InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dead Famous ❯ Dog Walking ( Chapter 6 )

Author's Notes: Yay! Managed to update before the holiday! Anyway, this engineer came and tried to fix the computer. He found five viruses but they had nothing to do with my internet problems so now he's walked off with my computer to try and fix it by… sometime soon. I really hope he was an engineer and not just some guy mum invited off the street again…

(By the way, this chapter takes a bit of a turn)

Dead Famous

Chapter 6

Dog-Walking

Kagome decided it was time to go for a walk the next day… mostly because Kikyo was marching around the villa in the most foul mood Kagome had witnessed so far. She had blown up at three innocent, slightly clueless bystanders - two cleaners and a cook from the kitchens. She was really on the warpath.

And why was she on the warpath? Because of Inuyasha, naturally.

He was missing.

"Where is he? Where - is - he?" Was Kikyo's general mantra as she stomped through the rooms and corridors looking for one lost superstar.

If there was any good time to leave the villa, it was then. Kagome skipped down the front steps of the villa before stopping for a moment to survey the area around her. She could go look around the gardens and sniff a few flowers here and there, or she could go down to the beach and build some sand castles.

Or maybe she could do a runner and get a taxi back home to where she belonged. She was beginning to feel the ache of homesickness already. She missed not being able to see her family… her mother especially. She missed not being able to load off her problems on her friends, though she knew very well that even if they were around they wouldn't care about her problems - they would only care about the guy who was driving her to her wits end.

"I'll be so glad when this is over…" she murmured to herself as she stepped off the stairs and onto the gravel of the driveway.

"Hey Kagome! What'cha doing?"

Kagome turned sharply to the origin on the voice and spotted Sango coming around the corner of the villa, three German Shepherds dragging her along by their leashes. After Sango came Miroku with four dogs and after him followed several more volunteers who all seemed to be hauling dogs after them.

"What are you doing?" Kagome called as they approached. "Some kind of sponsored dog walk?"

"No, no," Miroku shook his head. "They need they're exercise once a day and there are so many of them that it practically takes everyone we've got to give them their walkies."

Kagome gave him a weighing look. "You're hiding from Kikyo, aren't you?"

"Well aren't you?" he shot back.

Sango pulled her dogs to a stop as she neared Kagome. "Haven't you seen her? She goes ballistic every time he pulls something like this."

"Has he done this kind of thing before?" Kagome asked uncertainly.

"Well…" Sango shrugged slightly. "He usually does it on the new moon… only because that's the one time of the month when he can blend with average people and not be recognised for who he is."

"Personally I don't blame him for getting out and about if he has the chance." Miroku said seriously.

"But he never warns us, no note, no farewell, he just dashes off and is usually back in his bed before Kikyo can tell him off." Sango continued. "But this time he hasn't come back."

"Maybe he's tired of being famous?" Well it had sounded more reasonable in her head. But the moment she said it, both Miroku and Sango snorted with laughter. Kagome realised how stupid that idea was now… Inuyasha, tired of fame? Maybe in some strange alternate reality.

"I doubt that very much." Miroku laughed, tears of mirth were almost in his eyes. " More likely he's been on a binge all night and has passed out in some ditch being prodded by a few kids with sticks and won't be-" He broke off when Sango gave him a rather hard elbow in the stomach. "Um… I mean… that's what I'd have done. Now Inuyasha's probably out there right now donating to some orphanage and he's too busy playing with the children to come back just yet."

Kagome didn't buy that for a second. Sango didn't either. The older girl sighed heavily and rolled her eyes, "Come on you big gas bag, we have to get these dogs back to their posts by three."

A rather brilliant, if not impulsive idea struck Kagome. "Hey - why don't you let me take one of them for a walk down the beach?"

Miroku stopped and looked back at her. "You can handle a dog, right?"

"Course she can." Sango grinned. "She handles Inuyasha better than any of us."

Miroku, probably not quite as convinced as Sango, handed her the leash of one of the smaller German Shepherds. "Alright, you take Bess, she likes the beach. But make sure you bring her back by three o'clock otherwise Kikyo will shout at us."

