~* It's all coming together :3 Don't leave me now

"Her feelings she hides, her dreams she can't find

She's losing her mind, she's falling behind

She can't find her place, she's losing her face

She's falling from grace, she's all over the place."

- "Nobody's Home" By Avril Lavigne

Chapter Fifteen: Memories

"Where are ya headed?" Hotaru asked as he sat beside Kagome in his car driving away from the park they had just met in. Kagome glanced his way before directing her eyes outside the window, the raindrops sliding down the glass as silence rang in the car. She had nowhere to go. While the engine vibrated behind them, Kagome saw Inuyasha's mansion as it was clearly hard to miss. They were passing by it and her eyes caught a figure sitting out in front of the mansion and you could tell they had been out for a while. Their hair was soaked looking almost a dark gray, sticking to their shoulders and their head was buried in their hands as if ashamed. It was Inuyasha.

Staying out that long in the rain? He'd catch a cold, but then again he was half demon. Kagome watched her eyes pained as he faded from her view. It was starting to get foggy outside and she thought she heard Hotaru mumble something about stopping soon. She could feel Hotaru constantly looking at her and she wondered what his look would hold. Lust? Insanity? His look would determine his actions but she didn't have the courage to let her eyes wander towards him.

"What's wrong Kagome?" He asked, placing a hand on her thigh, his other hand on the wheel, and lightly caressing her leg. Kagome's stomach twisted and she felt like hurling. She clenched her jaw, teeth scratching together. He said her name, the name she never told him yet he somehow knew and now he was touching her. Stop, she wanted to say, please. But the words remained buried in her thoughts too afraid to escape her lips. She kept her mouth shut, eyes focused on the road as they entered the highway. He continued to rub her thigh and Kagome swore he rose a little bit higher each time, but maybe it was just her.

~(***)~

Inuyasha pounded his fist against the concrete floor, his knuckles already bleeding from the impact. He continued to curse at himself for letting her get away. Sango and Miroku occasionally tried to bring him inside so they could all plan it out but it was no use. He blamed himself.

He had followed her scent towards the nearby park, but then another scent came up; one he did not like. It was that new kid's. Kagome had run off with him and he had no idea where. He could've tried tracing the scent from the guy's car, but too many other cars had already passed and mixed the scent, making it go all over the place. He lost Kagome.

"Inuyasha… Is Kagome going to be alright?" A frightened voice from beside Inuyasha came. His ears twitched and he glanced towards his right to see Shippo sitting beside him staring at him with hopeful eyes. Inuyasha had been asking himself that question for the past couple of minutes now. He wanted to go crazy, not even Kikyo could calm him.

"Go inside, Shippo." Inuyasha told him, turning away and crossing his arms. "You'll get sick."

~(***)~

"We'll just stay here for a bit, and then I'll take you home." Hotaru told Kagome from inside his kitchen, his voice traveling towards the living room where she now sat. Home? Kagome had no home. Where would she even end up after this? Dead? Alive? There's a question that could never be answered because nobody could predict the future.

She sat on his couch, sunk deep in to its cushions. Her hand rested limply on the arm rest while her emotions tried to catch up with her. She was feeling so numb and lost. Her head began questioning if this really were a dream because everything felt too real. She didn't want to be here with him, but at the same time she didn't care.

Turning her head, she took time to observe and take notice of the possessions in his house… If this were his house. Her eyes locked on a photo that rested on the table near her. Standing up, she walked over to it and picked it up, wondering if she could find some background information on this boy. It looked like two children playing together, possibly looking at the camera but she wasn't so sure. Their faces were smudged with dust and hard crumbs of some substance she knew nothing of. She tried scratching it off with her finger, but Hotaru's voice made her freeze.

"What're you looking at?" He asked, walking over towards her. She dropped the photo and kept shut, biting on her lower lip in nervousness. She didn't look at him, therefore her back was still turned towards him. When he came over, his head peeked over her shoulder and she could feel his breathing. She tensed up and he gave a light chuckle, only it didn't sound too happy. It sounded sad. "I should've known. Of course that'd catch your eye."

'Why would it?' she asked mentally, 'It doesn't mean anything to me, I was just curious.'

"Come, let's sit. I made hot chocolate for you." He told her, his hand taking hers and guiding her towards the couch. When they did sit, he handed her a cup of hot chocolate that had been on the table in front of him. Kagome took it, cupping the entire thing in her hands. She stared down in to the brown liquid, wondering if she should trust him enough to drink it. Instead, she let it sit on her lap. "Tell me a little bit about yourself, Kagome. Tell me about your past."

