InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Heart's Landfill ❯ Bedlam ( Chapter 62 )

A/N: As always all characters will be walking that fine line called OOCness. Thanks for your patience and that's about all I have to say. Oh, I'm also taking applications for a new and dependable beta, so if you're trustworthy and know your spelling and grammar and don't just want early chapters of the story, please review and then email me. In that order please…lol. Here's to you, Neko—RIP.

Disclaimer: All characters with the exception or mines belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz.

Chapter 62:

Bedlam

Sesshomaru glanced at his brother, who was staring out the window of the town car as it zipped through the afternoon Tokyo traffic heading for the hospital where Kagome was supposed to be.

Inuyasha hadn't said a word since leaving the Higurashi compound. After reaching the air strip where their private jet was waiting, Sesshomaru wanted to wait on the Higurashi family, Rin and the pups, but the look on Inuyasha's face told him that he wasn't going to last that long. So, they took off with no luggage and a call to Rin advising her to fly everyone in on a commercial flight. She wasn't happy about it, but she understood just the same. He'd tried on several occasions during their flight to put himself in Inuyasha's shoes, but each time he tried, just as quickly as he jumped into them, he jumped back out. Had the situation been reversed, there was no way in hell he would've been dealing with this as well as Inuyasha was.

The car slowed to a stop at a red light and Inuyasha spoke for the first real time since their unscheduled trip began, “The first time I saw her, I knew.”

“You knew what?”

Inuyasha turned away from the tinted window, his chin resting on his breast bone. “I knew she'd kill me.” A tear trailed down his cheek. He didn't wipe it.

“Brother?” Sesshomaru intoned softly.

“I knew and I didn't care. I just…I just had to have her.” He went on, “At first, I tried to compare her to Kikyo. I tried to tell myself that she was nothing special, but I knew it was a lie. I…” He looked away from his hands and back out the window at the cars and trees flying by. “I lied to myself and I lied to her. I could've told her that she was my mate. I…I could've told her a hundred times and maybe she wouldn't have gone out the other night. I…” Another tear slipped down his cheek and he hung his head in his hands, his shoulders starting to shake.

Sesshomaru licked his lips and looked away. The last time he remembered seeing his brother cry, he was 10 and Inuyasha was 5. Inuyasha had fallen out of a tree and impaled his leg on a broken limb. But even then, the physical pain he was in held nothing when compared to this moment.

Inuyasha sat back. He ran his hand down his face, and then wiped them on his jeans. “This…this is my fault, isn't it?” he whispered. He shook his head. “I know it is. If I had told her... If…If I hadn't claimed her to begin with—“

“Don't do this,” Sesshomaru uttered. “What happened to your mate is not-“

Inuyasha growled low, “I did this to her. If I hadn't…If I hadn't claimed her. If I had waited then maybe…” He coughed out a dry chuckle as he continued, “If I had told her, Sesshomaru. If I had just told her!”

Sesshomaru wanted to reach over and console Inuyasha, but he couldn't move. He'd never seen him this destroyed before. Not after Kikyo or their parents. This pain…this torment that laid over Inuyasha's soul was such a palpable beast that he recoiled from it.

Inuyasha sniffled and seemed to regain a small measure of control over his emotions. “The night that we had that fight-after the restaurant-she told me that she wished she never met me. I know she was just angry, but gods…” He hung his head again and wrung his hands. “If I knew this was going to happen… If I knew that knowing me would cause this, I would've never…I would've never done it. I would…” His shoulders shook again, and he hissed, “Damn it, Kagome. Damn it.”

“What that sadistic asshole did, had nothing to do with anything you did, Inuyasha. Higurashi is your mate; you do not dictate what happens between the two of you. Had you known this would have happened, you would have still claimed her, because your blood would not have given you any other alternative.”

The hanyou gripped the leather seat as if it would hold him in place and hissed, “I know…I fucking know, and that's what…that's what pisses me off. What kind of mate does this make me? I'm not even mated to her for a fucking week and this happens!”

They rode in silence for a while as the town car turned a few more corners and merged onto the main highway and drove a few more blocks.

“If she dies, Sesshomaru-”

“Don't be stupid, Inuyasha, she's not going to die. Our blood will not allow it.” He spoke with vehemence because he knew of no other way to speak with regard to something of this importance.

The hanyou looked at him for a long moment. “If she does, I'm going to follow her,” he said softly.

They stared at each other, both knowing the truth of the words just spoken would not be undone.

Sesshomaru turned away first as he acknowledged, knowing that if it were Rin there would be no other choice, “I understand, but I cannot sit here and tell you that I would not do everything within my power to keep you with me just a little longer.”

