Somewhere I Belong
By Eien no Uta

Chapter 1: Prisoners Of Today

Song: Billy Talent - Prisoners Of Today

Rewritten since the first version sucked. Seriously. This is almost completely different than the original two chapters I had posted. Updates will come when I get the time or motivation, reviews help with the latter but my life doesn't with the former. I promise I'll try though.

The setting is based off of Dark Angel, though the plot differs a bit. I took the idea of calling magic "The Gift" from Tamora Pierce, a wonderful author. HIGHLY recommended. And of course, the characters are from Inuyasha. I'll try to keep them as in character as possible but it can be hard at times. Sorry! Any and all input is welcome.

I also want to add that I am well aware that in Japanese "Senjoudai" has no meaning. However since the Japanese are the masters of turning word combos into common language I think they'll let this one slip

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel or Inuyasha, and if you ever thought I did you're nuts.


Chapter 1: Project Senjoudai

>>>Introduction

At age 7, Kagome Higurashi was your average child. She lived in a shrine in a nice area of town, and while most people can't claim to have lived their early years in a shrine, her life really was quite typical. Sure each family member had a few quirks, but who didn't? Her life wasn't very exciting, but it was satisfying to the young girl.

The year 2010 was definitely a turning point for not just the Higurashi family, but for human civilisation. Before May 6th of that year, everything was as it should be. Children went to school and adults went to work. People had fun, technology was improving by the month, and, well, life was good. But then it came. The Pulse.

A few terrorists thought it would be fun to set off a giant electromagnetic pulse over the country.

Fwabang.

In one second, all that happiness was taken away, as computer systems everywhere failed. All that money you had in the bank? Gone. Any important documentation? Gone.

People became desperate, and then the survival instincts kicked in, each person wanting a chance at a decent life. They all grabbed for what they could, as the world around them began to collapse. In just a few weeks those that had retained their wealth hid away in the outskirts of the cities. The middle class areas turned to slums, and the slums became a no man's land.

It was in this world that Kagome grew up in. The memories of her happy pre-pulse childhood faded and turned to nothingness, and a life of hardship followed.

Soon after the pulse, her family was forced to sell the shrine. Her grandfather never recovered from the loss, and slowly wasted away until his death two years later.

Shortly after his death, a startling piece of news became known. It appeared the government had been funding genetic experiments for upwards of 25 years, and had created a new type of human. If you could call them that.

Their creators called them Demons. Human DNA had been spliced with animal DNA, creating crosses with varying results. Some looked almost entirely like their animal counterparts though capable of speech and thought. Others were humanoid, bearing little or no likeliness to their animal roots.

However it wasn't the fact that the government had created demons that made the front page. It was that nearly half of them had escaped from the 'secret laboratory' they had been kept in.

Barely a month after this startling news was broadcasted, something else became known to the public. It appeared that the project, now known as Senjoudai had announced that in order to capture the escaped demons, all humans who had showed any signs of having the pure powers a true priest or priestess would possess, were to be turned in to Senjoudai.

For as it was told, demons gave off a specific type of energy, called 'youki'. This energy could be traced, given the proper equipment. However those who possessed strong powers of purity could negate this energy. And so men and women alike who had shown any sort of adeptness to the art were registered by the government, and kept in special camps so that they could not interfere with the search.

While this may seem extreme to some, to the 99.7 percent of the population that was ungifted with these holy powers, it was a perfect solution to guarantee them safety. Mass support was given to this motion, those that possessed 'The Gift' seen as no better than the demons themselves.

Despite this, a small number of Gifted had escaped The Registration, and it was these few that were so highly sought by both sides. Senjoudai desired to eliminate them so that they would no longer interfere with the hunt, while the few demons that remained free searched for them with protection in mind. Living with a person of the holy arts gave them almost guaranteed safety.

People like the Higurashi family crept down and hid in the slums, where they hoped they could slip through the cracks and avoid detection. Power had been in the Higurashi blood for centuries. Though it sometimes skipped a generation, as it had to Kagome's mother, her daughter showed signs The Gift.

This knowledge was kept from both Kagome and her brother, Souta. And for the most part the two lived fairly normal lives for those in their situation.

