InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Kurayami no Naka de Hikari ❯ I Want to Believe ( Chapter 9 )

Kurayami no Naka de Hikari

Notes: 11 pages/ 6,906 words – Sorry, I know it's been a while since I updated this. I've been a bit out of the loop lately, life is really a pain right now… Been working my butt off and had to deal with my ongoing family crisis a lot lately. I've also been reading book 13 of the Wheel of Time series (Towers of Midnight) so I did get a little side-tracked. Does anyone else enjoy that series? One more book to go, though I'm still undecided if I like Sanderson's style of writing (at least it's going to be finished with Robert Jordan gone, though).

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any of the characters thereof. Even though that is the case, please don't steal my plot, concept, or story out of respect for my creative endeavor as I would not do this to anyone out there.

- l - l - l - Change of scene, time, etc.
'Thoughts/dreams' will be in single quotes (IE: ' ')

Chapter 9 – I Want to Believe

Miroku sighed in defeat for the hundredth time that evening. He had been trying to talk to Koharu since she'd arrived at his apartment after school teary-eyed. She refused to listen to things that she didn't want to hear. Such as the fact he'd never slept with her so he was not going to be a father, despite her objections. She was so adamant he was almost starting to believe her! He couldn't get the hurt look in Sango's eyes out of his mind, though. He needed to do something! He knew he cared about Sango, but he felt obligated to help the troubled teen who was at the moment, refusing to sleep in the guest bedroom.

"I'm sleeping with Miroku!" Koharu said stubbornly as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the monk.

"We can't sleep in the same bed, Koharu-chan," Miroku began to explain yet again. "Not until we're married." Miroku still wasn't sure how Koharu had found the engagement ring he'd hidden that he would periodically pull out and contemplate giving to Sango. That was a big step, though. And besides, Sango still needed to finish her residency and find work at a local hospital. Marriage would only distract her at the time. Now Miroku had to find a way to get the ring back from Koharu so he could put it in his safety deposit box at the bank.

"What does it matter now? We're having a baby, there's no need for modesty anymore." Koharu said as she pressed her body against his, her soft breast pressed against his chest. Another sigh... 'She's going to make me go gray...' Miroku thought to himself in irritation.

"Being drunk is no excuse." Miroku said calmly, though he hadn't been drunk that night at all. "We need to be married before we share a bed again." She puffed out her cheeks in annoyance and shook her head 'no' again.

"I'm sleeping with you!" She demanded as angry tears filled her eyes. "I want to make love to Miroku again! I'm already pregnant so we don't have to worry about that." Miroku sighed again; it was a very frustrating day. If Koharu wasn't in such a fragile state both mentally and physically, Miroku would have lost his patience and tossed the girl from his apartment. She was liable to hurt herself or her baby if that happened, though.

He knew he had lost this battle... again... He made a note to slip out of the room as soon as she fell asleep and go sleep on the couch. It was too late to sneak off back to Inuyasha's place. He had a feeling the hanyou wouldn't be too excited to see him right now. Judging past experiences, he had to assume that Sango had been bugging their best friend all day and the hanyou was in no mood to speak to him.

"All right, I'll lie down with you, but you need to go right to sleep so you can get to school on time tomorrow." Miroku explained as he pushed the girl back from his chest with his hands resting lightly on her shoulders. She pouted at this and he cut her attempt at a protest off with a raised hand. "No arguments, Koharu-chan." She frowned and her shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Fine." She said with a dramatic sigh, no doubt trying to guilt him into giving in to her demands. He had no intention of doing anything with the girl, though. In fact, he was determined to discover who the true father of her child was.

He lay her down on the bed and lay down with her. She snuggled into his chest, wrapping her arms around him. He felt extremely uncomfortable in that position. It was like lying in bed with a younger sister; only the sister didn't know she was related! But he was stuck until she fell asleep so he closed his eyes and pretended that he was sleeping. He felt her shift several times, trying to sit up and kiss his throat but he paid her no mind and held firmly into her so she couldn't reach. When he felt a hand slip down his pants and grip him, though, he sat bolt upright in shock. He hadn't thought she would be that bold.

