InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ She Who the Prophecy Foretold ❯ A Disturbance in the Mall ( Chapter 71 )

Chapter 71 - A Disturbance in the Mall

 

 

Sesshoumaru hadn't made it in time to keep her head from bouncing off the hard tile floor, having been focused only on her and how she was changing before his eyes. He knelt next to her, looking up at the boy who had spilled her blood. As Hojo had pulled away from Kagome, the hand holding the knife passed her face, leaving a deep gash across her cheek starting near the corner of her mouth and ending dangerously close to her eye. He lifted her head gently, feeling in her hair for more blood and thankfully only finding a lump. Once he was certain she would be alright, though in serious pain for a while, he let out the snarl that had been rising up inside of him. Hojo trembled and his thoughts raced, evaluating his options. If he ran towards the exit he would end up outside alone, but if he made a break for it and rushed past where Kagome, or what he had thought was Kagome, lay unconscious and bleeding on the floor with her head cradled in the monster's hand, then he would come out in the food court where he might have a chance of disappearing in the crowd. At the very least someone else would see the thing chasing him. Then they would have to believe him. Seeing that his best chances lay inside the mall, he made a mad dash for the end of the hall where hundreds of people were milling around, the perfect place to disappear.

 

Sesshoumaru only watched as the boy ran past, not really caring at the moment what happened to him. Kagome was hurt, bleeding and unconscious. Hojo was of no consequence. He scooped Kagome up in his arms, careful to keep from touching her cheek since he didn't want to cause her any more pain. He looked down for a moment and found that thankfully her blood hadn't made it to the floor yet as it was busy soaking her hair and running down her neck, turning her once white shirt red with her blood. The sight and scent of so much of her blood was too much for him and he knew he couldn't take her back into the crowded mall. Besides, there was an incredible amount of screaming going on out there suddenly. Making sure he'd left nothing behind and seeing her purse still hanging loosely from her shoulder he made his way to the other end of the hall.

 

Sesshoumaru pushed through the door, blinking for a moment as the bright sunlight hit him. He looked around and saw nothing but a sea of cars in front of him. The demon extended his senses and made certain that there was no one around to see before he disappeared. He leapt onto the roof of the giant building easily; glad there was a lip around the edge so no one would be able to see them from the ground. He lowered her carefully to the ground before sitting beside her and pulling her into his lap. He closely inspected the cut, seeing that it was deep and would most definitely be in need of some type of closure to aide in healing. He looked through her purse for a minute, hoping he had some other option but there was nothing he could use. For a moment he was glad she was unconscious and hoped she would stay that way, at least for a little while longer.

 

 

\-\-\--/-/-/

\-\-\-\-SWtPF-/-/-/-/

\-\-\--/-/-/

 

 

Souta was bored. He'd gone to his friend's house in hopes of playing video games together to pass the boring Sunday away, but the boy had apparently been grounded sometime between when they'd made their plans the night before and this morning when he showed up. Instead of being welcomed inside, Souta found himself being told, rather rudely in his opinion that his friend was not available to play and wouldn't be for some time to come. Whatever he'd done, his mother was still seriously pissed about it. He then went over a mental list of all his friends, trying to find someone to hang out with. Too bad that everyone was either busy with family outings or end of year group projects, which he'd finished over a week ago. No one else was available, at least no one he could stand. Souta refused to return to the shrine. If he did, he knew Gramps would insist he help out with chores around the grounds, all the while telling his long, boring tales. No, he wasn't ready to face that. This boredom was much preferable than one of suffering with his long winded grandfather.

 

He'd allowed his feet to carry him to the park a few blocks from his home. He'd frequented it when he was younger, always begging for his mother to take him to the play on the playground equipment. Kagome had often been the one to take him, whether she liked it or not, though she didn't complain much. Of course, their time together as siblings was cut down to nearly nothing once she'd been pulled through the well into the past. It wasn't fair. Sometimes he wished that he could go with her. She was actually doing something. Her battles were real ones that really meant something, unlike his battles that took place on a TV screen and meant nothing but points. He was sure he could help her if only he was allowed to go too. But the well wouldn't let him through. He'd tried more than once. She'd actually sent him to try to get Inuyasha once, when a possessed N'oh mask had broken its seals and was absorbing people left and right. It hadn't allowed him to pass, not then and not any of the other times he'd secretly sat on the edge and allowed himself to drop to the dry bottom.

