InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Zero-G ❯ A Lesson Taught ( Chapter 11 )

Author's Notes: Tadaa! New chapter!

 

 

Zero-G

Chapter Ten

A Lesson Taught…

 

 

 

 

 

The fresh aroma of coffee drifted around the flat like a thick, caffeine packed mist. Kagome stared off into space while she listlessly stirred the coffee she'd been mixing for the last five minutes. Coffee was quite possibly the last thing on her mind - she was too busy imagining some kind of reunion between herself and her family, as well as plotting a way to make such a reunion possible.

Only when a metallic crash and a loud curse sounded from far below the window was Kagome pulled from her fantasies. Biting her lip, she leant forward and peered down into the scraggy garden below. “Everything ok?” she called.

“It's fucking wonderful!” came Inuyasha's not very convincing response. “Where's my damn coffee?!”

Kagome had to resist the surprisingly strong temptation to stick the mug out the window and pour its contents over the hanyou's head. But that would have been highly immature of her, so she decided against it. Instead, she clenched her teeth, picked up the coffee and toddled her way to the front door and down the stairs to meet Inuyasha around the back of the building.

When she reached him, she realised that he hadn't made as much progress in restoring his bike to its former glory than she'd originally thought.

“How's it going?” she asked, making an attempt at polite conversation as she set the coffee down beside him.

“What do you think?” he growled.

Kagome cocked her head as she looked at the bike… or the strangely shaped vehicle which vaguely resembled a bike. Both wheels had been removed and were leaning against the side of the building while various pieces of bodywork were lying in piles around Inuyasha. “Um… why did you strip those bits off?” she asked tactfully. “They were only a little scratched and dented.”

“Because the police will be looking for a black bike with red flames.” Inuyasha picked up a canister of black spray paint and tossed it to Kagome. She caught it clumsily and only narrowly avoided spraying solvent in her face. “Now that you're here, you can help,” he told her. “You can start with those pieces over there.”

Kagome cast a scrutinising eye between the canister in her hand and the heap of stripped bodywork behind the hanyou. Then she looked at his untouched coffee and wondered what coffee beans and black paint tasted like, and would it or would it not be worth killing a hanyou over just to see the look on his face?

Here I am being nice and making him coffee and doing messy work for him, and all he can do is grouse and order me around like a slave! Kagome thought as she carefully crouched down next to the pile of bodywork and shook the canister with a clatter. Holding a hand over her mouth to protect herself from the fumes, she began spray painting over the red flames on the hard plastic panels.

Of course, her pleasantness and eagerness to please wasn't without an ulterior motive. Pausing in her work, the girl glanced over at Inuyasha. “I think I may be getting black paint on these clothes…”

“Why worry?” He shrugged in response. “They're not yours.”

Too true. “Yeah… in fact, none of these clothes are my own.”

Inuyasha stopped tinkering with one of the engine valves to glare at her. “What do you want?”

“Nothing much…” she said breezily, passing the paint can between her hands. “But I was hoping that maybe you could lend me some money to buy clothes that fit and don't look like they belong to a senile fifty year old woman with horrendous fashion sense.”

“You look fine in what you're wearing now.” Inuyasha eyed her critically. “You don't need new clothes.

Kagome stood up in a flash and lifted the hem of Kikyo's jacket to show him the waistline of her skirt - which was naturally riding rather low on her hips. It already displayed ample amounts of Kagome's underwear, but even the slightest movement had the skirt threatening to slip lower.

Inuyasha blinked at her slowly. “….and?” he prompted

“I'm not even going to show you how badly the bras fit.” Kagome dropped the hem of the jacket and hiked the skirt back up to an acceptable height. “I need new clothes.”

The hanyou sighed and turned back to his work, trying to drop the subject. “Why don't you just put some weight on? You're too skinny anyway.”

“This isn't a matter of who's fat and who's thin, Inuyasha!” And just what kind of face would the irritating hanyou make if she turned the canister on his hair? “I can't wear these clothes because-”

“Kikyo has bigger breasts and curvier hips?” he finished for her, pausing to take a sip of his coffee. “You know, this is really cold-”

Kagome snatched the coffee from his hands and hurled the contents into the bed of dead flowers nearby before dropping the mug onto the cracked pavestones between them. She glared at him defiantly, but Inuyasha only returned her glare with a look of reproach that a teacher might give a disobedient child. “Well, that was mature.”

