InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Twisted Hearts ❯ Falling ( Chapter 17 )

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

Twisted Hearts

Falling

She was running and running and running because if she stopped she was sure to die.

The streets were full of snow and the air was freezing. The wind whipped against her body and made her arms and legs numb, but she didn't stop running. She could not stop running. She knew what awaited her if she stopped, and she didn't want that.

So she kept running.

There were no footsteps behind her, but she knew that the demon was there, waiting until she gave up.

She was not going to surrender.

It was so, so cold and no one could warm her.

No one was going to save her and she was scared. This was not supposed to happen. She would get her money, go far away from Japan, never return, and live forever.

She wasn't supposed to die. Not now and not like this.

God, she did not want this.

From the corner of her eye, she saw something move too fast, inhumanly fast. She knew it was the demon. She was sure that if she kept running, the demon would leave her be, and she would be fine. She would make it.

The demon had guaranteed that if she ran until it lost her, it would not harm her. It had promised. The only thing she had to do was run until the demon was left behind, so she ran even faster.

She could feel the demon's eyes on her, could see its shadow…the wind seemed even colder, and the snow was making it hard to keep going.

`Please don't let me slip', she prayed, `please don't let me slip, don't let me slip, please…'

Fear was swallowing her up. It was building at the bottom of her stomach and going up, up, up, until it clouded her senses and overflowed in her mind.

She had once heard that fear made people foolish. She had heard that you made the most unforgivable mistakes when fearful. She could not control the fear and she really wanted to.

If she suppressed the fear, the fruitless images of what could happen would disappear. Then she would be able to concentrate on her running and the ground that threatened to cause her fall.

She couldn't slip.

It would be her end, and she didn't want to die. Not yet, not after all the sacrifices she had made.

This wasn't how things were supposed to be.

Her lungs filled with cold air and every breath she took was like breathing in ice. It burned, and it made concentrating harder. Her vision was blurry and her mouth was dry. She needed water, but there was no chance of getting any relief.

She had to keep running. It was the only way to keep alive.

`Please don't let me slip, please don't let me slip, please don't let me slip…'

How much longer could she keep running? She had already run longer than was humanly possible. Eventually her body would give in, and then what would happen? What would she do?

She couldn't fight it, and she was starting to realize that the youkai was too fast for her. She would never outrun it so what should she do? She couldn't give up yet, not yet…

Her blue eyes filled with tears. What would she do when she could no longer keep running?

And then…

It was just a split second. She took her eyes off the path, and she didn't see the fraction covered with ice. Her right foot skimmed it first, and before she could do anything to prevent it, lost stability, and sent her flying to the ground.

Her hands hit the cold ground with a thud. Her knees made full contact, starting to bleed almost immediately, but that wasn't what worried her. With time, they would heal. Problem was she had no time.

She wasn't even sure she would make it to see the next day.

`I slipped, I slipped, oh God, what will happen to me?'

Maybe God wasn't with her anymore.

She felt something land behind her, but she kept her vision on the floor as was darkened. Someone was behind her and it was covering her shadow.

She did not want to die.

She still didn't move, and the demon behind her didn't move. She hoped that it had decided that she wasn't worthy.

“I told you to keep running until I lost you.”

Her voice sent chills all through her body.

“I…I tried. I ran and ran, but I…I slipped…I didn't see the ice…”

She laughed.

“Fear leads people into making dumb mistakes.” something like that had crossed her mind while she was running.

Strange.

She heard the youkai sniff.

“I could smell your fear from miles.”

It walked in front of her, leaned down, and cupped her chin with her hand. The youkai's hands were freezing, and she didn't want her last touch to be so cold. How she longed for warmth…

The youkai stood up as it realized her and stepped on her hand. She screamed in pain, and the youkai stepped harder.

“You were very useful.”

She looked up, her blue eyes shining with unshed tears.

“I did what you told me. No one saw me. It was perfect. Let me go.”

The youkai laughed again.

“Let you go? I told you to get out of Japan as soon as Taisho was dead, and you are still here.”

“You promised me money.”

The youkai's purple eyes suddenly fixed on her own. It had an amused smile. She felt her heart become smaller.

“Your life,” she started.

“You should have taken your life and gone. Now it is too late for you.”

“It's not too late.” She pleaded. “I can go now. No one will find me. I swear…”

“Shut up.” The youkai suddenly snapped at her.

“If I let you go, he will kill me. No girl, you made a mistake. I will not do the same.”