 

The playground was deserted as he approached, taking a seat on a swing and allowing his feet to dangle, the distance between the soles of his shoes and the ground now just a scarce inch. She used to push him on this very swing, giving it her all as he laughed and cried out for her to send him higher. It felt like he could fly when she pushed him. His mother would never push him so high, always worried for the safety of her baby, and Gramps couldn't, as his old back was slightly hunched, even back then, a few years ago. Life really sucked at home now that his sister was gone most of the time. She wasn't around anymore to play video games, board games, cards; anything really. They used to love doing puzzles together. Their mother would buy them the hardest one she could find: a thousand pieces and a complicated image, like a picture of a pile of jelly beans. They would commandeer the dining room table for weeks at a time, forcing the family to eat at the smaller kitchen table or in the living room. Every evening, after dinner and homework, they would sit on either side of the table, sorting and searching until they were finished.

He smiled as he remembered the hardest one they'd ever done. It was a pack of white dogs, running together against a snowy background. The only real color besides the slight changes in shading that defined the animals from their background was their eyes. He'd always wondered why their eyes were red. Dogs didn't have red eyes. They were usually brown, though he'd seen blue and gray in some, but never red. They had worked on it for a month and a half. Finally it was time to put in the last piece, an honor that they took turns in. It was his turn to snap the last piece into place and complete the picture, but when he reached into the box, it was empty. The puzzle that had taken them a month and a half and it was missing a piece! He remembered how Kagome had looked with him. They searched for that piece for days before finally giving in to the fact that it was gone. Maybe Bouyo ate it, or maybe it had fallen on the floor and gotten vacuumed up and eventually dumped in the trash, or maybe it had never been there at all. When he realized that they would never finish the puzzle he had burst into tears. She didn't laugh at him for crying about something so petty. She understood why he was so upset. Instead, she merely hugged him tight and told him that it didn't matter if the puzzle was missing a piece. All that mattered was the fun they'd had together.

 

And so they did like they had done for all their other puzzle achievements, very carefully gluing the entire thing to a piece of poster board, making sure it would never fall apart again. Some of them were hung on the walls, some sat in the shed, some in the backs of closets, but that one, the one that was never really finished, was hanging in a place of honor where it would never be forgotten. White dogs running through the snow graced the wall over the television, surrounded by family photos as if the dogs were just as much a part of the family as he or Kagome were. It served as a reminder that it didn't matter what they were doing or how it turned out. All that mattered was the time they spent together. The puzzle they had been working on for two weeks before she was pulled into the well was never finished either, not because there was a piece missing, but because there was a sister missing. He just didn't want to do it without her, instead taking apart the completed sections and boxing up the loose pieces before shoving the thing away in his closet. It was up high in the back where he'd never have to see it, so he'd never be reminded that his sister didn't have time for him anymore.

 

Souta heaved a sigh at his thoughts. It wasn't fair at all. They got her all to themselves, but she belonged here, with him! Her time was spent with her friends and Shippo, and now apparently more friends and more children. He found himself incredibly jealous of Shippo and the rest of the children. They got her love and attention. She played games with them. He didn't want to be jealous, felt terrible about it really, but he couldn't help it. Kagome had always filled a big part of the gaping hole in his heart where his father should have been, and now it was empty again. Sure, his mother and grandfather loved him and he loved them too, but it wasn't the same as his sister. His heart felt more and more hollow as time passed. The longer she was gone the harder it was. The more time that passed with that box sitting up on the top shelf of his closet, the harder it was to pretend it didn't matter. Even if he couldn't see it, it felt like the puzzle was mocking him, rubbing salt in the wound as it reminded him that Kagome didn't have any time for her little brother anymore, that puzzles weren't important to the miko who fought demons on a daily basis.