Inuyasha looked at Sesshomaru in confusion, and then a small, but hesitant smile of understanding began to spread over his face. “You're an ass, you know that? The one chance you have to truly get rid of me, you become soft.”

Sesshomaru snorted, “And you're still a half-breed who seriously should've been drowned at birth.”

As the town car finished the last lap of their trip from the airport and pulled up to the emergency entrance of the hospital, Inuyasha cringed at the sight of the news crews that were posted outside.

“How the fuck?” he hissed.

“I have no idea,” Sesshomaru replied as the car pulled to a stop. “As far as I knew no one knew that Higurashi and you were dating. Not only that, but how the hell did they know we were going to be arriving now.”

“Fuck it,” Inuyasha bit out, wiping at his face with his hands. “Let's go.”

They swung their doors open at the same time and were greeted with flashes and questions that neither of them answered. Inuyasha pushed his way through the crowd, his head down as he stepped up behind his brother. Sesshomaru pushed through the crowd and towards the glass doors just as a few security officers stepped around them and pushed the reporters and cameras to the side away from the entrance.

Stepping into the cool building, Sesshomaru walked over to the information desk and questioned quietly, “Higurashi Kagome; has she arrived yet?”

The woman looked up and asked, “You are?”

Inuyasha stepped up then, his patience waning. “Who the fuck do you think we are? Is she here?”

“I'm sorry sir, but we can't give out information unless it's to family.”

The hanyou leaned back, inhaled deeply, and closed his eyes as if he were trying to remember where he was. Sesshomaru started to say something, but Inuyasha cut him off and pitched forward, grabbing the woman by the collar of her white nurse's uniform, “I'm her fucking mate, bitch.” His eye's bled red slowly and he finished, his tone more animal than man, “If you don't tell me where my mate is, I will tear this fucking place apart and I'll start with your ass, do you understand me?” Somewhere deep down, he knew that was just a little too much, but he also knew that it wasn't him, it was Bitch and he was grateful and pleased beyond measure.

He released the woman and stepped back slowly as if he hadn't just done a damn thing wrong. The woman stared at him, her eyes wide and untrusting. Just then a doctor walked up to the counter and Sesshomaru stepped away from the woman that was still staring wide eyed at Inuyasha. “Excuse me, can you help us? We're looking for Higurashi Kagome. She was flown in from Kyoto about 30 minutes ago.”

The doctor smiled. “Sure, you are family, right?”

“Yes, of course,” Sesshomaru confirmed.

The doctor said something to the woman and then they had the information they needed and were on their way to the 7th floor and the ICU where Kagome was being kept until family arrived to okay the surgeries she needed. As they stepped out of the elevators, the smell of alcohol and sterilization hit them like a bomb going off in their heads. Had this been any other time, Inuyasha probably would've made some kind of comment that was uncalled for, but his mind was focused on one person. Stepping to the desk, he questioned quickly, “Higurashi Kagome, where is she?”

The nurse looked up. “You are?”

Inuyasha growled low, annoyed that it seemed like all these fuckers were doing is trying to keep him from her.

“I'm sorry sir, but under the circumstances of which she was brought in, we can't just allow anyone to see her. Not only that, but her state is so fragile at the moment even if you were family. We can't allow you in there. We can't risk her catching a staph infection until she's been stabilized.”

Inuyasha was about to snarl something, but Sesshomaru stepped in. “We're family,” he told the woman.

“What relation?” the woman tossed back as if she enjoyed toying with them.

Inuyasha jumped forward, Sesshomaru catching him at the last moment, but that did nothing to stop what flowed from his mouth, “You stupid bitch! I'll buy this fucking hospital just to fire your stupid ass and then sell it that same fucking day! If you don't stop fucking with me, I swear-”

A voice that Inuyasha recognized stated from behind him, “What's the problem here?”

“These gentlemen want to see a patient that was brought in with security restrictions on who can see her,” the nurse said. “I'm simply trying to get some information from them as to who they are.”

Inuyasha turned from the woman with a snarl and stepped towards Miroku.

“Takahashi-sama? What…”

“Kagome; she's here and these fuckers-”

Miroku shushed him, turned to the nurse and said something that Inuyasha didn't quite catch. As he turned back, he stepped away from the desk and directed them to wait on him in a private waiting room, which he showed them to before leaving. Within minutes, he was back, his face as white as a sheet of paper.

Inuyasha stood from the seat he'd taken reluctantly, but more assured that they would get somewhere now that they had someone who knew them on their side. Glancing up at Miroku, he questioned, “What? What's wrong? Can I see her?”

