InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Heart's Landfill ❯ These Days ( Chapter 63 )

Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership to anyone with the exception of the people who are not in the anime or the manga, all others belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 63:

These Days

“It's been three days!”

Rin looked away from the bed holding Kagome's still body. “I don't know what to tell you, Souta.”

“What kind of boyfriend just leaves when his girlfriend is in this kind of state?” Souta ran his hand through his tussled hair in exasperation. “What if she had died in that surgery? What if she dies now?”

Rin smiled at the young man. “Inuyasha is dealing with this the best way he knows how.”

She hoped there was some truth to her words.

They hadn't seen nor spoken to Inuyasha since the night of Kagome's first surgery. She'd had almost all of them since then with only two more to go. The doctors said the rate she was healing for a human was astonishing. What she suspected helped, was that instead of cutting her open to do one thing at a time, the doctors were double teaming her. The marvels of modern day medicine, Rin mused lethargically.

Rin sighed and coddled Takira to her chest as the door to the room pushed open and Nola walked in holding three cups of coffee followed by Mrs. H.

Nola, Souta and Mrs. H. were staying with her and Sesshomaru since they had more than enough room and no one had any keys to Kagome's place. When she'd thought of letting them stay at Inuyasha's, she decided against it because with the mood the hanyou was in… Well, she just didn't want to get on his bad side.

In the past three days Kagome's boss and a few attorneys had come by to see her and speak with the family. Sango and Miroku, who Rin hadn't met before stopped by and sat with them until the nurse ran them out. She noticed that Sango hadn't said much, but she did cry a lot especially when she looked at Kagome.

“She looks so much better,” Mrs. H. intoned peering down at Kagome. She raked her fingers through her daughter's hair and continued, “The doctor said they're going to check tomorrow to see if she can breathe on her own. If she does, they're going to remove her breathing tube.”

“That's really good news,” Rin said softly.

“She's always been a strong one. Even when she was smaller and she'd get sick, she'd fight through it.” The woman sighed. “When she was just a baby, she caught pneumonia. The doctors gave her only 12 hours to live, but 12 hours turned to 24 hours, and so on and so forth.”

Rin smiled at the older woman just glad that she and her family could be of assistance in her time of need. She glanced at the people who had quickly like become family and smiled as she watched Nola bouncing a squealing Gage on her knee as he slobbered and chewed on his fists, his golden eyes intent on her green ones.

“Nola,” Rin asked, “Are your parents okay with you being up here all of this time?” She didn't know why it struck her all of sudden, but she just had to know.

Nola looked up and smiled. “Yes, they're fine with it. When I get back, I'll just have to catch up on my school work, but that shouldn't be a problem with me dating Mr. 4.0 here.”

Souta blushed and elbowed her playfully.

Rin smiled. “That's hard to believe. I mean, you're mouth is almost as bad as Inuyasha's.”

Souta's blush deepened. Scratching his head, he retorted, “That's only when I'm upset.”

Nola elbowed him back and laughed. “I told him when we get married he's going to drink soap water with dinner if he keeps it up.”

Souta blushed again and dipped his head, but didn't refute what the girl said.

Their conversation went like that the remainder of the day as if they really were just one big happy family.

 

Simonkal of Inuyasha

“You know this is perfect, right? What better time than now for you to be there for him?”

Kikyo glanced away from the television and at Oni, but didn't answer.

He had to be joking.

She may have been heartless at times, but this was too awful to even consider.

Sure, a part of her was happy for about a minute when the first reports came out, but when she'd heard that the woman, Higurashi Kagome, had been kidnapped and beaten or something along those lines, her heart had gone out to Inuyasha.

She knew how strongly he cared for her when they were dating, so she could only imagine what he was going through if he felt an ounce of what he felt for her for this woman.

“Seriously, think about it, Luscious. Now is when he'd be at his weakest. You could swoop in make everything right with the world for him and by time that he knows which way is up, we'll be gone and so will his money.”

Kikyo groaned, annoyed he didn't understand that this little kink in their plan was more than just a kink; it was a colossal fuck up. To move forward…to try anything right now would be stupid.