"Didn't I say no?" Miroku cried out as he scooted backward off the bed, forcing her hand out of his pants in the process. "You have school in the morning!"

This didn't deter Koharu, though. She followed him off the bed and straddled him on the floor. She pushed him up against the wall with a hand to his chest and kissed him square on the mouth. He could feel her tongue inside his mouth but was too shocked by her boldness to do anything as of yet. She pulled back and grabbed the front of his shirt and ripped it open, exposing his bare chest. Finally, Miroku came back to himself, ignoring the involuntary reaction that had taken place below the belt from her aggressive act. He gripped her wrists firmly and gently drew them away from his body.

"I said no, I'm going to sleep in the guest room." Miroku said firmly as he slid from under the girl and stood up. He grabbed a new shirt out of the dresser as he passed and closed the door on his way out. He could hear sobs in the room as he closed the door, but he ignored them and went to the guest bedroom to get some sleep.

- l - l - l -

Inuyasha pulled his motorcycle up to the curb and cut the engine before jumping off and dropping the helmet on the seat. He had flown there as fast as he could, ignoring speed limits the whole way. He had just been lucky none of the police had stopped him. He was likely to lose his license if he was stopped again. He glanced down at the paper but already knew Kagome was in apartment number two. Thankfully, it was a small building with outdoor entrances on the side which appeared to be the only way to enter the apartments. He went to the ground floor ones and found the number two in the back.

Inuyasha took a deep breath and knocked on the door. H was surprised at the amount of nerves that he felt doing the simple act on knocking on the door.

Kagome jumped in surprise as she heard a knock on the front door. She had been in the study finishing up on of the last papers she was going to have to write for the semester. She had called the school and they had set it up so she could finish her classes up online rather than have to go into the building injured as she was. She hurt all over but had forced herself to stay where she was. Kouga had knocked on the door earlier in the afternoon, but she hadn't answered it. She didn't want to see his concerned look or try to answer the questions he would undoubtedly ask.

She had been receiving text messages and voicemails all day from both Inuyasha and Sango and had been forced to turn her phone off because of the distraction it caused. She had resolved no to see either of them again so she was even contemplating changing her phone number. A part of her didn't want to go that far, though. As much as she knew she couldn't see them again, it was a comfort to know that someone cared. She just couldn't find the strength to sever all ties just yet.

The knocking continued and Kagome rose with a sigh, wincing as her muscles flexed and threatened to reopen her wounds. She slunk to the door and peeked through the blinds on the door. Her breath caught in her throat as she caught a flash of gold. She dropped the blind and turned around, putting her back to the door. Her heart hammered in her chest as panic took hold. 'How did he find me?!' Her mind screamed in shock. She immediately thought of a private police force in black suits and sunglasses tailing her on the bus. His father could afford it and of course Inuyasha Takahashi would be able to take advantage. She shook he head to get rid of the thought. She had never heard anything about a private police force; it was a silly kid's thought.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked tentatively through the door. "I saw you peeking out, baka. Why don't you open the door?" Kagome's heart skipped a beat. Of COURSE he'd seen her peeking, even though it was dark out, he still had extra sensitive senses being a hanyou and all.

"I... I can't see you, Inuyasha." Kagome called through the glass as she slid down the door and sat on the floor.

"What are you blabbing about? You've been ignoring me for days. Just open the door so we can talk." Inuyasha growled through the door. He could easily break the flimsy door down but it would do no good if she refused to listen. It would probably make her shut him out even more if he used force. That seemed to be her current boyfriend's tactics so he refused to exhibit the same behavior.

"I already made up my mind. I can't talk to you anymore." She said loud enough for him to hear through the door.

"You 'can't'?" Inuyasha asked suspiciously. "Did your boyfriend tell you that?" Inuyasha asked as his fists clenched at his sides in anger.