Miroku looked at him for a long minute before shaking his head and lifting the clipboard he'd picked up on his way back to the room.

“Miroku, what the hell is going on? Why can't I see her?”

He cleared his throat. “I…I…” He swallowed and stepped back, sitting down in the chair across from Inuyasha and beside Sesshomaru. “I didn't know she was here until I saw you. What happened to her? They have her listed as a Sally Somebody, but a possible Higurashi Kagome.”

Inuyasha frowned at him.

Sesshomaru cleared his throat. “Excuse me, but how do you know Higurashi and my brother?”

“My fiancé and Higurashi were…are friends,” Miroku said quietly, regret apparent in his mannerisms. He sat back and looked at Inuyasha. “Does this have something to do with what happened with Sango?”

Inuyasha stared at the man, trying to understand why he wouldn't tell him what he needed to know. “Yes,” he whispered despondently, and then he told him quickly about Kagome's abduction and reappearance.

“Holy Buddha,” Miroku whispered, and then started flipping through the chart, his eyes scanning the pages so quick, he didn't appear to be reading it all.

“What can you tell us?” Sesshomaru asked.

“Well, it's not good,” Miroku whispered. “Buddha, help her.”

“Damn it, Miroku, just tell me!” Inuyasha shouted heatedly.

Miroku glanced between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. “Well, since I know you a personal level, I'll forego the medical lingo and give it to you straight. Based on what's here in her chart, she has two skull fractures, several brain contusions, 6 broken ribs, both of her lungs were punctured, her spleen was ruptured, her right arm is broken, and her left wrist is fractured.” Miroku looked up from the chart and whispered, “By all accounts, she should be in the morgue.”

The room began to shrink with each word that flew swiftly from the human's mouth. Inuyasha was staring at him, trying to listen, trying to absorb what was being told to him in a civilized manner, but the longer he stared at the man, the smaller that little window of sanity became.

“She's going to need reconstructive surgery on her face…”

His throat was closing, his head swimming and the next thing he knew, he was standing.

“When they brought her in, she wasn't breathing on her own and…”

The chair he'd been sitting in, in his hand, and then it was across the room smashing into the wall. He ran at the vending machine, grasped it and flung it at a window. Glass shattered and broken pieces of cement hit the ground as people started screaming outside the door, but he didn't care.

“She's in a coma now, when she was brought into the hospital in Kyoto; however, she was responsive for a brief time.”

 

He paced the room, his mind gone, lost in the man's words and images of Kagome's broken body! How could anyone do something like this! How could anyone… He growled and reached out grabbing another chair and flung it across the room, his hands flexing and his claws lengthening unbeknownst to him. He walked in slow tight predatory circles, his body feeling as if it was a tight coil that at any moment would snap back killing the closest thing to him. Sesshomaru was there pulling at him, calling his name, saying something that sounded like pure jibberish.

“Stop it! This solves nothing,” Sesshomaru bellowed.

Inuyasha looked at him as if just seeing him, and he turned swinging out with his claws; anger buried so deep, boiling up almost choking him. He knew it was wrong, the minute the words played in his head he knew it was. He's just glad it wasn't Rin?!

All coherent thought left him and he turned and charged at Sesshomaru.

Simonkal of Inuy

The minute they stepped into the hallway, Rin could tell that something was amiss. Security guards were surrounding one of the rooms while the nurses and doctors were yelling for someone to get 10 cc's of something. She passed Gage to Nola and broke off in a trot towards the commotion, knowing without having to be told that Inuyasha had finally lost it.

A chair splintered near the door, she heard her mate shout something and she pushed harder to get to the end of the long hallway. After reaching the door, she stopped short and screamed at the sight of a man that she didn't recognize. His white hair was flying as if it had a life of its own, long jagged fangs protruded from his mouth, eyes were the color of rich blood, and jagged purple streaks ran across both his cheeks.

When she screamed, he turned and looked at her as if he didn't know her. He stepped towards her, one name slipping from his mouth, “Ka…gome.” Just as quickly as that occurred, realization seemed to descend on him, and he staggered back a few steps.

Sesshomaru grabbed him from behind and pinned him down as he shouted, “Get out of here! Close the damn door! I got him, he's fine!”

The guards obeyed reluctantly and closed the door in her face, but she couldn't move as the others gathered around her, all of them wondering what the hell had just taken place.

Souta was the first to speak, “See Nola, I'm not the only one who throws temper tantrums.”