“I can…”

“You did an excellent job with the plane. If only you had gone…”

“I can still go.”

She had to keep trying. She wanted to live. She wanted to do so many things, but she had been so foolish…she should have never agreed to this. She should have known better. She had needed the money, and she hadn't cared much for her life then.

She did now.

If she survived, she promised to herself to live to the fullest. She would never waste a second.

If only she had a second…

“You don't want my death on your shoulders,” she tried once more.

She would not give up. She had to convince the youkai to let her live.

The youkai laughed harder.

“You think I would care if I killed you?”

“…yes?” she reasoned timidly.

“I would not care at all. You would not be my first killing, and I can assure you, you will not be my last. Taking you life would be as easy to me as it would be taking a nap.”

The youkai lowered her eyes to her and brought her mouth to her ear.

“Your death…” she started, “matters not to me or anyone else. You will leave this world without anyone caring, just as you have lived. You are nothing.”

Her eyes widened, and she started to pray then stopped. God had left her and might have never been with her in the first place. Besides, in front of her was an evil being that did not give a damn about anything.

Those purple eyes held no mercy.

The youkai stepped away and took out two fans. She wondered what she would do with them. Then in a brief moment, the youkai moved them, and she felt herself flying backwards.

Her back made contact with a wall, and she felt every single bone crush. Her head hit the wall, and her world was starting to black out. She had injuries all over. She was losing too much blood.

“Courtesy of Naraku.” she heard the demon say.

Then, there was no more.

***

“You shouldn't go to work.”

Kagome yelled at him, so he would hear it over the shower. She didn't get an answer, again, which annoyed her a little more.

How come he could ignore her when she couldn't ignore him? It was very unfair.

“Really, you shouldn't.”

She did not know if she was saying it to irritate him or because she really didn't want him to go to work. When she had woken up, she had felt warmer than usual even though she was used to waking up feeling warmer now.

She blushed.

She was used to waking up next to Sesshoumaru's warmth. He never left the bed until she woke up, and it always made her smile, even though she didn't know why. She knew he woke up a little earlier than she did, and she appreciated that he waited for her before beginning their day.

This morning, however, she had felt even warmer, and seconds later, she had realized that she was because Sesshoumaru's body temperature was abnormally higher. She had frowned at that and mentioned it to him, but he had dismissed her as he always did. She would have slapped him if she were prone to dying.

Fortunately, for Sesshoumaru and herself, she wanted to live, thank you very much.

It still didn't keep her from grimacing.

She heard him come out of the bathroom.

“Where is my shirt?”

Kagome pointed to a blue chair, still in bed, not lifting her eyes to look at him.

“I still don't see why you had to change around the furniture. The room was just fine the way it was.”

Kagome had taken one afternoon off to bring her things into his room. While she was at it, she had ordered some things to be changed, making it more their room than his.

He had arrived, seen the room, and yelled at her before going to sleep. Still, he hadn't ordered her away. He had not made a move to change anything in the room as well.

“It gives it more color, and you like it. If you didn't, you would have brought it back to the way it was.”

Sesshoumaru said nothing, and she smiled. He could bark about the room all he wanted. She knew he liked it better this way.

“It is not unpleasant. That is why I allowed it.”

“Do you allow me to be here because my company is not unpleasant?” she looked up at him then wished she hadn't.

He was shirtless, again. He had an odd habit of not putting shirts on. Perhaps it had something to do with never being able to find them. She wondered how he had managed to dress himself before she came around.

He moved towards the chair, causing his muscles to flex, and she felt her blush deepen. She had to admit he was more than gorgeous.

And he looked so good without a shirt…Her hands would feel so good running over that hard, muscled chest…

Kagome turned her head to the side, but her eyes stayed on him.

`Well,' she thought, `at least I married a very sexy youkai…and I did not just think that.'

Her eyes trailed down his purple marks, and she wondered how low those marks ran…she had to stop thinking like that before her temperature raised.

She focused her attention on something else, but since her eyes refused to move from him, she had to be content with moving them up… they met the crescent moon on his forehead.

Mmm.

He had markings on his face too.

If they went all the way up, would they go all the way down, too?

Yeah, thinking was just not good this morning.

Sesshoumaru sent her an odd look.

“I know I'm fascinating, but shouldn't you stop looking at me and start getting ready? You are going to be late for work.”

That gave something else for Kagome to focus on.

“You shouldn't go to work.”

“I see no reason to miss my job.”

“You temperature is high. You could be sick.”

He gave her an arrogant look and a smug smile.

