Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

That Rude, Arrogant, Violent, Jerk

Kagome sighed as she looked around at her friends. Yuka, Ayumi, and Eri were busy trying to set her up with Hojo… again. You'd think after almost two years of blow off's, skipped dates, stand ups, and flat out 'No's; they'd get the idea. But that was too much to hope for. Sure Hojo was nice, and sweet, and well… everything a modern girl could hope for and he liked her; but she just could not return the feeling. Maybe if she did not spend most of her life running from demons, Hojo wouldn't seem so… dull. Yuka had just started into her familiar 'You're still hung up on the rude, arrogant, violent, jerk aren't you' speech, but Kagome was not listening.

Her eyes scanned the cafeteria. It all seemed so petty. The biggest worry anyone in the huge room had was who to date or what to wear. She would be willing to bet that not one person in this room had been in a life or death situation even once. That was ok, she had been in enough for everyone, but that was not the point. At first it had all seemed so normal: to laugh and talk about make-up and clothes. It had been her hold to what she thought life should be like. Slowly it had faded into more of an escape. A placed to go when all the stress of shard hunting became too much. She had indulged in the pettiness, lost herself in it, to keep from going crazy. But now, it seemed more of an obligation. She had to come here every once in a while so people did not think she was dead. She was even missing Kaede's cooking as she nibbled at her school lunch. But then, it was school food; dirt would be better.

A loud bang followed by screaming brought Kagome violently from her thoughts. Her head snapped up just as several kids were pushed through one of the two cafeteria doorways followed by several men with guns. Four men moved to flack each of the two entrances, six other men quickly took up other positions in the room. A final man, who Kagome could tell was the leader due to his flasher attire and obscenely large hunting knife, strode to the front of the room.

"Tie them!" He barked. The six men not guarding the doors hurried to do as they were told. Kagome did not fight it. It was not the first time she had been taken hostage and she doubted it would be the last. The men made short work of getting everyone's hands tied behind their back. Being that it was third lunch and most of the school had eaten in the first two available periods, there were not that many kids. Kagome sighed and leaned back against the wall. This just was not going to be her day.

They had been hostages in the cafeteria for almost two and half-hours. Kagome know because she could see the sun through a window. She briefly wondered when she had picked up that talent, then blew it off. The more pressing matter was that all the hostage taker's bickering had made her late to meet Inuyasha. She could bet Sango, Miroku, and Shippou were trying to buy her time as always. That gave her another 15 minutes before he came through the well. Judging from the sound of helicopters she would be willing to bet that the situation was all over the TV. He would see it, then… that was just what she needed, a half-demon ripping everything in his path to shreds. Maybe she could convince everyone they were having mass hysterical hallucinations. They believed about her 'illnesses' so why not?

She glanced around the room. People were always advised to stay calm in situations like this. Most of the kids, however, were huddled together in varying states of panic. Yuka, Ayumi, and Eri where huddled close to her and Hojo. All four were whimpering.

The boss suddenly grabbed the front of her uniform and pulled her to her feet. He pulled out his hunting knife and made a quick, shallow slice up her leg. Kagome yelped in surprise and pain. The man ripped a large strip of cloth from around her stomach and soaked it in the blood running down her leg. When the white cloth had turned a nice crimson, he tossed it to one of his subordinates. The other man tied a string and note to it before tossing it out the window. The man continued to hold Kagome, his hand resting low on her stomach just above her skirt as he yelled into a telephone. Kagome glanced out the window to see it was 20 minutes after she last looked. Oh well, it had probably been too much to hope for that she would get out of this on time.

At that moment the most haunting noise filled the air. It was like the roar of some animal, but there was a sound to it like nothing most people had ever heard. It seemed to echo up from the very bowls of Hell. The room fell silent. The boss froze mid-sentence, the men with guns all stood and looked around, all the kid's eyes widened in fear, and Kagome sighed. She wondered if he had remembered her rules about leaving the shrine grounds.