As inappropriate as it was each of them started to laugh one at a time ending with Rin, who couldn't believe that she'd actually seen fear on her mates face for a fraction of a second.

Simonkal of Inuy

“We're going to need to operate as soon as possible,” Doctor Takato said, speaking to the entire room. “The Kyoto emergency room took care of the fractures to her arm, wrist, and shoulder, and they reset her nose, but we're going to need to deal with her internal trauma.”

Mrs. H. nodded as if she understood, but didn't ask any questions.

“I'm not going to sit here and give you false hope. The surgeries that Higurashi-sama will have to undergo are all dangerous. There is a chance…a high chance that she may not survive them.”

Mrs. H nodded again and continued to stare at the doctor. He was an older gentleman with dark short straight hair that was graying at the temples. His eyes were a warm brown that reminded her of a hot cup of rich coffee, and she could tell from this build that he probably had a new nurse on his arm every night.

Dr. Takato lifted the clipboard he was carrying and continued, “She isn't married, correct?”

The door pushed open and Sesshomaru and a subdued Inuyasha walked in as she responded, “No, she's not married.”

“Okay, well, I'm going to need you to sign the release. It states that we've spoken and I've stressed the dangers of the surgeries to you,” the doctor explained. “It also states that should she pass away during any of the surgeries, the hospital will not be held liable.”

Mrs. H. looked around the room at her son and his girlfriend, who were sitting quietly holding hands. She glanced at Rin, who was holding one of her babies to her chest as she talked softly to her husband, and then she looked up at Inuyasha who was staring at her. She forced a soft smile, and reached up wiping away a tear that was trailing down her cheek as she took the pen that the doctor offered and scribbled her signature at the bottom of the page.

Clutching the clipboard to her chest, she looked up at the doctor and stated almost too softly for human ears to hear, “I…I understand most of what you have said, but…but I need to know…” She dropped her head and finished, “Was she… Was my daughter attacked… Other than physically, I guess,” she tried again, trying to find the right words, “Did he?” She looked up then, her eyes rimmed with red and swollen, her lips quivering.

The doctor apparently understood and knelt in front of her. He took her hand in his gently as the tension in the room grew and swelled like lava about to pour from the mouth of a volcano. “Based on the test that they took, it does look like there was some sexual activity in the last 48 hours.” A growl rose up behind them, and Dr. Takato turned briefly before he turned his attention back the Mrs. H. “However, there was no ripping, tearing, or recent bruising in that region.”

“What…what does that mean?” Nola questioned, leaning away from Souta, who was staring at the doctor.

He stood then and turned to them. “It means she had intercourse with someone in the last 48 hours, but it was consensual. In the state she is in, I honestly don't see how sex with the person that did this to her wouldn't have left rips or tears to her womb. There was nothing gentle about her ordeal, I assure you all.” He glanced around the room, his eyes falling on Inuyasha, “If she has a boyfriend or significant other, he would be the only one that knows about the bruising. Which, I will add, is normal when a woman consents to sex with a larger than normal male.”

Inuyasha glared at the man, his fists clenching and releasing.

Mrs. H. looked at Inuyasha's red face and felt that she knew what she needed to know. “Thank you so much, Doctor. In this our darkest day, it is good to finally have some good news.”

“I just wish that I had more to give to you,” he replied while taking the clipboard back from her, “One last thing. Does she have health insurance?”

“Well,” Mrs. H started, pushing a tuft of hair behind her ear. “She's a partner at a law firm here in Tokyo, so I'm sure she does, but I don't have that information with me. I…I think it's back in Kyoto.”

“I see,” the doctor said as if it was a problem.

“I'll pay for everything,” Inuyasha stated walking towards them. “Who do I need to speak with?”

“Sir, perhaps you don't understand the magnitude of what kind of bill you're taking-”

“And perhaps you don't understand-”

Rin was on her feet, Takira clasped in her arms. “Money is not a problem, Doctor. Just do what you have to do.”

The doctor looked at them and sighed as if he finally understood. “You are the Takahashis?”

Inuyasha turned and walked away in a dismissive manner, taking a seat beside Souta and away from Sesshomaru as Rin started out the door behind the doctor.

A few minutes later a nurse came to the room. “Mrs. Higurashi, we can take you and one other person down to see her now. Only for a few minutes, though.”

Mrs. H., stood to her feet glanced around the room at each occupant, her eyes falling on Inuyasha. The hanyou looked away from her, but she said anyway, “Inuyasha, please.”

The hanyou paid her no attention.

“Mom, I'll go with you,” Souta offered.

She smiled at her son, and turned, leaving the room.

