd savagely beaten.

“Kouga,” she whispered out loud. A voice, soft but manly, brought her up short. It demanded her attention in away Kouga's never did. She blinked, forced herself through the haze that was her mind and turned to him.

Hakkaku was standing at the door, the girl-what was left of her-wrapped in the blanket. “Ayame, we need to go. We have to get her to the hospital.” His eyes were patient, but his body spoke the truth. He was annoyed with her.

She glanced down at Kouga's form, his eyes now closed. A tear trickled down her cheek as she stepped away from him and towards and pass Hakkaku.

“Get her purse,” Hakkaku told her. “They're going to need her identification.”

Picking it up with one hand, Ayame swiped the back of her hand over her reddened cheeks. She stopped, glanced down the hallway towards the room holding her mate and asked, “What about Kouga?”

Hakkaku stopped long enough to glance at her in exasperation before he continued out the door without a word.

He's my mate. I can't just leave him like that, but…but the girl…but Hakkaku… I can't…I can't…

She turned and started back towards the room, but strong hands around her waist lifting her, stopped her in her tracks. She broke down, knowing she was just about to make another big mistake, and once again Hakkaku had intervened and saved her from herself.

“I'm sorry,” she whispered between sniffles. She had no idea to whom she was apologizing. Hakkaku, the girl, Kouga, or herself. “I'm sorry,” she whispered again as she spun in Hakkaku's arms and buried her face in the crook of his neck.

“I know,” Hakkaku replied softly as he cradled her to him. “I know.”

Simonkal of Inuy

Everything the fucking man touches turns to shit!

Hakkaku sped down the road. He glanced in his review mirror at the bloodied bundle staining his cream colored leather seats. The only reason he was doing this now is because he could hear her heart struggling within her fragile chest. It was unsteady and weak, but it was there, he was sure of that. He was certain the only thing keeping her alive at the moment was her mate's demon blood, but he knew if he didn't get her to a hospital soon even that wouldn't keep her alive much longer.

When he picked her up, she'd felt like a jelly fish in his hands. There wasn't a bone he touched that wasn't broken in his opinion, but then he wasn't a doctor either. Then her face; it had been mutilated as if Kouga was trying to purposefully disfigure her. Her upper lip was torn open from the base of her nose downward. A piece of her earlobe was missing from her right ear and her hand, the left one, was bent in such a weird way he knew it was broken too. He hadn't seen much more of her, but he knew there was much too much blood coming from her to be just from those wounds. To make matters worse, the woman was stark ass naked when he'd found her.

He figured that was probably what pissed him off most. Kouga had to have scented her and known she was mated. Everyone, even some humans with common sense knew you didn't fuck with a person that was claimed, because there wasn't anyone in heaven nor hell who would stop the shit storm that would come down on you from the person's mate.

That thought put everything into perspective for him.

Kouga knew what he was doing. He had to have known. He just didn't care. That had to be the case. He just didn't care, because she was mated to a half-breed. Kouga had always thought half-breeds, as few as there were, were abominations and would rather see one dead than breathe a breath of air. Hakkaku didn't understand why and probably never would, but that thought angered him even more. He considered turning around and going back to the cabin so he could pop a few more caps in Kouga's sorry ass, but he thought better of it as he gripped the steering wheel and floored the pedal.

They rode in silence for a few more miles before Ayame broke the silence drawing him out of his angry musings, “Do you think she'll make it?”

He glanced at Ayame and then back at the road. “I don't know. I hope so, but as of now her survival has nothing to do with her human blood and everything to do with her mate's blood.”

“Why would he do this to her? What did she do to Kouga to make his so angry?”

The car dropped drastically in speed only to pick up again. He growled to himself and huffed, “Nobody has to make Kouga mad for him to do anything, Ayame! What did you do to him to make him choke you?”

She didn't answer as her hands dropped to her lap, her head hanging sullenly.

“Look, Kouga has always been an ass, but this shit he did to Kagome even took me by surprise. I don't know why he did it and I don't really care. It's un-fucking-excusable.” He looked at her then and finished, “So, if you're hoping I'll say something to make what he's done okay, you can keep hoping because it ain't going to happen.”

