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Guilty Hero

Chapter 22: Solid Proof

“Sango, please, slow down!” Miroku panted as he took the stairs two at a time to catch up with his partner.  “I’m sure everything’s all right, there’s no need to rush!”

“She never called us,” Sango replied tersely as she strode up the stairs, not slowing down in the slightest.  “We told her to call us for help, and she never called.”

“Then it’s probably a good thing,” he tried to say soothingly, finally falling into step with her.  “She was able to calm him down on her own.  I don’t think you should be so worried.”

“And I don’t think you’re worried enough.  Did you ever think of the other possible scenario?  That she was unable to reach the phone because he attacked her?”

“Sango.”  Miroku abruptly stopped and grabbed hold of her arm, turning her around to face him.  Looking sternly into her fierce brown eyes, he reminded her, “I thought we were going to try and trust Kagome more.  I think this is the perfect opportunity to do that, don’t you?”

Sango glanced worriedly up the stairs, clearly impatient to get moving.  “But—“

“Sango.” 

With a sigh, she finally stopped trying to pull away and stood still, staring down at her shoes.  “I wish I had your faith in her,” she said.  “But Inu-Yasha is so stubborn, and Kagome is just a little slip of a woman.  You know how angry he gets…”

“I do know,” he agreed.  “But you forget—Kagome is the one who got him to stop drinking for four days when he got out of the hospital.  She’s the one who he got awfully close with during the dance at the gala.  She’s the one who has survived almost two months spending every day in his apartment.  She’s the one who actually went back to him even after his atrocious behavior after the rally.”  He gave her a knowing grin.  “What more proof do you need?”

Nodding grudgingly, she turned and started to make her way up the stairs again.  “I still want to check in.  Just to see how it went.”

He knew she didn’t really believe him, and that she was only saying that to appease him, but he merely shrugged and followed after her.  Truth be told, he was a little anxious himself, and really did want to make sure Kagome was all right.  It was easy enough to say that he had faith in her, but to actually believe it was another matter entirely.

Once on the seventh floor, Miroku knocked lightly on the door, hoping not to disturb anyone due to the early hour they were out, then carefully pushed it open and stepped back so Sango could enter first.  She quickly entered the apartment with Miroku hot on her heels, and then both stopped abruptly, uncertain how to react to the sight they were greeted with.

Straight ahead of them they saw the splintered remains of Inu-Yasha’s side table scattered over the floor, topped with yet another telephone broken from the fall.  But to the right sat Kagome, sound asleep against the wall in her cat pajamas with Inu-Yasha’s head on her lap, the demon in a dead sleep himself with one hand fisted in her pajama shirt.  Neither had stirred upon their arrival.

Looking back and forth between the scenes, Miroku finally said, “I told you she could calm him down.”

“Hmph.”  With a slight scowl, Sango stepped closer to the sleeping pair and studied them closely.  “It doesn’t look like she’s hurt at all…” she said, checking Kagome’s face for cuts or bruises.  “And I don’t see any blood on dog-boy’s claws…  But if he was angry enough to smash a table, how did she keep him from attacking her?”

“Well, why don’t we ask?”  Crouching down next to Sango,  Miroku gently shook Kagome’s shoulder, easing her into wakefulness.  “Good morning,” he said cheerily as she blinked sleepily at them.  “Sleep well?”

Groaning a bit as she sat up straight, Kagome yawned wide before answering.  “Not hardly.  Sleeping on the floor is incredibly uncomfortable.  And cold.  And he’s rather heavy.”  But there was a slight smile on her face, and they knew she was in a very good mood, despite her discomfort.

His grin broadening, for her being in a good mood was a very good sign for the events of the previous night, he asked lightly, “And how, pray tell, did he end up on your lap, anyway?”

At the question, Kagome looked down at the slumbering demon with a fond look in her eyes, and she gently stroked his hair.  One of his ears twitched, the only sign that he was still even alive.  “That is a long story, and now is not the time to tell it,” she said finally, glancing back up at them.  “We need to take care of him first.  Could you help me up?”

With the aid of Sango and Miroku, she was able to climb out from under Inu-Yasha with only a slight disturbance, although after being jostled so much his face puckered into a slight frown, and he did not seem to like relinquishing his hold on her pajamas.  But, after a bit of work, she freed herself and joined the two looking down at the motionless lump on the floor.