Simonkal of Inuy

Inuyasha watched his mate's mother and brother walk back into the room, both looking worse than they did when they left. He could tell she had been crying and by the way Souta was practically carrying her, the sight of Kagome must have been a little too much for her to handle.

“Who's next?” the nurse queried softly and he could feel all eyes turn to him.

He looked down at the floor ignoring them as Nola and Rin stood slowly to their feet and started out the room.

It wasn't that he didn't want to see Kagome, he did; God knows he did. He just didn't want to see her like that with tubes leading to and from her body, with a machine breathing for her, and with bruises all over her face. He didn't ever want to see her like that. He sat back, his head falling against the cold concrete wall and he sighed, closing his eyes.

A few days ago everything was fine, they were happy, and she was healthy. He'd been worried about whether she was really his mate or not, and now…now he was worried about whether she'd survive a fucking surgery. How could the gods be so cruel? If they only wanted to take her from him then why give her to him in the first place? Why tease him with a taste of heaven only to have it taken away before he even digested it? If they wanted to hurt somebody… if they wanted to make somebody suffer, why not make him suffer? Why did it have to be Kagome? First, she has her heart broken by that bastard, and now this? Now she's almost beaten to death for no other reason-he was sure-but that he'd claimed her or because she rejected that bastard. Regardless of which it truly was; it was inexcusable!!

He wanted to scream and curse and fight, but the person that he wanted to do those things to wasn't here, but he'd find him and he'd end him, that he promised himself. If it took his last breath, he was going to watch that fucker's blood run cold.

The door opened and he cracked his golden eyes and watched as Rin and Nola walked back in holding one another. Nola was sobbing almost uncontrollably. He closed his eyes and sat forward hanging his head as Souta stood and embraced her while whispering sweet nothings to her.

“Would anyone else like to see her?” the nurse asked quietly.

Everyone was staring at him, he could feel it, but he didn't look up. He didn't want to see her like this! He couldn't see her like this; it…it would hurt too much. And damn it, he was already hurting. Everything hurt: his head, his heart, his chest, his arm, and his soul. It all hurt.

Inuyasha shook his head as if someone had spoken to him and before he knew it a tear was twisting its way down his cheek. He wiped at it quickly, hoping that no one had seen it.

“If there is anything that you need to say to her, now would be the time,” the nurse said as if speaking directly to him. “Some research shows that people in comas can hear and it helps with their healing.”

He brought his hands up to his face and tried to drown the woman's voice out as another tear slipped down the side of his nose. He could feel them staring at him now, and he felt stupid, and weak, and…and broken.

A soft hand on his head stirred him from his musings. He looked up to see this mate's mother standing over him, tears in her eyes. “Please, Inuyasha, go see her. Talk to her; tell her that you love her, please. If she hears any of us, she'll hear you.”

He shook his head and leaned back away from her as he glanced around the room at the other occupants, who were all looking at him. His eyes roamed a moment longer and stopped on Sesshomaru who sat stoically, his eyes focused on a far corner of the room. He tore his gaze away and looked back up at Mrs. H. “I can't. I…I can't see her like that. I…I…”

Rin stood then and said, “You need to see her, Inuyasha. If she doesn't make it through this you don't want it weighing on your heart. I'll go with you if you want me too.”

He looked away from her and towards the nurse that was standing at the door smiling empathetically at him. He slowly pushed to his feet, not sure why he was doing it, but feeling compelled to. Rin moved behind him and he stopped and turned to her. “It's alright, Rin. I'll do this by myself.”

He shuffled through the door behind the nurse and never looked back as he walked down the long cold hallway without seeing it, without feeling his feet hit the ground below him and without hearing the utterances of people who all knew he was the one that was on a rampage earlier. They rounded one corner, and then another and passed through a set of heavy steel doors and into a bay type area with a circular desk in the middle of the room, but he didn't see it. His eyes were unfocused and blurred because of the tears that were trailing down his cheek. He wiped at them as her scent assaulted him. He almost tripped over his feet as he walked around the nurse that was leading him and straight ahead, allowing his nose to lead him.

Inuyasha stopped short and stared at the macabre thing that lay in front of him. His body swayed, his mind telling him this was his mate, but his eyes telling him no, this couldn't be. This…this…beaten, bruised, and swollen thing that was almost unrecognizable just couldn't be her! He tried to breath, he tried to…he tried to remember to breath, to blink and to think, but he couldn't.

The nurse grabbed his arm gently, and pulled him towards the door. He didn't have the strength to fight her. She pulled him through the glass doors and stepped back closing it behind her.

