InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ One Last Chance ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: Definitely do not own InuYasha and Co. I do currently have Koga locked in a cage in my basement, but that’s another legal issue...



One Last Chance: Chapter 6


Betty Lou was not in her bathroom, slumped in her bathtub, like she should be. She didn’t have a tiny trickle of blood running down her temple, and she certainly didn’t have the clothes on that she did when she knocked herself out.

She tried to move but, as she expected, her limbs were a little too heavy for that just yet. What she didn’t expect were for her arms and legs to be weighed down by a pile of blankets. She slowly opened her eyes, squinting into a bright, white light that was nothing close to the dingy yellow glow in her bathroom.

Something was breathing beside her bed, slowly and smoothly. She slowly, slowly squinted her eyes open, almost blinded by the lights.

She was in a hospital, she deduced, and she was NOT pleased. She hated hospitals. They were full of old people and babies, and if there was anything that got on her nerves, it was old people and babies. And needles.

A dark haired figure was sitting in a chair at the end of her bed, hunched over and, apparently, asleep. She growled at the figure, but it only twitched in response.

Betty struggled for a moment, then managed to get the blankets off of her figure. She noticed that there was a bandage covering her forehead and one of her eyes, but she didn’t have time to worry about that just now, she had to get out of this hell hole.

Her bare feet touched the could tile of the emergency room. Instead of her own private room, she was in a public ward, supposedly, the only privacy afforded was from a curtain that wasn’t even closed the entire way. Betty scowled when she saw her clothes folded on an empty chair, and realized that she was wearing one of those dressing gowns that didn’t have a back to them.

She looked closely at the person snoozing at her bedside. It seemed masculine enough, with long, black hair falling to his waist. Nope, she never met him before, meaning that he was just some random guy off the street looking for a place to rest. ‘Probably running from his wife in labor’ she thought with a snort, even though she noticed that he didn’t wear a ring on his wedding finger. ‘Oh well. Doesn’t mean he’s not hiding from something.’ she thought wistfully.

She waved her hand in front of his head, trying to get a response out of him. When nothing happened, she quickly closed the curtains the rest of the way. As she changed into her street clothes as fast as she could, she saw with disgust that someone had rubbed some sort of weird burn ointment on her thighs, where she had snuffed out her cigarettes. Angry that some one had gotten so bold with her body while she was knocked out, she jerked her black pants up. With a snort of frustration, she realized that she would have to go barefoot, seeing as whatever deadman dragged her here had forgotten her shoes. But maybe this was a good thing. If she was in a public ward, she was going to have a hell of a time sneaking out, and that’s what she desperately needed to do, lest the government honed in on her housing situation.

She tip toed out of her ‘room’, careful not to make even the slightest noise. It was the middle of the night, it seemed, and she was relieved to see that there were no nosy doctors or nurses hanging around. There! A door, at the end of a hallway. She crept passed other sleeping patients, quite pleased with her self that she just might be able to get herself out of this one without any conflict.

Betty Lou was now in an unfamiliar hallway. She looked around for a sign pointing to the exit, but there was nothing. That was okay, there had to be a way out of this place eventually. So long as she didn’t run into any nosy people, she might make it home in time for school tomorrow.


_____________________


InuYasha groaned. He had sat by Betty Lou’s bed all night and all day, fading into the night of the new moon, the whole time by her side. He fell asleep, almost collapsing from exhaustion, once he had been reassured by the healers that she was going to be okay, something about a mild-concussion. Hiro had come with him, saying that she was lucky she didn’t crack her skull, from the sounds of what she had done. He had left about an hour ago, saying that he needed some sleep as desperately as InuYasha looked like he did.

InuYasha had no qualms about being out on his human night where people could see him anymore. The doctors’ had merely assumed that the white haired boy who had carried her in and the dark haired boy who kept a vigilant over her now were two different people. He hadn’t bothered to correct them.

He tried to sniff his surroundings before he completely woke up, and then was jolted out of his sleep by his lack of senses. He gazed blearily at he bed where Betty Lou had been sleeping for the past eighteen hours....which was now empty.

“Aw, shit, what now?” he said to himself, heaving out of the chair and disgusted that he had to go find her the normal way, by looking around, instead of sniffing her out. He wasn’t even sure which direction she had gone. Outside the curtain, an old man resting in the public ward gestured to the boy who had come from the same curtain as a girl who looked too young to be walking around by herself had just snuck out of. InuYasha looked at him, sensing that the old guy wanted something. Discreetly, he indicated the door which Betty Lou had made her escape. InuYasha nodded his appreciation and set out on the hunt for the miko.


___________________________


‘This sucks this sucks this sucks this sucks hot sticky monkey balls!’ Betty Lou thought desperately as she began running through the hallways, getting the eery feeling she was being followed.