“…He looks awful,” Sango finally said after a few moments of silence, and she spoke the truth.  His hair was mussed and tangled, his eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, and his once-fine tuxedo was rumpled and stained after his night of drinking.

Kagome shrugged a little.  “Well, he had a rough night.  I don’t think we can blame him for looking a little disheveled, hm?”  Suddenly, she frowned and crouched down next to him, closely studying his face.  Ever since she had climbed out from underneath him, a frown had marred his features, and now his brows were pinched together as his mouth twitched, looking like he was trying to speak without opening his lips.  “Oh dear…  Okay, we need to wake him.  Sango, go get a glass of cold water from the kitchen, please.  Miroku, can you help me sit him up?”

Sango quickly obeyed while Miroku stepped over, and together they carefully pulled the demon into a sitting position.  “What’s wrong with him?  Why do we need to wake him up?  It looks like sleep will do him more good than anything at the moment.”

“I agree; he didn’t pass out until well past one o’ clock this morning, so I’m sure he isn’t even half finished sleeping off all he drank.  But we need to wake him, get him to the bathroom, and then put him to bed.”  She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.  “Unless you want to scrub regurgitated whiskey out of the carpet.”

Grimacing in realization, Miroku eagerly looked up when Sango entered with the glass of water and stepped aside so she could reach Inu-Yasha easier.  After a quick glance at Kagome to make certain it was what she was supposed to do, she tossed the entire glass into Inu-Yasha’s face.

After the initial twitch, they were uncertain if the tactic worked, for he didn’t move.  But after a moment they heard a low groan, and he slowly cracked his eyes open; it was obvious he was hardly lucid, or even conscious, but it was enough that Kagome nodded at Miroku, and together they hefted him to his feet.

“Good morning, Inu-Yasha!” Kagome said brightly to their somewhat more-than-disoriented cargo as they half-dragged, half-carried him down the hallway.  She was hoping talking loudly would keep him awake long enough to get through the tasks that needed to be done in the restroom.  “Did you have a good night’s sleep?  You certainly slept like a rock, I can assure you.”  She tried to contain a laugh as she watched Inu-Yasha, feeling rather sorry for him; he desperately needed more sleep as it was very hard to ignore the pull of a bottle and a half of whiskey, but the look on his face was absolutely priceless as he was constantly jolted awake by her voice right in his ear.

Easing him into the bathroom, they propped him up against the sink and placed his hands on the edge so he was able to hold himself steady, only needing to lean against Miroku a bit.  Miroku watched a little apprehensively as the demon stared blankly into the basin, merely looking like he was considering falling asleep right there.

“Um… what do we do now?  He’s not doing anything,” Miroku finally asked after a few moments.

Kagome took a step towards the door.  “Oh, just give him a second.  It’ll come—“  And she was interrupted when Inu-Yasha suddenly groaned, and his work began.  Quickly turning away as Miroku spluttered in disgust, she called over her shoulder, “I’m going to get the bedroom ready.  Be sure to hold his hair out of the way, all right?”

Giving Sango, who seemed to be enjoying the sound of Miroku’s protests, a sly wink and a grin, Kagome went into the bedroom to prepare the bed, Sango joining her.

“So…  How did things go last night?” Sango asked, helping Kagome pull the pillows and blankets off so they could change the sheets.  “We saw the broken side table, but you two were sleeping so peacefully…  Oh, and I saw his medal all bent up inside the kitchen sink, too.  What happened?”

Kagome shook her head, her mischievous grin fading as she tugged the sheets off the bed.  “He was in such an odd mood…” she said finally as she tossed the sheets aside and went over to the closet to get fresh ones.  “He was so detached, and lost…  And he never seemed to get enough to drink.  He always needed more.  I tried to take the bottle away, but he put up a terrible fuss.”

Sango nodded, knowing full well what Kagome was talking about; she did, after all, have plenty of experience with the demon and his actions after the gala.

“He would glare so furiously at me whenever I asked him a question or tried to speak to him, but he sounded sad when I showed him the medal and the mayor’s cigar tin he had left at the gala; he ended up slapping the tin out of my hands, then he broke his medal, and then he shouted at me and threw it across the room.”

With a frown, Sango absently accepted the new sheets Kagome handed to her.  “Did he hurt you last night, Kagome?”