He closed his eyes, tried to ground himself and tried to tell himself that he could do this. He was stronger than this, he had to be, but he wasn't. He took a step towards the bed, his nose leading him, telling him that this was where he was supposed to be.

“Kagome,” he whispered his eyes still closed as he took in the underlying rawness of her scent that was still intertwined with his. “Mate,” he whispered harshly and he collapsed to his knees beside the bed, his hands coming up to his face as his shoulders shook and his head bobbed up and down violently.

“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry,” he cried into his hands. “I…Gods, I'm sorry. If I had known… If I had known that this would happen…” He was bawling relentlessly, not caring who was watching him or what they thought. She was all he had in the world. She was everything that he had ever wanted and now…now for whatever the reason he may lose her. “I…I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can…please…please, Kagome, don't leave me,” he whispered. “I don't know how to do this without you. I…I can't go back to living without you. I won't go back to living without you. If I have to follow you, I will. I promise you, I will.”

He swayed on his knees, sniffled and started again, “Wench, don't fucking leave me.” He wiped at another batch of tears and reached up onto the bed feeling for her hand. “Please,” he stated after finding it. Squeezing it gently, he continued, “I'm too selfish to let you go. If you stay with me, I promise you, I'll never let you fall again. I…I'll never leave you.”

The door behind him opened and a voice whispered, “Takahashi-sama, you only have a few more minutes before we have to prep her for surgery.”

The door closed and he pushed to his feet. He slowly opened his eyes and gazed down at what was left of the face he knew. He shook his head and tried to hold back the cry of outrage that wanted to fine release. He looked away staring up at the ceiling as he blinked and fought against it. “Wench, I should've said this to you before. I…I should've told you, but I wanted to do it the right way. I was stupid,” he told her. His attention turned back to her but he looked away again, unable to stomach what was her and yet what was not. “You asked me how I would know when I found my mate, well…” He wiped at his nose with the back of his hand. “I'll know because every time she smiles at me, my heart will break. I'll know because…because every day that she leaves me to go to work or to hang out with her friends, it'll feel like a piece of me is dying. I'll know because she'll complete me like no other person has or will. Without her, Kagome, I am and will always be nothing.”

He looked at her bruised face, her swollen eyes and lips, the bandage around her deformed head, and the tubes going in and out of her mouth, and her arms. He leaned down to her, tears dropping in large plops onto her face and running into the roots of her hair. His lips brushed hers and he whispered, “You are the only one that has ever made me feel like that. You are my mate, Kagome. Just you… No one else. A hundred lifetimes from now, it will still be only you.” He squeezed her lifeless hand. “You…you can't leave me because we haven't…we haven't gotten married, we haven't had pups, we haven't gone to Europe, Africa, or Greenland, and you haven't tasted my fried rice. You haven't gotten so disgusted with me that you kick me out of the bed or better yet threaten to leave me. There's so much we haven't done, Wench. Please…”

He didn't hear the door open. “Sir, I'm sorry, but we have to get her ready.”

Inuyasha brushed his lips across the bandage on her forehead again and whispered desperately, “You can't leave me. Mates don't leave each other.” He brushed his hand across her swollen cheek and pleaded, “I don't know how else to ask you, Kagome. Fight for me. Fight to stay with me, okay? Please, do it for me…for our future. I promise on my life you won't regret it.”

He stepped back one, twice, three times his eyes trained on her, before he turned and broke into a run towards the nearest exit.

Simonkal of Inuy

“The girlfriend of prominent business Tycoon Takahashi Inuyasha was medevaced to Tokyo Medical University 3 hours ago,” the reported said, “The state of her condition is not known at this time, but we did witness both Takahashi brothers arriving at the hospital shortly after the helicopter arrived.”

Hakkaku leaned closer to the television as snippets of the two dog demons he remembered from the restaurant filled the screen. Even being miles away and watching this on the television he could see the pain that the younger of two was in as he tried to hide his face and force his way through the reporters.

“A reliable source said that upon finding out the condition of Higurashi Kagome, Takahashi Inuyasha had to be sedated.” The reporter flipped through her reporter's notebook and finished, “That same source informed me that the cause of her injuries, which are life threatening, is still unknown, but that the local authorities have opened an investigation that may be linked to a rape attack on a paralegal a little over a month ago at Tokyo towers, who we found out worked very closely with Higurashi-sama.”

Just then the screen flashed to a live update and a podium as if waiting for someone to come and talk. He glanced around the hotel room and at the door that Ayame was behind, trying to take a nap. Turning his attention back to the screen, he raised the volume just slightly as a young woman took the podium. He remembered her from the restaurant immediately and once again couldn't help but to notice that she was absolutely gorgeous.