Ayame wiped at her eyes and shook her head. “No, I just…I just wanted to know…” She stumbled over her words and continued, “Why didn't I see this? Why didn't I see him for who he really is?”

Hakkaku, flew pass a slow truck, up a hill, and bore to the right, taking the turn at 85 mph. In front of him there was a sign that read hospital 25 miles. He didn't answer her.

They drove in silence for a while longer before Ayame said, “You can't take her in, Hakkaku, I'll have to do it.” She shrugged out of her cashmere coat which was smeared with Kouga's blood and ran her fingers through her mussed hair. She then reached into her purse and pulled out a small compact mirror.

“Why you?” he questioned as he watched her pull a handkerchief from her purse and begin dabbing at the blood smearing her cheeks.

“Because if you go in there they might arrest you, but if I go, they'll just think I found her or that she's my friend.”

He swerved missing a goat and hissed, “You think I care about going to jail? I didn't do shit!”

“Not to day,” she mumbled to herself, but he heard her anyway and he understood. This was her way of protecting him for whatever the reason. Truthfully, he didn't need her protection because anyone he killed was buried in cement or thrown to the sharks. Even though he'd been in this business for a while he could count on one hand how many people he'd taken out, but he did watch quite a few people get done in and that-he admitted-could do him in. Still, he didn't want to push Kagome off on her. He'd made the decision to go save her; she was his responsibility and his alone. At least, until her family was called.

He knew when that happened; he'd have to disappear for awhile because the hanyou and probably even his brother would be on a war path. If he was in the hanyou's shoes there wouldn't be a person on this earth who would've been able to stop him, he was sure of that.

Hakkaku thought for a moment longer, and then told her, “Fine you can take her, but just tell them you found her in a ditch. I'm not telling you to say that because I want to protect Kouga, but this, what he's done is bigger than just him. It could destroy us all.”

Ayame glanced at him and nodded. “I'll tell them that and then leave when no one is looking.”

“Yeah, and don't forget to give them her purse. That way they will know who she is and who they need to contact.”

“Okay,” she agreed and then asked, “How will we know if she's okay? I mean if she makes it?”

“L…et…go…,” a weak barely audible voice murmured. Both parties turned to look at the bundle still lying exactly where Hakkaku had laid it.

Hakkaku turned back and retorted, “I think her chances might be better than we think.”

Ayame turned and looked at him. “Will you be waiting on me?” she asked earnestly.

He shot her a half smile and declared seriously as he reached for her hand, “You're the Bonnie to my Clyde, I could never leave you.”

She smiled weakly back at him before turning to look at the unconscious girl in the back seat again. Hakkaku looked away and wondered for the millionth time as he glanced down at the clock that read 11:44 pm, Why does everything that fucker touch turn to straight shit?!

Simonkal of Inuy

Kouga stumbled through the house, vibrant fury ablaze in colors of reds and yellows rolling through him. He could taste it as if it were the blood coating his mouth at the moment. He staggered, leaning against the wall as he clutched his stomach with one hand, covering the two entry wounds where the bullets had passed through his midsection.

He couldn't say for sure, but he was certain one of the damn things had nicked his left lung and one of his ribs. The other passed straight through him, only tearing at muscle. He didn't like being shot, because it hurt like hell, but he figured it was better than being dead. Already, he could feel his insides working to heal itself. Yep, it was definitely better than being dead.

He fell forward, hitting the back of the sofa in the living room and rolled down onto his back. He inhaled as deeply as his wounds would allow and stared up at the ceiling as he permitted the scene from earlier to play within his mind. He could only remember fragments of the evening, but he was certain he and Hakkaku had fought and the dried up cow, Ayame, had tried to rip his face off.

If I knew she was that feisty, I would've paid her a little more attention. He wheezed, his insides burning as he fought back the bile that threatened to push up through his throat.

He'd pay both of them back tenfold. He'd slit Hakkaku's neck from ear to ear and slice him open from groin to chest. Then he would dance on his innards. Ayame, that rancid cunt, when he got his hands on her, he'd rip her tongue from her mouth and strangle her with it.