"Alright then," Kagome waved as they parted ways.

She decided the take the path down to the beach that Sango had shown her the previous day on their little tour of the villa. It was a route that led down from the pool area, down the cliffs along a set of stone steps that were ingrained into the rock face.

At the bottom of the steps Kagome was surprised to be affronted by yet more security measures - including an electric fence complete with a guard dressed in clothes eerily similar to a swat uniform.

"Um… I'm dog walking." Kagome pointed to Bess who was currently running around her ankles as if trying to tangle her up in the lead. The guard pressed the big red button on the panel to deactivate the electrical current before opening up the gate to allow her through.

The beach was practically full to the brim with better than average looking people. Kagome guessed that they all possessed at least half as much money as Inuyasha to be allowed this close to his seaside villa. Most were young women who were probably on the prowl for a certain white haired young superstar.

Bess the dog seemed to be off in lala land as she trailed Kagome round in circles keeping her nose to the ground… probably chasing some mysterious scent that was over Kagome's head. She just followed wherever Bess led.

It was a nice day, not a cloud in the sky and the sand beneath her was so hot it scorched her bare toes in her sandals. This was the kind of weather one only experienced on summer holidays… but it was most likely that every day here was pretty much a holiday for Inuyasha.

Speaking of which, this latest turn of events left Kagome even more revolted with him than ever. What kind of person abandoned everyone in the middle of the night without a hint of warning and went missing the next day? Anyone with a hint of sense would have at least left a message letting everyone know where they had gone and when they would be back. Apparently no one knew if they should start worrying about Inuyasha, or just accept that he probably wouldn't be back till evening.

Miroku was probably right though… he was probably currently lying in some gutter with a beer bottle in his hand. And what was the deal with the new moon anyway? What made the new moon so special…?

A vague memory suddenly returned to Kagome of the night before, but it was so vague and distant that she couldn't tell if it was a dream or some kind of déjà vu feeling. She could have sworn she'd seen someone, possibly Inuyasha, jump down onto her balcony… but she couldn't determine if she'd really seen it or not.

"He's still rude." She told the dog who insisted on dragging her through the surf (a nice relief for her hot toes).

The only reason Inuyasha was such a neurotic head case was because no one had actually bothered bringing him up properly. His parents had died when he was eleven, but Kagome had her doubts that a former prime minister and an underwear model were such wonderful role-models for a growing child. And after they'd gone he'd been stuck with an aunt who obviously hadn't let love or bags of money stop her from walking out on him. What kind of life was that for a kid anyway?

And what exactly had happened in 1992 that everyone seemed reluctant to talk about?

Kagome had already gone around trying to get people to talk about it, but the people she talked to often or not suddenly remembered important appointments that they needed to go to, or just cleverly avoided the subject altogether.

Whatever had happened in that year was a subject that not many people seemed to want to talk about. It seemed as if most of the new members of staff were as clueless as Kagome as to what had happened in 1992, but older members who had been around for eleven or so years seemed to have taken an oath of silence on the matter…

Kagome wasn't getting any answers…

"Hey!"

Two girls in bikinis which were obviously too small for them practically jumped her. Kagome had to dig her heels into the sand to avoid Bess dragging her off her feet.

"Say," the girl in the pink cocked her head and put a finger to her chin. "You're that Higashi girl that won that competition aren't you?!"

"That's Higurashi." It seemed as if Kagome would forever be plagued with people who just couldn't be bothered getting the name right.

"Could you do us a teensy favour for us?" the girl in purple begged with her hands together.

Here it came. She was forever going to be famous as 'that girl what knew Inuyasha'. Kagome was really beginning to resent her 'golden opportunity'.

"Could you get Inuyasha's autograph for us?!" they both chorused.

Kagome pitied them, she really did. These two probably spent the best part of their life on this beach trying to catch a glimpse of the one and only Inuyasha. Didn't they have lives that they should be attending to? Just for the sake of saying no, Kagome said. "No."

"What?" the two girls looked immensely put out.