With this girl in the hospital, Inuyasha would be almost unreachable. Not to mention, just getting him alone long enough to try anything would be damn near impossible.

Oni danced across the room to music only he could hear, flying high one of his little blue happy pills. “I thought about going by the hospital to get a look at her,” he said, “Since no one knows me I could pretend to be one of her colleagues or a doctor. Didn't they say she worked at a law firm downtown? They must have a million attorneys there. I could buy a suit and blend right in! Or maybe…maybe I could pretend to be a doctor!” He was talking a mile a minute. “Yeah, yeah, that'll work, a doctor.”

She turned to him then. “And then what?”

He turned to her then, his smile fading. “Don't look at me as if I'm stupid or something! I could get in there maybe befriend him, you know, and get him out of there for you.”

“And then what?” she stated, trying to get him to see how stupid he was sounding.

He grinned at her, but didn't respond as he started twirling off tempo again.

She rolled her eyes at him and turned towards the television. “What we need to do is go back to the States and forget this whole mess,” she grumbled under her breath.

She didn't feel the slap until she was pushing herself up off the floor. She spat and rubbed her cheek as she looked back at him.

He was scowling down at her as he slowly tilted his head to the left and then to the right, cracking the joints in his neck. “What did you say?”

Kikyo scooted back away from him until she hit a wall. She held her hands up in front of her in surrender and pleaded, “Oni, please, I didn't mean it! I…I didn't mean it!” She crawled to the side quickly and scuttled towards the table as if it would keep him away from her.

He stepped towards her quickly, his fist balled up. “What, you think I'm not as smart as that stinking fucking half-breed you let fuck you? You think I'm fucking stupid, Luscious?” He grabbed the table and heaved it away.

She screamed, sprang to her feet and darted towards the bathroom, but he caught her by her ponytail and yanked her back into the room.

“Owww,” she shouted.

He grabbed her around her neck and pinned her against the wall. Kikyo clawed at his hand and his forearms as she kicked and struggled against him, “Oni, stop! Please! I didn't mean it!”

He struck her across the right cheek once, twice, three times and threw her on the bed. “Damn right, you didn't!”

Kikyo scrambled back towards the headboard, tears streaming down her face as he stalked toward her while unfastening his jeans. “Take your fucking clothes off,” he ordered. “I'll show you better than I can fucking tell you, bitch!”

“Oni, no, not like this,” she begged pushing back away from him. He grabbed her leg and yanked her back down towards him. She swung at his face and caught him with a left hook, but was reward with a punch to her belly and a tight hand around her neck as he pinned her down and started yanking at the waist band of her jeans.

“I'll teach you! I'll fucking teach you,” he spat.

The more she struggled, the more hyped he became. Her lower lip was swollen, she could feel it as she turned away from him and stopped fighting altogether.

Kikyo let her arms drop to the bed and allowed her legs to dangle off the edge as he dragged her pants down, flipped her over, and entered her roughly. She closed her eyes and laid there like a rag doll allowing him to have his way with her. She knew this wasn't right, it had never been, but what could she do?

She'd run from her salvation a little over a year ago. For what she did to Inuyasha, for what she put him through, this was all she deserved, she believed.

She laid there like a worthless rag doll, tears draining from her eyes as his hot minty breath misted over her face, while he hissed and whispered disgusting fragments of sentences to the back of her head.

Inuyasha, she whispered softly and for a fraction of a section she saw him in her mind's eye, and then he was gone and she was left with this…with exactly all that she deserved.

Simonkal of Inuy

The hanyou leapt into the alley from the roof of the hospital, landing nimbly on the balls of his feet. The moon was high in the sky so he knew it was well past visiting hours.

He made his way to the side entrance, where he had forced the door open a few nights ago and used the stairs to get to her floor. Stepping on the floor, he sniffed, taking in the varying scents of the many humans that had been through during the day as well as his family and extended family.

“Takahashi-sama?” the night nurse greeted, not sounding at all surprised to see him.

“How is she?” Inuyasha questioned, stopping at the desk.

“She's doing great. I think it has a lot to do with you spending every night with her.”