Now this seemed silly, didn't it? Obviously he knew about her already, or so she thought. He already knew her name, why not find out the rest of her? He was a stalker, right? But she didn't even know her past, and if he did, she wanted him to tell her. Instead of answering, she simply stared at him, her eyes protesting that she wouldn't stop. What happened to all of the sudden energy she had before? The craziness that came out when she was back at Inuyasha's?

"Nothing, huh? So, you forgot?" He asked, his head laying back on the pillows. Forgot? That meant he did know something. "The day we first met, it was such an amazing day, or at least for me it was." Kagome couldn't remember Hotaru at all. She didn't even have pictures with him, only Naraku. "Well, let me refresh your memory, alright?" He gave a small smile and stared up at the ceiling, as if lost in some fairytale world. "It was in a park, a park with the greenest grass and brightest flowers. Can you picture it? The sun blazing down on young children who all looked so happy with their lives. One of them however was isolated from the rest. Still can't remember? Let me give you an image." His hands flew to her forehead, two fingers pressed against it and Kagome's vision left. She was no longer sitting down in Hotaru's living room; instead she was in a park.

Children could be seen, she wasn't too far from them. One of them had black hair that ended around his neck and was poking fish in a pond with a stick, isolated from the other children. Kagome wondered why the child wasn't playing with the others and then directed her eyes towards the kids. They were all laughing and whispering while pointing at the isolated child. They were bullying him.

One of the children stood out the most to Kagome. She wore a bright yellow dress with white flowers on the bottom. She had the silliest smile on her face and had been plucking flowers from the ground. A small butterfly passed her sight and she immediately went to catch it. It flew over towards the little boy and when it passed over his head and out of sight, the little girl sat and began to whine. Her hair was up in a small pony tail, its dark waves shined with color. That little girl was Kagome.

The little boy, obviously annoyed with her whining, turned around and faced her, asking her to shut up. She stopped whining and stared at the boy with her big eyes before breaking out in to a grin. Sticking her hand out, she introduced herself with the highest pitched voice, "Hello! I'm Kagome!"

Ah yes, this was the old Kagome. She was happy all the time, no matter what. She tried being nice to everyone and would catch an attitude with those who would argue with her. She was so different now.

"Leave me alone." The boy replied.

"I'm just trying to be nice!" She pouted, her hands going on her hips. "C'mon! I know a great game we can play!" She tried and the boy made a face, his cheeks gone pink and grumbled an agreement. Focusing her eyes more on the boy now, she realized it was the same boy from the photo in her room. It was Naraku.

Soon the whole vision faded and she was back sitting beside Hotaru.

"That was a special moment for me, see? No one had ever talked to me as nicely as you did." He sounded like he had been talking the whole time the vision was playing, but she didn't make out his words. Did that mean that little boy was Hotaru, not Naraku? "You were the everlasting sunshine that would light my day after it rains. A gorgeous rose that never dies. I wanted you to be mine forever." His hand bawled up in to a fist.

'How long were we friends?' she wanted to ask. Surely a child wouldn't think such things.

"But then people tried taking you away from me. Let's make your father an example. He'd constantly take you away and tell you not to play with me. Why? Because my father was said to be crazy and he didn't want you getting mixed up in my business with father. He thought I was crazy too, am I right?" Hotaru's voice was angry now and he looked at Kagome with pure fury. Surely there was another reason. Kagome's father wouldn't separate them just for that. "And even now! I still can't have you. That damn half demon is taking you away along with those other two humans." He was snarling, growling. Kagome did not like the change that was happening here so she nervously sipped her chocolate, hoping she could get away soon but was so intent on listening. His eyes watched her drink and he let out a sigh, trying to control himself. "But that's going to change."

~(***)~

"I'm just asking for help!" Inuyasha growled at his brother who was busy dealing with a certain amounts of paper work on his desk. Inuyasha was standing inside his brother's office inside their home which he rarely ever went to. He forgot how big it was and how many books it held. It was more a library than an office.

"And this amuses me." Sesshomaru told him, taking off his reading glasses and staring his brother down. Inuyasha never asked for help from his brother, ever. "I'm busy with father's work. I don't want to hear from you again." He told his younger brother calmly while standing up to kick him out.

"You're a fucking bastard!" Inuyasha yelled, determined to stay. "You're the only one I can turn to because of your connections. I need your fucking help to get Kagome back." He was desperate now, especially since he was turning to Sesshomaru. With his help, he'd be able to find Kagome, but would his brother even try helping?

"People die every day. What makes her so different?" Sesshomaru replied, his claws tapping against the desk in irritation.

"You fucking assh—" Inuyasha started but was immediately cut off by a voice in the doorway. He had been planning to attack until he heard this voice and both of the brother's heads turned to face the newcomer.