 

Deciding he didn't need to think about it anymore, since all it did was make him sad, Souta tried to cheer himself up. At least she'd promised to stay for his soccer game. She even promised to help him practice, something he was going to hold her to. Now if only they could work on that puzzle, but he knew she would never have that kind of time again.

 

 

\-\-\--/-/-/

\-\-\-\-SWtPF-/-/-/-/

\-\-\--/-/-/

 

 

Hojo had run top speed down the hallway and out into the crowded food court, too terrified to think, not that his non-terrified thoughts had been very good recently either. If he had been able to think he might have slowed down, or maybe even put the blood covered knife away, but he wasn't. So he ran out into the crowd, crashing into people, shoving his way through and sending people to the floor. There was a shrill scream of “He's got a knife!” before all hell really did break loose. Nearly everyone started screaming and running away, trampling each other in the process as they tried to get away from the very crazy looking boy holding a knife that looked like he'd just killed somebody with.

 

The only ones who made their way towards the boy who had no idea what was going on or just what was happening around him were mall security guards. They called out to him several times, ordering him to drop the knife. Eventually he realized what was going on and did so, immediately finding himself tackled by a guard. He was handcuffed and then pulled roughly off the ground, looking up just as real police officers came running in to back up the guards who weren't allowed to carry guns. Finding the situation at least half handled, the cops took over, taking custody of the perpetrator and logging into evidence the bloody knife.

 

Hojo found himself sitting in the back of a police car, trying to figure out just how it had all happened. It wasn't his fault! He was just trying to protect her, to save her from the monster. Apparently he was too late, as his sweet innocent Kagome had become something else. The sound that she had made was terrifying, chilling him to the bone. He was certain that she was no longer the girl he knew but a monster like the thing he'd been trying to save her from. He needed to warn everyone. The whole school would be at risk if Kagome showed up for exams. He didn't know what had caused the change in her, but if there was even the slightest chance it was contagious he would have to stop it. He was the only one who knew, and he was the only one who could save everyone.

 

The police interviewed as many people as they could, trying to determine just what had happened. They had needed to call for several ambulances to treat the mall-goers that had been unfortunate enough to get knocked to the ground during the panic. There were a few bumps to the head, some small cuts bruises, but the worst of it were the woman who had broken her arm in her fall and the young boy who had been stepped on by several fleeing patrons. He was going to need some x-rays since his shirt showed multiple footprints and the paramedics suspected he might have a couple of broken ribs.

 

The police gathered up as many witnesses as they could find which was rather difficult since the food court had emptied rapidly as people fled from danger. Some people had returned to speak with the officers, and several employees who had been behind the food counters when the incident occurred were still around. Each gave the same basic statement that the boy had come running out of the service hall like a bat out of hell, slamming into people while holding a bloody knife. No one had noticed him before then. No one saw him go into the hall in the first place. No one knew him personally, so no one could help them figure out why he had a knife to begin with, let alone who he had attacked. It was assumed that he had attacked someone, being that the knife they'd recovered was absolutely covered in blood, but none of the injured had suffered a knife wound. The witness statements led them down the service hall, but they found no evidence of a struggle of any kind. There was no blood, no injured person, nothing to explain his actions.

 

Eventually they decided that had all they were going to get and hoped that the boy could explain himself and tell them where the blood came from when they interrogated him. Once everyone had been treated or taken to the hospital and all statements had been taken the officers left the mall, taking their suspect in to be booked and questioned. The mall employees were left to clean up the disaster area that had been left in the wake of the panicked crowd. Tables and chairs were knocked over, food, drinks, and trash covered the ground. There were even some purses and shopping bags that had been forgotten during the mass exodus. Any belongings were taken to the main office to be retrieved by the rightful owners once they were remembered once again. The entire food court was roped off for the day for the clean up attempt, but the rest of the stores and shoppers continued on as if nothing had happened at all.