She’d been wandering around for fifteen minutes now, each second by causing her to go into a deeper state of panic. So far, she had only come across cleaning ladies and visitors out for a midnight stroll, but it was only a matter of time before some nurse came upon her.

More than once she thought she saw a dark figure behind her, disappearing from sight the moment she turned around, then continuing to follow her. She tried to dismissed it, because she had been getting that feeling a lot lately, but it didn’t help that she was in a creepy hospital full of needles and scalpels and...torture devises....oh man, she had to get out of here before she finally lost it.

She finally seemed to be close to an exit, having ducked out of sight from a doctor on call, who seemed to be sleep walking instead of making his rounds. There! A door that didn’t really look like a main exit, but undoubtably led to the outside, in any case, which brought her one step closer to home.

“What the hell do you think your doing!” shouted/whispered someone as they grabbed her on her bid for freedom. Someone bigger and stronger than her had jumped in front of her from the darkness, grabbing her arms and holding her close to his face.

“KYAA!!!” she yelled out, although she wasn’t really frightened. The guy wasn’t gripping her that tightly, and there was no way he’d do anything in a crowded hospital, even if it was early in the morning. Not to mention she was in the perfect position to knee him right in the-

“SHHH! What the hell is your problem, wench?!” he said, clamping a hand over her mouth. His face was hidden in shadow, but there was something familiar about his voice...

“Mumph uph phukumph umphp!!!” she said into his hand, trying out a few curse words she’d always wanted to.

To her mortification, two paramedics came at the sound of her call, and for some reason, they had sedative needles with them. Since the man holding her was startled from the intrusion, she managed to wriggle out of his grasp, throwing her self as far away as possible, landing in the corner beside the door.

“K-keep those away from me!” she said, her terror evident in her quavering voice as she pointed at the upright needles both men carried. Her eyes were wide with panic, and she looked like a trapped animal. They looked to each other and nodded, and returned to approaching her slowly. She was torn between wanting to run as fast as she could and being frozen to the wall behind her.

“Wait! What the hell are you doing with those? You stay away from her!” the dark figure who had caught her said, stepping in front of her and blocking her from view, defensively shielding her from the paramedics.

“InuYasha, stop!” said another dark figure from the top of the staircase. “They just want to help her! She’s hysterical and she needs psychological counseling! They’re not going to hurt her! I promise. The needles will just-”

“Like hell they’re gonna poke her with those things, Hiro! Call ‘em off!” he shouted back and thrusting his arms up in a fighting position as the men tried to get a little closer.

“InuYasha, listen to me! It WON’T hurt her! She-”

But InuYasha never heard the last part of this sentence, seeing as he had thrown Betty Lou over his shoulder and rushed out of the door in which she had just been trying to escape. She struggled to get out of his grasp, but it was half hearted. It seemed she was more relieved to get away from the needles than afraid of the guy whose shoulder she was currently balanced on.

“Damn humans and their fucking remedies. Don’t know what the hell they’re doing. No wonder you got all hysterical, I’d be freaked too if someone came at me with one of those things...” he said soothingly, trying to calm the racing heartbeat pounding a tattoo into his shoulder.

“I was NOT hysterical! And what do you mean, humans?” she said, insulted.

“Whatever. I guess you want to go home?” he said, shifting her slightly.

“No, I want you to put me down and tell me who you are.” she said, shoving calm into her voice to prove him wrong.

InuYasha sighed, and put her down by a trash can. Betty Lou regained her balance by placing her hands on his shoulders, and he felt a strange swooping sensation in his stomach. He pushed it down and waited intently for her questions.

“What’s your name?” she started.

“InuYasha.” he figured he might as well come out with the truth.

“No, it’s not.” she said, eyeing him as if she was trying to see into his soul. InuYasha got the weirdest feeling that she was succeeding.

“Yeah, it is. I’m the same guy, Keera.” he said seriously.

“How many times do I have to tell you DON’T CALL ME THAT!” she said, smacking the air in fierce anger.

“Okay, FINE! BETTY FUCKING LOU, ALRIGHT?” InuYasha shouted, wishing he had his fangs to back up his argument.

“Thank you. Now, would you mind telling me where your ears went, InuYasha?” she asked pointedly.....it almost seemed as if she were humoring herself. Either that or avoiding harder questions, like how he knew her real name.

“I’m a hanyou. Hanyou have one night in which their youkai retreats, and they’re left with their human bodies. Tonight’s my night.” he said regretfully

“Sunday?” she asked, raising her eyebrow.

“NO! The night of the new moon, stupid!” he said, feeling a little more relaxed now that she calmed down. Betty Lou began walking down the sidewalk, expecting him to follow. Damn bitch knew him too well already.

“So....are you going to tell me who you really are?” she said, avoiding his gaze.

