InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Strictly Taboo ❯ Wicked Games ( Chapter 20 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

“For the last time, Inuyasha, I am going to school!” Kagome huffed, irritable and adorable. He had wanted to keep her home today after their rather late night but she refused, going on about tests and studying and other stuff that he didn’t care about in the least.

“Kagome,” he whined playfully, dragging out the last syllable of her name. Getting angry would only cement her desire to leave. “We could have a lot of fun at home,” he said suggestively, raking his eyes over her body with a purpose.

She raised an eyebrow, unaffected. “We had ‘fun’ all night and you woke me up with ‘fun’. I’m all funned out for now. I’ve got important things to do today.”

Inuyasha cursed his rather enthusiastic waking of Kagome that took place just minutes before. Seeing her curled up on him like that so innocently, feeling her naked body against his had just excited him to the point where he had forgotten his plans and ravished her. “Whatever, just let me drive you. Sure you’re not tired?”

Holding back a yawn, she nodded and left to go get dressed, leaving him to lament his actions and pull on his discarded pair of jeans from the night before and a shirt he found hiding half under the bed. That done, he ran downstairs, not at all surprised to see Kagome already waiting for him. She was always quick in the morning, regardless of her level of energy. Seeing the sunlight in her hair brought out a tenderness in him, and he took her hand, surprising her, and didn’t let go until they arrived at her school, kissing the tip of each finger before he let her leave. Just that was enough to make her blush and she hurried away, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before she disappeared into the sea of hormonal humanity that filled and surrounded the ostentatious building.

Deciding to go home rather than to work, he drove as slowly as he could, provoking many a driver to honk their horns and flip him off. One enraged commuter even threw a cup of coffee at his car, but he hardly noticed. All he could think about was Kagome. Didn’t she see how terrible he felt when she left him for her stupid education? She was smart enough already. She didn’t need strangers telling her what to think. He knew she still wanted to be a nurse, but that didn’t mean she had to attend school every damn day. He had brought up homeschooling her but she was horrified, saying how she’d never get any work done and he would never let her go outside again. As true as that statement might be, he didn’t want her to see him as another Kikyo, someone who would confine and repress her, thus his lack of an attempt to really convince her to stay that morning.

Pushing through the door he had left open, Inuyasha resigned himself to another day of staring at the door and waiting for her to return. Suddenly, hands gripped his face and turned it to the side. Kikyo had come back, he realized belatedly, her unwelcome scent invaded his sensitive nostrils. She pressed her lips to his, trying to force her tongue in his mouth. He gripped her wrists, his lingering traces of guilt being the only reason why he had not flung her from him immediately. He needed to respect her, in spite of everything. She had raised their child alone, after all. Even if he did not approve of how she had gone about bringing her up, Kagome was a good girl and he had to give her mother something for that, and that something might as well be feigned kindness covering up his barely restrained fury. He twisted away from her, trying to keep his face blank.

“Don’t push me away, Inuyasha. I know you still want me.”

“What the fuck gave you that idea?!” he growled, exasperated.

“You hit me. You stopped me. You didn’t want to see me like that and you did what you had to in order to snap me out of it,” she said eagerly, her eyes shining with energy and life in a way he had not seen since before they broke up. “Now I’m giving myself to you. I won’t hold back like I did before.”

“Get away,” he said, keeping his voice low and steady, adding in an ounce of a threat for good measure. He dropped her hands. “I’m in love with—someone else,” he finished, catching himself just in time.

Kikyo’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “It’s that bodyguard of Kagome’s, isn’t it? I was wondering why you’d choose a woman to do a man’s job.”

He had not realized she knew about Kagome’s bodyguard. He himself forgot about her frequently. “No, Kikyo, it’s not Sango. You don’t know her.” Technically, he wasn’t lying. She really didn’t know shit about her own daughter.

She said nothing, her glare filling the silence. “I see,” she said quietly, breaking the long pause. “Then you would prefer that I leave?”

Inuyasha nodded, not looking at her. She had expertly covered the bruise he had given her with thick make-up, but he could still see it. Others would see it. Childishly, he wanted to ask her to hit him back, as hard as she wanted, as many times as she wanted, but he knew it wouldn’t make either of them feel better and she would probably just end up hurting herself.

Kikyo left without another word, but he could smell her tears and almost feel her pain.

After spending about eight hours dicking around doing nothing, he was excited to see Kagome again. Inuyasha knew it probably wasn’t healthy to just wait around for her all day, but he couldn’t help it. He was in love, and it was better than ever. Nearly humming the entire car trip, he finally arrived at Kagome’s school after an agonizing fifteen minute drive. She ran to the car as soon as he entered, which was their usual routine, but this time she did not have a smile on her face.

“Hey, did you tell Sango to leave?” she questioned, without even giving him a proper greeting.

His brow furrowed. “No, she was supposed to be with you all day today like normal.”

“That’s strange,” she said, sounding concerned. “I was in line for lunch and asked her to get me a seat and she just disappeared. I thought you had called her away or she had an emergency or something. I looked all over and called her like a billion times but she never answered.”

Inuyasha was now as concerned as Kagome was. Kikyo’s face flashed in his mind, their conversation from earlier where she had detailed her suspicions coming back to him. He had thought nothing of it at the time. She was jealous, and that was too bad, but they were no longer really together so she’d just have to suck it up and deal. But he’d seen the way she’d treated Kagome, her own flesh and blood. What would she do to someone she had no obligations to, someone she thought threatened her position, what she’d worked to achieve regarding him? Kikyo was not as passive as everyone seemed to believe. Her emotions ran deep and strong. She was as capable of murder as he was, only she would justify it whereas he never even bothered to do that anymore. In his eyes, that made her much more dangerous. If she came up with what she believed to be a good reason for doing something horrendous, the deed was as good as done and she’d have that holier than thou attitude of triumph that made him want to roll his eyes and pretend to gag.

