InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Uptown Girl ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 9 )

The two men set up a new game of pool as Sango and Kagome took their leave of the bar. The girls hopped into Sango's Ford F-150 pickup truck as Kagome gave the young woman directions to the hotel she was staying at.

 

“I greatly appreciate this, Sango. You know that I could have easily called a cab,” she remarked as she climbed into the huge truck, sliding onto the bench seat and buckling her seat belt.

 

Sango looked at the young woman as she replied, “I know, but we offered to take you home. Besides that if anything was to happen to you after that whole Naraku thing, Jade would have my head as well as the Solobo brothers for letting you out of our sights. I don't mind really in fact,” Sango replied as she pulled her truck from the parking lot, headed toward the far side of town, near the business district where all the hotels, auto dealerships and the Rojo Lobo Auto shop resided.

 

Within a matter of about fifteen minutes, the two women pulled into the parking lot of the Barato Motel, which according to the sign was `the best deal in town.' Sango looked over the sleazy motel and the hair on the back of her neck raised as she thought, “What a dump. If this is the best we have to offer people, I wonder what the worst is.” A gasp from Kagome brought Sango from her thoughts of the decay of the hotel as she asked, “Are you okay, Kagome?”

 

Kagome pointed a hand toward one of the doors of the hotel. The door lay open, huge holes appeared on its face as it hung by one hinge, looking to both women as if it had been kicked it. “Did you leave the door like that when you left?” Sango asked once she pulled the truck near the room, eyeing the door suspiciously.

 

A look of confusion crossed Kagome's face as she looked toward her temporary home. “I know that it was locked before I left for the bar,” she replied quietly as she slid from the bench seat of the large truck. Sango, leaving the truck running, also exited the vehicle, moving with Kagome, with a continued sense of foreboding as they approached the open door. Once both women saw the condition of the hotel room, Kagome put her hands to her mouth, trying to recover from the shook of seeing the room thrown around, clothes were thrown everywhere in various stages of mutilation, the furniture was overturned and lay in pieces. Tears sprang to her eyes as she saw what remained of her meager life torn to shreds.

 

Seeing the distressed look on Kagome's face, Sango quickly embraced the girl, leading her carefully back to her truck and cell phone. After a few minutes and a short phone call to the authorities, a couple of squad cars pulled into the parking lot behind the Ford F-150 as the manager of the motel came out to answer questions. Once a report was filed, and suspicions were voiced, Sango drove Kagome back to the bar, unnerved by the amount of destruction that had taken place.

 

 

Fifteen minutes after they left the Barato Motel, they pulled into the nearly empty parking lot of the Wolf's Den Bar and Grill, save for the black Ford Explorer and a couple of bikes, Sango turned toward Kagome as she asked, “Where will you be staying now?”

 

Tears streamed down Kagome's face as the same question raced through her mind since leaving the motel and the tattered remains of her life. “I… I do… I don't know. All I had was in that room, besides my junk car,” she sobbed, covering her face with her hands, crying uncontrollably.

 

Sango reached over, pulling the sobbing girl into a warm embrace as she thought about the whole situation. With the ransacking of Kagome's room appearing to be an isolated incident, according to the cops, Sango knew of only one individual who fit the bill and he was probably out for blood. Both women entered the nearly empty bar to seek the advice of the Solobo brothers.

 

 

As Sango and Kagome arrived at the Barato Motel, Jade was pulled from her thoughts on maintenance issues dealing with the cursed Mustang at her garage, realizing that she was almost home. Taking a deep breath, she pulled onto a slight gravel trail, barely visible along the tree covered road side. After a minute or so of careful driving, Jade pulled her precious bike into a two car garage, thankful for the cover that it provided during the winter. After she lowered the garage door, she made her way into the two story cabin overlooking the quiet valley. Once the front door was open, Jade was greeted by two house cats. Both males were litter mates, although their appearances begged to differ. One was a medium haired black and white tuxedoed cat with golden eyes, where as the other was a long haired orange tiger with a white on his muzzle, all four paws and under belly. They were her guys, Murray, the black one and Junior, the orange one, and unfortunately, for Jade, both were under foot.

 

Once the front door swung closed, Jade locked the dead-bolt and door knob before she moved up the stairs to her bedroom loft. She shed out of her baggy work T-shirt and equally baggy cargo jeans to reveal a very slim, built figure with long muscular legs. Rummaging through her dresser drawers, she quickly grabbed a pair of sensible cotton underwear and a huge oversized T-shirt. Murray and Junior followed their mistress from the front door to her bedroom, watching her every move as if they were little Miroku's in fur. Luckily for Jade, they were unable to voice their admiration of her almost perfect body.

 

After acquiring a clean set of clothes and two towels from the linen closet in the bathroom below her bedroom, Jade stepped into the spacious shower to wash away the smell of stale smoke, oil, grease and anti-freeze. Her quick shower at the shop earlier in the day was just to get the initial layer of grim off her body. As she washed her hair, the layers of stress rolled off her frame as the dirt, oil and water rolled off her body. Once her hair was clean, she moved toward soaping down the rest of her body, cleaning the days filth and worries away with each pass of the luffa. However the closer she moved toward her right ankle, a look of melancholy crossed her serene face, for on her ankle the marks of a recent surgery were the only remaining evidence of her horrific accident that ended her promising military career.

 

Flash Back- 18 months ago, Ft. Riley, Kansas

 

With her silver bars gleaming from her collar and beret, Jade moved through the motor pool with a purpose. The mechanics dressed in fatigues stood at attention as she passed, awaiting the `at ease' command from her as she passed, making her way toward an M113 Armored Personnel Carrier track where she'd been summoned by the lead mechanic.

 

Once she approached, the Sergeant in charge looked at her and rolled his eyes. “Great… just great… not only do I get stuck with a lieutenant, but I get stuck with the only female in this whole damned unit!” he thought.

 

Ignoring the look on his face, Jade asked pointedly, “What seems to be the problem that you've had to call Support, Sergeant?”

 

After a few minutes of spewing mechanical terms that he felt were over her head, the disrespectful sergeant finished his editorial as he state, “The engine compartment is too small for my guys to fix the problem. We needed some one, ma'am, such as your build and expertise, to fit in the compartment to fix it.”

 

Jade moved closer to the vehicle, noticing for the first time the amount of space in the engine compartment was rather small and that she could fix the issue with little if any problems her larger companions could do. Once she climbed into the compartment, she quickly spotted the problem, calling out for the tools to fix the issue. As the tools were passed to her, the remaining soldiers left for final formation, leaving the fresh lieutenant to the arduous task of fixing their track. With the realization that she was going to be late to formation, as well finally registered, Jade moved to exit the track, however as she slid her right leg out of the compartment, the hatch to the engine compartment hinge's gave way, causing the hatch to crash down onto her ankle with full force and hundreds of pounds of weight. Jade screamed in pain as the hatch finally came to rest on her mangled ankle; however no one heard her screams of pain.

 

End Flashback

 

 

Barato- Cheap in Spanish, trying to denote a really sleazy hotel, you know the cockroach infested ones that even you wouldn't want to stay in.

 

Still looking for ideas for the following scenarios:

 

Kagome and Sesshomaru's meeting- their reaction to each other as well as her reaction to his pending nuptials and any future situations that may arise before the end of the story.

 

Naraku and Kikyo- Their actions that result in their demise, either figuratively such as imprisonment or actual as in death, any suggestions are needed.

 

Inuyasha and Kagome- How should these two hook up? Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.

 

Thank you for your reviews of my story and I appreciate every one of them.