“I, the great Sesshoumaru Taisho, never get sick.”

Kagome glared at him.

“You are too full of yourself.”

“You seem to enjoy me.”

Kagome sent him an even harder look that did nothing to him.

“If you faint in the middle on the office, don't call me. Baka.”

She threw the cover from her body and went to the bathroom.

`Stupid youkai', she thought as she prepared her bath. `If he did faint he'd just make me feel bad.'

***

“It wasn't an accident.”

“…”

“We have to tell them.”

“…”

“It could be dangerous. Someone could be after their whole family.”

“…”

“Their new family members could be in danger as well. I don't like the mutt and definitely don't trust his wife, but I don't want them to get hurt either.”

“…”

“And the same goes for Sesshoumaru. I don't even know who he married, but…”

“You don't know who he is married to?” Sango interrupted.

Kouga looked at the ambassador's daughter with an annoyed look.

“I thought you weren't paying attention to what I saying.”

Sango leaned her head to one side.

“Then why did you keep talking?”

“…”

Sango smiled.

“So, how come you don't know who Sesshoumaru married? Haven't you been friends since forever?”

“We are…acquaintances, and I've been too busy investigating this case to care about such frivolous things.”

“But Sesshoumaru is the most powerful youkai in Japan. Surely you have heard the name of his wife.”

“No.”

“No?”

“I said no.”

“It's been almost two months.”

Kouga turned his violet eyes to her and glared. Sango simply took another sip of her tea.

“I get the point, alright? I'll ask him when I tell him about this.”

“About what?”

A vein in Kouga's forehead looked like it was about to pop.

“I thought you said you were listening.”

Sango sipped her tea again.

“No, I just heard the part where you said you didn't know who Sesshoumaru was married to.”

“That was not the important part!” He yelled. She didn't even blink. After more than five years of working together, she was used to this.

Besides, she knew that the Chief Police wouldn't dare hurt her. Hell, Kouga was too much of a gentleman to hurt any lady. So even if she wasn't the ambassador between youkai and humans, she would be safe.

Kouga knew that she knew this. It always made him even angrier.

“I would love to see your face when you find out who he married.” she said, a smug smile on her face, her eyes watching for his reaction.

She knew hell would break when he found out. She thought maybe she should warn Kagome about this first.

“He probably married some snobbish human that only cares about shopping and her hair. Definitely someone I don't know and don't want to know.”

Sango's smug smile was making him itchy. He knew that smile. Sango hardly ever used it, but when she did, he knew he had better watch out. He thought it would be nice if he knew what he had to watch out for.

“Is there something you would like to tell me, Sango?” He asked carefully.

She sipped from her tea again, looking as if nothing in the world could bother her.

He found he suddenly wanted to destroy every single teapot in the world so no one would be able to make tea, and would suffer from lack of the substance.

“Why of course, Kouga. But you'll have to find out for yourself.” she smiled sweetly at him.

She loved making Kouga angry. She had found it a diverting hobby while she was in meetings and reunions like this. It helped pass the time. She observed him and wondered if she should push him some more.

“Have you heard anything about Ka…” Sango shut her mouth. It wasn't her secret to tell. And if he hadn't contacted her in all these years, he might as well find out the truth the hard way.

“Heard about whom?”

“No one. What were you saying at the beginning?”

Kouga gave her an annoyed look, but he moved to sit in front of her.

“I was telling you that it wasn't an accident.”

Now, he had her complete attention.

“The plane crash that killed Taisho Senior?”

Kouga nodded, his face serious.

“It all indicated that it was a failure in the motor. Something that couldn't be predicted. The pilots were killed in the crash. The same happened with the rest of the passengers. An unfortunate accident.”

“You were suspicious since the beginning.” she pointed out. He nodded.

“Mr. Taisho used one of his private airplanes for that particular flight. We know that they always use commercial airplanes, but on this occasion, he didn't.”

“And?”

“Those planes have more security than anything else. They carefully check a week, then hours before the flight. They fill the tanks, and they assure that there is nothing out of place.”

“The chances of having a motor failure were dimmed.”

“But it could happen.”

“That was why you kept quiet.”

“At the first check up, I thought it really was an accident. A lucky one for all the enemies of the Taisho family, but just an accident.”

Sango took another sip.

“But?”

“Sesshoumaru wasn't satisfied with the answer, and he asked me to investigate more.”

“Where did you look?”

“There was not much left of the plane, and what little was left had already been checked over a thousand times. There was nothing there.”

Sango smiled.