The next moment one of the cafeteria doors came flying across the room with a deafening bang. The two men who had been guarding it hit the floor unconscious. Standing the doorway, foot still raised from the kick, was Inuyasha. Kagome was relieved to see him in baggy black jeans, a tight red tank top, and a black bandana with red flames over his ears. Tetsusaiga was slung over his back. His golden eyes scanned the room, taking in all the information it had to offer.

His eyes fell on Kagome. She had blood running down her leg and hands tied behind her back. The man with the bloody knife was holding, and practically groping her. His lips curled back to show his too long canines to go with his super long hair and let out a deep growl.

"Well, well, well." The boss cooed to Kagome's left, "Did someone forget to tell you little boy, you should never bring a knife to a gunfight." Inuyasha snorted and glanced over his shoulder at his 'knife'.

"Feh! It must have been the same asswipe, who forgot to tell you, never screw with me, you fucking piece of shit!" Inuyasha responded as he moved into a position to attack.

"Kill him." The boss snapped angrily. The remaining eight men moved in on Inuyasha, guns at the ready. The half-demon smirked as he scanned encroaching men.

"Eight of you and one of me. This might even be fucking interesting." In a flash of black, red, and silver, Inuyasha leapt forward and planted his fist into the nearest guy's face. There was a sickening crack as both his nose and jaw shattered. As the man reeled back, Inuyasha grabbed the barrel of his gun and ripped it from his hands. Without braking his momentum, he swung the gun like a club, and brought it down across a second guy's shoulder, braking it as well.

A third man grabbed a handful of Inuyasha's hair, attempting to pull him back and off balance. He did managed to pull him back, but Inuyasha caught himself with both hands and sprung back over the guy's head easily, pulling his hair free as he went. Inuyasha landed in a crouch and swept his leg under the guy's feet, bring him crashing to the ground.

Two more men turned and aimed their guns at him. Inuyasha did not even blink as he jumped, turned around in mid air, landed behind them, and knocked their heads together. A thud sounded as one of the remaining men brought the butt of his gun down on Inuyasha's skull. The half-demon did not so much as flinch. Instead he turned slowly around the glare at the offender. The now thoroughly frightened man raised his 'club' again. This time, however, Inuyasha caught it before it made contact. He held the butt of the weapon in one hand for a second before crushing it easily. The three men's eyes widened and they took a step in retreat. Inuyasha smiled and made to attack again, but the men had already run from the room at inhuman, adrenaline-fueled speed.

With the riff-raff out of the way, Inuyasha turned back to the boss, who still had a grip on Kagome's waist. The man scowled at him in disgust. Inuyasha narrowed his golden eyes, calculating the best course of action; i.e. doing the most damage and not hurting Kagome.

The man gave a pathetic growl and threw his hunting knife. The blade spun through the air with a swishing noise. Inuyasha did not even blink as he caught the knife by the handle only a centimeter from his head.

"Is that the best you can fucking do, you bastard?" He snorted as he tossed the knife casually over his shoulder. It hit the wall blade first and sunk up to the hilt in the hard stone.

"No. This is!" The man countered and raised his gun. Kagome flinched as he fired three shots in rapid succession. Inuyasha's head snapped back and Kagome bit her lip. Inuyasha could survive a lot of things, but she was pretty sure being shot in the head was not one of them. There was a pregnant pause and the man smiled in victory. Then in a very slow, sadistic manner, Inuyasha rolled his head forward. His molten eyes locking with the large man's. With out braking eye contact, the dog-demon turning his head slightly to the side and spit. Three bullets clinked innocently on the tiled floor. Inuyasha ran his tongue over his teeth.

"Not even a chip." The man's eyes widened, "My turn." The half-demon charged, his fist drawn back. Kagome stood perfectly still as his fist flew only a breath away from her cheek. A strong arm wrapped around her waist as the man was forced back and released her. Inuyasha moved her around behind him as the man staggered and regained his footing. Blood pour out of his nose, running down his face, and onto his shirt. His hand went for something hidden behind his back, but Inuyasha did not let him get that far.