He glanced towards the darkened room that held his mate. Since the first day she'd been brought to the hospital, he'd made sure that she never spent a night alone. After their family members left for the night, he'd skulk in like a thief looking to steal her heart, and he'd lay with her or sit with her until the next morning. The nurses seemed to think of him as some kind of forlorn heartbroken dreamboat, so they gave him very little trouble about being there, and always made sure that he knew how she was doing.

“The doctor said they're going to be taking her off the ventilator tomorrow to see is she breathes on her own,” the nurse went on.

“That's really good news, but do they think she's strong enough for that? It's only been three days.”

The nurse, whose name he couldn't remember to save his life, replied, “The power of love is a strong thing, Takahashi-sama. The same thing that brings your family here every day, and you here every night is the same thing that's giving her strength to heal and to want to remain among the living.”

No, it my blood that's making her heal quicker than she should, he wanted to say.

Inuyasha sighed and looked towards the darkened room, the only lights visible the white, yellow, and green lights of the monitors surrounding Kagome's bed. He'd been spending his days in Kyoto with the help of a special security team, looking for the whereabouts of Nashitaku Kouga. He'd even looked for the guy Hakkaku, and Kouga's supposed mate, but all of them seemed to have vanished.

He refused to give up.

Kouga and whoever else was involved would be made to pay for what they had done.

He must have started moving towards the room because the next thing he knew the nurse was calling his name and he was turning back to face her.

“Takahashi-sama, your book.”

Stepping back toward the desk, he took the book from her and shot her an appreciative smile before starting back towards the room. Inuyasha pushed through the glass doors and stepped towards Kagome's bed. Leaning down, he kissed the side of her mouth, and stated quietly, “You know, even sleeping beauty eventually woke up.”

Slipping his hand into her limp one, he squeezed it and was nicely rewarded when she weakly returned the gesture.

“You know, if you wake up, you could thank me properly for staying with you every night,” he told her with a sad smile. “Or maybe not, but you could start planning our wedding.” Inuyasha chuckled and added, “There I go putting the cart before the horse again. I guess I need to actually ask you to marry me, don't I?” He released her hand and settled down in the chair close to the bed. “I mean, you being my mate and all, we don't really need to get married.” He scanned the length of her covered and broken body, gnawed on his lower lip and finished as he leaned forward, reached for her hand and held it tight, “Look, Wench, I need you to wake-up so you can do one very important thing for me. I need you to accept me as your mate. If you don't do that, then this bond that I've started will be nothing more than a half formed knot.”

He sat in silence as he stared at her, waiting, hoping, and praying that she'd open her eyes and smile at him again. Wishing against wishes that her head would roll toward him and her beautiful eyes would be staring at him full of promises that she had every intention of keeping. After a moment more of silence with no change in demeanor from her, Inuyasha sighed and brought her hand up to his lips and kissed each of her knuckles.

“I'm not a patient man, Kagome,” he said as he sat back in the chair, crossed his legs and opened the book, one of her favorite books, The Lucky One. Flipping to the last page he had read the night before, he finished, “But for you, I'll wait forever if I have too.” His claw ran the length of the page, looking for the last paragraph he read. “I tell you what, Wench, you better not make me wait that long because I won't be nice about it.”

Her fingers twitched and he glanced at it, smiled and sighed. “Good, so long as we understand one another.”

He wasn't sure how long he'd read to her for, but as the sensation of a youkai whispered against his own, he closed the book, turned his head to look out the glass door and was not surprised when his brother materialized out of the darkness at the far end of the hall way.

Inuyasha stood up, just as Sesshomaru pushed through the door and stepped in. “Half-breed,” he greeted.

“Jack ass,” Inuyasha responded coolly, his voice low.

“You've been coming here every night?”

“Why do you ask questions you already know the answer to,” the hanyou retorted.

“Her family believes that you have left her for—“

“Do you really think I care what her family thinks?”

“You should care, because they are your family as well.”

Inuyasha turned from him and glanced down at Kagome. “I don't have time to worry about what they think or don't think. My only concern is my mate.”

Sesshomaru stepped around to the other side of the bed and peered down at Kagome. “I'm aware of that, but don't fool yourself, Inuyasha. You cannot alienate yourself from them and expect them to just accept you when she's well.”