He laughed at his thoughts and almost choked on his blood as the ceiling above him swayed and twisted in on itself.

The bastards probably thought he was dead. The damn idiots. But he had something in store for them, all of them, including that…that two timing mutt lover, Kagome. He swore under his breath and clutched his stomach as he tried to roll to his side but failed. If she wasn't already dead, he'd get her too. He'd get her and he'd finish it this time. How dare she? How dare she mate with someone who wasn't him?! How fucking dare she?

A fucking half-breed… A fucking half-breed… She fucked a fucking mutt bare backed! Nasty bitch! I'll get her… I'll teach her about passing my pussy around! Has everyone lost their goddamn minds?!

Did she think he'd find out about it and say he was happy for her? Did she think he'd send her a gift and wish them well? Did she think he was done with her? Did she fucking think he was done?

He coughed out something caught between a laugh and a groan and closed his eyes, savoring the quiet. More than likely this would be the last time he would be able to enjoy it. He laid there a moment longer fighting the desire to cry out in pain and agony. His insides felt like they were on fire. No, no, they were in knots and on fire. No, no, they were in knots, on fire and someone was pouring acid on them. Yep, that had to be the case, he decided as he fought through the pain, pulled what was left of his strength to the forefront, and rolled onto his side. He then used the chair next to him as leverage to pull himself back to his feet.

The room spun around him for a moment longer, before he started towards the door again. Reaching for it, he paid no attention to the blood staining his hands as he pushed the storm door open and stepped through it.

He held on to the railing for dear life as he stumbled down the stairs and towards his car. Kouga wheezed again and coughed. Spitting out a glob of blood, he staggered to his car, pressed his thumb against the finger print reader and waited for the door to pop open.

He climbed in, laid his head back against the headrest, and said as calmly as he could, knowing that the car wouldn't obey if he didn't, “Crank.” It did and he sighed in relief. At least something was working to his benefit.

“Call Maki,” he said into the air and a minute later the phone was ringing, the sound coming from every corner of the automobile. 4 rings later someone picked up.

“Yes?”

“A…re you and your brother in Kyoto?”

There was silence before the voice responded, “We can be.”

“Good, meet me at the spot,” he told him, his voice hoarse and laced with pain, “And this is between us-no one else.”

Maki was quiet as if thinking about saying something and deciding against it.

“In the morning, be here.”

“We will,” Maki replied seconds before the call disconnected.”

Kouga sat there for a moment longer stewing with rage at everyone and everything, before darkness fell over him, sucking him down into pit filled with revenge and anguish.

“Fucking bastards,” was the last thing he mumbled as his head fell back, and then slid off the head rest and landed between the headrest and upper door jam.

Simonkal of Inuy

Ayame eyed their surroundings carefully as Hakkaku pulled up outside the emergency entrance. She wasn't sure if he'd done it on purpose, but he parked directly under the surveillance camera so it wouldn't capture either of their likenesses. At most, it might catch the kind of car he was driving.

It wasn't a big metropolitan hospital, but it was a hospital just the same. Where most hospitals were at least 4 stories tall and stretched the length of 3 city blocks, this one barely took up half the block and was only two stories tall. It was stucco white on the outside with a neon red cross at the highest point that read Toshiro General.

As Hakkaku shifted the car into park and jumped out, she unfastened her seat belt and opened her door. Climbing out the car as Hakkaku leaned into the backseat and pulled the girl from the car, the blanket falling from her swollen and bruised face, Ayame stepped back recoiling at the hideous sight. “Maybe we should've cleaned her up first.”

Hakkaku ignored her as he should've and asked, “She's not going to be too heavy for you to carry, is she?”

Ayame shook off her reverie. She may have been somewhat smaller than the woman she was going to carry, but she was a full blooded demon. Power ran through every cell of her body. She nodded once.

“Good,” Hakkaku intoned as he passed Kagome to her. She took her in her arms cradling her head against her shoulder as if she was a child. Ayame felt nothing but remorse for the thoughts she had for the girl, the plans she'd made to kill her, and the hatred she'd developed for her when she was as much a victim as she herself was if not more so.

“You got her?”

“Yes,” she replied quickly not looking up at him.