“As I was about to say, I can't wear these clothes because the last thing I want to wear right now are the things of the woman who tried to kill me!”

“They're just clothes,” he pointed out.

“Well, how would you like to walk around in the skirt of your worst enemy - especially when it keeps falling down?” she shot back.

“One: I would never in heaven, earth or hell, wear a skirt. And two: if your only other option is to walk around naked…?” Inuyasha picked up a wrench and waved it with dismissal. “You should just live with the evil skirt in that case.”

“Yes, and that's why I'm asking for money to buy new clothes,” Kagome pressed blackened fingertips together. “Seriously, I don't have a job anymore so I haven't got any money, and it's not like you're going to let me borrow off my family.”

“Duh…”

“Oh, please, Inuyasha?” Kagome bobbed slightly in a semi-curtsey. “It's bad enough that I can't be Kagome Higurashi anymore, but to pretend to be Kikyo as well-?”

“You're not pretending to be anyone!” Inuyasha suddenly snapped. “You're just wearing her clothes, that's all!”

Kagome held her breath for a moment, waiting until she was sure it was safe to speak again without provoking his temper. “But…” she started softly, earnestly. “I don't like being in these clothes… I don't like you looking at me in these clothes.”

Inuyasha glanced up at her, confusion and irritation warring across his features. “What?”

The girl sighed. “Why do I feel that you're thinking of Kikyo when you see me in these clothes? Everyone says that we both look so alike that we could be sisters… so when I wear these clothes, you can't tell me that you aren't reminded of her.”

Inuyasha shrugged and looked away.

Kagome hiked up her sliding skirt again. “If you hated her half as much as I do, you'd have me burn these clothes right now and make me wear a potato sack if need be.”

“A tempting idea,” Inuyasha spun the wrench between his fingers. “But if you're so bloody adamant, then go ahead. There's some money in the safe upstairs - it's in the cupboard beside the fridge. You can take about… fifty thousand yen.”

Kagome gasped and suddenly surged forward to fling her arms around his neck from behind. “Thank you!”

“Ugh… don't do that…” Inuyasha griped, but he didn't sound all that convincing.

“You won't regret this!” she assured him, squeezing his shoulders. “And I'll get some food while I'm there - and I'll cook you a nice dinner! Do you like Oden?”

“No.”

“Well, you will after tonight.” She began to pull away, but Inuyasha's hand stayed her arms. “What is it?” she asked.

“No going to your usual haunts,” he warned her seriously. “You can't risk being recognised by anyone. Try shopping at that little district about half a mile down the road, south ways. You've never been there, right?”

Kagome shook her head slowly.

“Know anyone that does?”

She shook her head again.

“Good.” He released her arms. “The safe's code is 1234.”

“Thanks,” Kagome said earnestly. She gave him a quick kiss on a rigid ear before straightening and rushing back around the corner of the building to get ready for her outing.

Inuyasha gazed after her, rubbing his ear absently before sighing. She's a good fibber… but not good enough.

………………………&# 8230;…………

When Kagome had bid her goodbyes to Inuyasha with money burning holes in her oversized pockets and a kick in her step, he had waved her off pleasantly and waited till she was far enough down the road before following her. The young girl was blissfully unaware of being tracked as she toddled down the pavement while Inuyasha followed at a generous distance, ducking into alleys and doorways every time Kagome chanced to look over her shoulder.

The first stop was a shoe store. The girl spent an unhealthy amount of time in this place… but Inuyasha was soon to learn that it was nothing compared to what came after. He must have hung around in the shop's alley for nearly a whole hour before Kagome emerged again - looking happier now that she was carrying at least three pairs of new shoes. With a curiously dry mouth at the thought of all that money she was using to step on, Inuyasha followed her to the next shop.

A clothes store.