“You looked for the people that had been there before and after the plane took off.”

He nodded.

“There had to be an anomaly there, if it wasn't an accident. Very select people are allowed to be in the area when one of Taisho's planes is going to depart. They are not powerful for nothing, and they check even the smallest detail.”

“If you didn't find something unusual in the people that were there at that time, then it had to have been an accident.”

“But if I found someone that wasn't supposed to be there…”

“How could anyone get in without being noticed?”

“That was my first question. I discarded humans right away. Youkai on the job would notice them immediately. And only a youkai could get pass all that security.”

Sango raised an eyebrow.

“That was a bug chance you took.”

The wolf youkai for once didn't look so arrogant.

“It was a mistake, and the reason why it took me so long to find the anomaly.”

“The trespasser was human?”

“She was. Taisho Senior hired everything, from human to youkai. Cameras surrounded the place. There was nothing that had not been recorded. Everything was on watch by eagle demons. They couldn't have missed anything.”

“Except they always look for something that moved too fast, right?”

“It was the one mistake they always make. They always look for youkai, just like me.”

“They never took a second glance at a human. They were no danger.”

“Exactly.”

“You said it was a she?”

“It was a woman. I checked all the people that were supposed to be there and she…” She handed Sango a copy of a picture.

“is the only one that shouldn't be there.”

Sango looked at the woman in the picture. There was nothing unusual about her. The photo had obviously been taken from the security cameras. She was dressed as an engineer. She had shoulder length, brown hair. Her eyes were blue. She was too normal. No one would glance at her twice.

“She was perfect for the job.”

“She checked the plane's engineer before it took off.”

“She created the accident.”

“Exactly.”

Sango lowered her tea.

“Kouga, how did she get in? You said everything is checked over all the time. Even if she was human, and youkai didn't think to look at her twice, they wouldn't have let her walk right through the front door.”

“No, they wouldn't, and they didn't.”

“Kouga, explain yourself.”

“This woman, she suddenly appears, right out of nowhere.”

“You said she was human.”

“She is, but someone, a very powerful and fast youkai, helped her get in.”

“The cameras would have caught that youkai.”

”Not if the youkai was more than fast. In his world, there are about a dozen youkai that are too fast to be caught by any camera.”

“Then how do you know a youkai helped her in?”

Kouga pointed at himself proudly.

“I'm one of those youkai and trust me, a youkai helped her in. These…”

He handed her a folder.

“Are the youkai that are fast enough to have helped her.”

Sango opened the folder and began inspecting it.

“Do you know who the human is?”

“No, and we never will.” Kouga answered.

Sango gave him an odd look.

“Why not?”

“She is no longer alive.”

“What?”

“Go to the end of the folder.”

Sango did as told and gasped when she arrived. The last pictures were of the woman, except now she was covered in blood.

“She…”

“They murdered her.”

“The ones that hired her?”

“That would be my best shot. They killed her, so she would not speak.”

“Then we have no link to whoever did this?”

“Look at the folder.”

Sango returned to the place where she had left. She went from youkai to youkai, not really knowing what she was looking for. Then something caught her attention.

“This youkai…”

“Yes, she is the only one that is well known.”

Sango shook her head. “

“She is not only well known. She works for Naraku, Taisho's enemy in business.”

Kouga had a half smile on his face.

“We can't link them to what happened yet, but I'm sure…”

“That Naraku is involved.”

Kouga looked out the window.

“Even before they had founded their companies, they were enemies. Naraku and Taisho Senior were constantly fighting. Their feud never ended, but laws became more complicated before they had time to kill each other.”

“Do you think he would plan all this?”

“No one else would dare do so. They are our only lead and we can't prove anything.”

“What are you planning to do?”

Kouga's eyes bore into the window.

“I don't know yet, but we should investigate her and inform mutt and Sesshoumaru.”

Sango nodded.

“We should tell them it wasn't an accident, but we shouldn't tell them who we think is guilty.”

“Why? They should know.”

“Yes, but let's wait before we know some more. We haven't proved anything. It would be wise to wait.”

“Alright, Sango. We will wait, but I am investigating this. Her, specifically.”

“I wouldn't expect anything else. When are you telling them?”

“I'll call them and see if I can get it down today.”

Sango nodded, still looking at the youkai in the folder.

`Kagura,' she thought,

`What are you and your boss hiding?'

***

This, Sesshoumaru thought, was getting them nowhere.

Not only did Kouga and his half brother refuse to stop arguing, but his headache, which had been constant since he woke up, had not decreased. He had not been able to finish any work at all, and for some strange reason he could not help but think about the miko.