"Well… I would, but I'm afraid Inuyasha's illiterate. He can't even write his own name, poor guy." Kagome sighed melodramatically for her audience.

The two girls looked even more put out, but slightly confused. "I didn't know that," the pink one said.

"Oh yes. When he should have been learning the basics of the alphabet, he was out marketing perfume. And he was too busy being famous and flouncing down the catwalk when he should have been learning his multiplications." Kagome told them. "Inuyasha is… retarded."

"How do you know?" the girl in purple asked suspiciously.

"Well I asked for his autograph for my little brother but the poor dear's eyes just glazed over… quite saddening really." Kagome sighed in a depressing sort of manner.

While the two girls bickered and chattered away at each other after learning this shocking truth about their favourite superstar, Kagome took the opportunity to finally give in to the dog's impatient tugging and trotted after her as they headed towards the rockery further up the beach.

Now, Kagome wondered how far that rumour would go into the public domain…

With a glance at her watch she frowned. It was getting close to three o'clock and she knew that she had to get Bess back by then or risk Kikyo throwing her wrath on Miroku and Sango. No way was she going to make others take the flack for something she was responsible for. So Kagome gave the leash a small tug. "Come on Bess, lets go back."

Bess ignored her in favour of dragging them further away from the crowds and towards the bare, jagged looking rocks that protruded from the sand and cliffs up ahead. Kagome eyed them warily. "I don't think it's such a good idea going over there… looks dangerous to me." She tried pulling harder on the leash.

Bess' growl was ferocious. In fact it was so viscous that Kagome shut up quickly and followed meekly after the small dog. "Ok… a few more minutes…" Then they'd have to leg it back.

They pottered around the rocks for a while after that. Kagome kept her eyes on her watch, trying to subtly hint to the dog that they were running out of time, but got nowhere. Bess kept tracking that allusive scent which Kagome reckoned was probably some dead fish that she would probably eat and then get food poisoning from and then someone would blame her for killing one of the security dogs…

Perhaps that was getting too far ahead of herself.

Then all of a sudden Bess stopped and Kagome looked up at her. The smallish German Shepherd was looking off towards the cliff face looking very alert and stiff. A faint growl was rumbling in her chest. Kagome frowned and followed her attention wondering if she'd found that wonderful smell yet. She saw what the dog was looking at and gazed at it a moment in complete confusion before it began to sink in…

For a split second she thought she was looking at a dead body.

Then she realised it was Inuyasha.

In her shock she released the leash without a second thought and dashed forward as fast as she could over the uneven rocks, desperately trying to make it to him without falling and breaking her neck. She slipped over some slimy algae a few times and grazed the backs of her thighs, but her injuries didn't even slow her down as she stumbled to a halt beside Inuyasha and all but fell on top of him.

"Inuyasha?!" she reached out to shake his shoulders, but he basic medical training from school stopped her. If he had broken something then she didn't want to make it worse. At least she was pretty certain he was alive, if only unconscious. His breathing was audible, laboured and shallow. His chest moved so slowly that she half expected it to stop at any moment.

"Oh god… oh god…" This was bad trouble. She found herself hoping that this was a regular occurrence around the villa so that finding him in this state on the beach wasn't that much of a big deal… she prayed it wasn't serious.

Kagome automatically checked his pulse, hoping that she was looking in the right place. She felt it beat a rhythm beneath her fingertips… slow and feeble.

Something odd was going on… but Kagome knew when someone was in trouble. He may have been pig-headed jerk but he still needed help.

"Bess!" she looked around at the dog that was sniffing around the algae. She looked up at Kagome when her name was called. "Go get help! Go get Miroku or Sango! Get Kikyo!"

Bess took one look at the villa before dashing off towards the sea barking like a puppy. Something about her told Kagome that Bess was not a lassie dog. She was going to have to get help herself, and that meant she was going to have to leave Inuyasha where he was.

"Inuyasha?" she prodded his shoulder as hard as she dared. "Listen… you just stay here and try not to… move…"

Might as well had talked to the cliff for all the response she got. Kagome stood precariously and chewed her lip as she looked down at him, wondering if it was the right thing to do. But the longer she hesitated the more danger he would be in, so without a backward glance she clambered her way back towards the sand and pegged it for the gate she'd come through. Now that she didn't have Bess leading her around in circles she made it there in record time.