Not wanting to hear anymore, Inuyasha changed the subject. “How is Rin and the pups?”

“Fine, but Rin misses you, and is running out of excuses for your absences.” They were quiet for a long moment before Sesshomaru continued, “I know what you've been doing, Inuyasha. So, tell me, what have you found out?”

“Nothing. I don't understand it, Sesshomaru, why is finding these bastards so fucking hard? It's like looking for one particular needle in a fucking box of needles.”

“Do you remember when your mom would lose her car keys or misplace her favorite hair latch? She'd forget about it for a while and then just stumble on it when she wasn't looking for it.”

“I haven't really lost…” he started to say, but changed his mind as he understood the deeper meaning of his brother's words. “I need to let him come to me?”

Sesshomaru turned towards the door. “Let him come, Inuyasha, and together we'll make sure he doesn't leave.”

“What if he doesn't come?”

“Think about it, Inuyasha. He killed her friend to keep her from talking because he had no intention of Kagome surviving. Now that she has, he won't have any other choice but to come after her. If he doesn't, he'll be running the rest of his life.”

Inuyasha stared at his brother for a long moment before speaking. “I'll call the security detail in and have them spread out in and around the hospital.”

“And I will speak with the doctor's tomorrow and have them limit the visitors that can see her.”

“Thanks.” The hanyou didn't turn to watch his brother leave, but instead sat back down, opened the book he'd been previously reading and started up again.

Simonkal of Inuy

Hakkaku closed the cell phone and slipped it into his pocket. This wasn't good, not by a long shot. It was the fourth time he'd called Rami to check on the happenings back home and it was the fourth time that he'd been sent to his voicemail. He tried to tell himself that Rami was just doing his usual disappearing act, but he didn't totally believe that.

For the past two days he'd felt the thin fingers of trepidation creeping up and over him, engulfing his body in a way that didn't allow him to sleep or eat. It kept him on edge, checking corners and closets, windows and doors. He found it intolerable to let Ayame out of his sight and had even demanded that they change rooms several times within the hotel. When she went to the bathroom, he found himself sitting outside the door, both his guns loaded and clasped in his hands waiting for the first sign of Maki or Moki.

Hakkaku glanced at the darkened window. His eyes scanned the skyline slowly, trying to pick-up and everything that might seem out of place. He sent out mental fingers probing the darkness for anything that shouldn't be there. He found nothing, still he felt uneasy. He drew the curtains closed and turned away from the window altogether when a thought occurred to him.

He knew Kouga was a shrewd bastard that was capable of anything if it brought him to the end he sought, but this would be taking things to a whole new lever wouldn't it? He pulled his cell from his pocket and dialed the number for he could stop himself.

The woman's voice picked up on the third ring. “Mushi-mushi.”

“Mom?”

“Hey baby, how are you?” His mother asked before she continued, “Why didn't you tell me you were going out of town?”

His eyes narrowed. How did she know he was out of town? He hadn't told her he was going and he hadn't spoken to her since the morning he and Ayame had called him and asked him to meet her. “Why do you think I'm out of town?”

“Kouga stopped by to see me.”

“He did? What did he want?”

“Well, he apologized for not visiting after Ginta's funeral. He promised me he would catch the monsters that shot my baby.”

“Did he?”

“Yes. He's such a good boy and such a good friend to you.”

Hakkaku couldn't suppress the growl that rose up in the back of his throat. What kind of fucking game was this prick playing? “That all he said?”

“No, he told me that you wanted him to come by to tell me bye since where you were going you wouldn't have cell signal.”

“I see. When was this?” Hakkaku asked not wanting to hear anymore of Kouga's lies.

“He and his two friends came by day before yesterday. You know honey, Kouga is such a nice guy, I don't understand why he would hang out with those two Neanderthals. I offered them tea and I think one of them grunted at me.”

“Who?”

“Matchstick and Mop, or something like that,” she replied.

“Maki and Moki?”

“Yeah. Strange names don't you think?”