A second later, Hakkaku was lifting her chin. He wiped away the tears she hadn't realized were falling and smiled at her. Why hadn't she seen him like this before? Had Kouga consumed so much of who she was she couldn't see past him to Hakkaku?

“This, what you're doing is a good thing, Ayame,” he told her.

She nodded, more tears coming to her eyes. “Hakkaku, I…I'm sorry. I'm sorry.”

He dismissed her with snort and pushed her gently towards emergency doors.

She staggered almost dropping the girl, but righted her footing just in time. She glanced over her shoulder at Hakkaku. He was leaning against his car, his arms crossed over his chest, his feet crossed at the ankle, his eyes serious and unreadable, but his lips were turned up at the ends.

She smiled back sullenly and turned back to the automatic doors which opened before her. Quickening her pace, she stepped quickly through the second set of doors, pass the guard's desk, and started screaming, “Help! Someone please! Help me!”

The emergency room wasn't crowded, but there were a few onlookers meandering about. An old man in his late sixties, a young couple with a child about 5, and another couple who she didn't have time to take in.

“I need a doctor,” she shouted again making her way further into the room and towards a set of large steel doors. They opened automatically and she stumbled through. Doctors and nurses were littered here and there.

She made her way towards one who was running up to her. “Please you have to help her! You have to save her,” she cried.

The doctor glanced down at the woman and gasped his eyes bulging dramatically. “Put her in here!” he ordered. “What the hell happened to her? Was she in some kind of car accident?” Before she could respond, he shouted orders at a few other doctors and nurses.

Ayame turned to put Kagome down on the bed and stepped back as 9 or 10 nurses and doctors of varying ages and gender rushed into the room with machines and devices she'd only seen on television and in documentaries.

Everything was moving so fast she couldn't keep up with what they were doing. One minute Kagome was wrapped in a blanket, the next she was naked, a tube running from her arm, another stuck in her mouth, her neck in a brace, her arms out to her side, and then a machine started beeping. Ayame looked up as she stepped back away from the chaotic seen before her. She stared at the doctors and nurses who were talking swiftly amongst each other about getting 20 cc's of this and 40 cc's of that, preparing an operating room, and scheduling a cat scan, and x-rays.

Her hand was covering her mouth as she watched the scene still unable to believe someone she'd shared a bed with was capable of beating anyone in such a way.

“Ma'am,” someone said tapping her on her shoulder.

Ayame spun to face the person. “What?”

“I need to know her name? Is she a friend of yours? What happened to her?” the woman asked prepared to jot everything down on her clip board.

Ayame stepped back and stared from the woman to the scene going on a few feet from them. One of the nurses stepped away from the chaos and closed the glass door, but Ayame could still hear the machine as the doctors worked feverishly to save her husband's obsession and downfall.

She wiped at her eyes again, forgetting about the woman beside her for a moment.

“Ma'am,” we need to know who she is and what your relationship is to her. “She's going to have to go into surgery immediately if we have any chance of saving her life,” the woman told her.

“I…I don't know her. I was driving by and I saw her in a ditch,” she told the woman. “I couldn't leave her there, so I brought her here,” she finished. Ayame thrust the purse at the nurse. “Here, this was next to her body.”

Ayame turned from the woman who was staring at her as if she had “liar” written across her forehead. She decided quickly she didn't care what she or anyone else thought. She'd brought her here for them to help her; she'd done the right thing regardless of what anyone else thought!

It happened almost before she knew it was happening.

Stepping away from the glass doors, she started shaking her head slowly as she heard Kagome's heart skip one beat, then two, and then she heard the heart monitor spike high once, twice and then flat line.

She watched for a moment more as the doctors used electric heart pads and various other things on the woman in order to get her heart to start again, but nothing seemed to work. The green line remained flat, the beep vociferous and so out of place that for a second she forgot where she was.

The sound of death was deafening to her inhuman ears so she did the only thing she could. She turned and bolted for the entrance. Hakkaku was outside waiting and she fell into his arms weeping heavily. She tried and failed several times to tell him what had happened, but as his arms encircled her, she knew words were not needed. He understood the girl…the woman, Kagome, was gone. Kouga had succeeded in killing her.