Inuyasha got impatient after an hour and dared a sneak peek through the shop window. There was Kagome, in the back of the shop, working out which clothes suited her best with the shop assistant. He noticed that she'd put one of the new `weekend uniforms' on her pile of must-have clothes. Evidently, Kagome intended to keep as much within the law as possible, despite being a near fugitive already…

White seemed to be this season's colour, along with harsh contrasts of white and black in geometrically styled dresses. Kagome took no exception to the laws of fashion, and her basket was soon overflowing with her favourite articles of clothing. Inuyasha ducked back into the alley as she finally headed for the till to pay for her new clothes… then it was off to investigate the hat shop.

If there was ever an award for the most unnecessary store in the world, Inuyasha would have given it to the hat shop. No one needed a hat - not unless they had something on their head that they wished to hide… like ears, perhaps.

Fortunately, however, Kagome didn't spend very long in this particular shop, and soon emerged with only a small bag in hand.

Inuyasha shook his head in bewilderment at female logic in general and continued after her as she headed for the local supermarket. He followed her inside to make sure that she didn't slip out of the back entrance without him knowing, and hid himself discreetly down aisles of vegetables to avoid detection. But when Kagome finished paying for her basket of groceries and went for a quick break in the little girl's room, Inuyasha wondered if he'd been mistaken. He'd been almost positive that the girl was up to something… but all she seemed interested in was shopping - and lots of it.

Like a broody hawk, he watched the entrance of the bathroom with a keen eye as a gaggle of half a dozen teenage girls entered a few minutes after Kagome. He waited… and waited… but Kagome must have been pawing over her reflection just as badly as her vain cousin considering how long she'd been in there.

Before long, the teenage girls re-emerged, dragging a heavy cloud of perfume in their wake as they headed off to continue their shopping. Inuyasha felt the beginnings of real concern start to ring in the depths of his mind. Kagome was taking far too long in that bathroom… what if she was in trouble?

That girl attracted trouble like a flame attracted moths, and with this in mind, Inuyasha quickly forgot all discretion and subtlety as he marched over and knocked on the bathroom door. “Kagome?”

There wasn't a peep from inside the bathroom.

“Kagome, are you in there?” He tried to convince himself that his voice hadn't just pitched higher due to panic. “Are you alright?”

Still no response.

Inuyasha hesitated not a second longer before he barged his way through the door into the empty bathroom. It was deserted, and after careful inspection of each stall, Inuyasha realised that he'd been tricked…

That was when he remembered: six girls had entered the bathroom after Kagome.

Seven had left.

A dash of red on the mirror caught Inuyasha's eye, and he looked over at his reflection to read the message painted in lipstick on the glass itself.

“Leave me alone…” Inuyasha blinked for a moment before he blew out a sigh and moved to rest his hands on the sink.

She had outsmarted him. She'd changed her clothes and shoes and maybe even donned a hat while she was in here, and had then probably spun a little lie to those girls to get them to cover her escape. Very clever…

He must have been losing his touch. However, all was not lost yet.

Inuyasha rushed out of the supermarket and all but bolted into the middle of the road in his effort to flag down a speeding taxi. The vehicle screeched to a halt a few inches from his legs, horn blaring angrily at the suicidal act that the hanyou had just performed. “This isn't New York, you idiot!” he heard the man shout. “You can't just hail me!”

Wasting no time, Inuyasha jumped into the back and leant forward to speak to the irate driver. “Higurashi Shrine, please.”

“I don't give lifts to youkai,” the driver retorted, refusing to move.

“Right…” Inuyasha dug into the pocket of his jacket and extracted the screwdriver he'd been using on his bike earlier. It was a hefty tool and surprisingly sharp, and Inuyasha pushed the tip through the grating behind the driver to press it against the man's neck. “Drive,” he ordered coldly.

“R-Right away, s-sir.” The taxi rocked forward recklessly as the driver quickly accommodated Inuyasha's request.

Satisfied that he was getting served with the proper degree of respect, Inuyasha sat back with a sigh… and graciously sent a smile and friendly wave to the petrified young woman sitting next to him. “Don't worry, you can have him all to yourself after I'm done.”

