InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Boyfriend ❯ Catching Up ( Chapter 20 )

Disclaimer: InuYasha, Kagome and anyone else you saw in the manga or anime does not belong to me. Yukio does. If I saw so much as a shiny penny for this story, you think I'd be writing fanfiction still? Okay, I would… Damn other authors and their more interesting universes…

 

Genre: Angst, Romance
Rating: M
Codes: Inu/Kag
Feedback: Keeps my muse talking and the stories coming! Do tell. But if you have a flame, use it for something more productive, like setting your clothes on fire.

 

 

The Boyfriend
Chapter 20

 

“What I still don't understand, is why the demons took you and not me,” Sango said softly one afternoon when Shippo was off playing. InuYasha looked over, as did Miroku, waiting for the answer.

 

“They said… it was because my purity had been recently taken,” Kagome answered. InuYasha had tried prodding her for this answer several times, but she hadn't been able to talk about it. “They said that, if just a few more days had gone by, I would have been useless to them.”

 

“Why?” InuYasha asked.

 

“I'm not sure. All the girls… all the girls they had… lost…” Kagome stopped, unable to finish her sentence. She took a moment to convince herself that it was over and talking about it wouldn't make it come back. She forced herself to keep her eyes open so the images didn't spring to mind and looked at Sango. “Many of the girls were new brides. A few were like me…” Kagome looked back down at the ground. “They took… took my blood,” Kagome said, holding out her arm to show the knife scar. Everyone leaned in and Kagome curled back in on herself. She yelled at herself inwardly, `Come on, Higurashi, I thought we were moving past this!' and held her arm out again, proud when it didn't shake.

 

“Why blood?” Miroku asked and Kagome sighed with relief when she didn't flinch. She had seen the hurt in Miroku's eyes when she had avoided him, but the thought of him sneaking a grope had terrified her so badly that she had become afraid of even the sound of his voice. She had been afraid of his anger after the attack, especially after the way that one policeman had acted in her room, like it was her fault. She understood that it wasn't. The grief counselor at the hospital had made certain of that before she left after her examination, but she was afraid other people blamed her.

 

The woman had looked at the new bruises on Kagome's throat and pointed them out to her, saying that no matter what the outcome of the charges against Yukio, especially since he was so young, it was in no way Kagome's fault. InuYasha had piped up from the corner of the room, `Damn right, it's not,' and her mother had smiled at her, nodding in agreement. She might not have believed her mother, or even the stranger—after all, she was trained to make people feel better. But InuYasha was always quick to blame her if she did something wrong. With all three of them telling her that it wasn't her fault, she had no choice but to believe them.

 

“Kagome-chan?” Sango prodded and Kagome realized she had spaced off.

 

“Sorry,” she said quickly. “I don't know why they needed blood. But all the girls said they took some of theirs, too. Then, most of the brides were taken home to their husbands, but some of them, all of us who had been… had been…” Kagome stopped again, then forced herself to continue, “Forced out of our… purity… We were given to a group of youkai who used humans as slaves and sold them later.”

 

“Maybe they feed on the blood of girls who have recently lost their purity?” Miroku offered. Sango nodded.

 

“I've heard of mononoke like that,” she said softly. “They're famous for stealing new brides from their husbands. Some don't ever make it back and most don't remember what happened to them. But no one's ever seen them well enough to describe one.”

 

“What did they make you do?” InuYasha asked, ignoring Sango's explanation.

 

“Not much,” Kagome said. “Any time I didn't want to do something, I just didn't do it and they… beat me,” Kagome said quickly. “When I started taking care of some of the other girls, they decided that's what I would do—I acted as a healer most of the time.” Kagome's mind flashed back to the girls she used her body to shield so that they wouldn't be beaten to death for making meaningless mistakes. Kagome had watched a girl die under their care in the first day and had vowed not to watch it again.