“Damn,” he whispered into the crown of her head and she swore she smelled the salt of his tears.

Simonkal of Inuy

Morning broke over the Higurashi compound like death descending on the expectant. It was welcomed in the most desperate of ways and yet undeniably unwelcomed. The house was quiet, too quiet and the sound in itself was a riotous thing to listen too.

Every occupant in the two storey home was wide awake, but each so lost within their own thoughts he and she was oblivious to the people nearby.

The matriarch or the Higurashi household was in the kitchen cooking everything she could get her hands on.

Nola was cleaning and reorganizing the pantry. She'd already cleaned all of the bathrooms, the bedrooms, washed all the soiled clothing, and cleaned the areas of the kitchen she could reach without getting in her adopted mother's way.

Souta was sitting at the table, his forehead resting on the table, and his eyes closed. His hands were gripping the legs of the table to his right and left as if it would hold him to this realm.

Sesshomaru stood by the living room window staring out at the yard, his hands shoved deep in the pocket of his wrinkled tan slacks. His face set in its usual impassive scowl as he stared at the rays of light glinting off the ancient oak tree sitting a few yards from the house.

Rin, who had arrived 15 minutes earlier from the hotel, was sitting on the couch with Inuyasha's head in her lap. She was staring off into space as she played with his ears and ran her fingers through his mane.

The hanyou lay motionless allowing her to do as she wished while he stared across the room at a picture of Kagome when she was maybe a few years younger. She was laughing at something he couldn't see and as he laid there, he kept telling himself he'd see her smile again. He had believe this really wasn't as bad as he knew it was.

“Breakfast is ready,” Mrs. H. called from the kitchen.

No one moved.

Sesshomaru turned from the window looked down at his mate and brother and looked back towards the window. He'd thought about going back out, but quickly decided against it. There really was no point, was there?

Rin ran her fingers down the side of Inuyasha's face, under his chin and then back up. “Lover, you need to eat something,” she told the hanyou.

Inuyasha didn't respond.

“You haven't eaten in almost two days,” she added gently. “You have to keep your strength up.

“Why?” he responded quietly, his voice soft and vacant of any emotion. “Will it bring her back? Will it bring her home?”

“Inu-”

Sesshomaru cut her off, “Leave him be, Rin. He will eat when he feels it is time.”

“But,” she started to say, but trailed off as she stared down at the hanyou's somber face. Her eyes followed his and she sighed lightly as she looked away from the picture smiling back at the two of them. How dare you hurt him like this, she hissed silently as she fought back the tears she could feel building up. How could you hurt him like this? How could you do this to him?

In the kitchen, Mrs. H. sat a plate down in front of Souta, who pushed it away quickly and laid his head back down on the cold table top. Why haven't you come home yet, Sis? I can't do this without you.

“Souta you have to eat,” Mrs. H. told him in an all too chipper voice. He said nothing as she sat down another plate and turned to Nola. “Nola, please stop that. I don't think the pantry is going get any cleaner than it already is.”

Nola looked back at her and smiled weakly. Dropping her head, she replied, “I'll eat in a second, Mom, I promise,” and then went back to scrubbing a spot that was already spotless.

Mrs. H. turned away from her and stepped towards the hallway leading to the living room. The phone rang once, twice, three times and she stopped, picked it up and set it back on the cradle without seeing who it was or why they were calling. She then proceeded past it as if nothing had just happened.

She didn't see the look Souta and Nola shot her, and honestly even if she'd been looking she wouldn't have. Stepping into the living room with her daughter's friends and boyfriend, she smiled politely and stated as each of them with the exception of Inuyasha looked at her, “I don't know if you all heard me, but breakfast is ready.”

Rin smiled up at her, but didn't respond as her drawn eyes searched the woman's face for an answer to what she'd just done.

Sesshomaru pushed away from the window and stepped towards her. “I'm sorry, we did not hear your first call,” he lied for the second time in his life as he proceeded pass the woman and into the kitchen.

Rin ran her hand up and down Inuyasha's arm soothingly. “Inuyasha, let's go into the kitchen. Higurashi-sama has cooked for us.”