As the days went by, he found that he noticed small things about her. He noticed the curve of her neck, and the way her hips swayed when she walked. He noticed her long legs, and her pink lips. He found her body wasn't at all bad. In fact, her body was quite attractive.

Not that he cared.

He could stand all of these things, except that recently he had been noticing even more unsettling things.

Her hair was never quite in place, though it always surrounded her face. And it was shiny. Sometimes he wanted to find out what it felt like.

Her blue eyes were always shining, and they widened at even the smallest of surprises. It made him want to surprise her just so they would widen one more time.

He wanted to make them shine.

Her face always gave away how she was feeling. It was in her face and in her eyes that she expressed her emotions. He only had to glance at the Miko for a second to see how she was.

She would blush with only a single glance his way, and he had all but to stare back for a second to make her blush even more. He found that he enjoyed making her blush. It was almost as entertaining as making her mad.

And he had let her move into his room. Theirs now, as she liked to remind him.

He had no idea what had possessed him to allow that. He was fairly sure he had refused when she asked, but as always, she had ignored him, and he had done nothing about it. He complained, but it was half-heartedly.

The truth was that Sesshoumaru liked having her in his room; it gave him a sense of possession. He had no idea why he wanted to feel that she was his. He had no feelings towards her. None at all. Not even a little.

And this was getting him nowhere because he had already agreed that he would not lie to himself, and he was doing it again.

So maybe he cared a little about the miko.

It was nothing to worry about. He was sure he could make it so that he did not care again. He had to stop thinking about the miko.

“Inuyasha, shut up.” He finally ordered, fed up with his half brother's squabbling. He had enough things to think about, and they were swimming in his head.

“Kouga, what did you come to tell us? Talk.”

Maybe it was the tone of his voice or the way his eyes trailed over the two youkai dangerously, but they both did as ordered.

Maybe they sensed that he was in a very bad mood. This was because of his throbbing head… and the miko. Maybe he should have listened to her for once, but that would be allowing her too much.

Besides, he wasn't sick. He didn't get sick. He was far too important for that.

“I came because I have some news about your father.”

“What about him?” Inuyasha asked. Sesshoumaru listened intently.

“It is about…the accident.”

Now Sesshoumaru was interested.

“It wasn't an accident.”

Now, he was more than interested.

“Not an accident?” His half-brother asked.

Kouga's face was too serious. Inuyasha was quiet. Sesshoumaru did not like this at all.

“Someone fixed the plane. It was all premeditated. They murdered your father.”

This was not good news at all and it was doing nothing for his headache.

“How do you know that?”

“Because I,” Kouga started.

“Unlike you, mutt, am good at my job. Something wasn't right. I investigated. This is what I found. I don't know if they wanted only to kill your father, but I would say no. I think that whoever did this is after all of you.”

Yes, his headache was becoming superior, and was he seeing double?

“You think they want us all dead?”

“Yes.”

Sesshoumaru's heart suddenly felt smaller. It made no sense, because Sesshoumaru had never felt this before, he had only felt this in others, and…

Inuyasha and Kouga both looked at him as if he had suddenly grown a third eye. Sesshoumaru glared at them.

“They are after our new…family members, too?” He managed to ask.

Kouga nodded.

Yes, that thing building up in his stomach…it was fear. And it was not for his own safety. He knew he could take whatever threatened him. It was fear for…She was so fragile and delicate and…human.

He feared for the miko, and it made no sense because he did not care that much about her, and…

Anger washed over him as fast as the fear had come.

“Do you have any idea who wants us dead?”

He would rip out the heart of anyone who threatened what was his. He would make sure to torture whoever looked at the miko in a way he did not like, which would be about anybody. He could see a lot of killing in his future.

Kouga seemed hesitant to tell them more.

“If you know anything else…” Inuyasha lead on.

“Are you threatening me?” Kouga asked, standing up and balling his fist in front of Inuyasha's face.

“And if I am?” said Inuyasha, also rising.

“I would advise you to…”

“Do you or do you not know?” Sesshoumaru interrupted.

Kouga shook his head, opened his mouth, and in that moment the door decided to burst open.

***

Sesshoumaru would be mad if he found out she came to see how he was. Kagome knew this as she looked up at the tall building in front of her. She knew Sesshoumaru would call her mean things and show off. He wouldn't appreciate her coming here.

Still, Kagome would not back down. She was concerned for his health, and if he wasn't and didn't appreciate it…well, it was his problem.