………………………&# 8230;…………

It was an odd feeling to step off the bus onto the familiar pavement outside her family's shrine. She stood stupidly for a moment, wondering what to do next as the bus doors slid shut behind her and the vehicle peeled away from the curb - stealing her option of turning back.

She had obviously arrived on one of the shrine's open days as the family that had gotten off the bus ahead of her were starting to climb the shrine steps. Lacking any other initiative, Kagome followed them, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do now.

Yes, she thought with sudden resolution, I'm going to find Mama and tell her everything. The charade had gone on long enough, and the suffering had to stop. Besides, Kagome knew her family better than Inuyasha and she knew that she could trust them with her life. He may have been some paranoid street thug with low self-esteem and a lack of self-confidence, but Kagome knew that not everyone in the world was corrupt and evil like Inuyasha would have her believe. Surely if she just stopped to ask for help, she would receive it…

But as Kagome reached the last step and looked out over the painfully familiar grounds of her shrine, something snapped within her and she suddenly couldn't find the air to breathe. She tried to move forward, to reach her house, but her feet wouldn't move. Sweat clammed her palms, and she swallowed hard against the sudden rise of nausea.

I can't do it… I just can't…

But Kagome didn't even know what is was that she couldn't do. Her mind had turned into a roaring white sheet of panic and fear… she couldn't run back, but she couldn't keep going. She didn't think that she could face her family at that moment, but she couldn't bear to be without them for another minute.

It was almost a relief when she felt Inuyasha's hands take her by the arms to pull her forcefully down the steps again. Kagome didn't argue… she couldn't.

“Very clever,” he told her quietly as she was steered further away from her life. “You actually shook me off for a while there.”

Kagome's legs suddenly folded beneath her, and without warning she sat down with a jarred thump halfway down the shrine steps. Inuyasha paused a moment, trying to coax her to her feet again, but the girl was having none of it and continued to sit stubbornly. He finally seemed to realise that something was terribly wrong with her after she failed to fly into a rage because he'd spoiled her plans.

“What's the matter?” he demanded, watching as the girl bent double till her forehead touched her knees, her chest heaving as she continued to hyperventilate. “Are you sick?”

“N-No,” she managed to squeak. “I just saw the sh-shrine… and… and I was overwhelmed by this f-feeling…”

Ah… Inuyasha sighed and patted her back compassionately. “Don't worry, you're probably just having a panic attack, but it'll pass. You probably haven't realised till now how stressed out you've been.”

“I've known how s-stressed I was!” she snapped shakily. “That's not the point.”

“So much has happened in such a short space of time,” he reasoned with her, “so it's natural that throwing yourself back into such familiar territory is going to disorientate you.”

“I wouldn't call this disorientation…” Kagome gasped. More like sheer, blind panic.

“Well, I warned you not to come back here.” Inuyasha sat down beside her and carefully eased the shopping bags away from Kagome's grip. “It'll do more harm than good. What if Kikyo's up there now?”

Kagome shook her head wordlessly as tears spiked her eyelashes and rolled silently down her cheeks. She felt foolish for having come home… but disappointed that she'd been stopped. “I just…”

“You just what?” He looked at her sharply.

“I just wanted to feel her arms around me.” Kagome's voice had pitched into a wretched whisper as her throat closed up with tears. “I just wanted to see her and know that we're both ok.”

She was talking about her mother, Inuyasha realised. He also realised, for the first time, that he wasn't looking at an ungrateful brat who didn't fully appreciate the fact that her life had been spared on a whim… instead, he was looking at a lonely, homesick girl who had lost everything.

At that moment, Inuyasha found it all too easy to empathise with her and cursed himself for not noticing it sooner. He'd been there, he'd gone through the very same motions that this girl was going through, and he hadn't even tried to make it easier for her. His only help had been to try and push her away even faster by sending her to France within the same week of her loss.

Kagome was grieving as badly as her family was.

In an awkward and very forced manner, Inuyasha cast an arm behind her back and pulled her close in a sideways embrace with his hand gently cradling her head. Personally, he had always found it to be oddly comforting when Kikyo held him like this… and being unable to see her face often meant that he could close his eyes and imagine that she was comforting him out of kindness.