The hanyou sat up slowly allowing Rin room to move from beneath him, but he didn't move to get up. Instead, he stretched back out on the couch and closed his eyes. His heart felt swollen and bruised, his limbs ladened. If death wanted him so badly, why didn't it just take him? He wouldn't fight it. Not now. He wouldn't fight it.

The phone started to ring again and Mrs. H. turned quickly running back to it. Picking it up again, she slammed it down on the hook, sighed, and turned to the occupants of the kitchen. “Please sit, eat,” she told Sesshomaru and Rin.

Souta stood then and questioned as he turned to her, “What if that was news about Kagome, Mom? What if it was Kagome calling us for help?”

She smiled as she picked up the tea kettle and shuffled over to the table. “It wasn't it.”

“How do you know,” he questioned, challenging her.

“A mother knows,” she told him dismissively.

Nola was now sitting at the table beside Rin, but she wasn't paying attention to the food, she was watching her mate and his mother.

“What's wrong with you,” Souta questioned, his tone rising.

Mrs. H. poured some hot water into a few of the ceramic cups she only used on special occasions and basically ignored him.

“Why are you walking around here acting like Kagome isn't missing?” Souta questioned, refusing to let her off the hook that easy.

She smiled patiently at him and said in a motherly tone, “Well, because she's not missing.”

“What?” he scoffed in disbelief.

She slid into her seat at the head of the table and continued conversationally, “I spoke to her last night.”

Chopsticks clanked softly against plates, sounds of groans filled the room, and the tension rose like lava in an active volcano.

“What?” Souta seethed, his hands fisted. “When did you speak to her? What did she say? Where is she? When is she coming home?”

Mrs. H. smiled up at him sadly as she reached over and patted the chair to her right. “Come sit down, Souta.”

He stared at her in disbelief for long moment before he took a step back away from her. “You've lost it, haven't you?”

“Souta, don't be disrespectful,” Nola reprimanded, standing from her seat.

“You…don't you fucking follow her up,” Souta directed. “Mom's lost it! Kagome didn't call because she can't!” Souta took another step back, turned and looked around the kitchen. Grabbing the first thing he saw, he hurled it against the far wall. “My sister is gone and she's in here cooking a feast and shit like there's something to celebrate! Then…then she's going to say she talked to her!” he bellowed, “Bullshit! Bullshit!”

“Souta!” his mother chastised. “Watch your language.”

He reached out and grabbed another pan and through it with all his might at the kitchen door. “Bullshit!” he shouted at her, “You expect us to believe you spoke to her and she didn't ask to speak to Inuyasha of all people?” he questioned, hell bent on proving she was telling exaggerated tales.

His mother shot him a patronizing look and said, “She didn't have time.”

“What?” it was Rin this time. “She didn't have time?” she questioned incredulously.

Sesshomaru pushed his plate away as if he needed to be ready to sprint if something unforeseen took place.

Mrs. H. turned to Rin as she used her chopsticks to lift a morsel of food to her lips. “She said she was sorry for worrying me. She wanted to let me know she was okay now.”

All of the parties in the kitchen looked at her. No one said anything as she continued, “She was so beautiful, radiant, just like she was on her graduation day.” She smiled to herself as she picked up another bit of food and shoved it in her mouth. “That's really not true, is it? My Kagome was always radiant, even on her worse days.”

There was soft groan and everyone turned to look at Nola and then back to the matriarch of the home.

“She was in a red and gold kimono, just like the one I'd worn the day I got married. It had the prettiest green and white cherry blossoms on it. I reached out to touch it because the material looked so-”

“Kaiden,” Souta bellowed cutting her off. “You're telling me my fucking sister is a ghost?” he questioned in disbelief. She didn't look at him or confirm what he'd asked. He turned and bolted from the kitchen, his voice trailing out behind him, “Bullshit! She wouldn't leave me! My sister wouldn't leave me! You're crazy! You've lost it!”

A low whine could be heard coming from the living room, and Sesshomaru stood to his feet.

Nola was gone a fraction of a second later, leaving Rin staring at Mrs. H. while Sesshomaru stared between her and the hallway unsure for the first time in his life as to what he should do next.