“I think we should go look for her. Let me park and show me where you last saw her.”

She nodded and stepped out of the car, glancing around her worriedly. When he jogged back to her, she led him into the high school, which was empty but for a few depressed teachers and some lonely kids whose parents had not yet shown up. His nose was working overtime trying to pick up the bodyguard’s barely remembered scent, but all he could smell was grease and perfume and sweat and sexual tension and stress and all those things that fill your average building full of teens.

“Sango!” Kagome called out desperately. “Sango, where are you?!”

Inuyasha wanted to tell her to shush but stopped himself, knowing it would hurt her feelings and she just wanted to feel useful. So he joined her, but in a much lower voice.

“Sango! I don’t fuckin’ pay you to run off!” he yelled, his fear for the fate of the young woman he had barely met yet been so impressed by increasing by the minute.

They went around and around the building, checking every classroom, even the gym. They asked a few burned-out looking teachers if they had seen the young woman but they just shook their heads and continued grading papers, irritated at being interrupted but so dead inside they couldn’t even snap at the couple that broke their concentration. Inuyasha began feeling like he was in The Shining, expecting to see those creepy twin girls every time he turned into yet another hallway with flickering overhead lights, or that bloody bathtub lady whenever he opened a door. Kagome seemed unperturbed by the obvious horror movie potential of the building she spent all her days in, so he took the backseat for a while and let her lead him around.

Finally, the girl gave up, and he was somewhat relieved although he immediately felt guilty for feeling that way. She pushed through the double doors at the end of the building’s first floor angrily, trotting down the stairs and onto the concrete sidewalk of the alley behind the school. Frustrated and close to tears, she threw up her hands.

“Where is she? SANGO?!” she screamed, louder than ever before, loud enough to make him wish she had given him a warning so he could have covered his sensitive ears.

He heard a slight rustling somewhere near them and he froze, putting a finger to his lips and motioning for Kagome to stay still. She got the picture and kept her position, hands still in the air, eyes wide and scared. They waited, but the sound didn’t come again. Instead, his nose picked up a faint whiff of a vaguely familiar scent, something he had smelled in person twice and after that only barely clinging to Kagome when she returned from school.

“Over here!” he called out, excited yet still apprehensive.

Kagome broke out into a grin, her mind not jumping to the worst conclusions like his was. He envied her innocence and loved it, vowing to keep her that way, to preserve everything that she was to the best of his ability. Inuyasha smiled at her gently, and held up a hand to stop her from coming closer. The smell of Sango, her bodyguard and friend, was heavy with fear and nearly covered up by blood and trash.

She was in the dumpster.

He carefully, quietly made his way over to the dumpster at the end of the alley. Its lid was down, which was strange since those monstrosities were usually open for the sake of convenience unless it was collection day, which judging by the relative lack of ripeness coming from the canister was certainly not today. He flipped up the lid with the edge of his claws, not wanting to leave fingerprints that would confuse his team. There she was, as he knew she’d be. She looked so broken and pained that he nearly grimaced and cursed at her fate, only holding back when he remembered Kagome, whom he would rather not tip off to the state of what he was pretty sure was her best friend. The attractive, muscular woman was not dead, but she might as well be. She was covered in bruises and her own blood, barely recognizable. Inuyasha could tell that both arms and legs were horrifically broken, the bone protruding through the skin and visible. A few of her teeth looked to be knocked out as well and he’d bet money on the fact that her spine and ribs were broken too. It was cruelty that whoever had done this had kept her alive, and he knew only a few people capable of that kind of cruelty who had a motive.

“Did you find her?” asked Kagome anxiously. Quickly, he slammed the lid shut again, flinching at the loud noise it made. He didn’t want Kagome to see Sango like that.

“Uh, yeah,” he said awkwardly. He stopped Kagome when she hurried to check on her friend, grabbing her around the waist. “Don’t look. Just… don’t look.”

“Oh God,” Kagome gasped, her tears already streaming. “Is she—“

“No.”

Inuyasha held her to him and let her sob.

“This is my fault. My fault.”

Making soothing sounds and rocking her from side to side by swaying, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He had become quite good at consoling Kagome since her tears were almost always his fault.

“Myoga, send a team and an ambulance. Kagome’s body guard, um, ran into some trouble.” He hung up without waiting for a response, just as he always did, knowing his servant would jump at the task with all his hundreds of years of experience. Silently, he picked up Kagome like one would a sleeping child and walked back to his car, feeling her fragile form with a clarity like never before, not even when they were one. She looked up at him from her cradle in his arms and he felt as fragile inside as she looked.

“Who could have done this, Inuyasha?” she whispered. “How could anyone be so terrible?”

He sighed. “Don’t think that this is your fault, Kagome. If anything, it’s mine. Your mother and I had a misunderstanding this morning and I think that this was the result.”

Immediately, fire came into her eyes and Kagome came to Kikyo’s defense. “Mother would never—“

“Your mother is capable of everything but goodness,” he said shortly, growing tired with Kagome’s hero worship of such a despicable person. “She’s changed. She thought I was in love with Sango and then this conveniently happened.”

Her lower lip began to tremble and her mouth turned down at the corners. “But—But we—“

“She’ll never know about us,” he promised vehemently. “I’ll protect the secret. This will never happen to you.”

That seemed to be all the girl could take and she said nothing as he placed her in the car and buckled her in. Kagome stayed unresponsive even as he kissed her lips, which he did only to test the waters. Obviously she was not in a mood for such activities and he dejectedly made his way to the driver’s side, wondering if Kagome was completely disillusioned with her mother now or if it would take more effort.