"N... no..." Kagome stumbled. Why was this so hard? Kagome felt herself crying inside at the thought of not seeing the silver-haired hanyou again. She stomped that voice down and told herself it was for the best. She could never be with Inuyasha; they came from completely different worlds. She told herself it would never work between them. "I just don't want to see you anymore."

"You're lying, Kagome." Inuyasha's voice snapped and he was sourly tempted to pull the door open, locked or not. Why wouldn't this girl let him help her out of a bad situation? "I know he's hurting you. Why are you protecting him?"

"Y... you don't know what you're talking about?" Kagome cried in a high-pitched voice. 'How can he know about the knife?' Kagome thought to herself as fear and dread gripped her chest. 'Can he smell the blood through the door? Damn dog sense of smell!'

"Quit being so damn stubborn, Kagome!" Inuyasha growled in annoyance as she continued to make him stand outside the door.

"I told you, I don't want to see you again!" Kagome cried as she felt tears sting her eyes. She forcibly wiped them away, mentally berating herself for wanting to open the door and cry against his broad chest with his strong arms wrapped around her.

"Cleaned it up, have you? It's not you 'can't' see me, now it's you don't 'want' to see me?" He questioned as anger gripped him. Was there any way to get through to this stubborn woman? "Just come out already!"

"Go away!" He heard Kagome's muffled cry through the door. He had picked up the familiar salt scent of her tears moments before and felt another spike of hatred grow for the male scent that lingered around the porch.

"Keh! I'll sit out here all night if I have to, baka." Inuyasha said dryly and promptly turned around and leaned against the door. He sank to the ground with his arms crossed over his chest and his legs folded Indian-style.

Kagome's eyes bulged at his announcement and she slowly rose to her feet to peek through the blinds again. She looked down and in front of the door saw Inuyasha's silver hair catching the moonlight and one ear flicking in obvious annoyance. She caught herself vaguely remembering how soft his downy ears had been when she'd had an opportunity to touch them. She shook her head again to clear this thought.

Kagome turned her back to the door and leaned against it, determined to wait him out. There was no way he could out-stubborn her. She could teach a mule the meaning of the word! She knew she needed to send him a clear message, but every time she tried, she pulled herself back at the last moment without knowing why.

"I'll sit out here all night if I have to, Kagome." Inuyasha said lazily about a half an hour later. He had assumed that her boyfriend wasn't home since he hadn't come storming from the apartment and there was no scent of fresh blood. Besides, the scent was several hours old to begin with.

"Just leave me alone already!" Kagome snapped as she jumped to her feet. She had stationed herself right in front of the door waiting him out.

"Don't think so. Besides, I think someone needs to talk to your boyfriend." Inuyasha said in a bored voice as he looked down at his cell and saw it was a quarter to midnight. "He has to come home eventually."

Kagome's blood ran cold at the mention of Naraku coming home with Inuyasha sitting on the porch. She slowly turned toward the door and put her hand on the doorknob. She was shaking in fear and had to force down the lump that had risen in her throat. Inuyasha caught the sudden fear scent through the door and stiffened where he sat on the ground. He had never smelled fear so strong coming from Kagome and this was through a closed door so undoubtedly, the scent was much stronger on the other side.

"You can't!" She cried through the door as more tears stung her eyes and she resisted the urge to pull the door open. "He'll... he'll hurt you..." She whispered, not wanting him to hear her fear of the threat Naraku had made days earlier.

Inuyasha, being half inu youkai, just faintly heard what she said and his eyes narrowed. He rose to his feet and turned to face the door, a serious expression on his face. He could see one chocolate brown eye peeking through the blinds at him.

"What makes you think he'll hurt me?" Inuyasha asked seriously, his golden eyes staring intently at her watery brown.

"Please Inuyasha..." Kagome pleaded as tears streaked down her cheeks. She stared back into his piercing golden gaze, willing him to understand without having to speak.

"Kagome... you're more likely to get hurt than I am. I'm worried about you." Inuyasha said seriously, all arrogance lost and just pure concern and determination filling his gaze.