Kagome sighed lightly as she walked around the bed, gesturing for Sango to unfold the sheets.  “Not physically, no.  He never even came near me.  But…  His temper…”  When Sango tossed a corner over to Kagome to start tucking under the mattress, she noticed the girl’s hands shaking a bit as she worked.

“What happened?”

Taking a deep breath, she said quietly, “He had finally finished all of the whiskey, and I thought I could finally get him to bed without a fuss.  But like I said, he never seemed to get enough.  Once he figured out there wasn’t any more liquor in the apartment, he tried to get to the door so he could get out.  I blocked his way, and he was so upset…”  She paused in her work for a moment, then quickly shook her head to try and shake off the bad memories creeping up on her.

“He called me a damn woman and a bitch, and told me to get away from the door.  I refused to move, and his voice got so loud, he was so tense and angry, and his eyes…”  A shudder coursed through her at the thought of his flashing eyes.  “I really was afraid he was going to attack me.  He broke the side table with his fist, and I was certain I was next.  But I never moved, and eventually he just…  seemed to collapse in on himself.”

Looking up and realizing that Sango had long since stopped working, too enthralled by her story, so she moved around to the other side of the bed and tucked in the corners of the sheet that Sango had left, smoothing the fabric with her hands before gathering the blankets in her arms.

“For a little bit, I was too scared to move, and I just stood in front of the door like a fool.  But I heard him make this odd noise, and when I went over to him…  I saw that he was crying.  So I put my arm around him, and he just fell into my lap and wept.”

Sango stared openly at her as she worked at getting the blankets on the bed.  “But… weren’t you frightened of him?  The man almost attacked you!”

With a sad chuckle, Kagome replied, “Sango, when a man like Inu-Yasha just breaks down in tears, you don’t ignore it.  He needed comfort, not a girl flinching away from him in fear.”  She looked up Sango, very somber.  “He’s sorry, you know.  For all that’s done to you and Miroku.  I know you may not believe me when I say that, but it’s true.”

Taking a deep breath, she finally turned and tossed the pillows on the bed, plumping them as much as possible.  “And that’s about it,” she said, her tone considerably lighter.  “We stayed like that until we both fell asleep, and then you two found us.  So there you have it.”  Looking critically at her handiwork, she added, “I wish he had better blankets than these.  They’re so thin and threadbare…”

Receiving no reply from Sango, she nervously cleared her throat and then went over to his dresser to pull out a pair of red sweatpants and the cleanest T-shirt she could find, which was a dirty grey and marred with stains that would never come out.  Clucking her tongue, she set the articles of clothing neatly on the bed, and by the time she finished Miroku arrived in the doorway with Inu-Yasha at his side, looking a little pale at the spectacle he had been forced to witness.

“Where do you want him?” he asked a little breathlessly, for the demon was quite heavy to hold up.

With a small smile, for the contrast between Inu-Yasha’s zoned out expression and Miroku’s slightly sick one was rather amusing, she stepped aside and gestured at the bed.  “Right here, please.  Do you think you could do me another favor?”

Setting Inu-Yasha down on the bed, who was only able to stay sitting up for a moment before he swayed and fell over, Miroku frowned down at Kagome, looking none-too-pleased.  “Look, I just had to watch the guy heave his guts out for far longer than any normal person should have to, and then he motioned that he had to go to the bathroom, so I got to watch that as well.  What more could you possibly want me to do?”

Laughing lightly at the man’s distress, she held up her hands in an attempt to reassure him.  “I was hoping you’d just change him into his pajamas for me, that’s all.  I just don’t quite feel comfortable doing it myself.”

With a grudging nod, he turned and pulled Inu-Yasha upright again, receiving a slight moan in protest as he started tugging off the demon’s stained dress shirt.  Kagome gestured at Sango, and together they left Miroku to his work as they went into the kitchen.

“Um…”  Trying to get her thoughts in order, for she was having a hard time comprehending Kagome’s actions from the night before, Sango asked slowly, “Do you want any help cleaning up from last night?”

Kagome shook her head, gingerly stepping around the splinters scattering the floor as she walked into the kitchen.  “No, thank you.  I’m going to leave the place as it is for now.  I want him to see what he’s done.  Maybe it will help him, maybe it won’t.  But it can’t hurt to try.”  Going over to a cupboard and pulling out a box of teabags, she asked, “Tea?”  Receiving a negative response, she shrugged and went about making a mug for herself.