 

 

\-\-\--/-/-/

\-\-\-\-SWtPF-/-/-/-/

\-\-\--/-/-/

 

 

Sesshoumaru ignored the wail of sirens as he focused only on what he was doing. He really wished he had another option but right now he had to close the wound and stop the bleeding. He held her head steady with one hand, making sure that the hold was gentle but firm as well, just in case she came to while he was doing this. He closed his eyes for a moment and attempted to calm down before calling up his poison, releasing a small amount only from the claw that tipped his pointer finger. He trailed the claw through the wound, the tiny amount of his corrosive poison cauterizing the wound and sealing the edges together. It looked a little better. At least it wasn't pouring out blood anymore and he couldn't see all the muscles and tendons of her jaw.

 

He set himself to his next task, trailing his tongue first over the newly closed wound, removing any excess poison and neutralizing what remained to keep it from spreading through her body. He moved slowly over her face, removing any trace of blood. He couldn't do much with her hair and he grimaced as he tried to run his fingers through her dark locks and found them completely matted with blood. He didn't know what to do now. He couldn't take her back inside unconscious and blood stained, but he had no idea how long it would be until her mother returned to pick them up and he had no idea how to return to the shrine himself. He didn't know if he could trust her friends with this even if he could find them. And he refused to leave her alone. He resigned himself to the fact that he would have to wait for her to wake and hope she had some idea of what to do next.

 

He busied himself and kept his beast calm by continuing to lick the line that marred her beautiful face between cleaning the drying blood from her throat, arms, and anywhere else he could reach. When she woke up she was going to be in a hell of a lot of pain but she was still alive. Her heartbeat was still strong despite the loss of blood, though she looked a bit more pale than usual. As he did his best to help her wound heal he once again began blaming himself. He couldn't help but think that he could have avoided this if he'd just done something! Now she was going to be in pain for a long time and there was no way she would ever trust him again. He let her get hurt after he promised her everything would be okay. He let someone hurt her after he swore he would protect her. He had failed her… again.

 

 

\-\-\--/-/-/

\-\-\-\-SWtPF-/-/-/-/

\-\-\--/-/-/

 

 

Momoko sat in her bathroom, staring at the white stick she held in her hand, in shock. He was right. She was pregnant. “What the hell am I going to do?” she asked herself aloud. She couldn't tell her mother, and her father had left years ago. No, her mother would never forgive her for this. She already felt like a disappointment. Her grades were never good enough. Her mother never had any time to spend with her only child. All she did was work. Even when she was home all she focused on was her work. She might as well not even exist in her mother's eyes. No, she didn't need to give her another reason to be disappointed in her daughter, another obvious failure. But what else could she do? She had no idea who the father would be, not even the slightest clue. She'd never been exactly regular so she had no idea when she would have gotten pregnant.

 

She needed to go to the doctor, but she couldn't see her normal physician. They would tell her mother. No, she had to handle this on her own. She remembered then the clinic downtown. They were supposed to be confidential. They wouldn't call her mother. That way she could get a blood test to be certain. Maybe they could even tell her when she would have conceived, helping her narrow down the possibilities. It was decided then. Tomorrow after school she would stop at the clinic and see what they could do for her. Once she was 100 percent certain she was pregnant and at least had some idea who the father was she would figure out what to do. She couldn't very well keep a thing like this hidden from her mother, even if her mother barely looked at her. The teachers at school would notice eventually and call her. Then she wouldn't be able to miss it. Somehow she would have to find a way to tell her mother and just hope she didn't hate her for it.

 

 

\-\-\--/-/-/

\-\-\-\-SWtPF-/-/-/-/

\-\-\--/-/-/

 

 

Her slight whimper drew his attention back to her eyes. They were still closed, but now they were scrunched down, showing her discomfort. He watched as she started to open her mouth, only to whimper again and press her lips tightly together. `What happened?' she asked him silently, knowing immediately who held her.

 

`This Sesshoumaru failed to protect you once again.'

 

`Sesshoumaru, first off, that so doesn't answer my question. Second, Hojo being fucking insane isn't your fault. How could you have stopped this? Now just tell me why my fucking face hurts!'

