Notes: If this isn't jumping right in, I don't know what is.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Anna Freaks.
I am a girl who did no wrong.
I walked this side of Jesus when I could.
I kept an angel in my apron pocket.
I do not think it did me any good.
Gregory Maguire
Who is this girl who's been in my dreams since childhood? She's standing in a blood covered room and…
Fabel; 01
o
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Pant…pant…
I've got to finish burying this.
Everything. I've got to bury everything. It must not haunt me any longer.
It'll all be over.
Myself in my mind's eye, lying on the cold kitchen tiles. My back slides up a little as the blood drips onto the floor. My mother, with her knife positioned on my stomach, pressing into me. Pressing into the knife. Hollowed eyes.
'Inu…' she says. 'My Inu darling.'
The smell of blood is terrible.
I've got to finish burying this...this…thing.
Behind the apartment, the earth is soft after many rains. The grass pulls up easily. It will grow back easily. Perfect. All that's left of my mother now is one, white creamy arm. Beautiful, even in death. A china doll, pulled asunder by some greedy child.
"This isn't as good a place to bury things as you may think."
Damn. Someone behind me. I don't want to kill anymore, but if I have to…
A girl stands behind me. Classily adorned in slimming jacket and leather skirt, she grins. Does she not see…?
"You wanna bury that? I'll help. First tip of the day for you, no burying within a five mile radius of your residence. The guys at Interpol will find it in three days flat."
Damn. Should've thought of that. Mind's becoming erratic. Must bury, must hide. No one must know! I grab my iron shovel and swing it over my head, sorry already.
I don't want to kill anyone. I never did! Honest, I promise yo-
Omph. Dammit, the girl's fast. Her kick nails me straight in the side, making me hunch over like some damn dog. I lose grip of the shovel and it sails away. What on earth does this girl plan on doing? Scrambling all over the grass now. I never was much of a fighter. Another kick in the neck, now a punch across the face. I lay still, arms raised in defeat.
"…I'll cover all the traces."
Her wide-eyed smile scares me. Cat-eyed, Cheshire smiles all around. Frighteningly beautiful.
Gods, I'm in love with her already.
o
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The alarm beeped happily, disturbing the morning silence. A groan arose from the bed, and a squinting youth tumbled out.
"Ugh…gotta go to school."
Within minutes, he had showered and dressed. Catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror, the teen's eyes lazily flicked up and down his reflection.
Nothing in his appearance gave signs of murder.
Walking down the stairs, he ignored the blood splattered walls and raised his arm in greeting when he reached the kitchen.
"Ohayo…Can't you turn off the alarm once in a while? I can wake up by myself."
The woman inside set down her chopping knife, seemingly unaware of the mess she was making. Blood dripped not only from her carving board, but from her face as well. When she laughed, red liquid shot out to splash noisily against the kitchen tiles.
"Well," she laughed, oblivious to the blood pooling in her eye sockets, "Today is the day of the Sun Dance, isn't it? I wonder if you could be a good boy 'til eight o'clock? 'Cause I won't be back 'til then."
"Uhm…" Inuyasha replied, thinking already of how he would have to scrub for hours to clean the sticky red fluid. "'Kay."
"Who are you talking to?"
Suddenly, everything disappeared. His mother, the blood… Turning slightly, Inuyasha blinked, giving a tiny shake of his head to scatter his silver bangs. Sitting at the table with one hand propped under her chin was the girl from yesterday.
Inuyasha did a double-take. "Eh…you…where…?"
The girl followed his gaze to the kitchen stove. "Over here? I don't see anything." Looking back, she broke into a knowing grin. "Oh, your mother. She's in this bag."
She pointedly looked at a small cloth bag that was leaking human juices onto the kitchen table.
Smoke filled the room as Inuyasha realized the girl was smoking. Breathing out heavily, she leaned back in her chair and giggled.
"I've smashed out all her teeth, rasped off her fingernails, and crushed her face too. It was fun, she kept looking at me until the end." Here she cocked her head. "The traces are in here, shredded and mixed with the everyday trash. All that's left is for you to take it out."