The phone started ringing again and Mrs. H. stood to her feet to get it, but Sesshomaru moved first and stepped over to retrieve it.

She stared at him her eyes pleading with him to hang it up, but he didn't.

“Higurashi residence,” he stated, he hung up a second later and advised, “Wrong number.”

He started to step back towards the table, but stopped and turned down the hallway. Stepping into the living room, he watched Inuyasha push to his feet, his eyes rimmed in red, his hair matted to the side of his head.

“Bitch won't speak to me. He won't tell me she's okay,” the hanyou whispered. His body swayed as if it were a dead tree in the wind. “Bitch always talks to me. He let…he let…” he swayed and Sesshomaru caught him. “If Bitch will just talk to me one more time, I'll know she's okay,” he finished in a whisper as if talking to himself.

Sesshomaru could tell Inuyasha was weak physically and seemed emotionally not there, so he ignored his statements altogether and turned towards the front door where he could hear two sets of feet. Pulling the door open, he greeted, “Good morning,” and stepped back allowing them entrance.

The cops looked at the white haired demons carefully taking each one of them in slowly, and then glanced around the house as if searching for someone, but not finding him or her.

Souta came to the top of the stairs and stopped. Gripping the banister, he sat down on the top step, Nola standing behind him.

Rin came out of the kitchen and stood beside Inuyasha who was now standing beside Sesshomaru, her fingers interlaced with his as if she were trying to lend him her strength.

The older of the officers dropped his head for a moment and raised it as he asked, “Higurashi-sama, is she here?”

“Yes, I'm right here,” she replied stepping out the kitchen as she wiped her hands on a small white towel.

“Higurashi-sama,” the older cop started, but she stopped him.

“Please have a seat,” she told him pointing to the living room, a pleasant smile on her face. “Would you like some tea?”

The officer sighed heavily and looked back at his partner. “No ma'am, but thanks for offering.” He shuffled his feet a little and looked around at the group again before he said, “Perhaps we should all sit down.”

The gathering parted and the lady of the house showed them into the living room. Sesshomaru, Rin and Inuyasha remained where they were and were joined by Souta and Nola as the two cops sat down across from Mrs. H.

“A girl was found on the side of the road about an hour and half's drive from here a little before midnight,” the younger cop started. He reached into his pocket as he continued, “She was brought into the local hospital by a woman who said she just found her, but she disappeared before anyone could really question her.”

Mrs. H's smile fell from her face as she twisted the towel in her hand. “Yes, and what does this have to do with my Kagome?”

“Well, the woman who brought her in had her purse. The local police didn't find an ID but they did find this,” the older cop interjected as the younger cop handed her a small picture. “The picture resembles the one we got from you yesterday.”

It was of Kagome and Inuyasha. She could tell it was taken in one of those booths that can be found in any mall. Inuyasha was trying to cover his face, and Kagome was laughing and tugging at his hands. Mrs. H's hand went to her chest and she gasp as she stared down at it.

The cop looked up at Inuyasha, who was staring at the corner of the post card picture, his face unreadable.

“Inuyasha,” Mrs. H. said, holding the picture out to him.

He stepped up slowly took the picture from her and stared down at it. He remembered this picture and when it was taken. It was the day they bought Ashton. They'd been passing a little photo kiosk and she pulled him in. He'd tried to get out, but she held him there with her womanly wiles. He looked from the picture to the cops and asked almost too quietly, “Where is she?”

The cops looked at one another.

The hanyou closed his eyes, shook his head, and dropped his hands to his sides. “Kagome… If…if you have this it means you found her, right? Where is she?” For the first time that morning, his voice held just a touch of hope.

The younger cop stood up and faced the hanyou. “Well, that's the difficult part.” He scratched his head, and fidgeted uncomfortably.

“Look, just say what it is you have to say,” Souta hissed, stepping up next to Inuyasha. Is my sister alive of dead? Did you find her or not?”

The hanyou lifted the picture and looked at it again before he let his hand drop. “Where is she?”

“We don't know if it's her or not,” the older cop said, standing to his feet. “We haven't seen her, but from what the doctors told the local officers, who called us, she was beaten so badly she's sort of…unrecognizable.”