 

He sucked in a breath before answering, this time aloud. “You snarled and apparently frightened the boy. He pulled back away from you and you fell, the knife cutting your cheek. The wound is long and was deep, so this Sesshoumaru was forced to close it to stop the bleeding.”

 

`How?' she asked, opening her eyes to look at him, seeing the guilt and pain in his eyes.

 

“I used my poison to seal the wound. Are you in a lot of pain?” he asked, already knowing she was. He watched as she lifted a hand to her cheek, the pink glow sending a wave of warmth through his body. When her hand pulled away his eyes widened, seeing her cheek flawless once more. He'd completely forgotten she could heal herself.

 

“I'm fine,” she said, finally able to open her mouth now that the pain was gone. She looked around, trying to figure out where they were.”

 

He could see the question in her eyes as she examined their surroundings. “We are on the roof of the `mall'. This Sesshoumaru is unsure what to do now. We cannot go back inside with your clothes and hair caked in blood.”

 

Kagome wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed a soft kiss to his lips, feeling his incredible guilt, even more so than the last time when she'd been bitten by the snake. “It's not your fault. I don't blame you. Where did Hojo go?”

 

“He went back towards the food area. There was quite a lot of screaming once I could no longer see him, but this Sesshoumaru is unsure as to why.” He paused for a moment. “This Sesshoumaru promised to protect you, to not allow you to be injured, and yet you were once again. I failed to protect you from a human boy. If I failed to keep you safe from one so weak, then how can I be trusted to protect you from the dangers we will face on our journey?”

 

“Sesshoumaru, I'm going to get hurt every now and then. You can't protect me from everything. You can't be around me every second of the day. You need to relax. I'm fine now, no more pain. Is it gone?”

 

“Your face is flawless once again,” he said, his voice still overflowing with self-deprecation.

 

“Then it doesn't matter. I still trust you. I will always trust you. Sure, I never expected to get hurt here in my time, but it happens. It's not your fault Hojo lost his mind. In your time just being in your presence keeps me safe from almost everyone. Gimme a minute and I'll figure out what to do. Oh! Do you know where my purse is,” she asked while feeling her shoulder for the missing strap. He reached beside them and picked it up, handing it to her in silence. She dug around inside for a moment before saying a triumphant “Ah-Ha!” and pulling out something bright pink that he'd never seen before. “I've got it.” He watched as she flipped the pink thing open and listened to the sound of small beeps as she pushed buttons. When she held it to her head he lifted a brow at her.

 

Ayumi was still poking through CDs in the music store when her cell phone began to ring. Pulling it out, she checked the caller ID, grinning at what she saw. “Looks like Kagome's finally looking for us,” she said before flipping it open and answering the call. “Hey Kagome. Where have you two been?”

 

“Ayumi! You won't believe what happened to me.” Sesshoumaru looked at her in surprise. Was she really planning on telling them what had happened? “I was in the line to WacDonald's and I slipped in a puddle of milkshake someone dropped and didn't say anything about. Sesshoumaru saw me fall and came to help me. I hit my head and I'm absolutely covered in chocolate milkshake. Where are you guys? Are you still in the food court?”

 

“No, we didn't want to wait so we're in a music store. We've got your bags. What do you want me to do?”

 

“Can you just grab one of the shirts I bought and meet Sesshoumaru? He can bring it to me and I can change. I've gotta rinse out my hair. It's sticky and disgusting. I'm going to be waiting in the bathroom.”

 

“Yeah, sure Kagome. Where does he want to meet us?”

 

“Well, he's never been to this mall before, so how about the big fountain in the middle? It should be easy for him to find.”

 

“Sure thing. We'll be there in a couple minutes.”

 

“Thanks so much, Ayumi. I owe you one.”

 

“Yeah, well I'll keep that in mind. Bye!”

 

“Bye,” Kagome said before snapping her phone closed once more. “Alright, we'll go inside and find the closest bathroom and then you are gonna go get a shirt from the girls.” He nodded and she pressed another short kiss to his lips before standing up, her taiyoukai following her lead. Looking around, Kagome spotted a door on the roof and decided to try it first, hoping they wouldn't have to risk being seen jumping off the roof of the two story building to the sidewalk below. She tried to turn the knob but found it locked and let out a sigh. Once her hand had dropped to her side, Sesshoumaru grabbed the handle and turned it, his strength breaking the lock and opening the door for them.