He quieted his mind as she began to speak eloquently into the mircrophone, “I will not be taking any questions, but I will be speaking on behalf of the Higurashi's and my brother-in-law, Takahashi Inuyasha.” She lowered her head and cleared her throat as if she had to regain her composure and he couldn't help but to remember how diminutive she looked when standing beside the tall lithe demon that was introduced as her mate.

He pushed that thought off again as she looked up and directly at the camera. “In order to quell the rising rumors, both families have agreed to this one press conference, in hopes that immediately thereafter you will all leave us to tend to family matters in peace.” She swallowed convulsively. “Higurashi Kagome is in fact the girlfriend of Takahashi Inuyasha. While on a family vacation in Kyoto, Japan, she was abducted and held for a period of 24 hours.” Reporters started shouting questions, but she pushed through it. “The authorities and government officials are handling the case so we are more than confidant that the culprit,” she stressed, and then continued, “Or culprits will be caught and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. My family will pay a reward of 3.5 yen dollars to anyone that calls with information that leads to the location, and capture of the animal that did this.”

She stared at the screen for a little longer as if she was speaking directly to him, and Hakkaku hit the power button, turning the television off.

He stood from the arm of the chair he was sitting in and turned only to stop short when he saw Ayame standing quietly a few feet away from him. “What the hell? Haven't I told you about sneaking up on me like that?”

She didn't smile as she stared at the dark television screen. “So, she's okay?”

He followed her line of sight and sighed. “I guess so.”

She gnawed on her lower lip and finally looked at him. “I'm glad.”

“You should be. After all, it's because of you that they have her back.”

She walked around the couch and slipped down into it, pulling her knees to her chest. “I was so sure that she was dead, Hakkaku. How could I have been wrong?”

He pulled two bottles of water off the small wet bar and strolled back over to her. “Shit, you might have been right, but they probably brought her back, thankfully. They don't have all the medical equipment for nothing.”

She looked up at him, and then around at the hotel suite they'd slipped into during the early morning hours after hopping a flight to Hong Kong. “I'm glad. I'm really glad,” she told him again as she took the bottle he offered.

They were quiet for a long moment, both wanting to avoid the topic of Kouga and Kyoto, but knowing that it was inevitable.

“Oi, go get your shoes, let's go shopping,” he told her, trying to cheer her up and trying to not deal with the problems that he knew were coming like a mac truck on a lonely dark road. He'd called one of his close friends after they'd gotten to Hong Kong and was told that Maki and Moki had just arrived into town. Of course, he didn't tell the guy where he was or what had transpired, because he didn't want anyone else getting involved in this mess, but he'd found out what he needed to.

He didn't have to be told why they were called or who called them, because he knew they didn't move unless there was someone that needed to be dealt with, and the only person with the power or money to call them was Kouga or Ayame's old man, and he damn sure didn't do it. This also meant, that the two bullets that he'd put into Kouga hadn't done a damn thing but piss the wolf demon off even more.

Ayame shook her head, drawing him from his musing and he frowned as he walked around the couch and sat beside her. “You don't want to shop?” he asked incredulously.

She glanced at him and then away. “He's not dead,” she whispered softly.

“Who?”

“If he were dead, I would feel it in here,” she intoned softly pointing at her heart. She hung her head sullenly and started to cry softly. “I attacked him and I let you shoot him. I'm a bad mate. Oh…oh gods, I'm a bad mate.”

He frowned at her and looked away a little sick of this poor Kouga shit. Every once and awhile since they'd double teamed Kouga, she'd have these little bouts of regret and start crying about being a bad mate and that the gods would never forgive her, and he'd want to scream at her that she was not his chosen, but he'd refrained.

“Ayame?”

“No, I…I don't regret it. We had to save her, but he's my mate, Hakkaku. He's…”

He growled annoyed with himself and with her. “Look! Damn it!! Don't…” He stood to his feet and stomped towards the floor to ceiling windows. This wasn't for him to say, but what did he owe Kouga now? Why not tell her? Hell, he'd shot his brother, right in front of him and tried to kill him too and would've had the gun not jammed! What did he owe him? What the hell did he owe him anymore?

Nothing!

He turned from the window, leaned back against it and sighed as he looked at her reddened face. “You know what you smell like?” he queried softly.

She looked at him as if he'd just lost his mind. “What?”

He chewed on his lower lip and narrowed his eyes as if he was thinking. “You smell like lemon drops, and strawberries, with just a drop of plum juice,” he intoned quietly.