In the next breath the man was suspended several feet in the air by his throat. Inuyasha's claw-like nails dug into the skin and drew forth five thin rivers of blood. Inuyasha glared up at him with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

"You listen, and you listen good you asshole." He growled, "If you ever so much as breath on Kagome again I will reach down your throat and rip out your heart so fast you'll get to see it beat before you die! You got that you mother fucking, god damn, son of a bitch?!" The man gave a choked reply and nodded. Inuyasha lowered him so they face to face. "Good." He snorted. Without another word, the half-demon head butted the man. He was unconscious almost instantly. Inuyasha released him and he crumpled to the floor in a heap. Kagome looked up at her friend as he walked the few paces back to her.

"Kagome are you ok?" He asked, gently raising his hand to touch her cheek. His battle hard eyes softened at her nod of assurance. He gently swept her into his arms and knelt down, setting her on the floor. He took no notice of the rest of the room as he cut away the ropes on her wrists. Without a word he lifted each up to study it carefully. They were slightly chafed, but no real damage had been done. Next he turned to her cut leg. It was shallow but still bleeding sluggishly. He looked up at her with a scolding glance.

"I swear Kagome, you get into more trouble then anyone I've ever known." Kagome glared half-heartedly back at him.

"Higurashi?" Came a timid voice. Kagome looked from Inuyasha to Hojo. The poor boy was standing and looking completely lost. "Do you know this… this… man? Why do you let him call you so familiarly?" Kagome could see her three modern friends peeking around Hojo looking stunned.

"What's it to you how I call her?" Inuyasha snapped.

"Inuyasha be nice. Hojo's my friend." Kagome scolded.

"Feh!" Inuyasha replied. He took no more notice of the humans as he ripped a length of cloth from his shirt and began to bandage the wound. Somehow Hojo had worked the ropes free from his wrists.

"Let me. I'm from a family of doctors." The human boy said kindly as he tried to take the makeshift bandage from Inuyasha's grasp. The demon growled and grabbed Hojo's extended hand, bending it backwards at an angle that would break it if he moved.

"Lay one fucking finger on Kagome, and I'll rip it off at the shoulder." He gave a light shove and sent Hojo back onto the floor. He stared back up at the white haired man in shock and fear.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded, "He was only trying to help." She only got a snort in reply. He finished wrapping her wound; using so much of the shirt there was really was not any point in wearing it anymore. Inuyasha shook his head wearily and scooped her up bridle style once more.

"I better get you home. That wound needs proper care and Souta said your mom was having kittens." He said as he began to walk from the room.

"I can walk you know." Kagome protested.

"And I can carry you just as easily." He countered. Kagome sighed and relaxed into his arms. She was not going to win this and she just did not feel like fighting with him right now. The rest of the students just stared; Yuka, Ayumi, Eri, and Hojo all had their mouths hanging open in shock.

"We can't just let him take her!" Yuka protested as she struggled with her bonds. "Kagome's right he's violent, what if her hurts her." Ayumi's eyes suddenly widened as a thought struck her.

"Kagome stared getting sick about the same time she started talking about him. She's always saying how badly he treats her, and remember that time she said her uniform was covered in blood. And she just can't seem to leave him. What if he's… he's…" She lowered her voice, "abusing her?" Yuka and Hojo's eyes widened and the boy started to help untie her so they could go and rescue their friend.

"I don't think so guys." Eri said calmly. She was the only one not struggling to get free; her eyes still trained on the exit.

"How can you say that!" Yuka snapped, "You saw how he was just like the rest of us. He put a knife through the wall, kicked the metal door off its hinges, caught bullets with his teeth, crushed the butt of a gun, and lifted that guy off the ground with one hand like it was nothing! Then he threatened to break Hojo-kun's arm!"

"But did you see how he treated her?" The others paused, "He was so gentle. Not once did he yell or cuss at her. And he took so much care of her leg, so it wouldn't get infected. Maybe he's just over protective because she's always sick." Yuka, Ayumi, and Hojo looked at her for a long moment. Then Hojo nodded in agreement.

"I agree with Eri-san. Even when he had my arm, I got the impression he was only trying to protect her from me, because she was hurt. Higurashi is lucky to have some one who looks after her so carefully." Yuka and Ayumi sighed and nodded. They could not argue with that.