“Yeah,” Hakkaku agreed as he turned in time to see Ayame stroll out of the bedroom, her hair mussed, the long t-shirt she wore barely covering her hips. “Mom, you remember that trip Ginta and I promised you? I want you to take it. Leave tomorrow morning.”

“To Australia?”

“Yeah. Call and make the arrangements. I'll wire the money into your account.”

“Honey, I can't. I'm volunteering at the hospital tomorrow.”

“Mom, please,” he pleaded unable to keep the dread from his voice. “Please do this for me and in memory of Ginta.”

She was quiet as if trying to read his mind. “What's going on, baby? Are you in trouble? Is everything okay?”

Ayame slipped up to him, her arms encircling his waist. Hakkaku absently slipped his free arm around her and brought her deeper into the protectiveness of his body. In the days that he'd made her understand that she and Kouga were not mates, she'd been like this with him. It was like she just needed to touch him. If he was sitting on the couch, she'd sit right next to him so that they were touching arms and knees. She'd even on one occasion crawled into his lap. On the few times that they'd ventured outside for toiletries and clothing, she'd held his hand the entire time. He would have liked to say that it didn't bother him, but it did. Not because he didn't want her to touch him, but because he felt she was touching him because she was either envisioning him as Kouga or worse needing someone, anyone to make her feel needed…wanted…cherished. He didn't want to be just anyone to her.

“Mom, I'm fine. If you do this for me, I promise you I'll meet you there in a few days and we'll have that vacation that Ginta and I have been promising you.”

His mom sighed softly and he heard her shift as if standing. “Alright, baby. I think you're not telling me something, but I'll go. But I'll expect full disclosure that minute you set down in Brisbane, okay?”

Hakkaku sighed in relief. “Whatever you want, mom. Just do this for me and don't let anyone else in the house okay?”

His mother laughed. “Do you think I'm some kind of sap? Don't forget who bought and showed you how to use your first gun, baby. I'm no pushover.”

He wanted to say, no, you're just a really bad judge of character, but refrained. “Alright mom, call me when you get to airport, okay?”

“Alright and you call me if you need me, okay?”

“I will. Love you and be careful, mom.”

“Same to you, silly-billy,” his mom replied, her tone so soft and filled with such love and life that as he clicked off the call it took everything in him not to crush Ayame to him. If he could do it all over, he would never have befriended Kouga when they were younger. He would have forced Ginta to go to college and he would've spent more time with his mother. He'd made so many mistakes. So many fucking mistakes in the years he'd been walking this earth. If he could go back, just once, he would change everything.

“Hakkaku?” Ayame's voice tore through the torment in his mind. “You're leaving me?”

He closed his eyes and shook his head. No, he wasn't leaving her. He probably never would be able to leave her. For whatever the reason, she needed him and had always needed him in one form or the other. Until she no longer needed him, he'd never leave her, of that he was certain.

“No, I'm not,” he replied softly, “Not until this mess is resolved anyway. Then you can go back to your father and your life and forget this whole nightmare even happened.” His hand dropped away from her as he started towards the couch.

“What if I don't want you to go when all of this is over? What if I still need you with me,” she asked trailing a few feet behind him.

He turned, pinned her with a dark look and asked, “Why Ayame?” Her gaze dropped from his and Hakkaku stepped towards her, his hand gently reached out to lift her face so that he could see her vibrant green eyes. “I don't understand what's happening, Ayame. You cling to me. You use me as a substitute and I can't say that I don't mind it, but it's not right. It's not healthy for you and it's not fair to me. I didn't tell you about Kouga for this, Ayame. I told you so that you could move forward instead of backwards and not so you would cling to me.”

She shook her head with vehemence. “Never. Not ever have I viewed you as substitute, Hakkaku. I just…You make me feel real. You've always made me feel real.” She stepped closer to him, slipped her arms around his waist and laid her head over his heart. “I touch you because I don't know how not to. Think about it because I have. When I was with Kouga, if you and he were around, I always stood closer to you. When you would take me shopping, I always made sure at some point and time you had to touch me, hold me. When Kouga would pull his disappearing act, I was never lonely as long as you were around. Most times I didn't even care that he was gone because you were there when I went to sleep and when I woke. It was when you left that I felt lost and alone. When Kouga and I went on trips, do you think it was him that wanted you to come? It was me, Hakkaku. I didn't know why I needed you around all the time, but I did.”