"I... I can't Inuyasha! Just forget about me!" Kagome cried and the blinds snapped shut.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled through the door as he knocked again. "Oi! Come back here!"

Kagome ran into the very back of the apartment and grabbed her iPod and headphones so she could drown out the sound of Inuyasha banging on the door. Tears streamed freely down her cheeks. She couldn't leave Naraku, if Inuyasha knew the real Kagome, he would look at her with disgust. Besides, she knew Naraku would find her and she was afraid he would kill Inuyasha like he had threatened. All of her dreams of late had been horrible depictions of Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, and Kouga's deaths. She took them as a prophecy and decided that the only way to make the dreams stop was to not associate with those people any longer.

It made Kagome sad to think of not seeing her new friends again, but she had learned to trust these prophetic type dreams she'd have on occasion. Ever since she was a child, she would sometimes have dreams similar and whatever happened in the dreams always came about. It was never anything severe; she had once dreamed that if Souta didn't stop trying to climb the large Goshimboku in front of the shrine, he was going to get hurt. She warned him about the dream and sure enough, a week later he fell out of the tree and broke his arm. He had always taken her seriously after that when she told him about a strange dream, even if she knew it wasn't one of the dreams she knew was more than a dream.

They were becoming more frequent and more severe in content since she had met Inuyasha so that was another reason to stay away. She had only ever told two people about her dreams, her little brother, Souta, and the love of her life, Naraku. She was afraid if more people knew they would find her weird or more of a freak than she already was. Besides, they were normally just warnings on days to bring an umbrella so it's not like they were major... most of them time...

"Just forget about me, Inuyasha..." Kagome mumbled as she lay down with the music blaring in her ears.

- l - l - l -

Inuyasha stared at the door in frustration, such a small piece of wood and glass was keeping him from Kagome and there was nothing he could do! He knew she wasn't near the door anymore so he stopped calling and stopped knocking. He hadn't expected her to blatantly ignore her that way.

"Stupid girl..." Inuyasha grunted as he walked off the porch and jumped on his bike, kicking it to life in the process. He had a plan she wouldn't see coming. He grinned to himself as he sped off down the side street and disappeared into the night.

Some time later, a hooded figure walked up onto the porch and stopped as he sensed a presence on the porch. Naraku growled low in his throat, he knew that aura... It wasn't the male youkai Kagome had been with days before, but rather the silver-haired hanyou bastard he remembered from so long ago. He had stolen everything from Naraku, now he was back to steal Kagome away.

Naraku glared at the back door for a moment more before he unlocked it and pulled it open. Kagome's pure aura filled the kitchen so he could tell she'd come to the door, but the man's aura never entered the kitchen. Naraku smirked to himself at the realization. It was working! She was pushing her own friends away this time! It always backfired when he did it since she would remain resentful toward him, but making her do it without her knowing he was the force was brilliant.

'Now what should she dream about tonight?' Naraku asked himself as he locked the door behind him and headed for the bedroom. Yura was starting to severely bore him; he needed another taste of taunting Kagome. It was sweeter than anything he'd ever tasted in all of his years.

- l - l - l -

Sango sighed in frustration as she, again, has to backtrack to grab her keys out of her locker. She had been rushing around all night helping out in the emergency room since they hadn't put enough people on call that night. The ONE day when she felt the pull of something else was the day she couldn't get away for more than minutes at a time to send messages. She hadn't heard back from Inuyasha yet about Kagome and was distracted, thus she walked off without her keys.

It was now 2:00 AM and Sango's on-call shift was over. Better to just have put her on the schedule instead of on-call since she'd been there the whole time! And of course there had been a heavy metal concert that night so the amount of broken bones, head injuries, and bloody cuts and gashes was enormous from the idiots that insisted on going into mosh pits. Half of the ones in the ER had no reason to be in a mosh pit as many were short or scrawny and an easy target for the larger mosh pitters.