Inuyasha stared at her. Beads of perspiration broke out on his forehead.
Waving her cigarette, the girl stopped smiling to look at him seriously. "You need more sleep, you look absolutely terrible."
The cloth bag leaked a little more.
Inuyasha walked calmly to the kitchen sink and threw up.
The girl sat quietly and waited for the coughing to subside. When Inuyasha was done, he turned on the sink faucet and tried not to look at the contents of his stomach being swirled down the sinkhole.
"Who…Who are you?"
"I just dropped by. You volunteered to give me board. Am I not pleasant?"
Inuyasha grimly wiped his mouth. "That's a lie! How the hell are you? Why are you…" he swallowed, "…helping me? Are you also like me? Are you a…"
He let the sentence hang, but both of them heard the missing word in the air between them.
Are you a murderer?
Taking her cigarette, the girl smashed it aggressively into the table. A warning. Inuyasha was reminded of a panther.
Don't pry into my business.
Smiling her Cheshire smile, she wagged her finger teasingly at him.
"Shouldn't you be at school?"
Inuyasha took out the trash. When he came back in, she was still there.
Haltingly, he asked, "Don't you want to know why I killed my mother?"
She didn't answer him immediately. Instead, she went through his kitchen drawers until she found what she wanted. Taking the sponge, she wet it and began wiping down the table. When she was done, the table was clean enough for her reflection to show. She smiled.
"I think I can imagine."
o
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Inuyasha sat down at his desk. Somewhere behind him, some girl complained about how her parents were too strict. Another panicked, intent on finishing her homework before the teacher arrived.
Inuyasha ignored them, and instead took out his novel from his backpack. However, try as he might, his eyes refused to take in the first sentence of the page.
'She says she can imagine…is she a murderer too? What does she want with me?'
Realizing he wouldn't be able to concentrate that day on his reading assignments, he felt inside his desk for his pencils to begin the day at school. His fingertips brushed over a foreign slip of paper. Inuyasha was very prideful of keeping his things neat and always tried to keep his desk organized. He did not recognize this piece of paper…
Taking out the small note, he unfolded it and felt his arms shake.
'KILLER'
o
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Someone knows!
No one must know, no one must know.
In the Spring of the 18th Year of the Kanei Era…
Somebody! Somebody must've seen me!
…the feudal lord Tadotoshi Hosokawa forbid Jinshi.
They must not know. They must not find out. I must not be caught.
Abeya Ichiemon has…
Somebody! The girl…she will know what to do.
…committed suicide because of his family's honor.
She has to know what to do.
Class, please take notes, as this may be on your test…
Mother…won't you just go away?
o
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Class is over. Thank god. I gotta get home.
"Hey!"
Damn. It's Ayame and Ryo. Ryo's a good friend, but we're not close. Ayame's cute, I guess, but now's not the time for talking.
"Hey, Kitagawa-sempai! Is there a student meeting today?"
Think of something to say, hurry! Don't act suspicious, nothing's wrong. Nothing's wrong at all.
"Uhm…I don't have to go because today's Sunday. See you tomorrow, Ayame-chan."
I'm being watched by somebody. There's no time to stay, I've gotta get home. I just want to get out of here quickly, the faster the better.
o
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Watching the silver-haired boy run off, the pair stood quietly in the school courtyard.
"That's odd," Ryo muttered. "Sempai…he looks so pale. Strange. Today's not even Sunday."
The girl, Ayame, looked away. "He must have something on his mind. He'll tell us when he's ready."
'Oh Inuyasha, am I nothing to you? Can't we be something more than just friends? I want you to tell me…everything.'
o
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Panting, Inuyasha ran up the three flights of stairs to his apartment door. Feeling in his pocket for the key, he checked the lock first to make sure nobody had been in.
Yep, still locked.
'Click,' went the door as it swung open.
"I'm back!"