“I already told you-”

“Cut the crap, InuYasha, this is just too weird. YOU should have been freaked when you saw all of those pictures, especially since I just happened to grab the muse with a liking for doggie ears! How are you not going nuts? I have to know, you’ve got to tell me, because I’m considering going back there and letting them put whatever the hell they want in me!” she said, pointing back towards the hospital.

InuYasha heaved a huge sigh. He was hoping that he would be able to reveal everything one by one, over a length of time. He didn’t really see his options when he opened his mouth. The hanyou decided that the best thing to do would be to do exactly the opposite of what he would normally do. Kami, he hated thinking.

“Do you believe in reincarnation?” he asked her.

“Wh-what?” she said, obviously thrown off.

“What would you say if I told you that you had a past life. A couple past lives, actually.” he started.

“I’d say you can have some of my medication. Now tell me what this conversation has to do with me, personally.” she said, cynicism thick in her voice.

Damn girl, she thought he was being hypothetical.

“Keera,” she flinched and glared at him, miko powers heating up at the name. “Do you....do you remember the old stories, back in Japan? About the demons, and the monks and priestesses with spiritual powers?” she nodded, slowly.

“Your telling me they weren’t just stories, huh?” she said slowly.

“Yeah.” InuYasha struggled with the next sentence. “You.....you’re sp-special, Betty.” He grimaced and gritted his teeth at the pathetic word. “You’re a miko, a priestess. I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed, but you have spiritual powers.” InuYasha paused. He was beginning to think he’d rather have another round with Ryuukotsusei than have to explain all of this.

Betty Lou didn’t respond. Instead of continuing down the sidewalk, she turned a sharp corner and went down a dark alley, much to InuYasha’s annoyance. She acted like the entire city was her backyard, but she didn’t seem to get how dangerous the dark corners could be.

His irritation disappeared when he realized that they were in yet another park. Betty Lou turned around with a childishly ornery look on her face, and she gestured for him to follow her. Even though she had a bandage that covered her eye, she seemed to be able to see in the dark at this place. They came upon a fence, with a large, blatant sign that read ‘Danger, Attack Dogs. Do Not Trespass.’

“Uh, hey, do you think this is such a good idea? I’m an inuyoukai, but I’m human for the night, so I don’t know if I can...” InuYasha trailed off.

“Oh, that? Don’t worry about it. I want to show you something.” she said mysteriously. She lifted up a broken piece of the fence just big enough to crawl under. They seemed to be in a junk yard of some sorts, the industrial noise of the city almost disappearing into the background.

She tried to run ahead, but was still a little groggy from her injury. She led him into a grove of trees littered with rusted cars and lawn mowers. There, in the middle of a clearing, stood a tree that looked remarkably like Goshinboku. It even had a bunch of bark ripped off where the real tree did. InuYasha took four long strides over to it and put his hand on the open wood. It didn’t have a hole where he would’ve been pinned to it.

“I ripped off the bark, right there. It was an accident, but I always thought it looked better like that.” she sighed, and began to awkwardly climb the tree. “You know, I always wanted to get to the top, but it’s practically impossible.” she turned and looked meaningfully at him when he made no move to follow her. “Common. If we’re going to talk it might as well be here.”

InuYasha couldn’t agree more, but he didn’t really want to talk at all. Still, he started up the tree, reaching the highest branch in which she pined for. He could hear her irritated grunt below him as she settled for a lower branch.

“Why do you hurt yourself?” he asked after a long silence.

“I don’t know. Sometimes, everything gets so....so messed up, so blurry, I just have to do something to remind me that I’m still real.” she said, staring off into the starless sky. “Otherwise I’m just caught up in a whirlwind of...colors, feelings, I don’t know.”

“So putting out cigarettes on your thigh brings you back to reality?” InuYasha asked dryly.

“In a way, yeah. I don’t even really notice when I do it. It’s like....I just have to. And it’s not like I do it often.”

“Every night not often enough for you?”

“I KNEW IT! You have been watching me!” she shouted at him accusingly. To his surprise, she didn’t seem that angry, just relieved at figuring out why she had been especially paranoid that week.

“Arrgh...It’s not like I had a choice! You just ran off that night without any explanation...it’s my job, alright?” he said, peeking down at her discreetly. He couldn’t help but be reminded of Kikyou’s eerie presence by the look on Betty Lou’s face. It was deadened, which was normal. But it was also colder, frosty, bringing a chill in his heart. He was reminded of an ice demon he had come upon and angered shortly before he met Kikyou. InuYasha gave an involuntary shiver.

“Why is it <i>your</i> job?” she asked, although basically refusing to look at him.

“I’m your protector.” he said simply, as if it were obvious. He had expected her to be surprised, and perhaps a little embarrassed at this announcement. But then again, she rarely did what he expected.