She started to walk towards the building. The doors opened for her and she was greeted with surprised eyes.

“Good morning, Mrs. Taisho,” someone told her.

Kagome felt weird. She still hadn't gotten used to people calling her that, and it still made her blush. She looked at the interior of the building and smirked.

It was very like Sesshoumaru to make the place look so luxurious. She would have expected nothing else from him. She made her way to the receptionist.

“Hi, I'm looking for Sesshoumaru.”

The woman snapped her head at her.

“Do you have an appointment with Mr. Taisho?”

Kagome sweat dropped.

“No, but I'm sure he would receive me…” so she wasn't really sure, but the woman in front of her did not have to know that.

“Mr. Taisho receives no one without appointment.”

Kagome felt her anger rising.

“I'm sure he would have no problem receiving me.”

The receptionist looked her up and down.

“I'm sorry, but Mr. Taisho receives no one.”

“I'm telling you, he would receive me.”

“Without appointment…”

Kagome glared at her and turned towards the elevators. Knowing Sesshoumaru, he would be on the highest floor. She grinned and ran towards the elevators.

“Wait! Security! Stop her…”

Kagome heard her yelling and ran faster, just in time to slide into the elevator. Security guards were after her. She bit her lower lip. Only this could happen to her.

When the elevator finally reached its destination on the highest floor, Kagome stepped out, hoping that there were no more security guards.

“There, get her!”

Kagome spun around and found two very big men running in her direction. Kagome started to run. This floor was isolated, which made it easier for her to try to get away.

She could see the end of the corridor, and so she turned right and opened the first door that she found, closing it with a loud bang.

Seconds later, the two men were forcing the door open, and finally, their strength won and sent her flying to the floor. But before she fell, strong arms caught her.

“What is the meaning of this?” she heard Sesshoumaru's voice, and she looked up to see him. He had her securely in his arms, and Kagome was for once thankful to him; she couldn't help but notice that he was still too warm.

Both security guards bowed.

“Forgive us, sir, but she…”

“She is my wife.” he spat at them angrily.

“As soon as she leaves, you and whoever ordered you to follow her will ask her forgiveness, and then you can consider yourselves fired.”

Both men nodded and left. Kagome gulped, suddenly feeling guilty for the two men and the receptionist. Obviously, Sesshoumaru was not in a good mood.

“Thank you.”

Sesshoumaru only nodded. She freed herself from his grasp, only to find a hanyou looking at her in an odd way.

“Inuyasha…” she felt Sesshoumaru lean closer to her and wondered why.

“Kagome, what are you doing here?” asked Inuyasha.

She blushed.

“I came to see…”

She looked him straight in the eye.

“I came to see if Sesshoumaru was okay.”

“Why wouldn't he be okay?” Inuyasha spat a little too forcefully for her likes.

He moved closer to her. Kagome stepped back, moving closer to Sesshoumaru.

“And why would you care?”

Kagome glared at him. “Because…”

“Kagome?”

Kagome froze. That voice…she knew that voice. A long time ago, she had… She turned her eyes from Inuyasha to the other youkai in the room.

“Kouga?”

Weren't things getting interesting?

Kouga looked like he'd been slapped on the face.

“You are his wife? He… He married you?” Kouga looked like he had to force the questions out. His face spoke of incredulity.

Kagome nodded, not knowing what else to do.

“It's a long story.” she said.

“You know her?” Inuyasha asked him.

Kouga glared at him. “Of course I know her, mutt. I dated her for four years.”

Kagome felt like groaning. “Heh heh, a little reunion…”

She should have never come. This would only end in blood and tears, then more blood. The other two were already facing each other, ready to strike. She knew both of them, knew their tempers, and knew this would only end in a big, nasty fight. Then adding Sesshoumaru…

She felt his hand on her shoulder.

“Miko…”

Something was off with him. She turned her attention from the other two. They suddenly weren't that important.

“Sesshoumaru? What's wrong?”

She tilted her neck so she could watch his face. He looked redder than usual, and his eyes were disoriented. She thought she could even see some sweat on him. She tiptoed to touch his forehead.

“You feel hot…”

“Kagome.” someone was calling her name, but it wasn't Sesshoumaru, so she ignored it.

“I…” Sesshoumaru started, but then his body suddenly gave away, and Kagome found her knees buckling because of his weight.

“Sesshoumaru!”

The other two were coming around her, but she did not mind them. All her attention was on Sesshoumaru, and for once, she did not care about anyone else.