Kagome sniffed loudly. “Thanks… but you're not my mother,” she told him stiffly.

“I'm not trying to be.” He scowled off in the direction of the road below them, waiting for Kikyo or one of her goons to walk into sight. “You just looked like you needed a hug, right?”

“Right…”

“Don't worry about it.” Inuyasha dropped his hand to squeeze her shoulder. “It gets easier.”

At this, Kagome scoffed. “I don't want it to get easier,” she grumbled rigidly, “I just want to solve it. If I could just let her know that I'm alright-”

“Do you really need me to tell you again that you'd probably end up dead as a result!” he berated, feeling as if he'd already had this conversation with her… several times, in fact.

However, Kagome's amnesia seemed to have spread. “Inuyasha, I'm sure that if we went to the police-”

“Hah! The police would never help you in a million years!” He laughed, but he did so without amusement. “They're even more corrupt and power-crazed than the Coalescence - and what's worse - they're a bunch of self-righteous twats as well!”

Kagome sat up slightly, her panic slowly being pushed to the back of her mind. “Yes, but in order to overcome Kikyo's influence-”

“No,” he said firmly. “The police don't help the people anymore. They're more concerned with disciplining them and fining people to squeeze money out of them. You can't fight Kikyo… Kagome, there's no need for you to throw your life away trying. I didn't save your sorry ass so you could do something so reckless.”

“You didn't save me…” she murmured coldly, making him stiffen for a moment as he jumped to the wrong conclusion. “You just saved me from heaven and brought me into hell.”

Inuyasha convinced himself to relax. “You'll thank me one day,” he said tightly. “Perhaps.”

Kagome was quiet, and for a moment Inuyasha thought he'd finally gotten through to her. But he should have known better…

“What would you do if someone stole your bike?” she asked suddenly.

“What's that got to do with… oh, no… no way! That's entirely different!” he exploded.

“I agree!” she exploded right back. “But give me an honest answer.”

She was infuriating! Inuyasha sighed and submitted in favour of honesty. “Fine… I'd obviously go hunt the prat down and take back my property - but-”

“Right,” she cut him off. “But this isn't a matter of a simple bike, is it? This is my life that has been stolen! Everything I own - everyone I love - they're all gone! Even the stupid formula was taken from me - no - it was because of that stupid formula that it was all taken from me! I'm not going to let this slide!”

Inuyasha grimaced as he wearily rubbed his face with a free hand. “You want revenge. That's understandable… but you can't expect to have your way this time, Kagome. You're already way in over your head, and revenge is out of the question. You will step down or you will die… it's as simple as that. You have to be the bigger person here. This isn't a childish squabble where you can afford to be stubborn…”

“I don't have anything left to lose,” she argued. “What difference would it make if I failed?”

“You would lose your fucking life!”

“There's no need to swear,” Kagome scolded. “And I've told you: that, I've already lost.”

Inuyasha shook his head, bewildered at this girl's eagerness to get herself killed. “You can't expect to win against her…”

“Then please help me?” She tried to take his hands between her own, but he pulled them from her reach. “Inuyasha, please!”

The hanyou could only continue shaking his head. He was in the worst possible position to help her. Kagome's plans not only jeopardised his career but his entire life. “I can't,” he whispered.

Kagome drew back a little. “That's ok. You've already saved my life… perhaps it's asking too much of you to do this with me.”

Inuyasha hated the thought of her struggling alone… but he just couldn't help her. “What you're planning… in order to confront Kikyo without winding up dead, you'd have to erase her contractors - remove the goons that she's employing to do her dirty work. You're talking about taking down the Coalescence itself.” He gave a small laugh of disbelief. “You're asking for a revolution.”

Kagome seemed to hesitate for a moment before she found her resolve again. “All or nothing.”

“You're crazy!”

“I'm doing this with your help or without it! I'm a girl on the edge, and I've been pushed!” she announced.

Inuyasha bit back the urge to shatter the concrete step beside him in rage, knowing that it would only frighten her. But he swore to god that if she continued to push the matter too far, he would be left with no choice but to kill her in order to protect himself.