“WHAT?! OH NO! I don’t think so. Look buddy, I’d have thought even you would’ve noticed by now that I can take care of myself JUST FINE! I don’t need you hanging around just because you seemed to think I need someone tagging along after me.” she said angrily. For some reason, she didn’t make any move to leave.

‘<i>Probably expects you to leave. It is her spot, after all.</i>’said his inner voice. InuYasha laughed at himself. As stubborn as Betty Lou was, he was ten times that amount, and InuYasha would personally make sure she knew that.

“Oh really? Well, if you can take care of yourself, why don’t you just explain to me how you get yourself to the hospital after successfully giving yourself a concussion?” he spat.

“Simple. I don’t go to the hospital. I should’ve know it was you that dragged me there. I would have woken up eventually. I always do.” she said, folding her arms defensively in front of her.

“You wanna tell me why you insist on bouncing your head off of your sink in the first place?”

“I was tired.”

“So you slam your face into a sink.”

“I got some sleep, didn’t I?”

“<b>You were unconscious!</b>”

“I got some sleep, didn’t I?” she repeated.

InuYasha growled. She had him there. He couldn’t argue, she had gotten about eighteen hours of sleep she wouldn’t have been able to manage other wise. Still, there had to be a better way than <i>that</i>.

“Smart ass....” he said under his breath. To his surprise, Betty Lou stifled a giggle. He thought back, and realized that he hadn’t really heard her laugh before. He smiled.

“So, any reason your convinced that you have to look after me? I certainly didn’t ask you to.” she said seriously

“That’s a long story.” InuYasha said.

“I’ve got time.”

“Well, I don’t really know where to start.” he said, starting to twitch his leg.

“Is it a fairy tale?” she asked, a quiver of excitement in her voice.

“What? Uh, yeah, I guess could call it that.” he said, his train of thought thrown off by her strange analogy.

“Then tell it like a bed time story.” she said, childish glee in bringing a slight twinkle in her dead eyes.

“Okay....uh...once upon a time, about five hundred years ago in the Sengoku Jidai period in medieval Japan, there was a jewel called the Shikon no Tama, or the Jewel of Four Souls. It came from a powerful priestess called Midoriko in the middle of a battle with a bunch of youkai. It...came out of her chest, I guess. So, for a long time there were a bunch of demons and evil humans going after the thing. A couple of humans got together and decided to give it to a powerful miko so she could purify it out of existence. Her name was Kikyou.” InuYasha stopped to see if Betty Lou gave any recognition to the name. Her lips pursed a little, almost as if it was a friend whose face she was trying to remember.

“So she guarded it, mostly from demons who wanted to use it for themselves. But she didn’t want to be a shrine maiden for the rest of her life.

“There was also a hanyou. He wanted the jewel to turn himself into a full demon. When he first went after it, Kikyou didn’t kill him like she was supposed to. After a while, they stopped fighting and started talking and being friends. They were both kind of lonely, and it felt nice to have someone who understood what it was like....” InuYasha sucked in some breath when he said this. Of all people, Betty Lou knew what it was like to be alone, and unlike Kikyou, she also knew what it was like to be hated, mocked. Even by the one who she thought she loved, she wasn’t accepted. The incident with Lee reminded InuYasha of when his own brother, Sesshomaru, who was suppose to take care of him, had left him on his own, so many hundreds of years ago. InuYasha was glad that the taiyoukai had changed his opinion of the hanyou, for whatever reason.

InuYasha went on for almost the entire night, telling Betty Lou his life story, including all of the battles he fought when he’d been reawakened from his fifty year sleep. He managed to avoid telling her that the hanyou in the story was him, but he had the feeling she already knew.

“Then she jumped in front of the hanyou, to shield him from Naraku’s tentacle. It, uh.....it killed her. The hanyou managed to open up the meidou zangetsouha and send Naraku to hell. Then Sesshomaru got the jewel before it was sucked in. And right now, he’s taking care of it so the next reincarnation can finally purify it out of existence and stop the fighting once and for all.” InuYasha looked at Betty Lou. It was now about five-thirty in the morning, and she had been wide awake through the whole retelling. InuYasha knew he wasn’t a very good story teller, but she had been attentive and had soaked up every word from his mouth.

“That would be you.” InuYasha said.

“Okay, so the whole...being a...priestess thing, I get. That I can handle. Demons who tore each other apart over this jewel, I can also handle. But you really expect me to believe that I can jump though some well back in Japan and end up five hundred years in the past?” she said.

“Yup.”

“Okay.” she snorted and jumped out of the tree, which was a pretty long fall. She stumbled and fell on her backside, with a tiny pout on her face. She sat there on the ground, and sighed. InuYasha didn’t feel the need to say anything, so instead he reached under his shirt and started fingering his kotodama. It was still magically stuck to him, but he didn’t mind it anymore. He had grown used to it there, even when Kagome would sit him in front of Koga. Yes, sometimes he would hold onto it, along with the gold locket, as the few things that still gave him a connection to Kagome.