Sango watched silently as Kagome bustled about, looking as though stepping over a thrown cigar tin or ignoring a folded up medal was the most normal of activities.  She simply did not understand how Kagome did it.  The first year Inu-Yasha had made a move towards hurting her and Miroku, she had been too frightened to go back to his apartment for several days.  It had taken a few more years before she finally had grown callous enough to actually go to his apartment without fear on the night after the gala, and even  then she still had apprehension.  And yet here was Kagome, calmly making a cup of tea after the man had pulverized a table with his fist mere hours ago.  She had allowed the demon to sleep on her lap, and even now she was making sure he was properly taken care of before he slept again. 

The year Inu-Yasha had managed to damage to Miroku, Sango had given him either terrible punishments or gave him the cold shoulder any time she saw him for months afterward, well after the wounds had healed.  So it was almost beyond her understanding that Kagome had chosen to be kind to the demon after he had treated her so horribly.  It was obvious he had had an effect on Kagome—the shakes and shudders she had gotten while telling Sango her side of the story gave that away—and yet Kagome did not hesitate to step in and take care of him.  It made Sango wonder, was it dedication to the job, or something deeper?

It wasn’t too long before Miroku emerged from the bedroom, a small grin on his face despite the ‘suffering’ he had to go through earlier.  Both women jumped when he spoke, for they had been silent for several minutes.

“Well, he is in his pajamas and under the covers,” he informed them, proudly crossing his arms.  “And he’s asking for you, Kagome.”

Kagome looked up from soaking her tea bag in a mug of water, rather surprised.  “He’s awake still?  I would’ve thought he’d drop off to sleep as soon as you finished.”

He shrugged.  “I thought so too, but he’s still up, and he’s asking for you.”

Still a little confused, Kagome abandoned her tea and went down the hallway into the bedroom, followed closely by Sango and Miroku.  Once inside, she smiled when she saw the demon lying on his stomach under the covers with his eyes closed, appearing to be asleep.  Glancing back at Miroku, who nodded encouragingly, she crouched down by the bed and said quietly, “Inu-Yasha?  Did you want me for something?”

At the sound of her voice, he stirred and slowly opened his eyes, blinking slowly at her until recognition finally flickered in his gaze.  “Kagome…” he murmured, stretching out a hand to rest on the pillow by his head.  “Stay.”

“What was that?”

With a slight frown, he patted the pillow and mumbled again, “Stay.”

“I-I… um, all right…”  Looking back at Sango and Miroku, who seemed to be just as surprised as her, she carefully climbed onto the bed, waiting patiently as Inu-Yasha moved aside at the speed of a snail so she had a place to sit.  Finally, once she was settled with her back against the headboard, Inu-Yasha nestled his head in the pillow right next to her with his face resting against the side of her leg.  She felt terribly awkward, for he never enjoyed being in such a close proximity of his own volition, but he let out a soft sigh and promptly went back to sleep, quite obviously at ease now that she was back.

Sango and Miroku did their best to stifle their laughter as Kagome’s face burned a bright red, her posture very stiff from discomfort.  “I guess we’ll leave so you two can have some privacy,” Miroku whispered, a broad smile on his face.  “Give us a call if you need us to pry him off you!”

Flushing all the way to the tips of her ears, she flapped her hand at them, urging them out the door to put an end to their comments.

Still chuckling, for the look on her face made up for all the torture he’d gone through getting Inu-Yasha to bed, Miroku led Sango out of the apartment, taking her hand in his as they walked down the stairs.  “I just don’t believe it,” he said.  “I think this is the first year ever that we have left Inu-Yasha’s apartment after the gala in a good mood.  Didn’t I tell you that Kagome was the perfect one for him?  Sure, he may still have been dead drunk the night before, but at least things turned out all right.”

Deciding not to mention the smashed side table or the fear that Kagome still had over the demon’s actions, Sango still had to agree with him.  She knew she was guilty of having little faith in the girl’s abilities, but Kagome’s actions had proved her wrong time and time again.  It was time she finally allowed herself to have a little bit of hope.

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Well, there you have it; sorry it’s so short, but it was a good stopping point.  Thanks for reading, and please leave a review!