Miroku had called earlier but she had completely ignored him. She had no desire to speak to that cheating, pedophile, pervert! She had gone so far as to change her voice mail message to state anyone except Miroku was welcome to leave a message. This was not an uncommon message to be heard on her voice mailbox so she knew he'd left a message anyway knowing she had no intention of checking it. She was angry with herself for being attached to the womanizer on an emotional level when she knew in her heart that he wasn't connected to her on the same level. Maybe she should have taken Kuranosuke up on his offer of dinner.

Sango stalked down the hallway toward the parking garage growling low in her throat. It had been a very rough day and she STILL hadn't heard from that idiot, Inuyasha! She was tempted to drive out to Kagome's on her own but immediately decided against it. Of course she couldn't at that hour, Kagome would definitely be sleeping. Sango was used to the late nights and sometimes took it for granted that most people were asleep at this hour. Especially because her friends shared the same irregular hours, Inuyasha being unemployed, and Miroku spending many a night out hitting on women at the clubs.

"Stupid monk..." She growled as she stalked through the darkened parking garage. She was parked on one of the lower levels and several of the lights had burned out so it left her in semi-darkness. She parked down here most days so she wasn't concerned, though. She stopped at her driver's door and sworn in agitation as she dropped her keys trying to unlock the door. She really needed to get a car with a remote that could unlock the doors; it would be so much more convenient.

"Give me your wallet." A low voice growled as Sango felt a strong arm wrap around her and a hand clamped over her mouth. Sango immediately tried to scream in surprise and twisted in the thief's strong arms. Her scream was muffled and she was shocked at how strong the thug was. Panic clutched her as she realized that she couldn't break from his grip. She peeked over her shoulder and caught a pair of red eyes glowing in the low light. Shit... a youkai thug... No way to break his grip, he was undoubtedly stronger than her no matter that she worked out and was a martial arts master. That dissuaded her from struggling, though. She twisted and thrashed but his iron grip didn't slacken in the slightest.

"Stop struggling or I'll kill you, human." The husky voice growled in her ear. Sango winced as she felt an electric jolt run through her and her body tightened then went completely slack of its own accord. Her eyes bulged in fear at the involuntary action.

Before Sango knew what was happening, she was down on the pavement, hands pinned beside her head and a large form straddling her still limp body. She wanted to strike out against the stronger youkai, cry for help, anything! But she seemed to be paralyzed, she could feel the grit of dust and small pebbles under her back. She could feel the tight grip on her wrists, she could feel his weight pressing down on her, but her body refused to respond to her attempts to fight back.

"Oi, Manten." The red-eyed silhouette whispered harshly to get the attention of an accomplice. "Come get her wallet."

Sango could hear heavy footsteps coming toward them and moved her eyes to try and catch the face of the accomplice since the attacker's was hidden in shadow. She almost gasped out loud when she caught sight of the second mugger in the flickering light from a bulb halfway down the parking garage. He was extremely pale with a long, pointy face that had sharp teeth poking out around an almost beak of a face. He had small, almond shaped eyes and only a few visible hairs on his smooth head.

"Hey, Hiten." The one called Manten started and Sango noted a definite evil and hungry look touch the youkai's face. "Can I have a little fun with her before we take off?" Sango felt a spike of fear rise in her chest and knew her eyes must be bulging.

"Hmm... She's not bad looking for a human." Hinten said as he grabbed Sango's chin roughly and wrenched her head to the side to get a better look. "And a doctor, too? I think we can get more than just a few credit cards and a cellphone off of her."

"Come on oniisan! Can't I have a taste before we sell her?" Manten asked as he licked his lips and scanned her body greedily.

Sango's blood ran cold and she cursed herself inwardly for refusing to allow the security guard to walk her to her car. She cursed herself for her enormous pride and screamed at herself for not telling Miroku how she truly felt. She had no clue that this sort of thing could happen in her hospital! Wasn't selling people on the black market a more European thing? She had seen a movie where they would pray off of tourists, kidnap them, get them addicted to drugs, and use them as sex slaves or prostitutes. She would NOT end up like that! If only she could get her body to move from its paralyzed state!