By the time Kagome was 15, her mother had died. Ever since her father's death when she was 5, her mother had been slowly wasting away. The post-pulse conditions too much for her fragile heart. Souta had run away when he found her body. She hadn't heard from him since. And so Kagome was left alone.

Three years later, in the year 2020 our story begins.

>>>Tokyo, Japan

"Higurashi! Your next load is up!"

"Coming!"

Closing the old magazine she'd been reading, Kagome stood up and headed over to where Hojo, her boss, stood with the pile of packages she was supposed to deliver.

"Where to?" She asked, taking the parcels and shoving them into the dirty backpack she wore.

"Sector 8." Was Hojo's quick reply. "If you're worried Higurashi, I could always accompany you to deliver them." He hinted. It was a well-known fact that her boss was interested in her. While Kagome didn't return the feelings in the slightest, she tried her best to keep on Hojo's good side so that she could keep her job.

"Ah. No thank you. I think I'll be fine." Kagome replied, brushing her shoulder length black hair behind her ear as she turned to grab her bike.

Ah, her bike. It certainly wasn't anything special, but it had taken half of the small amount of money her mom had left when she died to buy it. Without the bike, Kagome would be out of a job and on the streets in no time.

As Kagome rode out of the entrance to 'As Fast Delivery Service', her place of employment located in Sector 5, she prepped herself for the long ride to her first stop.

Grumbling under her breath, she wondered what she'd done to deserve this. Delivering anything more than one sector away was a serious pain due to the long lines to get through checkpoints. Her status as a delivery person gave her a pass to get through the checkpoints without too much hassle, but that only kicked in when she was within shouting distance of the guards.

One hour and three sectors later, she reached her first stop. Pulling the package out, which was addressed to a 'Sango' something or other. Double-checking the address as she walked her bike up to the door, Kagome gave the place a once-over.

It wasn't too bad looking considering Sector 8 was one of the worst places to live. Sure two of the windows were boarded up, and the door didn't fit on quite right. But overall it was a pretty nice place, attached to 8 other units that looked just like it. And it had 2 stories! A rare thing in a world dominated by apartments. Ringing the doorbell, Kagome stood somewhat impatiently waiting for somebody to answer.

"Hello?" She wasn't disappointed as after about 10 seconds the door opened to reveal a girl a year or two older than herself, with long black hair tied up in a high ponytail.

"As Fast Delivery Messenger." Kagome recited, holding out a pen and a clipboard with a form for Sango to sign.

"Oh." Sango replied. Looking a little surprised as she took the proffered pen and signed her name.

'Guess she doesn't get packages too often.' Kagome thought, as she waited somewhat impatiently for Sango to finish writing. There were two types of customers that Kagome dealt with on a regular basis. The ones that got packages daily would sign quickly, and slam the door in her face. The others would stare at the proffered sheet of paper in confusion until the teen pointed to the line they needed to attack with the attached pen. Once the older girl was finished, Kagome put the clipboard back in her backpack, and gave Sango the package.

"Have a nice day!" She called in a bored voice as she climbed back on her bike and started to ride off to her next stop.

"Sure thing." Sango muttered as she ripped the cheap brown paper off the parcel, curiosity clearly displayed on her face.

As the last of the wrapping fell away, a small black box was revealed. Pulling the lid off, a small necklace lay on top of the black velvet lining. It wasn't anything fancy, just a basic dog chain commonly seen in the military. However, it obviously meant something to Sango, because after staring at it for a minute she said the only word that could describe what she was feeling.

"Shit."

>>>

'Ugh. Glad that's over with.' Kagome thought as she peddled down some of the dirtier streets in Sector 8. Noticing her surroundings she sped up a bit. 'Sector 5 can't really be classified as nice, but it's sure better than this place.'

Then, from an alley just to the right of her, she heard a shout. Always the curious one, Kagome felt the irresistible urge to investigate. 'Ok, just take one look to make sure nobody's in trouble, then I'm on my way.' The dark haired girl told herself, pushing that pesky half of her brain that told her she should bike as hard as she could in the opposite direction. There would be no heroics involved, just a quick peek and then she would be back on her way.

The scene that lay before her certainly was not what she was expecting. A group of men in black military uniforms were chasing a white-haired man who could only be a few years older then Kagome.