“Ayame…” was all that he could manage. He remembered on more than a few occasions the forlorn look on her face when he had to leave or if something came up and he couldn't take her to dinner or to one of her benefits. He just thought she was pouting, because that's what women did. He also remembered joy in her eyes when he'd step through the door on Kouga's behalf, or when he'd given her a pair of diamond stud earrings for Christmas. That was the year Kouga hadn't gotten her anything. He even remembered when she and Kouga had gone to pick out her Lexus, she'd driven straight off the lot and to his house so that she could share her joy with him. She'd said that because she got a smaller female version of his 450, their cars were mates. It was all silly to him at the time, but now that he thought about it…

“No, Hakkaku.” She shook her head. “I don't understand this either, but I need you with me. I won't get through this without you. I know it sounds selfish, and I promise you I'll make it up to you eventually, but for now I need you with me. Not as a substitute for anyone, especially not Kouga, but as Hakkaku…just Hakkaku, my white knight, my best-friend, my savior.”

“What if when this is all over, I don't want to be your best-friend, Ayame? What then?”

She pulled away from him, slipped her hand to his and tugged him towards the couch. “I'm naïve and I accept that, but Hakkaku you aren't.” After he settled down on the couch she crawled into his lap, her head full of fiery red hair nestled against his neck. “When this is all over and you think I've had enough time to recover and deal with my emotions, you'll do the right thing and whatever that is, I'll be more than okay with it.”

He tipped her head up so that she was looking at him. “Do you trust me so much, Ayame?” He searched her eyes looking for a hint of doubt and sign that she was reaching for something that wasn't there. He found certainty and an unfailing trust and pride in him that made him feel as if he could accomplish anything. How many times had he looked at her and never seen her like this? How many times had he looked at her and seen exactly this and ignored it. The things that she'd been through with Kouga were not her fault. She'd wanted love…wanted a mate and had wanted to believe that it was Kouga. It wasn't her fault that she wore her heart on her sleeve. It wasn't her fault that she'd been used or that he'd helped Kouga betray her. “I'm sorry,” Hakkaku said, before he couldn't stop himself. “I'm sorry; I allowed this to go on as long as it did. Had I known… Had I thought for a second, Ayame…”

She leaned forward, her lips gliding over his in a soft nervous kiss. “I forgive you, Hakkaku. You're as much a victim in all of this as I am.” She smiled up at him with glittering eyes. “Besides, you can make it up to me when we join your mom in Australia.”

Hakkaku was speechless. He did the only thing he could at that moment. He pulled her closer and held her tight. This, none of it was making much sense, but it felt so right that he found second guessing it foolish and downright idiotic.

They set together surrounded by darkness for a little longer before Ayame broke the silence and almost stopped his heart at the same time. “I want to go to Tokyo, Hakkaku.”

He leaned back from her. “What? Why?”

“I want to see for myself that Kagome is okay and I want to apologize to her for everything that has happened.”

“Ayame?”

“I know it won't do much good, but I'll feel better about moving on if I do this. I can't explain why, but I just need to see her. I need to talk to her and tell her that I didn't know and that person that she met a year ago wasn't the real me. I think if we had met under different circumstances maybe we could've been friends.”

“Ayame, we can't. Her family, her mate would try to kill us. Not only that, but Kouga is still looking for us. What if he catches wind and follows us?”

“Then let him come, Hakkaku. This time, you'll just have to shoot him in the head.” She said it with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. “You'll keep me safe, won't you?”

He sighed and pulled her back down to him. “Of course, I will.” I just don't know how safe I'll be, he finished to himself, knowing that what Ayame wanted she got, at least from him. If she wanted to go to Tokyo to set her mind at ease, then they were going to Tokyo. “We'll leave in the morning.” He was rewarded with a light brush of her lips on the underside of his chin and the beginnings of a wicked seductive flame in the pit of his belly.