"We'll see, Manten. I may have to sample this one personally." Hiten said as he turned back to look down at Sango. She saw one fang poking over his lip as he smirked down at her confidently. "I can tell by her eyes she has some fire in her. Breaking them is the fun part."

- l - l - l -

Miroku groaned as he rolled over in bed. He just wanted to sleep but he couldn't get the look of pain in Sango's eyes out of his mind. He knew she believed all of the rumors of him being a complete womanizer, but he didn't have a clue how to prove how untrue they were. Especially now that Koharu had sunk her claws in and wouldn't allow him to explain that nothing had happened between them that night in question.

"I told you that you need to go to sleep. You have school tomorrow." Miroku said in annoyance as he pried Koharu's hands from his chest. He stood up and headed for the door when he saw that Koharu was wearing nothing beneath the blankets.

"Come back to bed, husband." Koharu said with a pout as she intentionally let the blanket fall so he could see the faint outline of her bare breasts. She chewed on her finger in what she obvious thought was a cute manner, but it really did nothing for him. He sighed and stripped his t-shirt off and pulled it over her head. He ignored the angry look that crossed her face at this action.

"Look, I'm going to run out to the store." Miroku said as he headed toward the door. "You had better be sleeping when I get back, Koharu-chan." He said sternly as he closed the door quietly behind him.

He ignored the sniffles as he heard the door latch and quickly ran into his room to get dressed. He needed to figure out what to do about Koharu. He knew she couldn't go back to her father's house, but she really couldn't stay with him. He grabbed his jacket and keys and walked out the door, seeing Koharu's tear-stained face peeking out of the bedroom as he locked the door behind him. He needed go talk to Sango and get everything sorted out. As a woman, not to mention a doctor, Sango might have a better solution.

Miroku walked into the elevator and hit the button for the lobby. Yes, Miroku was lucky enough to live in a building that had an elevator. Though have the time it was either down for maintenance or just turned off to save on the power bill. If that was the case, Miroku had to trudge down five flights of stairs to get out of the building. Of course, going down was no big deal, going up was the pain. Especially if you had to carry in lots of stuff like, say groceries.

The bell dinged as the door slid open and Miroku walked out and headed for the front doors to the small parking lot in front. He unlocked his SUV and started it up, buckling his seat belt a moment later. He pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the hospital, not noticing a pair of angry brown eyes glaring at him from a darkened window.

- l - l - l -

Kagome hesitantly peeked through the blinds of her kitchen door to make sure she didn't catch a glimpse of silver hair or golden eyes. Naraku had left early, saying he had a doctor's appointment. The vivid dream from the previous night was still playing through her mind and she shuddered at the memory.

'Kagome was walking out of her classroom after having finished her final exams. A tremendous sense of relief emanated from her consciousness as she walked briskly down the sidewalk. Her summer job awaited her down the street from the school. She didn't necessarily like her job but it kept some bills paid so she didn't have to work the whole school year and distract herself from her studies.

The diner was brightly lit with florescent lights onto the few occupants seated at the counter. It was quiet for lunch time but she didn't think anything of it. Many students had finished their final exams earlier in the week so were busy packing and moving from their dorms for the summer. Kagome shuddered at the memory of living in a dorm room.

Her roommate had been a consummate partier that didn't care if Kagome had a test in the morning or if her loud music and video games were breaking into Kagome's studying. Not to mention sharing a bathroom with the whole floor where some of the guys didn't seem to care if they used the male or female restroom and showers. Kagome had seen young men walking back to their rooms dripping wet in nothing but a towel. She had also seen the occasional male step out of the bathroom booty-butt naked while she was brushing her teeth! NOT something she enjoyed seeing when she'd just woken up in the morning!

"Hey Kagome!" A girl named Sakura called as Kagome lifted the counter and headed for the back room to grab an apron. She was a waitress but some of the customers were clumsy or would purposely try to spill stuff on her. The latter was mostly males that wished to make her shirt see-through with their fountain drinks. It was vastly annoying, but not unexpected from guys their age and mentality.