"Stop it! Both of you." Rin scolded, stepping inside the room. She wasn't one to stop the two from bickering, nor was she one to give orders to her bosses, but she knew this was serious. "Sesshomaru, why can't you just help him out? Kagome's missing, and I'm worried for her." Rin asked, making her way over to the older sibling with a pout. Sesshomaru watched her walk over to him, coughed and turned his back on the two. "Please?" She pushed on, "I still want to become friends with Kagome." And that's when Rin hugged Sesshomaru's back, sending a small wink towards Inuyasha's way to let him know she was helping.

"I suppose I could do something, but don't expect much." Sesshomaru grumbled sending Inuyasha a glare and Inuyasha scoffed. A woman was what it took to bring down the older demon? Then again, wasn't another woman making Inuyasha beg his brother?

Inuyasha left the room, knowing his brother would end up helping him thanks to Rin. She was important to him, and he didn't know if it was in a fatherly way or he had feelings for the human, but he didn't really care. Sesshomaru had found Rin homeless somewhere out of the country they lived in now while on a business trip for their father who owned most places around. Somehow he decided it was good to bring her back to where they lived and offer her a job.

He met up with Sango and Miroku in the kitchen. They both had been worried sick. Sango was just as bad as Inuyasha while Miroku was just praying for the best outcome. He was upset too, but wasn't in tears like Sango was.

"Do you think she'll regret meeting us?" Sango asked, her voice shaky as Miroku held her by her shoulders, "Do you think she'll go and kill hers—"

"Stop that." Inuyasha grumbled, the thought making his stomach sick. He passed by the two and went to grab something to drink, hoping it would calm him down. "Sesshomaru's going to help us."

"He actually agreed?" Miroku asked, raising a brow. For as long as he knew the brothers, they never got along. They never agreed to anything for each other and would only cause chaos for one another.

"Yes…" Inuyasha's claw tapped on the marble counter. "We're going to get Kagome back, but from what we've seen Naraku do, it won't be easy."

"But didn't you say she was with Hotaru?" Miroku questioned, standing up from his seat and walking over towards his friend.

"Naraku and Hotaru have similar scents and they give off the same bad feeling. Coincidence? No. That boy is Naraku, that or has something to do with him. Besides, he made Sango faint with just a look, right? He's dangerous." Inuyasha told him, holding a soda can in his hand. His fingers began to tightly close around it, crushing it more and more until it popped and the soda flew out.

"Then we better move fast." Miroku replied, watching the soda leak down Inuyasha's hand.

~(***)~

'Change?' Kagome thought, her head spinning as she dropped the chocolate milk on the floor. She had been drugged! Why did she drink the hot chocolate? Was she too caught up in the moment of his talking, the memories and the nervousness brought on by her that she casually drank it without thought? She fell on to the floor, her vision blurry but fighting to remained focus.

"See the picture you were looking at? You have one, don't you?" Hotaru asked, watching her body collaspse to the floor. He walked over her to grab the picture and scratch the dust away from the faces then held it up in front of her. "See? That's us!" It was the same picture from her album, the very same album that held her memories, possibly burnt now. Kagome blinked as she tried to fight the drug. "Everything will change now, Kagome." He cackled, his skin melting off his face as if he were burning- boiling. His eyes changed to a deep red and his hair flew out much longer than before.

Naraku.

Although she was losing consciousness, she knew who she saw. It was him but why did he want her? How did she not notice it before? The chance she needed to talk to him was right in front of her but she couldn't make the words come out. Naraku was disguising himself as another person to get to Kagome? A very smart plan, but did he really plan it this far to the point where he knew he'd capture her like this? And why her in specifically? Why not Kikyo?

"You're mine now Kagome." Naraku told her, brushing her cheek with his hand. Kagome felt disgusted. She didn't want to be his. He despised her father, he despised her friends. Why couldn't she remember anything about him? Maybe she could've used it against him, but nothing came to mind. She was in trouble and she knew it. Her feelings finally came forward and she was scared, worried. She wanted to be saved, she wanted her hero.

She wanted Inuyasha.

The last thing she saw was Naraku's devilish smirk directed towards her. She wasn't thinking about what he'd do, she wasn't even thinking about the whole situation anymore. She was thinking about Inuyasha. That was the only thing that rang through her head, that she wanted him. She needed him, but would he really come after she ran away? Wasn't he her savior? For the past couple of weeks, she thought he had been, but then again this wasn't a fairytale. This wasn't even a dream. Reality had come to smack her in the face and laugh at her mockingly.

'Inuyasha… I'm sorry…' Her mind spoke, just before she blacked out.

~* Will Inuyasha save Kagome in time? What will Naraku do to her? What about Kikyo? Where did she go? Will more of Kagome's memories be revealed? Will this author be killed by her readers because of her lateness in updating? So many questions. Everything is coming together, meaning everything that was tossed around will finally make sense. Review please! I hope you enjoyed it!