 

She had failed at least twice in escaping because she had gone back to rescue another girl and once because she had tried to free them all. They had told her after that, that if she had a chance, to take it. She had wanted to get away badly enough that she agreed to it, hoping that she would be able to find InuYasha and bring him back to save them. Then, one night, one of the youkai had tried to take her to his bed and she had fought, tooth and nail. Another of the girls saw it and stopped him from raping her by offering herself in Kagome's place. It was one of the girls Kagome had saved from a terrible beating and Kagome had cried all night, remembering the way the girl turned to smile at her as she walked off to fill the youkai's bed.

 

They decided that she was too much trouble after a month and started trying to sell her in every village they came near, but she sabotaged every attempted sale except for one. She had tried to facilitate that sale, actually, because the man who was trying to buy her had looked on them with kind, pitying eyes. But he only had enough money for one of them and Kagome knew that the girl standing next to her had caused even more trouble than she had. The youkai had told her that if no one bought her, they would kill her after the auction. So Kagome had signaled him to buy the other girl and watched her opportunity slip away, losing most of the hope and spirit she had left.

 

The next auction, she was bought. The man didn't touch her except to hit her when she did something that he decided was wrong, but she had lost all hope of ever being rescued. She had still tried to escape at every opportunity, but by her seventh month of pregnancy, she was so starved and the baby was so heavy, she had to give up.

 

She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked to its owner. InuYasha let go and walked off and she stood to follow him. She looked back at Sango and Miroku, who looked puzzled, and smiled at them. They both smiled back and Kagome hurried to catch up with InuYasha's retreating form. They walked a while before he finally stopped and looked off into the distance, not saying anything for a few minutes.

 

“Anything you couldn't say around them, you can tell me,” InuYasha offered. Kagome's eyes widened. “I… I want to know.”

 

“No, you don't,” Kagome said, stepping close and taking his arm. “But you do want to know if I slept with any of them,” Kagome said before he could protest. She felt him stiffen and laid her head against his shoulder. “I didn't.”

 

“Did any of them… try?” InuYasha asked. Kagome was quiet for a while.

 

“Yes,” she answered. “One of the slavers. But another girl took my place,” she admitted. She let go of his arm, but before she could walk away, he grabbed her and pulled her back to hold against his chest. He started to open his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by a loud yell.

 

“Kagome!” Kagome felt InuYasha stiffen and a growl rose up into the air, almost as loud as the one he directed at Yukio.

 

“InuYasha,” Kagome chastised, trying to stop the fight before it began. InuYasha pushed her away and put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

 

“Hi, Koga-kun,” Kagome greeted as the wolf skidded to a halt just a few steps away. Koga looked at her silently and Kagome took a step back, frightened by his gaze. He was too thin, like she was, and looked like he had been in many fights recently. His eyes had roamed over her entire body like a starving man looks at his next meal.

 

“When did you find her, Dog-Crap?” Koga demanded. Kagome expected InuYasha to growl louder, but he surprised her by stopping entirely.

 

“Not long ago, only a handful of days,” InuYasha answered. The look disappeared from Koga's face and Kagome relaxed a little. Then Koga's head dropped.

 

“So you won, then,” Koga said. “You've already had a child with her.” Kagome's eyes widened, then she remembered that Shippo could smell her milk. Koga looked at Kagome again and his eyes were sad. “You chose him, after all.”

 

“I'm sorry, Koga-kun,” Kagome said softly, then déjà vu gripped her and she clutched InuYasha's hand, remembering what Yukio had said right after she apologized for not choosing him. Koga hadn't been their ally until he decided that he was in love with her. What if he decided to attack now?

 

“You better take damn good care of her, Mutt-face,” Koga growled. “If I hear you've let her get kidnapped or hurt again, you'll answer to me.” Kagome relaxed as her nightmare moment passed and Koga turned and walked away. She wondered if they would see him again after this.

 

“He's been looking for you, too,” InuYasha said quietly. “He even stopped looking for Naraku, trying to find you.” Kagome looked up at InuYasha, but he turned and walked away, not saying another word. Kagome followed silently behind him, wondering about the way he was behaving. There was a calmness in him that hadn't been there before and Kagome couldn't help but think that InuYasha seemed to have grown up a little.

 

 

 

To be continued…