Kagome grabbed her notepad and tucked it into her apron pocket while putting a pen behind her ear. She heard the bell ring at the entrance and headed for the sitting part of the restaurant, thankful they didn't have to wear roller skates this year. The previous summer they had worn skates since until one of Kagome's co-workers had tripped over some ignorant guy that had stuck his foot out and ended up breaking her ankle. Kagome shuddered at the memory, that loud snapping sound is something she'd never forget.

She located the table the small group of people had chosen immediately and pulled out her pen and pad as she made her way to them. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw the occupants of the booth and she relaxed slightly. There would be no issue with these customers and to Kagome's utter annoyance, they tipped very well.

"You know the food isn't good enough for you to stop in every day, Inuyasha." Kagome said as she couldn't hold the smile from her lips. Across from him sat two people, a young woman with long brown hair up in a ponytail and a man with black hair tied back at the nape of his neck. All three smiled at her.

"Keh! Like I give a damn about expensive food." He said with a smirk. It was the truth, too. Kagome knew the tall hanyou could and WOULD eat his weight in instant Ramen and still come back for more!

"The usual then?" Kagome asked as she held the pen positioned over a fresh page. He nodded then glanced at the couple seated across from him as they looked at the menu.

Inuyasha had been in the restaurant every day since Kagome had started and always gotten the same thing... ramen... Sango and Miroku came in when they could, but the two of them did have to work while Inuyasha didn't bother with a job. She was definitely annoyed that he didn't HAVE to work, but that was him, she had to focus on her. After a few minutes, the couple ordered and Kagome disappeared behind the counter to give the order to the cook.

Kagome helped finish up a few orders for people sitting at the counter, occasionally checking on Inuyasha's table to refill coffee and water. After the group had eaten, she brought the bill, which Inuyasha took from her absently and returned it with a credit card. When she came back to the table, Inuyasha was standing while Miroku and Sango headed for the door.

"Kagome, mom's been asking when you can come out for Sunday dinner." Inuyasha said as Kagome and Inuyasha headed toward the door. Kagome faltered and nearly tripped as she walked with the hanyou. Suddenly nervous, Kagome gripped her apron and bunched it up in her hands.

"I don't know Inuyasha..." Kagome said slowly as they reached the door. "I'll think about it." His ears drooped in disappointment. He had been trying to get her to spend some time with him for weeks, but she would keep him at an arm's length, nervous about what Naraku would say if he knew the inu youkai came to that diner every day to see her.

"All right." He said with his cute dog ears still drooping. "I'll see you later, then." He turned away and waved a hand in goodbye without looking at her. One hand was stuffed in his pocket as he came to the edge of the street and took a step onto the pavement. Kagome's eyes widened in horror as she saw at the last moment, a semi barreling down the road at top speed directly at the silver-haired hanyou.

"INUYASHA!" She shrieked as she stepped out of the restaurant after him. In the moment it took him to turn, the semi struck him; he hadn't even seen or heard it. Tears filled her eyes as she saw his body flying through the air, the sound of bones snapping audible over the sound of a horn blaring, Kagome's cry, and tears squealing. Red droplets flew through the air around Inuyasha's broken body as she watched it play out in slow motion.

"NOO!" She cried as she saw his mangled body hit the ground, eyes closed with blood covering his face and clothes.

She ran to his broken form and fell to her knees, immediately searching for a pulse. For some reason... she couldn't find it...

"Sango!!!" She screamed as her vision was blurred with tears. Through the tears, she could see no sign of the ponytailed doctor. "Don't die! Inuyasha!!" Kagome fell across his chest sobbing, begging him to come back.'

That's when Kagome had woken up, sweating and tears streaming down her face. She didn't even know it was possible to cry while you were clearly asleep. Naraku had been gone already so she'd had no one to share the dream with. Ever since the weekend where she'd been handcuffed to the bed, she felt uncomfortable around him so even if he'd been there, she would have kept the dream to herself anyway.

She got out of bed and grabbed a fresh set of clothes, long sleeves and long pants to hide the marks despite the rapidly warming day. She made her way to the bathroom and took a quick shower, wincing in pain as the soap ran over her many cuts. They had all sealed up, but the water made the scabs soft and the wounds hurt. She just hoped they didn't scar.