"Hey!" she called to the guard as she neared the gate. "You gotta help me - it's Inuyasha - I've found him and - ow!"

She'd grabbed the electric fence. She released it just as quickly, but her hair still stood on end. "Dammit…" she rubbed her tingling face. It was a moment before she realised that the guard was hanging onto her every word and that she had a mission. "Oh - you have to go get help! I found Inuyasha by the rocks, he's unconscious but I don't know what's wrong with him - hurry!"

"Right." The guard took off up the stairs to go get back-up while Kagome ran off back to where she'd left Inuyasha, desperately trying to shake off the left-over zinging feeling from touching the fence.

Inuyasha was still right where she'd last seen him, she was almost certain that he'd rolled over during her absence but he was still dead to the world but now with a pulse that seemed to race past a hundred and thirty a minute - she timed it.

"Damn…"she shifted uneasily on her knees, unsure what to do with him until help came. "What did you get yourself into this time?"

What had happened last night?

The dark haired phantom she'd thought she'd seen last night must have been just a dream, for Inuyasha still had hair as white as any other day. But he looked unusually pale and sallow. Bluish purple bruises were forming on random parts of his exposed skin… but they were strange bruises, like they'd formed without him actually being hit at all. There was no damage… just smooth bruises.

Not only was that strange but his lips were tinged blue like he was getting hypothermia, but when she checked his temperature he was just as warm as she was.

Kagome fought the urge to grab him by the shoulders and shake him to demand what the hell had happened to him. It wouldn't be very nice of her and despite how much she hated him, she wasn't cruel. She settled for a more gentle approach. "What's wrong with you…?" she worried her bottom lip between her teeth as she leant over him and touched her hands gently to his chest, wincing as she felt how retched his breathing was through her touch.

She moved her hands up to his cheeks, once more trying to tell if he was too cold, but his warmth belied the blue tinge to his lips and nails. She carried on up until she reached his eyes, propping one open for a moment to take a look.

His eyes were unfocused, dilated to mere tiny slits, looking even more catty than ever. She let go of him quickly and leant back, even more puzzled. She tried gently shaking his arm to rouse him, but that still didn't seem to work.

Then her salvation arrived.

"Kagome!"

Kagome glanced up to see Miroku and Sango charging across the beach towards her, sans the many dogs that had been accompanying them last time she'd seen them. Behind those two came Kikyo at a slightly more patient jog - but at least she'd lost the heels to be able to move faster.

"He's over here - quickly!" Kagome called back and stood up to make room for the trio. Only now she was beginning to feel the sting of the grazes on the back of her legs.

When Miroku dropped to his knees beside Inuyasha, he was slightly less cautious than Kagome. He grabbed the star by the shoulders and shook him so roughly Kagome wondered if Inuyasha would suffer some serious brain damage from having it rattled so much. "Inuyasha - Inuyasha!" he shouted in his face, but when he got no response he dropped him back down on the sand covered rock. Sango ushered him out of the to begin checking his vitals - his pulse and his breathing. Whilst she was doing this Kikyo arrived.

The agent took one look at Inuyasha, assessed the situation and immediately gave a weary sigh. "Not again… I swear if we have to…" she noticed Kagome standing off to the side and trailed off what she had been saying.

Kagome had that feeling that she was just the child amongst the grown-ups who didn't want to discuss grown-up matters before her. It irritated her slightly, considering she hadn't a clue what was going on.

"Is he ok?" She asked Miroku as Sango checked Inuyasha's temperature. "I mean, he'll be alright won't he?"

"Oh he'll be fine. He's a Hanyou. He can't o-"

"Let's get him back." Kikyo interrupted shortly with a meaningful look at Miroku who was effectively silenced.

That nasty feeling that she was being kept in the dark began to surface bitterly again. "What's the matter with him?" Kagome asked a little more forcefully.