Kagome stayed frozen, one foot resting on the ground as she balanced her bicycle. As they came closer, the features of the man being chased became clearer. His hair was more silver than a white, and his eyes were a startling shade of yellow. The most shocking thing about him however, was the two dog-like ears perched on his head. All of these traits lead to one conclusion:

"A Demon." Kagome whispered. She had never seen one outside of a television screen. It quickly became apparent that the camera did not do the renegades justice. Though he was running very quickly, he did not appear to be winded. There was also a certain grace to him, the way his muscles moved and the determined set in his eyes were definitely not human.

The demon saw that Kagome was in the way of his escape and narrowed his eyes. It then occurred to the young delivery girl that she was in the way and should get out of it NOW, but it was too late. He was too close and would use the claws she knew all demons possessed to clear his path.

Her estimation proved to be false, when the demon was only within a metre or two he smirked and jumped clear over her head, landing well behind the shocked girl.

The soldiers raised their guns and prepared to fire, only to see that in her shock Kagome had not moved and inch and was blocking not only the exit to the alleyway, but their shot on Inuyasha.

"Move!" The closest gun-wielding maniac shouted, adjusting his firearm so that it was level with his eye and allowing for the best shot. Only there was a civilian in the way.

One of the other soldiers had the sense to move forward and shove Kagome out of the way. Sneering at her in disgust he turned to his men. "We lost him." He spat, giving Kagome and the empty street behind her one final glare before walking back through the alley, his men silently marching behind him.

A full minute later, Kagome finally came to her senses.

"Oh."

>>>

Sango hung up the phone with a sigh.

"Now all I have to do is wait." She muttered, turning towards the ugly brown coffee table behind her. On top of it sat a small black box, a bit larger than the type used to hold jewellery. Next to the box lay a military necklace, the cause of her current dilemma.

Before the ponytailed girl could brood on the matter, a loud knock resounded through the townhouse. Turning on her heels she crossed the room in a few brisk strides and pulled the dingy door open to reveal an old friend.

"Inuyasha, that was fast." She commented, stepping aside to let the demon pass.

"I had motivation." Was the silver-haired man's response as he surveyed the room. Turning back to his host he cocked one eyebrow added, "I don't see anybody dying on the couch, and Miroku isn't here. That rules out the usual emergencies, so what happened?"

Snorting as she shut the door and moved towards the coffee table, Sango decided that the best answer would be no answer at all, at least verbally. Inuyasha followed her line of sight to the box and crossed the room in a few quick strides.

Picking up the dog chain he read the engraved name and gave it a sniff. "Shit."

"That's what I said." Sango muttered darkly. "Was delivered about 2 minutes before I called you. We have to figure out what to do fast."

"No kidding." Inuyasha exclaimed sarcastically, turning back to his companion. "They obviously not only know our location, they have Shippo now too. My question is why send us a warning?"

"The way I look at it, it's a challenge." Sango replied. "I didn't want to get anybody else until your nose could verify if that's really his. I think they want us to come for him."

"They expect us to walk right into a trap?" Inuyasha grimaced. "How stupid do they think we are? There's no way we're going to let the brat stay with them for any longer than necessary but we shouldn't move too fast."

The two stood in silence for a moment before Sango decided to speak again. Weighing her words carefully she voiced her thoughts.

"I think they don't know as much as we're giving them credit for. They probably got Shippo at school, he always a bit too showy to blend in properly. And somehow that led them to my address. They're probably hoping that I'll either lead them to you, or that we'll panic and make a mistake in the rush." The brown-eyed girl finished.

Inuyasha took a few seconds to digest this information. "Hmm…not bad. Alright, so assuming you're right, we should call the perv and fill him in. You should probably get out of here in case it's being watched. In the meantime we need to figure out where the brat is being held."

"What are you planning?" Sango questioned, confused.

"Let's start with what we know." The dog demon replied, picking up the wrapping the box came in. "As Fast delivery, huh?"

>>>

"Buyo, I'm home!" The raven-haired girl shouted, shutting the door to her small apartment. With only two rooms it really wasn't much. But it was home.

Kicking her shoes off and tossing her bag on the table, Kagome fell into bed, exhausted.

As tired as she was, her mind kept playing the events of the afternoon over in her head. Being a curious person by nature, she had many unanswered questions. It was obvious that the demon had been on the run, the question was what was he doing in town? As far as she knew all of the transgenics had fled long ago, spreading out to avoid detection.