Betty Lou was quiet for a long time. InuYasha tensed when he heard some rustling in the bushes nearby, and a large husky came sniffing out to meet her. He remembered the ‘attack dogs’ sign, but the beast was benign when approaching the girl. It seemed almost afraid of her, and to InuYasha’s surprise, hesitantly took a seat beside her, ignoring the other human high in the tree. He watched intently as the creature inched closer and closer to Betty Lou, wanting to be near, but obviously afraid of her running away. Finally, it sat so close that it was resting its head in her lap, and she lazily started to pet it. It’s fluffy tail wagged in delight.

InuYasha smiled when he remembered how he had acted in similar ways whenever he’d first met both Kikyou and Kagome. He too had wanted to come to them, but had been reluctant because of the cruelty he had been shown throughout his lifetime whenever he’d shown the smallest amount of weakness. His heart had been crushed by strangers like them too many times to count.

“You know, they do this all the time.” she said, almost too quiet for him to hear. InuYasha jumped down to a lower branch to talk to her some more. He saw that it was going to be morning soon...only a few more minutes as a human, he thought with relief.

“The dogs....” she said, looking at his confused expression. “They always come to me, like this. Especially the big, mean ones. I got a police dog to calm down, once. Do you think it’s because of those ‘past lives’? You said I hung out with an inuhanyou, right?” she asked.

“Yeah...” InuYasha said cautiously. He couldn’t help but cock an eyebrow. She had referred to Kikyou and Kagome as herself, in stead of ‘<i>them</i>’. Kagome had always made it dead clear that she was Kagome, not Kikyou. He remembered with a flinch that he had hurt her the most whenever he compared her to her incarnation.

The dog gave a low, satisfied whine. InuYasha could feel himself getting a little bigger, a little taller as the sun peaked over the horizon. Any minute now, his hair would turn snow white and his human ears would be replaced with ones similar to what was on top of the creature currently resting its head in the miko’s lap.

“I always was a dog person...” she said, sounding as if her thoughts were elsewhere.

InuYasha blushed violently when he looked into her statement too closely. The dog lifted its head up and sniffed in his direction. Only a few more seconds...

“InuYasha...you aren’t the reincarnation of the hanyou in the story....are you? Is that why you have to protect me?” she said, half hopeful, half regretful. He could sense her apprehension, and it cut him like a knife.

“No. Demons don’t get reincarnated. That’s only for spiritual beings, and even then, it’s really rare.” InuYasha said. Well, he wasn’t lying.

“I don’t know if I like this. Why should I have to pay for mistakes that were all in the past? Isn’t there someone a little more adept who could do that? I’ve never had any training, or anything. Plus...I don’t like the idea of doing something just because someone says I have to...” she said, trailing off. She looked up at her counterpart, who was now back to his normal self. Which also meant, thankfully, he had better control over his emotions.

“I understand. You shouldn’t have to. But...ugh. How do I explain this...so many innocent people have been killed over the stupid thing. It would be better for everyone if you could just get rid of it. Then you can come right back here and get back to your life, I promise.” he said, surprised at his own understanding tone.

“But how the hell would I do it?” she asked reasonably. The husky beside her sensed Betty’s slight anxiousness, as did InuYasha with his newly returned hanyou senses.

“Keh, beats me. I figure it’ll come to you when you get there. When all else fails, trust your instincts.”

“I guess that makes sense.” she looked thoughtful for a moment. “Well, I guess there’s no point in going to school today.” she said, pointing to her head. She stood up and began walking back towards where they had come in, hesitant in her bare feet. Then, to his immense surprise, she turned back to him.

“You coming or what?” she said, her eyebrows raised high. The husky looked as if it wanted to follow her, but she looked down at it reprovingly. InuYasha was surprised when she tilted her chin down and stepped forward confidently, effectively communicating that the dog was to stay, in more or less correct body movements. Where had she learned that?

The husky slinked back into the bushes, giving one longing glance at the girl, walking away. It paused, and gave a small bow of its head at InuYasha, showing its respect, but not even a hint of the tenderness it had shown the girl. The hanyou smirked at this thought. He had to admit, he was impressed.

They walked back to her apartment, seeing as neither of them had any money. The moment she was in her room, she collapsed bonelessly on the bare mattress on the floor. Amazingly, she fell asleep of her own accord within only a few minutes. InuYasha felt a little deja-vu as he settled him self under the window in her living room, thinking that the only thing he needed now was his fire-rat and Tessaiga to complete the picture. He inhaled Betty Lou’s feminine, slightly musty scent. Kikyou had always smelled like flowers and herbs, when she was alive. Kagome smelled of calming jasmine, and sometimes a little of honey. He couldn’t really put a name to Betty Lou’s scent, just that it was rougher than the other two.