The apartment was dark. Hearing some scuffles further inside the apartment, Inuyasha took off his shoes and walked into the wood-paneled hallway in search of a light switch. The girl was most likely still in the house. Maybe he'd get her name today. It was uncomfortable, trying to get her attention when he couldn't even call her by a name. Just 'girl' or, 'Hey, you.'
Drip. Drip.
Inuyasha stopped walking and raised his arm in a greeting.
"Good afternoon…Mother."
"Welcome back, Inuyasha."
Her hand reached for his face, skin peeling away with the effort, blood blistering to the surface. Inuyasha felt his mouth open in a scream although no sound came out.
"What…do you feel alright?"
His mother disappeared. The blood that had been swirling around the wood paneling evaporated. The hand was still there, only now it was healthy and whole, and belonged to a fine-featured young girl.
"Inu-kun?"
"Ugh," the youth moaned, leaning back against the wall. "It's so creepy getting home in the dark. Why don't you turn on a light?"
She tossed her head as if lecturing a small child, stubborn and set in his silly ways. "Think about it smart ass, wouldn't it be suspicious if your light was on when you're supposed to be the only one living here? Until you get home from school, I won't use electricity or air conditioning.
"Or the TV," she added, gazing at the television set wistfully.
"Uh…sure," Inuyasha replied, shrugging his hands into his pockets. "Here, let's go into my bedroom. I have something a need to show you."
At a dirty glance from the girl, he immediately stiffened. "Not that personal!"
Laughing, the girl led the way through another hallway and a door.
'She must've gotten her bearings already,' Inuyasha thought. 'Jeez. I've never even given though to how long she's going to stay."
From in front, the girl called over her shoulder, "Take out the trash yet?"
"Uhm…yeah, sure."
She winked. "Good."
Inuyasha stopped, watching the sinuous figure twirl into his bedroom.
'When I see her face…I feel really calm.'
Remembering something, he ran after her,
"Hey! I never got your name!"
Inside his bedroom, the girl amused herself with a pinwheel. "No can do. As long as we're not partners, I can't tell you my name."
"Partners…? How?"
Giving the pinwheel another turn, both watched as the colors slowly blended together in a frenzy of activity.
"I am on one side of society," the girl replied calmly. "To put it simply, you're still between my side…and the other one. Now, what did you want to show me?"
Knowing the answer to his questions would still have to wait, Inuyasha fished around in his pocket. Finding the note that had been slipped inside his desk earlier, he threw it to the girl who caught it easily without even stopping her pinwheel.
"Today, this was put inside my desk at school."
The girl read it and shrugged. Reaching inside her coat, she took out a cigarette and lit it with a lighter. Looking between the cigarette and the note, she made a quick decision.
Inuyasha worked on his poker-face as he watched the girl eat the note. When she was done, she began smoking.
"This can mean several things, right?" she said, as though nothing had happened. "But shouldn't I remain quiet instead of helping you to find out the truth? Shouldn't my selflessness come to an end?"
"How do I know," he began slowly, "that you didn't withhold some evidence that could be used against me later? With all that you know, you could blackmail me easily."
The girl took another puff of her cigarette and blew wisps into the air. "I don't think you'll go to the other side with that."
The reflective silence that followed was broken by Inuyasha's watch.
"Ahh, it's time to go. Annoying…So annoying…"
He stepped out, but stopped when he heard the girl's voice behind him. While he couldn't see her face, he was sure she seemed amused.
"Wow, you're all cool again. I thought you'd be wavering between telling the police and killing yourself to end your own troubles."
Inuyasha laughed, a short, irritated sound that sparked curiosity in the girl.
"I'm an actor," he explained. "Or at least, my mother wanted me to be one. I don't know if I'll quit now, since she's dead and all." His tone became a little quieter. "I thought that there'd be a solution for everything if mother died. It was too much to ask for, apparently."
"It's not if you'll come with me."
"Come with you?" Unable to resist, Inuyasha traced his steps back into his room and gazed down at the slim girl seated on his bed.
"Wouldn't you like to come to my side of society?"