"He's just a little sick. He'll be ok, though, don't you worry." Sango told her, but it seemed a little hypocritical seeing as Kagome had never seen her looking so stressed and worried during the short time she'd known her - and Sango had shown her many variations of stress and worry so far.

Miroku bent down and hefted Inuyasha up by the shoulders while Sango took his feet. He looked up at Kikyo as they lifted. "You better go catch Bess before those kids decide to take her home with them." He nodded off down the beach. "And if you can cause a distraction so we can move him."

Great… she was a diversion…

Well, it didn't look as if they were going to let her take any more care of their precious Inuyasha, so she knew the best way to help any way she could was to obey. She set off down the beach after the renegade German Shepherd with only a few cautious looks back at Inuyasha.

"Bess!" She called after the dog.

Luckily the bitch was trained enough to recognise her own name and came bounding giddily towards Kagome from where she'd been playing with a group of children near the surf. Kagome hated to ruin their fun, but in a moment she was about to ruin everyone's fun.

As soon as she had Bess' leash firmly in her hand and took a deep breath and gave it her all. "TIDAL WAVE! THERE'S A TIDAL WAVE HEADING RIGHT FOR THE BEACH! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!"

People sat up on their towels and pushed down their sunglasses to regard the crazy shouting girl with the dog. But at least she had everyone's attention. Some distant music that had been playing off to her right came to a stop and Kagome felt everyone's eyes on her.

It was strange that she felt even more nervous right now than she had done in the press room when not just a beach of people had watched her but the whole country instead. It was strange how nerves tackled you…

"You heard me!" she yelled. "The coastguard just announced the biggest typhoon for ten years will be here in TEN MINUTES!! RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN!"

Well it didn't work in movies for no reason at all. Perhaps they hadn't heard her the first time, but they definitely got the message load and clear the second time. There were various shouts, then a few screams and then there was wide-spread hysteria. All in the space of fifteen seconds everyone was running for the exit, away from where Inuyasha was being dragged limply towards the electric gate. No one saw a thing…

Kagome hurried to catch up with them. And as they all passed through the gate Miroku gave her a wink. "Nice job."

Kikyo put a hand on Kagome's shoulder and waved to Sango and Miroku. "Take him up to bed and call Kaede, tell her… tell her the problem and she'll sort him out, I'll catch up with you in a bit."

Kagome realised that she was about to have a talk to Kikyo. And well… Kikyo was a bit of a scary kind of person and Kagome naturally felt a little a bit nervous. So it surprised her when Kikyo took her up the stairs and drew her off to the side of the pool and gave her the softest, kindest smile she'd probably ever given anyone in her life. It made her look very lovely, and Kagome's rattled nerves began to calm slightly as she realised she wasn't going to be chewed out or forced into signing some contract of silence. She fiddled with Bess' leash anxiously.

"I want to thank you, Kagome," Kikyo told her seriously. "No one goes down by those rocks… if you hadn't gone there today we might not have found him in time."

"What's the matter with him?" Kagome asked. Would Kikyo tell her now that they were alone?

"He's just sick. He'll get better." Kikyo suddenly looked strained. "Damn… that fight's tomorrow as well…"

"Does this have something to do with the new moon?" Kagome asked.

"In a way."

"Does this happen every time?"

"Not usually…"

"But it has happened?"

Kikyo waved a hand vaguely. "Once or twice. He'll be fine, Kagome, don't worry about him."

"It's hard not to though…" Not when he looked like that. "He looked like he was in a coma."

"Mm. Well." Kikyo gave her a strange look before taking Bess' leash from her hand and started walking towards the back entrance to the villa with the dog. "If you want you can get something to eat from the kitchens. Tell cook that I said you could have anything you want - my special thanks for saving his life."

A better way to thank her would be to tell her the truth. Kagome watched her suspiciously as she vanished back inside the villa. She hesitated by the poolside, vaguely aware of the backs of her thighs beginning to sting; the sand had gotten into the cuts by now.

Maybe Kagome would have to find some answers out for herself…?

She looked up to Inuyasha's balcony and noticed that his glass doors were open… an idea popped into her head and she quickly raced to follow through with it.