 

The two immediately entered and started down the stairs, hoping to find a bathroom somewhere soon so no one would see the bloodstained Kagome. Once they found one she gave him directions to the fountain and locked herself in the large handicapped stall. She picked it because it had a sink inside the stall, so no one would walk in and catch her washing blood out of her hair. She set to work, grimacing as she watched the water running through her hair. It started crystal clear and ended blood red. Sesshoumaru was following Kagome's directions and soon found the fountain, relieved to see her friends waiting.

 

When they saw him, Ayumi dug in one of the bags, producing a conveniently red shirt and handing it to him. “Is she alright? I mean, besides being stained and sticky? She said she hit her head.”

 

Accepting the shirt, he wanted to rush back to her, not comfortable leaving her alone so soon after her injury. He had to answer though. He couldn't be rude to her friends. “Kagome is fine. She merely has a small lump on the back of her head. Nothing serious. She is more uncomfortable than anything.”

 

“Oh, well then we shouldn't keep you. Tell her we'll wait here for you guys.” He nodded and disappeared into the crowd, making his way back to where he'd left his precious miko.

 

 

\-\-\--/-/-/

\-\-\-\-SWtPF-/-/-/-/

\-\-\--/-/-/

 

 

Kagome's grandfather was alone, manning the shrine, giving tours and selling trinkets. All the while he thought about his granddaughter. So much still awaited her. She had so much still to do at her young age. She was going to be seventeen soon. He'd spent the first fifteen years of her life with her every single day, and even though he'd gotten used to her being gone, that didn't mean he was ready to let her go. She was still that sweet little girl with bright blue eyes full of wonder at the world around her. She still had the same beautiful laugh that escaped her smiling lips so easily. Her hair was longer, but it had always been the same midnight black with hints of blue. She was still the little girl that ran and played on the shrine grounds, always smiling and laughing, always happy. Even after her father left and she was told he died, Kagome was still happy. She missed her daddy, like any little girl would, but she didn't let the sadness overwhelm her.

 

She was still as loving and trusting as she had always been, despite all the terrible things she'd witnessed during her time in the feudal era. The violence and hatred between species could never reach her. She would never judge anyone, human or demon, based solely on their species or appearance. She cared about everyone equally, would help anyone in need. He had always been afraid the darkness of the time would touch her heart, tainting her outlook on the world, but she stayed strong. She cared for demons, hanyou, and humans alike. She understood that just as not every human is good, not all demons are evil. Her very soul cried out for those injured by hatred, by the fear of the unknown and misunderstood.

 

When she'd first begun to understand Inuyasha, really understand him, she'd come home and cried for days. She cried herself to sleep, letting her tears fall as she knew he never could. It hurt her so deeply to know that someone she knew, someone she loved, was so alone, had such a hard childhood and experienced such hatred. She couldn't take back his pain, but she tried to find a way to make it stop. She did everything she could to convince her friend that it didn't matter to her what he was; only who he was, and eventually it started to sink in. Over the two years the half demon had been coming to her time and visiting with the family, he had noticed a very gradual but steady change in Inuyasha. He held more confidence. He didn't seem as harsh as he let his outer shell, his defense mechanism, fall in their presence. The hanyou finally had a home. He was so proud of his granddaughter. Not only had she changed the entire world for Inuyasha, just by affecting the way he saw himself, but now she'd brought his true family back to him.

 

He smiled to himself as he watched a little girl break into a run from her mother, making her way to the bottom of the God Tree, the tree that connected the two times, the tree that had given the wood for the Bone Eater's Well and made not only Kagome's fate but Kagome and Souta's lives possible. She stood beneath the tall Tree of Ages, looking straight up into the branches and laughing as she jumped up and down, like she was trying to touch the leaves that hung so high over her head. Her mother caught up with her and swept the little one into her arms, laughing along with her. The tree always had that affect on people. It seemed to lift the weight of the world from your shoulders while you stood in its shadow. Kagome had always loved to sit under the tree, to read or write, to think, or just to sit and stare at the sky through the branches.