'She's using me,' Inuyasha thought disgusted. 'Her ways, her actions, everything's going inside my head. I'm in too deep to say no.'
"I need a partner," she continued. Her voice took on an almost melancholy undertone. "I've been alone for awhile now. I need…" She smiled. Inuyasha reflexively braced himself. Nothing this Cheshire cat-of-a-girl said would bother him now, he was too used to it.
…a parent killing assistant."
o
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'Me…a parent-killing assistant?'
The fan was lifted, masking his eyes. The fan was lowered, showing his face. Lifted. Lowered. Lifted. Lowered. A flick. Now, all repeated.
Hide the emotions. Show them. Hide the emotions. Show them. Erase. Repeat.
"Your posture is bad."
Bowing regretfully (he hoped it looked that way, anyways), Inuyasha faced his teacher, an old woman of around sixty. She was seated at a small tea table and was dressed in a flowing kimono.
"Yes, a little," he admitted. "I've got things on my mind and I don't feel to wonderful."
"Take a rest for today, Inuyasha. Come back when you feel better."
"Thank you Miya-sempai."
Walking across the tatami mat-laid hallway, Inuyasha entered the shower room where he stripped and turned on the water. As the hot water came rushing down, he undid his ponytail that kept his hair out of the way.
'I should quit,' he thought. 'I never wanted to be an actor. The traditional arts are…well, too traditional for me. Mother can't hold me to her whims any longer.
'I want to go home soon. I want to see that girl again. If I don't agree, will she leave? I don't know how to put it. My feelings have cooled off. I think…I think I'll be able to act without regrets for the first time in my life.'
o
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"I'm back!"
Well, at least now the lights were on. But where was the girl?
Slipping off his shoes, Inuyasha searched through the apartment. She couldn't have gone far. Her jacket was still there. Ugh, and so was her cigarette. She'd left it on his nightstand. It had burned a hole through the wood, but at least it hadn't started a fire. He disposed of it and looked out the window.
It had begun to rain.
o
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Patter…patter…
Letting out a sigh, the girl closed her umbrella and gently set it by the entrance. Shaking off the rain from her hair, she quietly stepped into the school.
It was dark, and no one was there. Perfect.
Running through the catacombs and into a classroom, she crouched down next to a particularly tidy desk. Slipping her hand inside her coat pocket, she pulled out a note, identical to the one found earlier that day by the owner of the desk.
'Made it, and nobody's here. Now…'
Beat…beat…
Falling down hard in surprise and fear, the girl spun around to see the silhouette of another figure she had not noticed when walking in the room. Lightening flashed through the tall windows, and the figure was illuminated.
A pretty-looking girl with hair down to her knees sat against the windowsill, looking into the reflection made by thousands of tiny rain droplets. Condensation at it's most artistic.
"Who are you?" she giggled. "Tell me." Jumping down, she cornered the other girl, still sprawled on the floor in fright.
"Don't you like Inuyasha? Hmm? I wouldn't want to see what might happen to him if you didn't tell me. Come on, I'm just a curious girl. What did you see?"
Realizing that the other intended harm, not just another schoolgirl who probably forgot her books and went back to get them, the girl began crying in desperation.
"I won't tell anybody…please! I've only seen sempai…I also couldn't see his face very well, it might not've been him…I never get to see him anymore, I could only see him leave his home, and that was when…when it happened…oh please, I won't tell!
I only want to be someone speci-"
Her eyes bulged in terror as the other girl calmly placed her hand over her mouth.
"We all want to be someone special, don't we?"
The last thing seen was a Cheshire-smile glinting down before the girl gave a muffled scream and shut her eyes in horror.
The body of Ayame was found the next morning by a group of her friends. Back at Inuyasha's apartment, another girl who had been at the school the past night slept peacefully in Inuyasha's pajamas, since hers were in the wash with the other bloodstained clothes. In her clasped hand was a note, which read, 'I WON'T TELL. BE MY BOYFRIEND?'
That would be digested later.
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Notes: Thank you for reading. Please comment…onegai?