And for once… the thought of killing someone for his own benefit left him with a bad taste in his mouth.

Inuyasha sighed…he was getting soft.

Oblivious to Inuyasha's dark train of thought, Kagome continued plotting her family reunion. “The first thing we should do is alert my family that I'm safe and sound,” she told him hurriedly. “They're going to be livid anyway when they find out how long I've been holding out on them… so the sooner the better. I can promise you that they won't tell Kikyo or anyone else once they realise the importance of secrecy.”

“And how do you plan to get your family alone?” Inuyasha challenged. “From what I hear, Kikyo's been spending an awful lot of time with her grieving family. Any time you go to visit them, she might be there as well.”

“Oh, yes…” Kagome faltered slightly, unsure how to overcome such an obstacle. “Unless you keep her occupied while I go visit them…?”

Inuyasha shook his head. “She reads me like a book. She'd know something was up the minute I opened my mouth.”

Kagome sagged visibly, and Inuyasha felt a pang of guilt. “But… you have a little brother… don't you?”

She looked up at him sharply before nodding. “Yes… why?”

Inuyasha would probably live to regret it… but perhaps there was a way to placate the girl and buy more time for them. He could kill two birds with one stone, and that stone was named…

………………………&# 8230;….

“Souta Higurashi! Sit back down this instant!”

Mr Uchida was nearing the very end of his tether. Never before had a child managed to push him to the brink of a nervous breakdown - but this boy had done just that in the space of a week. He could easily understand that the child was going through a difficult time due to the loss of a sister he'd been rather close to, but his behaviour was intolerable.

The class was in the middle of a small riot. Chairs were being thrown, tables had been upturned, it wouldn't have been a surprise if he'd looked up and seen children swinging from the florescent lights. And in the midst of it all was Souta Higurashi, sitting calmly on his desk with his fingers contemplatively pressed together beneath his chin, surveying his work like a proud king. He was, of course, the ring leader in all of this, and if Mr Uchida could just get that snotty little brat to obey, then-

A knock sounded at the door, and someone entered.

The proper procedure for another teacher entering a classroom was for every child to fall silent and stand to attention until the new arrival told them to be seated again. But in the utter mayhem that Souta Higurashi had caused, not even the arrival of a new teacher could break through their raucous behaviour. The laughter and giggling continued, along with the screaming.

“Mr Uchida?”

“May I help you?” the stressed teacher asked piously as he turned his eyes to the new arrival, rather surprised to see a total stranger rather than a fellow teacher. “Who are you?”

The young man smiled back in a placid manner. He was an odd looking boy with a strange shade of amber rimming his pupils and a peculiar hair braid peppered with white and grey like an old man with a youthful face. He may have been wearing the standard uniform of a teacher, but Mr Uchida certainly didn't recognise him from this particular school. A transferred teacher, perhaps?

“I'm one of the new supply teachers - Mr Yano,” the young man introduced himself shortly. “The Head would like to speak with you.”

Mr Uchida gave a tremulous sigh. “Now?”

“Yes, now.” The supply teacher nodded with emphasis.

Heaving a resigned groan, Mr Uchida straightened. “Children, continue working from pages fourteen and fifteen while I'm… children - did you hear me? Oh… never mind…” He gave up and followed the supply teacher out into the corridor, unnoticed by the children.

“So what does the Head want with me now?” Other than to tell me to go easier on Higurashi…? he griped mentally.

“Oh, nothing,” the youth replied, stopping suddenly to open a supply cupboard.

Mr Uchida stopped and watched him, perplexed. “What are you doing?”

“I'm just going to be taking over your class for a while.” The supply teacher suddenly turned around and did something that seemed to remove the air from Uchida's lungs in a heartbeat. “Nighty-night.”

Black overwhelmed his vision, and the teacher was unconscious before he even hit the ground.

………………………&# 8230;………………….

The plan was simple. Souta Higurashi was quite possibly the one member of Kagome's family who left the shrine long enough each day to be contacted safely, and if Kikyo really was having the family watched as he suspected, then Souta was probably the least likely to be under surveillance.