 

The tree still bore the scar on the bark left behind where Inuyasha had been pinned for fifty years. It stood as a testament to strength and the ability to survive, as not only had Inuyasha survived and been released, but the tree itself had lived for five hundred more years to modern times. The tree had been around for at least five hundred years before Kagome released the hanyou from the spell the held him suspended in time, and it would stand for another five hundred years easily, safe and protected from human advancements here on the shrine. Just as the tree protected the shrine, the shrine protected the tree. They would never allow it to be cut down in the name of progress. The shrine would stand guard around it, even if skyscrapers grew up around them. The old man let out a sigh before turning away from the tree. He needed to focus on what he was doing, not letting his mind wander five hundred year in both directions. He shook his head and moved towards a small group of what appeared to be tourists, ready to offer a tour and tell them about the great history of the Higurashi Shrine.

 

 

\-\-\--/-/-/

\-\-\-\-SWtPF-/-/-/-/

\-\-\--/-/-/

 

 

Sesshoumaru was lucky no one saw him as he slipped back into the women's restroom with the new shirt he'd retrieved from her friends. He tapped on the door of the stall he knew she was in and waited, hearing water dripping to the floor. He heard her footsteps before the lock clicked and the door swung open for him. His eyes slid over her body, tracing her very visible curves. She'd taken off the shirt and rinsed it out as best she could before using it as a wash cloth to remove the blood that remained caked on her skin. She still wore her bra, which he noticed as also stained with blood, though it had dried. It couldn't be comfortable.

 

“Hey, will you do my back? I know there's some back there. I just can't reach it.” He nodded before accepting the balled up shirt, which might as well have been relegated to rag status. The blood was never going to come out.

 

She turned around and he looked at her back. She was right. There were still sections of dried blood, though he could see the areas she'd managed to get on her own. He couldn't help himself. He leaned down and dragged his hot tongue along the dark red splotches marring her beautiful skin. His right arm slipped around her waist, his hand splaying across the plains of her stomach while his other hand popped open the clasp on her bra.

 

“Sesshoumaru! I can't rinse that out right now. It'll be too wet to put back on. I'm just gonna have to leave it like it is.”

 

He paused in his tongue bath from a moment to speak, moving both hands to slide the straps down her arms, removing it from her body entirely. “Or you could simply not wear it.”

 

“I can't walk around the mall without a bra on!” she nearly screeched.

 

Her only reply was an “Hn,” before she once again felt his tongue sliding along her back. This time his hands slid up around her body each covering a now bare breast. He smirked a little, or at least as much of a smirk as he could manage with his tongue out and trailing along her skin, taking in all the blood he could find. In his hands her nipples hardened to tight little peaks as he massaged her perfect breasts. Her skin tasted just as amazing as her blood, and soon he found himself covering areas that were clean of any remaining blood, just to taste her skin.

 

Kagome couldn't help the little moan that escaped her. It just felt too good. Soon though she remembered that her friends were waiting for them and just where they were. She needed to stop him. “Sesshoumaru… Mmmm… Damn it! Sesshoumaru, stop. We have to get back to my friends and I am not doing this in a public restroom.” She heard his growl of frustration but felt as his hands slipped reluctantly from her body.

 

“Turn around,” he said, his voice full of heat.

 

“Only if you promise to keep your hands to yourself,” she replied.

 

Another “Hn,” was heard before she turned to face him. The sight of her perky breasts, tipped with tight pink peaks and covered in dried blood had him bending once again, his lips wrapping around a nipple and sucking lightly as his tongue flicked over the very tip. He felt her fingers wrap tightly in his hair as she moaned again and he smirked mentally. There was no way she would stop him now. Releasing her nipple he began dragging his tongue across the soft sweet skin of her breasts, removing any trace of remaining blood. Her fingers tightened every now and then in his hair, the light pain on his scalp causing him to moan along with her. As much as he wished to continue, he agreed that this was certainly neither the time nor the place for such enjoyable activities. Once he finished cleaning the last drop of blood from her delicious flesh he gave a teasing kiss to each nipple before pulling away, feeling her fingers slipping through his long silver strands. She let out a sigh, wishing they were somewhere else or at least that no one was waiting for them.