Kagome hurried back inside and made her way rapidly up the stairs (the elevator seemed too slow for her) and raced to her own room. She swiped the card through the lock on the door and zipped inside. Instantly she was out on her own balcony and straining for any hint of conversation that was going on in the room above.

Someone must have been pleased with her work today (or was just taking pity on her) because she heard voices, loud and clear.

"You'd think he would have some sense… the moron…" Sango was saying heatedly. Her voice was further than the others meaning she was probably by the bed.

Miroku spoke the clearest, possibly because he was by the window. "Give him a break, he nearly died." Kagome agreed with him. Perhaps they should cut him a little slack…?

"And he has the fight against Kouga tomorrow. He can't fight now." Kikyo's voice was cold and angry.

"But he'll be better by tomorrow." Miroku reasoned.

"Oh yes, sure he'll be fighting fit but what happens when they demand the drugs test?" Kikyo snapped. "What are we supposed to do when they come up positive?"

Kagome shrank back into her room slightly. Drugs…? This was out of her experience…

"Maybe it will be out of his system by tomorrow." Miroku still seemed to be defending Inuyasha.

"Heroin doesn't fade over night."

Kagome's eyes widened in shock. Heroin?!

Kikyo's voice seemed more distant like she'd marched over to the bed. "Out with it - how much did you take this time?"

This time?!

Kikyo sighed loudly when she didn't get the response she wanted. "We'll have to pull him. Forfeit the championship. Lose our sponsorship from Addidas. I hope you're happy now? I bet you didn't think of all these consequences last night did you?"

"Oh cut him a break, Kikyo, the idiots overdosed. I won't be surprised if he stops breathing in a minute." Miroku said in a way that indicated he was just as angry at Inuyasha as the others were.

"He's a Hanyou - he can't overdose!" Kikyo snapped.

"Yeah, but last night he was human." Sango said evenly.

There was a long silence in the room above as everyone contemplated this. Kagome's thoughts whirled as she tried to catch up with what was going on. Inuyasha had overdosed? And he'd been human the previous night? Then perhaps the shadow she'd seen dropped down from her balcony hadn't been a dream at all.

Kikyo's next words grounded Kagome slightly. "Did you try to kill yourself?"

Another long stretch of silence followed as Kagome waited with baited breath… but she couldn't hear any response Inuyasha was making, if he was making any. Kagome had the feeling he was still unconscious and Kikyo might as well have been questioning the lamp.

"Maybe it was an accident." Miroku tried diplomatically.

"Whatever it was…" Kikyo began slowly. "If Kagome hadn't found him he'd be dead. Kaede better arrive soon for that matter. Did you tell her to bring some medication?"

"She's bringing the charcoal pills." Sango told her.

"Good… call me if there are any changes in his condition. Keep watch on him and don't let Kagome near here. The last thing we need is her finding out about this." Kikyo's footsteps retreated. "This has got to stop…"

The bedroom door slammed somewhere above her and Kagome sat down slowly on the cold stone floor of the balcony, processing what she'd heard. It was a minute before she heard any more dialogue upstairs.

"Close the window, Miroku, best keep the draft out."

There was a click above her and Kagome found herself sitting in tranquil silence again. There was no one on the beach now, making it eerily quiet and with all the soundproof walls in the building, the rest of household might as well have been tiptoeing around for all the noise they made.

Kagome felt horrible. She felt betrayed and revolted that Inuyasha was capable of such things. She was angry at him… she'd probably never hated anyone as much as she hated the guy ill in the room above her. Not only because what he'd done was horrific… but because he'd made her feel a fool.

Kagome had never felt very naïve and innocent. But right then she felt incredibly ignorant, as well as blind and stupid.

She'd never even considered something like this could happen… drug abuse was something that had always been in a different world from her. But now Inuyasha had forced it to collide with her humble life and she felt sickened by it.

Kagome just wanted to go home and have nothing more to do with anyone here at the villa ever again.

AN: Dun, dun, dun… there you go - the most serious real-life issue I will probably ever cover in my stories (apart from the one in Father Figure).