No one saw it coming. One minute he was standing there as if calm and the next a harsh roar ripped through the small room, as the sound of furniture crashing and breaking echoed from every corner of the room. When the noise stopped, Inuyasha was in the far corner, the older cop gripped tightly by the neck with one hand while the hanyou's other hand reared back and was coming down quick for a death kill.

Sesshomaru sprang forward grabbing Inuyasha's arm. “Inuyasha, don't do this,” he told him quickly. “It may not be your… It may not be her.” That was his third lie, but he needed to give the hanyou hope when it seemed like there was none.

The hanyou growled again as if he didn't hear a thing his brother had said. His hand around the human's neck tightened and his claws elongated. The only thing his mind comprehended was someone had actually hurt her. Someone had beaten her. Someone…that bastard had beaten his fucking mate. Inuyasha tried to shake Sesshomaru off, but his brother held on to him not giving him an inch to move. There was noise behind him, voices that sounded like they were all whispering secrets he weren't supposed to know. They quieted, and then her voice came softly as if she were whispering in his ear, “I'm tired. I'm so tired. Let me go. Please, Inuyasha, let me go.”

The hanyou dropped the man, who gasped for air and crawled away from him while reaching for his gun. Turning on the group, he scanned their faces quickly and grumbled so low no one but his brother and probably Nola heard him, “I can't. So don't ask me to.” There was no response.

The older cop stood to his feet, his partner in front of him. “Because this has been a stressful time, we're going to let that go, but should any of you have any other ideas…”

“Where…is…she?” Inuyasha asked, not turning back to face the detectives. His fists were clenched at his sides, his head down, his ragged bangs hiding his eyes from view.

“If it is her, she was on her way into surgery when we got the call earlier this morning. They're trying to repair what they can there, before sending her to Tokyo University Hospital. Her injuries are so severe the doctors have had to bring her back twice already. They do not believe she'll return a third time because each time her heart grows weaker.”

“Bring her back from where?” it was Nola this time.

No one answered as they all stared dumfounded at the cops.

The younger cop started to say something, but stopped at the sound of his cell phone coming to life. He spoke for a moment and then hung up. “I'm sorry, that was the hospital. They're medevacing her to Tokyo University Hospital now. She's being put on the helicopter as we speak.”

Inuyasha turned and vanished out the door; Sesshomaru a mere step behind him.

The older of the cops stepped through the remaining gathering and turned, “I would advise you all to get to hospital as soon as possible. The person or thing that did this to her, did not mean for her to survive it. So, if you have any goodbyes or other words of adoration to tell her…”

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

Next Chapter: Bedlam

Acknowledgements

Crazykiss ~ Zvaigzduuute ~ Werewolf-lover ~ Snowfall ~ Fudge ~ New Fan ~ Fallen6906 ~ Aprildiamond ~ Kagome434 ~ Tueske ~ Ravens_Ashs ~ Deipurple ~ Lunabell ~ Silverwolf Halfbeast ~ SplendentGoddess ~ Animegirl ~ Scriptix ~ Roniwasa ~ Cwillia ~ Chocolate Cake ~ JulianeZ ~ Inu_Yokai ~ Sarika ~ Laila ~ Hottstuff_90 ~ Ningamonkeyspy ~ Dreamer1234567 ~ KoriL ~ Ari-chan ~ Animegirl90 ~ LucyC ~ Devilishdream ~ Dexter90 ~ Kori_chan ~ Edwardsgirl ~ Vintageazalea ~ Assan ~ BJAG ~ Austenfan ~ Adon ~ Ruchi-san ~ Norwegianwooood ~ Morgan_kitty ~ Meghanita ~ Snoopygirl21 ~ WendyZ ~ Tronbot ~ LizzyBennet ~ EmmaS ~ Hotfuzz ~ Zoey&Jake ~ Bethronet ~ Flowergirl! ~ Glowerer ~ NinaGeiger ~ Brenna1992 ~ Inuyashaloverr ~ SelinaA ~ Lonley Girl ~ Desperate ~ ShaelynBobaelyn