But the plan also had its fair share of drawbacks - the prominent one being the abundance of children.

Inuyasha neither understood nor liked children, and so to suddenly find himself hip deep in them was quite unnerving.

No sooner had he stepped out of the bathroom after mugging one of the supply teachers in a toilet cubicle, than a small, doe-eyed little girl latched onto his leg in an uncanny way that reminded him of Kagome. “Please, sir,” she piped in her tiny voice. “I need help tying my shoe laces.”

To be honest, Inuyasha often found himself in that same situation… which was why he'd never bought laced shoes after his mother had died. “Then wear Velcro shoes,” he advised as he discreetly tried to shake the child off.

“I can't. Mama says Velcro ruins my tights.” The little girl pointed to her feet. “Please help.”

What was it about sweet-faced girls that made it so hard for him to say `no'?

With a long-suffering sigh, Inuyasha knelt down and plucked at the girl's shoe laces. He tried to remember the old rhyme that went with lace tying… something about rabbits and ears and holes beneath trees. After several failed attempts to get the rabbit ears in the burrow, Inuyasha gave up, knotted the laces, and tucked the excess into the shoes. “There.”

“Thank you, sir!” the little girl exclaimed with nauseating enthusiasm.

“Just piss off already.” Inuyasha shooed the child on her way before setting off in search of Souta Higurashi's classroom. Lunch break had only just finished, so he had three hours to find the boy and tell him the delightful news that his sister was alive and well… but the school was big, and he spent a good half hour just walking around looking for Mr Uchida's classroom. Mr Uchida, Kagome had told him, was Souta's class tutor and thus the most likely to be teaching the boy in the afternoon.

But luck eventually prevailed.

“Souta Higurashi!” He heard a strained voice shout from a nearby room. “Sit down this instant!”

It sounded like a war zone, and as Inuyasha warily approached the classroom door to peer through the window, he realised that it looked like a war zone as well. Children were running around like untamed packs of wild dogs around the large classroom while a stressed looking old man stood before the blackboard looking lost and confused.

This blew Inuyasha's plans to hell. His initial idea had been to walk into the classroom and ask for Souta Higurashi under the pretence of escorting the boy to the headmaster. But from the looks of things, this teacher couldn't even control the classroom gerbil, let alone fifty children.

It was time to take matters into his own hands.

Inuyasha knocked once and entered, stepping straight into a papier-mâché model of a volcano. He paused for a moment to shake it off before assuming the meek role of a new supply teacher. “Mr Uchida?”

“Yes! What is it?!” The stressed teacher turned on him angrily with bizarre white tendrils of hair flying around his face. The man's eyes narrowed on Inuyasha. “Who the hell are you?!”

“I'm one of the new supply teachers - Mr Yano.” Inuyasha made up the name on the spot while he wondered just how long ago Mr Uchida had had his nervous breakdown. “The Head would like to speak with you.”

Mr Uchida gave an aggravated sigh. “What, now?!”

“Yes, now.”

The old teacher caved in and turned to the children in an effort to gain their attention and set them to work… but they were having none of it. After a moment, Mr Uchida realised this and gave up once again before following the new `supply teacher' out of the classroom.

Inuyasha led the doddering old man towards the supply cupboard that he'd stumbled across earlier in search of Souta's classroom before rendering him unconscious with a can of self-defence spray - courtesy of the well-prepared teacher he'd mugged half an hour ago. Inuyasha dragged the old man into the cupboard and arranged him in such a way that when he awoke, he would think he'd only fainted while reaching for a box of pencil crayons. He was probably too senile to remember otherwise.

Inuyasha headed back to the chaotic classroom with a mounting sense of dread. So many children… so many noisy children. With the resigned attitude of a man heading for the gallows, Inuyasha trudged through the classroom door and stopped beside the blackboard to survey the hoard of little monsters before him.

A paper aeroplane whizzed past his cheek, leaving a fine paper cut in its wake.

Enough was enough.

Inuyasha took one deep breath before slamming his fist down so hard on the desk before him that the wood splintered. “SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

In the complete and utter silence that followed, fifty pairs of eyes turned on him in sheer astonishment. A lunchbox clattered to the ground, reverberating through the tense room.