“What? What are you talking about?”

He sighed and shuffled towards her. Dropping, so that he was balanced on the balls of his feet, he lifted her chin so that she was looking directly at him. He leaned in, not meaning for it to seem like anything sensual and sniffed slowly up the side of her neck and back down. She stiffened, but he didn't let her chin go.

“Your scent, Ayame...” he whispered, “It's like the sourest lemon drops, the kind that you bite into and it makes your jaw lock.” He moved to the right side of her neck and sniffed the length of is as he intoned, “But then there's the smell of ripe sweet strawberries twisting within it and the mixture is almost dizzying.” He leaned back and looked at her.

She blinked at him and swallowed convulsively but didn't say anything.

“Just when I think it can't get any better, you'll walk pass me or your hair will blow in the wind and I'll get this soft whiff of citrus. Like a juicy tangy plum just after I've bitten into it.”

“Ha…Hakkaku,” she finally managed, and he released her and stood to his feet.

Walking away, he shoved his hands in his pockets and said with his back to her, “Do you want to know what Kouga smells like?”

“What…are you doing? What are you tryi-“

“He smells like burnt woods and moss.” He turned then, “I don't know how much you know about mates, but the main thing that changes is the scent, Ayame.” She stared at him as if she knew what he was going to say before he said it. “From the day I met you, your scent has always been the same.”

Ayame stood up, her tiny fists at her side. “What are you saying?”

Hakkaku stared at her.

She stepped towards him, anger twisting around her violently, but he didn't move from where he was reclining back on the glass window.

“What are you trying to say, Hakkaku?” she shouted, “Are you trying to tell me that I don't know…” She choked on her words as she drew nearer to him. “How dare you,” she screamed.

He gazed back into her unnatural emerald green eyes as the first tear slipped over her lid and she wiped at it fitfully.

“He's a monster! He's an ass, but he's my mate, Hakkaku! How could you…how could you stand here and insinuate such at thing?” she screamed angrily.

“Am I, Ayame? Am I really insinuating anything or is it that you don't want to face the truth?”

She reached back, slapping him hard across the face, and he turned away and blinked. Reaching up he checked his jaw in order to make sure it was still there. After noticing that it was, he snorted in disgust and pushed away from the glass and stepped towards her, so that he was right in her face. He didn't raise his voice, though. “Does that make what you believe true, Ayame? Think for one fucking minute,” he seethed. “What mated youkai you know-besides your mate-that can leave his mate for weeks at a fucking time without at least calling? How many of them avoid their mates like the fucking plague? How many of them try to fucking kill their mates for no good fucking reason? How many of them push their fucking mates off on whoever is available to babysit? How many bitches you know with mates that can fuck any and everything with a hole, Ayame?””

She reached back slapping him again.

After clearing his head, he hissed, “Could you hit your mate like that Ayame, and expect to still be standing there? Or would he have tossed your fucking ass out a window by now?”

She ground her teeth again and swung at him again, but he caught her and spun her, pinning her arms to her sides. She struggled against him fitfully but he held on tight to her.

“All I want you to do is think, Ayame! Just think! I know you want him to be your mate, but just because you want it; it doesn't make it so, damn it!”

She was snarling now, anger so real and vibrant that it bit at him and gnawed at the edges of his resolve, but still, he held onto her as her anger turned to pain and then to tears and sobs that ravished her soul. Her legs went limp and he slipped down to the floor with her as understanding and acceptance fell over her like an unwelcomed blanket.

His back to the glass window, he pulled her between his jean clad legs and held onto her as she continued to cry into the sleeve of his shirt while she babbled things he didn't quite understand.

Letting his head fall back as she tightened her hold on him, he whispered as he closed his eyes and sighed, “I'm sorry.”

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

Acknowledgments:

Vikay09 ~ SplendentGoddess ~ Anonymoss ~ InuKag 4lyfe ~ Mynera ~ New Fan ~ Silly1 ~ Midcat ~ Diamond Cat ~ Morambrday04 ~ Zvaigzduuute ~ Brenna1992 ~ Flowergirl! ~ Lunabell ~ Scriptix ~ deipurple ~ Werewolf-lover ~ Shaelyn-Bobaelyn=] ~ Lonely Girl ~ Fallen6906 ~ ThisIsMeSmiling ~ Devlishdr3am ~ Haunted492 ~ theknightcallsmyname ~ Tueske ~ Kagome 434 ~ AddictedDiva090 ~ SelinaA ~ Anana945945 ~ Jaime1968 ~ Inuyasha Baby Bre ~