Simonkal of Inuy

It dawned bringing with it a feeling of trepidation. Inuyasha set up, stretched his arms over his head and yawned. He stood to his feet and covered to short distance to his mate. Her complexion looked healthier, but the bruises were still a prominent part of her body.

He traced the hand marks around her neck with the tip of his claw as he tried to stifle a growl that refused to the subdued. He would get the prick of that he was certain and he would watch the life drain from his eyes slowly and enjoy ever horrific and satisfying moment of it.

He knew without looking at his watch that time was drawing close when he'd normally disappear but he had no plans of doing that today. If they were going to take her off the ventilator then he'd be there in case she opened her eyes. The last thing he wanted was for her to wake up and wonder why he wasn't there with her.

The door glass door to the room slid open and an American doctor, one he hadn't seen before walked in with a clipboard.

“How's our patient, doing?” he asked, his tone too damn cheerful for this early in the morning.

Inuyasha sniffed in the doctor's direction, his nose furrowing. The man smelled like he'd bathed in a bottle of cologne and just climbed off a piece of ass, but there was something underlying it that brought him up short. His head titled to one side and the other as the doctor made his way around the room touching this machine and that machine. Inuyasha watched the man look over the clipboard he was holding and then seem to compare what he had with what was written on the notes attached to the machines.

“Who the fuck are you?” Inuyasha bit out, his senses were fucking with him. He'd smelled one of the scents on the man before, but it was so twisted that he couldn't place readily.

“Dr. Marks,” the man advised brandishing his tag as if it were a badge. “Ms. Higurashi is kind of famous here. I thought I'd look in on her.” He reached out to touch her brow, and Inuyasha leapt forward, over the bed and placed himself between the doctor and Kagome.

“Don't fucking touch her,” he seethed, his hold tightening on the man's wrist. “Who the fuck are you?”

Dr. Marks looked from the hanyou's face to his wrist and forced a smile as he pulled back in an attempt to get loose. “I see the stories are true. You are very protective over her.”

Inuyasha shoved the man away from Kagome's bedside as bitch raised his head, which only caused Inuyasha to believe even more that this man was not who he said he was. His fists clenched at his side as he stepped towards the man threateningly. “I won't ask you again.”

“I all ready told you, Mr. Takahashi. I'm Dr. Marks. I'm not Ms. Higurashi's doctor, but from time to time we doctors like to look in on our colleague's cases. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you.”

It sounded believable to his ears, but Bitch was damn near snarling now, standing on all fours, his eyes blood red and begging for vengeance. Inuyasha smiled at the doctor. Perhaps it was less of a smile and more of a show of pointy fangs. He inhaled deeply allowing the doctor's scent to roll through his mind as he compared it to a trillion other scents he's smelled in his lifetime.

“You can check my credentials with the desk nurse if you don't believe me,” Dr. Marks tried as he took a tentative step back, his arms now up in mock surrender.

Everything in Inuyasha told him that his man was an imposter, but he wasn't a demon. He was human, he could smell that on him in him, but he was still not who he pretended to be. “Get out,” the hanyou growled.

“Mr. Takahashi, please,” Dr. Marks said. “I simply came to check on her. Perhaps you're taking this little show of protectiveness a little further than necessary.”

“Get out or I'll throw you out the nearest fucking window,” the hanyou threatened.

“Or perhaps I'll call security and have you tossed out. You won't see her again until she's released if ever,” the doctor shot back, and for a fraction of a second, Inuyasha saw the man's face change. His eyes became cold and flat, his smile faltered and fell into a gloating smirk as if he knew something Inuyasha didn't.

Bitch leapt forward and Inuyasha found his hand closing around the doctor's neck, his claws digging into the man's flesh as his hand slowly tightened shutting off the air to the human's lungs. He didn't know why, but this felt right. This man…this human, whoever he was evil and meant to harm Kagome for whatever the reason. “I'll rip your throat out before you so much as take your next fucking blink.”

The man clawed at Inuyasha's hand fitfully, as the door beside them opened again and Rin walked in with Souta, Nola, and Kagome's mom.

“What the hell?” they said in unison, but Inuyasha didn't really hear them.

“Inuyasha?”