Not so bad, Inuyasha thought introspectively. These modern teachers just didn't know how to handle kids, that was all. “Now sit!”

There was a mad scramble as desks were pulled upright and chairs were retrieved, and within ten seconds the whole class was arranged in neat, orderly rows. All eyes and ears were tuned on Inuyasha… except for one boy.

The boy sat resolutely in the middle of his desk, glaring at Inuyasha as if he'd just ruined a perfectly good game. Instantly, the hanyou recognised him as the young boy from Kagome's funeral. Undoubtedly this was Souta Higurashi…

“Don't want to sit down, Souta?” Inuyasha stalked towards him menacingly as the boy blinked at him in shock.

“H-How did you know my name?” he stammered.

It hadn't been Inuyasha's intention to intimidate the child, but sometimes brats had to be taught their place. “Wouldn't you like to know?” he answered cryptically. “Now, you're coming with me.”

“I don't think so.” Souta held onto his desk more forcefully. “And you can't make me!”

“Wanna bet?” Since it was obvious that there was no way of negotiating the boy off the table, Inuyasha simply reached out and plucked him up by the back of his school blazer. An outraged gasp went around the room.

“You can't touch me!” Souta yelled as Inuyasha carried him towards the door. “That's against the law!”

“Watch me.” Inuyasha swept out of the room with the little boy under his arm, gladly leaving the fifty Howler monkeys behind him.

“Where are you taking me?!” Souta screamed, but he was rewarded for his effort with a hand over his mouth. He tried to kick and struggle his way free, but the supply teacher seemed far too strong for a normal adult.

Of course, when Souta recklessly tried to pull the man's hair, something furry and triangular sprung free as a hair pin went flying.

“Argh - you little brat!” Inuyasha tucked Souta more securely under his arm and cradled his throbbing ear. “You'll pay for that!”

“You don't scare me, demon!” Souta shot back.

“I'm not a demon.” Inuyasha corrected.

“No - you're a paedophile, aren't you?!”

A muscle ticked in Inuyasha's jaw. Why does everyone keep saying that?!

Quickly clapping a hand over the boy's mouth to silence him again, Inuyasha swiftly made his way through the corridors towards the exit. Once or twice he passed a bewildered looking teacher, but all he needed to say was “Souta Higurashi” and they'd nod understandingly as they let him get on with the kidnapping, evidently assuming that the boy was being taken to class.

Souta finally seemed to reach a state of panic when Inuyasha carried him into the school car park, and at this point, Inuyasha was gracious enough to release his mouth. “Where are you taking me?” he demanded anxiously.

“Somewhere nice,” Inuyasha responded breezily, and just to see the boy panic even more, he added, “My flat, actually.”

For a moment, it seemed as if the comment had the desired affect… until Souta saw their mode of transport - a rather disgraced looking motorbike with wonky handlebars and some missing bodywork.

Disgust entered Souta's voice. “I'm not going on that!”

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Kagome worried her lower lip between her teeth as she anxiously shuffled from one task to the next. She couldn't keep still. She would be halfway through fluffing the cushions on the sofa before she'd drop what she was doing and head over to the sink to finish the washing up that she'd started earlier. Then she'd make another attempt to throw the dead plants from the window box away - before suddenly remembering what lay beneath them, causing her to put them back with a pained wince.

She'd never been so nervous at the prospect of seeing her little brother. For goodness sake, she'd only seen him a couple of days ago, and she had gone without his company for far longer than this before.

But this was different. This was serious… and she kept imagining all sorts of frightening scenarios in which this plan could go wrong. What if Kikyo was having Souta watched at school, and she found out what was going on…? What if, when Souta saw her, he didn't accept the truth and refused to recognise her? What if he recognised her but was so angry that he just refused to speak to her, full stop?

Kagome sat down distractedly on the freshly fluffed cushions of the sofa, staring off into space as she massaged her foot inattentively.

So many things could go wrong… and what was she supposed to say to him when they came face to face?

The teenage girl started suddenly as the front door clicked open.

“Kagome?”

 

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</end chapter>