 

He held her bra in his hand and when she reached for it he pulled his hand away before stuffing the small covering into a pocket. “Give it back! I need to put it on!”

 

“You have no need of it. Here,” he said as he held out the shirt he had retrieved from her human friends. “Shall we go?”

 

Kagome let out a frustrated sigh but pulled the shirt over her head. She looked at herself in the mirror, seeing her still tight peaks pushing quite visibly against the thin red fabric. “See? I can't walk around like this!”

 

“This Sesshoumaru is rather enjoying the view.”

 

“I'll bet you are, but do you want every guy in the mall enjoying it too?” She heard his low growl and thought she'd won, but he still refused to release her bra from his captivity. She let out a sigh and shrugged her shoulders before pulling her brush through her damp raven locks. She'd wrung as much water as possible from them, and with a few minutes of brushing it was dry enough to lay neatly over her shoulders, hiding her obvious lack of a bra. She balled up the ruined shirt and stuffed it into the bottom of her purse before replacing her brush and throwing the bag over her shoulder. “Come on. Let's go before they come looking for us.”

 

“They said they would await our return near the fountain,” he said before wrapping and arm around her waist and pulling her tightly to his side. They left the bathroom, still incredibly lucky to have not run into any other patrons, and made their way to where her friends waited for them. Kagome refused to let Hojo ruin her day. She had plans and she was determined to keep them.

 

 

\-\-\--/-/-/

\-\-\-\-SWtPF-/-/-/-/

\-\-\--/-/-/

 

 

Hojo found himself sitting alone in a room with nothing but a table, the chair he sat in, and two others on the opposite side. He'd been fingerprinted and photographed and they'd demanded his name and personal information, saying that they would contact his parents. Now all he could do was wait. Apparently they couldn't question him without a parent's permission since he was under eighteen. He sat and stared at himself in the mirror, trying to collect his thoughts. Everything that had happened since yesterday morning swirled through his mind. It was overwhelming. He didn't know what to do. He was the only one who knew about the monster, or monsters as it now seemed. He had to make them understand the danger.

 

The officer watched Hojo as he sat mumbling to himself. His parents were on the way and soon they would get the chance to find out what the hell the boy was thinking, running through a crowded mall with a blood covered knife. And they really needed to find out whose blood it was to begin with. He had a feeling that something was seriously wrong with the kid. Besides the fact that he was muttering to himself about monsters and demons and Prince Charming among other things, the boy had this look in his eyes. It sent a shiver down his spine just watching him. There was definitely something off about Hojo, and he was determined to find out what it was.

 

There was a knock on the door before it opened and another officer poked his head inside. “His parents are here.”

 

He nodded. “I'll be there in a moment.” The second officer nodded in return and left, closing the door behind him. “Well, let's see if they can tell me what their son was doing with a knife in the mall. I'm sure this is going to be interesting.” He gathered his papers together and walked out of the observation room to the office where the suspect's parents were waiting. He was ready for answers.

 

 

\-\-\--/-/-/

\-\-\-\-SWtPF-/-/-/-/

\-\-\--/-/-/

 

 

Author's Note: I'm a bad, bad author. I still haven't done my reviewer responses. Please don't think I don't care. It's just that I've been writing like crazy and I'm afraid if I stop and focus on something else I'll lose my flow.

 

Oh, and I'm also bad because I'm starting to work on another story even though I said I wouldn't. I doubt I'll be posting any of it for a while yet but it's an AU for anyone who's curious.

 

Maybe Sesshoumaru will come and spank me? No? Well, a girl can dream, can't she? (my husband is so going to growl at me when he reads that. Amazingly he's actually reading my story now, though he's got a bit of catching up to do, so I'm safe, at least for a while)