She grabbed a hoodie and pulled it on, zipping it and pulling the hood up as she walked into the study to grab a binder she needed to drop off. She was thankful they were letting her finish the semester up a little early, but annoyed that she still had to go in to drop some things off. Why couldn't she just email it to them? Another thing to spike her annoyance was that she couldn't find her book bag and was forced to grab a cinch bag she found buried in the closet. She sighed and went back into the kitchen, grabbed her keys and wallet and headed out the back door, locking it behind her.

She walked down the street toward the bus stop, ignoring everything around her except for her destination. She had no desire to talk to Kouga if she ran into him and hoped that Inuyasha had given up on her. She was so focused on ignoring everything; she didn't see a man with a pair of golden eyes slip from the diner and walk along the sidewalk behind her. He wore a dark hoodie with his silver hair covered and had his hands buried in his pockets.

Kagome picked up the pace as she saw the bus coming down the street and jumped on it once it had stopped. She flashed her bus pass to the driver and moved to the back of the bus to take a seat. She didn't pay attention to the other people boarding and instead dug out her headphones and iPod. She even ignored the person who sat down next to her; she didn't even glance at him. Then something odd hit her... Why would he sit with her when half the bus was still empty? She glanced over and chocolate brown met piercing gold filled with annoyance and she gasped involuntarily.

"Inuyasha?" She squeaked as she dropped the ear bud. "What the hell?!" She demanded when the surprise wore off and anger set in.

"Keh! You have a lot of nerve, onna!" He growled as he stared her in the eyes. "What the hell is with you? We've all been worried sick about you!" Kagome squirmed uncomfortably at the declaration. She didn't want anyone to worry about her; she hadn't ASKED anyone to worry about her so it wasn't her problem! Though for some reason, that thought sounded wrong in her head.

"Will you stop bothering me already? I told you I don't want to see you again!" Kagome spat out angrily. Inuyasha caught other things in her scent besides just anger. He smelled pain, emotional not physical. It seemed to pain her to say she didn't want to see him again and that's what gave away the lie.

"You're lying." Inuyasha said quietly as he refused to break eye contact. Her eyes shifted uncomfortably, giving further proof to the lie. "What are you so afraid of?"

"I... I'm not afraid of anything!" She snapped, stuttering at the beginning. She WAS afraid... very afraid... of what, though? "I just decided not to see you again."

"Why are you hiding? It's too damn hot to go out in a hoodie, turtleneck, and jeans." Inuyasha said as he looked more closely at her attire. "What did he do to you?"

"N... nothing!" She cried as tears stung her eyes. "Just leave me alone already!"

"I won't." He said quietly and before she could object, he pulled her against his chest with his arms wrapped around her. He ignored her struggles and eventually felt her arms slip around his waist as the scent of salt filled the air. He could feel her body shaking with sobs as he rubbed her back soothingly.

Kagome fought when Inuyasha pulled her to his chest. She couldn't let herself get attached; she'd already made up her mind to never see him again. Something about the look in his eyes, the gentle embrace she couldn't seem to break from made her give up. She felt herself sinking into him as tears streamed down her cheeks. 'Can I really trust him?' She asked herself as she felt his hand gently rubbing her back. She couldn't break away... something was preventing her from leaving the safety of his arms so she lay there, crying quietly into his shirt.

"I'll take you away, Kagome." Inuyasha's voice said quietly into her ear. "I'll protect you, keep you safe..." She clung to him harder at these words and began to sob in earnest. 'Does he really mean it? Can I put my faith in him?' Kagome asked herself as she clung to him like he was a lifeline. 'I want to believe...'

::FIN::

July 18, 2011

Notes: I hope you Sango/Miroku lovers enjoyed this chapter! I think they're such a cute couple, I just wanted to bring some drama into their lives too, too much drama? Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this, I'm really enjoying myself writing this (as dark as it is). And now for review replies!