'Then again,' she supposed, 'they could have just made it look like they left, so that attention would leave this area. Or maybe he had a motive for being here. He might even have come back to visit a dying relative.'

Kagome snorted at that. 'Yeah, or he was trying to explain to the sector police that the Hokey Pokey really IS what it's all about and they didn't buy it.'

Laughing to herself, the young girl stood up and went over to her "kitchen corner" where she rummaged through the fridge in search of edible food for herself and Buyo, her rather obese cat.

Sensing incoming food, said cat waddled over and sat on the floor next to Kagome's feet, determined to trip her every step she took that delayed his dinner.

"Buyo, I need to stop thinking about this. It's not like I'll ever see or hear about it again." Kagome announced, getting some cheap cat food out of the cupboard.

>>>

The next day found Kagome once again on her way to work. As Fast was as busy as ever. The young girl barely had enough time to put her bag in her locker before several packages were pushed into her arms. Two of them with 'Rush Order' stamped in red on the corner.

It seemed that Tuesday, the first of May was Kagome's lucky day, because every last one was in the same district as 'As Fast', an almost unheard of phenomenon. Mounting her bike, she set off, winding her way through the traffic.

Roughly two hours and four deliveries later, the day had been going very smooth indeed. Nothing as noteworthy as the events of the previous day occurred. 'Except for that man with the iguana. I didn't know you could do that with your clothing.' She thought with a shudder, trying to keep the scarring memories at bay. It was time to return to "Headquarters", as her co-workers had dubbed it, so that she could get her next load.

As she rounded the last corner she noticed an odd couple talking to each other out of the corner of her eye. A woman with long black hair pulled into a high ponytail talking to a man half hidden in the shadows created by the alleyway they were next to. Though she couldn't see his face, she felt his gaze as she dismounted and walked inside As Fast Headquarters.

>>>

"So that's her?" Inuyasha questioned, adjusting his baseball hat and making sure the sun had not snuck up on him in the past 5 minutes.

"Yeah. I don't think this is going to get us anywhere Inuyasha. You know how those places work; it's like a factory. They just toss out packages to whoever is nearest and keep the assembly line going." Sango answered, discreetly looking around for anybody suspicious.

"Well since Miroku swears that company has no computer database to hack we have to go in and check the records ourselves and see who sent us that package." Inuyasha explained, leaning against the wall as nonchalantly as possible.

"WHAT? I thought you just wanted to see who delivered it!" Hissed Sango, mindful not to draw attention to the duo. "Besides it's too risky for any of us to break in and look!"

"Exactly. Somebody on the inside." Inuyasha replied calmly, watching as Kagome emerged from the building, her backpack once again overflowing with things to deliver. Once she rounded the corner he pushed himself off the wall and got on his motorcycle. "This might take a while, go back to Miroku's and see if the leech came up with anything."

"I have a bad feeling about this." Sango muttered, watching as the demon revved his engine and went after the young employee.

>>>

Kagome's spidey-sense was tingling.

Or at least the equivalent thereof. Though she could never explain how, she had always possessed a 6th sense of a sort. And right now that sense was telling her that somebody was watching her. And had been for the past 5 blocks.

"Stupid stalkers." She growled, looking over her shoulder as discreetly as possible.

'Hmm…taxi, drug deal in progress, couple making out on corner…' The girl mentally checked, not seeing anybody she had spotted in her last over the shoulder check a few blocks back. 'Aha, guy on motorcycle.' She smiled, and then frowned. Her senses told her that this was the person that had been causing that tingly sensation on the back of her neck. Now that she had identified the creep she wasn't sure what to do.

Kagome had never claimed to be the sharpest cookie cutter in the drawer, so when she decided that the simplest course of action would be to stop and see if the man came up to her, only a tiny alarm bell of common sense went off. Her curiosity had once again won the battle.

Her 'stalker' pulled up next to her bike, both just to the side of the road so that oncoming traffic wouldn't maul them to a pulp. Inuyasha got off his motorcycle with grace Kagome would not have believed possible. Taking in his sunglasses and baseball hat, his silver hair pulled back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck, her eyes widened in recognition.

"Shit." She whispered her voice nearly lost to that of the traffic.

"Well if that isn't the word of the day." The demon replied with a smirk.