‘<i>Like struggle.</i>’ said his inner voice.

‘Too much struggle.’ he answered.

‘<i>You can help her.</i>’

‘I can help her not get killed in the Feudal Era while she’s traveling to the Western Lands. Other than that, I’m not lifting a finger.’

‘<i>You didn’t think twice about getting her food, or bringing her to the hospital.</i>’

‘Yeah well, I couldn’t protect her from the Sengoku-Jidai if she can’t survive her own time.’

‘<i>She’s quite the puzzle.</i>’

‘Keh, ain’t nothin’ special about her.’

‘<i>More than a few people will beg to differ.</i>’

‘Like I give a damn.’

‘<i>True.</i>’

Kyoko had been resting peacefully on the floor at the foot of her Mistresses bed, but had lifted her head in InuYasha’s direction. She slowly ambled her was over to where he was sitting.

She really was one of the biggest dogs InuYasha had seen in this time. She easily stood as high as Betty Lou’s waist. On her back paws, she probably would have stood as tall as InuYasha. Yet he’d never seen her take a true defensive position. He wondered what sort of fighter she would be as he reached out and petted her.

Kyoko looked at him intently. Although technically she was being disrespectful by looking her elder in the eyes, InuYasha didn’t feel the need to punish her for it. Instead he continued to rub her head.

“<i>Yoo-ou hell-lllppp Mistressss.</i>” she growled slowly in inu. It wasn’t a question, it was a statement.

InuYasha scowled, feeling the sun get hot on his neck as he leaned forward to converse with the dog. It was going to be spring, soon, he thought.

“<i>Yeesss.</i>” he growled back, taking the stance of the alpha male. It felt good to let his instincts take control.

“<i>Yoo-ou......packkkk?</i>” she asked, tilting her head low to show respect.

InuYasha was taken aback, a little, but he wasn’t surprised. Up until recently, Kyoko and Betty Lou had been on their own. In Kyoko’s mind, that meant that they were loners, not belonging to any pack. Now, Kyoko understood their circumstances, that it could not be helped. Still, she couldn’t help but get her hopes up that under the protection of an alpha male, the son of an Inu no Taisho, no less, that perhaps she would be a part of some sort of pack. That was really all she could hope for, with her canine instincts.


"<i>Foo-oor no-o-ow.</i>" InuYasha growled and yipped, not wanting to have to crush the dogs hope. He didn’t like the idea of even telling her that much, but what choice did he have? He couldn’t just standby now, could he? But the bonds of a pack were strong. When it came time for them to leave, it would be painful, if Kyoko thought he was her pack leader.

“I’ll just have to be strong.” he said, resolution heavy on his constitution. His eyebrows pushed downward, thinking hard. He’d have to act as a protector, and yet not feel like their protector. He couldn’t go through anymore heart ache, that much he knew. But he didn’t know how he would be able to stop his ridiculous human half from growing attached.

‘I could just act like I hate them...’ he thought.

‘<i>Yeah...cause that worked so well with Kagome...</i>’said his inner voice with an evil snicker.

‘What the hell am I going to do?’ InuYasha asked himself. To his displeasure, the laughing voice faded from his head, as if the joke suddenly lost its merit.


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InuYasha was fuming. How the hell had he gotten himself stuck in this one? He was currently roaring at Betty Lou, who was screeching back with a recognizable force. Some guy had been standing close to Betty Lou, and in InuYasha’s opinion, too close. To his disgust, he could smell the man’s excitement just from watching her play while on her weekly rounds in the park. Then, he did what he always did. He took the challenging stance.

Of corse, being human, the guy had simply looked at him and his threatening glare with only a small trace of fear in his scent, which only served to infuriate InuYasha further. In the end, Betty Lou had to restrain InuYasha from knocking the guy out by dragging him back to her apartment.

He had stayed and slept in her apartment a little over two weeks now. Although she had never actually invited him to, she never asked him to leave, either, and he felt better knowing that she was closer to him. He had to protect her, that was all. Although he had one hell of a time convincing Hiro that was true. Hiro was probably still recovering.

InuYasha had expected that watching over Betty Lou closer would drag up painful memories of how he had kept a careful watch over Kagome, always under the guise that he was really only protecting the jewel. But surprisingly, he felt no pain. As kind and caring as Kagome was towards every one, Betty Lou seemed determined to laugh at others expense as often as possible. The only person she ever showed the slightest amount of feeling was Kyoko, and even then it was a stoic caring at best.