He moved Rin to the side and stepped towards the door, the man still clasped in his hand. Releasing him, Inuyasha pushed him out the door. “If you even think about coming near her again, I'll kill you before you can complete the thought.”

Rin slipped a restraining hand around Inuyasha's bicep. “What did you do?”

He shook her off and stepped towards the doctor that was peeling himself up off the floor, his eyes set in a mask of hatred as he glared back at Inuyasha. He mouthed something that Inuyasha didn't catch, but he didn't have to know that it was a threat.

As the man disappeared down the hall, Inuyasha turned back to the occupants of the room. “What's up?”

“What was that about,” Souta asked as he stepped away from Kagome's bedside and made room for his mom.

“Don't know, but the prick just didn't feel right. He said he was a doctor, but he didn't smell like one. He smelled like sex and cologne and drugs.” Inuyasha shook his head, still unable to place the underlying scent that he knew he knew. “It might be safer for you all to stay home for a few days. Sesshomaru and I are having the security here doubled in case anything happens.”

“What's going on?” Mrs. H. asked. “Is she still in danger?”

Inuyasha shot her a patronizing look. “Until we catch the person who did this we can't take any chances. The minute she wakes up, she's going to tell us what happened, which means his cover will be blown. If I were him, I'd try to get to her before that happens.”

“So this isn't over?” Nola asked.

Inuyasha didn't answer. Instead he walked over to Kagome's prone form and brushed a kiss to her brow as he slipped her hand into his just needing the feel of her.

“Alright, Rin take Nola and my mom to your house and stay there. I'll stay here with Inuyasha in case anything happens,” Souta said from behind Inuyasha.

“Excuse me?” Rin hissed.

Souta back tracked, “Well, I mean, I think it would be best. We don't need you and the other's getting in the way…”

“Souta, I did not raise you to be a chauvinistic pig!”

Just then Kagome's real doctor pushed through the door with a nurse close behind. Gratuities were exchanged, and the doctor advised them of what they were hoping to accomplish.

As the man spoke, Inuyasha's mind kept going back to the Dr. Marks and that one scent he couldn't place. Inuyasha shook his head and asked, “Is there a Dr. Marks that works in this hospital?”

The doctor looked up at him. “Well, yes, why?”

“He came in this morning to check on Kagome, but I might have gotten it wrong and thrown him out,” Inuyasha said feeling just a little ashamed.

A thoughtful frown played over the doctor's face before he spoke. “He came in this morning?”

“Yeah, about 15 minutes ago.”

“Well, I might be wrong, but I thought Dr. Marks was on special assignment in Dubai. He's not supposed to return until next month.” The doctor shrugged. “It's possible that his assignment ended sooner than we thought.”

“Is he American?”

The doctor laughed. “No, of course not. It's a running joke at the hospital. Dr. Marks has the most American name of all of us, but he's the farthest thing from American. I think he's part German by way of Africa or something like that. He has the thickest accent that even though he speaks Japanese fluently the patients still have a problem understanding him.”

Inuyasha pushed away from the wall he'd been leaning on. “The person that was passing himself off as Dr. Marks was American. I even spoke English to him. I need this floor locked down. No one gets on without my or my brothers' say so.” He turned to the women. “Souta is right; you all need to head home and stay there. I don't know what's going on, but none of this feels right to me.”

“I'm staying with you,” Souta told him firmly.

Inuyasha nodded as he stepped towards the door and stared in the direction that he'd seen the man go in. As if it was the clouds parting to reveal the sun after too many days of darkness one name played through his mind, Kikyo.

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

Next Chapter: Velocity

Acknowledgements:

Mynera ~ Loulou4729 ~ CCKXS ~ Silly1 ~ InuGoddess715 ~ Kipanny ~ Fallen6909 ~ SplendentGoddess ~ Ai Kisugi ~ Morambrday04 ~ Akdreamer38 ~ Midcat ~ Snowfall ~ New Fan ~ Nikki_Nightmare ~ Madmistress65 ~ Dreamer789 ~ Inuyasha_Baby_Bre ~ AnotherSongstress ~ Stemenstaub ~ Scriptix ~ Salina A ~ Miss Marilyn 69 ~ Deipurple