Another difference InuYasha noticed was that while Kagome was very mothering, and absolutely loved children (something he’d always secretly thought was endearing), Betty Lou had no patience with them whatsoever. A young girl had approached her in the park while she was playing, and promptly began staring at her. Now, InuYasha could never boast that patience was one of his virtues, but before he even had time to switch from mildly irritated to slightly ticked off at the girl, Betty Lou had thrown an empty soda can at the girl none too gently. In the end, Betty Lou had engaged in a very entertaining screaming match with the girls mother, which she, of corse, won. When he’d asked her what that was all about, later, when she had calmed down, her reply was simple. ‘<i>Little bitch pissed me off, is all.</i>’

InuYasha now realized that were she not such a fighter, she probably would have resolved their argument with a glare and a sigh, before folding her legs beneath her and going back to practicing her guitar.

Sure Kagome had yelled at him, but she would always eventually end the argument with a swift ‘Osuwari!’ and walk away, perhaps leaving him with a comment on his manners. But she would never rage back at him for as long as he was willing to hold out. Too bad he couldn’t say the same for Betty Lou.

“YOU THINK JUST BECAUSE YOU SHOW UP IN MY LIFE I HAVE TO FUCKING OBEY YOU? WHAT DO I LOOK LIKE, SOME FUCKING SUBMISSIVE LITTLE GEISHA YOU HAPPENED TO TAKE A FANCY TO? <b>THINK AGAIN, ASSFACE!</b> YOU DON’T OWN ME!” she screamed.

InuYasha had to admit he was impressed with the language she chose. Normally such cursing would be associated with him only. Not that he thought about it, he didn’t remember Kagome ever using foul language, and it hurt him a little to see his choicest curse words since he learned English thrown back at him from a face he always associated with innocence and patience.

“I NEVER SAID I OWNED YOU, BITCH! I JUST TOLD THAT WEIRDO TO QUIT HIS GAWKING AT YOU!”he raged back at her. “YOU WANT I SHOULD’VE LET HIM STALK YOU?!”

“I’VE KNOWN HIM FOR YEARS! HE WAS JUST WATCHING ME PLAY! THAT GUY GIVES ME 5 DOLLARS EVERY DAY HE SEES ME! I PROBABLY LOST ONE OF MY BEST CUSTOMERS BECAUSE OF YOU!”she yelled, feeling something rise within her as the hanyou infuriated her further.

InuYasha saw her miko energy begin to swirl around her, and to his horror, he felt his youkai begin to surface. This was not what he needed right now. As he felt himself rise, he saw a flash of Kagome in her eyes, and then surprisingly, Kikyou as well. He saw a blue aura swirl around her. This last thought was pushed out of his head when his youkai instincts took over, telling him he needed to show her who was the boss, spiritual powers aside.

“<i>You shouldn’t even be out there, peddling entertainment like a prostitute.</i>” he said in his low growling youkai voice.

“You shouldn’t be here at all.” she said in a terrifying low whisper, reminiscent of Kikyou.

At that, InuYasha struck out at her, pinning her to the wall. He had done this once to Kagome, when he was somewhere between hanyou and youkai, on the night of the full moon, after he had transformed slightly when a bear youkai had knocked Tetsusaiga out of his hand momentarily. She had made the mistake of overriding his authority over who got the last piece of fish, him or Shippou. It had seemed like such a simple move, grabbing her shoulders, showing his superior strength, looking down at her.

But this was a different situation. Betty Lou was not as easily intimidated, to simply be shown her place in such a tension filled moment. InuYasha realized too late that looking down on her was a major part of the gesture that he remembered. In the boots she was wearing, coupled with her natural superior height over Kagome, she was able to look down on him slightly. This didn’t help calm him down. He felt his arms begin to shake as her energy prepared to lash out at him. His youkai expected her to settle down, to become worried about him, but instead, she was going to battle him for dominance, if nothing else.

‘<i>Well, then, lets battle.</i>’ said Inu-youkai-Yasha, with a last comment from his human self- ‘Stop, you’ll hurt her, baka!’

He was startled out of his turmoil to keep control of himself as he was thrown backward with a force he didn’t think capable.

InuYasha’s eyes flashed red for a moment, and the jagged purple streaks appeared on his cheeks. He managed to keep a hold of his youkai enough not to feel immediate bloodlust, but there was danger in the air, and it was coming from both of them.

Betty Lou’s eyes had changed color too, but they were glowing a bright purple, almost white, terrifying pure. Her aura was beginning to emit an angry red color, and her hands were clenched at her sides. InuYasha’s demon began to yell at him. ‘<i>Danger! Get out now! Opponents too much!</i>’

His youkais’ reaction surprised him right out of his daze. His youkai had never tried to run from a fight. It would go out of its way looking for one, fighting until he was dead! Since when had it warned him of danger? His youkai wasn’t concerned with that. The hanyou InuYasha found himself looking at an incredibly angry miko, and he was the target of her emotions.

As the power welled up around her, the objects on the counter began to shake. The broken telephone on her counter jumped of and landed with a crack on the floor. To InuYasha’s relief, that seemed to make her snap out of her angry state, before she did something...destructive.

Her eyebrows furrowed in fear, and she closed her eyes, and upon reopening them, they were back to their normal chocolate brown. Her aura receded back into her body, and she collapsed on her knees, holding her hand to her head.

“Wha....what happened to me?” she asked tentatively. InuYasha was still trying to catch his own breath after the encounter. He felt like he had been running for days, even though everything that happened only spaced a few seconds.

“Mi-miko powers....*huh huh*... flared up...at m-me. Almost...*huh*...caused an....earthquake.” he huffed.

“Holy kuso!” she breathed, rushing over to InuYasha and helping him off of the kitchen floor. She didn’t have any furniture in her living room, save a few cushions on the ground. InuYasha jerked his arm out of her grasp, and plopped down. His pride couldn’t help but be a little hurt. His youkai had been scared out of its wits....by a little girl.

The tiny flare of their emotions had almost caused a full scale battle. In a tiny apartment. In the middle of a city crawling with humans. Smart.

Betty Lou laid out flat on her floor, and stared up at the ceiling, sneaking glances at InuYasha from time to time.

“Will that be happening more often?” she asked slowly.

“I don’t know. I’ll...uh...I have to go.” he said after he caught his breath. He jumped up, rushed out of her apartment, and out of the building.

He knew damn well why that happened. He had stopped carrying around Tetsusaiga a few years ago, ever since he figured out that he wasn’t going to get attacked by something he couldn’t handle with his claws. Not to mention it didn’t help him blend in, carrying around an old katana.

“Well, I’ll just have to go back to carrying it around.” he resolved. Betty Lou had made a deal with him. She would happily go on an adventure with him (her words, not his) if he would wait around for the end of school, so she would have to worry about missing it or anything. Begrudgingly, he agreed, seeing as it was only fair, despite his impatience to get back to his own time period.

InuYasha sighed as he headed back to the room he shared with Hiro. He left whenever Betty Lou went to school, getting new clothes and bathing before taking a vigilance outside of her school, waiting for her.

To his relief, she didn’t seem to have as many friends as Kagome did, and had no problem leaving the minute the bell rang for school to be left out. He happily glared down the punks who had chased her down the street that one day, and, to his relief, Lee seemed to go to another school.

He sighed as he passed a tree full of blossoms. He missed Kagome now more than ever, and his mind hardly seemed to stray far from her. Sometimes, when he watched close enough, he could see a flicker of Kagome in Betty Lou’s eyes. Mostly whenever she laughed, or there was a fleeting moment when she was actually happy about something, which was much more rare than it should’ve been.

But there was no denying it, Betty Lou was not Kagome. It seemed that, in the short time InuYasha had known her, he had taken the place of her best friend, not that she had one to begin with. She wasn’t exactly the most affectionate person. Her kindness had gone so far as to fix him food whenever she heard both of their stomachs rumbling, and even then, she seemed a little miffed at having to share with someone other that Kyoko. Not that he minded. He was exactly the same way, he understood the need to try and hoard all the food for yourself.

When he sniffed out her stash of cigarettes, Betty hadn’t said a thing when he hurled them out of the window.

“I know it’s stupid, but...it’s like...when I burn myself, I’m...here.” she had tried to say to him once as they sat on the roof of her building. He could tell she was desperately trying to make him understand her sick actions, but it was pointless. In any case, she had stopped picking her lips and burning herself, and had even begun gaining some weight, thanks to InuYasha and his brother’s credit card.


She spent most of her time either studying or playing guitar. She had a very boring, hermit-like life. It frustrated him to no end.

“Only one more week, then back to Japan.” he said as he gritted his teeth. He couldn’t wait to breath that clear, Sengoku Jidai air, fight some youkai, and run. That was what he missed the most, running. He missed the wild feeling he got while leaping over the trees. He felt so bored in this oppressing city. He sometimes wondered if perhaps that was the reason she was so grouchy sometimes.

He hunched his shoulders as Kagome’s innocent face drifted across his mind again. InuYasha sighed as he speculated if the pain would ever go away. Sometimes he wondered if burning himself might do the trick.









(Author's Note)




Yeah...not one of my best....I'm sorry. I'm afraid to say that this is a filler chapter. Don't worry, you'll like my next chapter better: Return to the Feudal Era!!! Chew on that tasty niblit till I get to it, k?

So yeah, there's not much I can say about this one. Betty Lou is a bit of a bitch, but she has a good reason for getting pissed at tiny girls, I promise. Please review, I'm getting quite frustrated. I NEED ATTENTION, DAMMIT!

Well, I might take a bit of a brake after this, possibly do a one-shot. I've got nothing, so if anyone has a good idead for a one-shot and doesn't have the patience to write it, shove it off on me! Anything will work, angst, romance, comedy, it's all good. I know that isn't exactly what I'm supposed to be putting here, but it's my story and I say to hell with convention!

Toodles!