Disclaimer: INUYASHA © Rumiko Takahashi
Warning: Violence. Language. Triggers.
Summary: A babysitting gig quickly turns sour for Kagome when a stranger calls and turns what should've been a quiet night into one of terror and mind-games. AU.
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"Only you are the life among the dead."
—Bring Me To Life, Evanescence
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1 Recruiting
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Edo Period, Japan
Alighting upon bone withered earth, the ethereal glow faded as though consumed by shadow. Time and again, every trip was none like the last but Kagome liked it. She felt along the walls, fingers curling over vines and dead leaves. She pulled herself up. Once reaching the mouth of the well, she spared a glance across the forest grounds. Usually she's find the group trekking along the path. Maybe they were waiting at Kaede's hut.
Something about the woods felt odd, then again, every time she set foot in it nothing was quite the same. A clearing opened up ahead and she shivered. The atmosphere pressed against her like hands. The a malignant energy thickened the air. Also, a distinct unmistakable pulse.
"It's close… Too close." The faint synergy of a fractured Shikon no Tama thrummed like a heart beat.
She turned back at a presence now towering over.
A giant, emerald-skinned beast loomed. Dual horns stuck out from his scalp. Large, yellowed fangs protruded an overbite. Glints of lilac shards ebbed from both its beefy arms. It aimed a gnarled, black claw at her. "You possess Shikon-no-tama. Give it!" Most of his demand caught on a lisp, he sounded like a snake, just as vile.
All too soon he'd reached her, close enough for the stench of decay and moss enough to make her gag.
Of all her years spent in the Fuedal Era, she should've gotten used to the changes. That's the problem with time travel, adjusting is never easy when nothing is ever fixed.
She pinched her nose and steadied her footing. Keeping back a good distance.
It tracked her with bulging pale eyes, a large slimy tongue slid across cracked lips, "Human girl, I'll tear you apart." He snapped large, over grown rotten teeth.
Kagome reached over her shoulder reflexively for the bow and set of arrows. Her fingers grasped at air. Why hadn't she packed her archery weapons? Too late for regrets. She ducked and rolled out the way just as a club came crashing down.
The ground trembled and sprayed dirt. Her ears rang from the crash. She backed toward the cradle of the woods.
Surprisingly enough, he was light on his feet despite his size. He shouted and turned. Those bright inhuman yellow eyes glinted with excitement and frenzy.
She clenched her hands, leaving half-moon incisions into her palms. No, don't panic. This was just another Tuesday. Had she been armed, this would've been the least of her problem. Now, her chances at survival were cut by half.
"Tasty girly, come over here." Her assailant curled his lips into a wide, chilling smile that turned her stomach to knots.
Where were Inuyasha or everyone else for that matter? No, she couldn't wait for rescue. She shook her head, reaching for the tiny glass jar of fragments hanging from her neck by a slender cord she snapped it off. Survival over power.
"Take it!" With all her might, she hurled the object and spun on her heel. She took off back in the direction in which she came.
Sharp cries tore through the forest, rattling the birds into a panicked flight she stopped dead on her tracks, listened.
Silence. Then, bones snapped, a dull thud, coming from the copse of trees. Whatever struck that monster down showed no mercy. Not that the beast was deserving of it if humans were its preferred diet. And then a sudden thought clawed into her head, what if the thing that cut down the giant had done so because it wanted the jewels she'd just tossed? What if it came after her? What if it was more vicious? A cold sweat coated her skin, made the fabric of her uniform cling to her.
The leaves and foliage rustled, Kagome scrambled around for a rock, a thick branch, anything to defend herself.
"You never learn, do you?" Inuyasha's familiar voice sliced through her panic, his bare feet kicked up disturbed earth, she hesitated then managed a smile. It was short lived, his scowl pierced her, she steeled herself. "Thanks, I thought I was done for." She forced a chuckle, met his gaze.
His sharp golden eyes narrowed slightly, he held up the small jar she'd thrown. Moonlight shimmered along his silvered hair, the robes of his tradional garb fell silent around his stealth-like movement. "Tch- you're a walking beacon with this, don't you value your life enough to—"
"Did you collect the shards in his arms?" She cut him off, inclined to maintain on track for both aspects of her unordinary life.
"There's more?" He quirked a dark brow and threw a glance back. On his belt, the tradional and equally distinct Tetsusaiga held in place. It's blade tasting carnage and destruction with every draw.
She exhaled a rushed breath, "Yeah, upper arms." Averting her gaze she rested her spine against an uprooted tree.
"You're still standing. Good enough for me." He gave his back to her, his hair bright as a dime where the light hit it. His claret robes moved with him like a cloak of night. He was gone a moment, then he returned and held his closed fist out.
"You got them?" She cupped her hands under his in open acceptance.
"Unless there were more."
"Those were the only ones I'd seen, thanks." She refused to meet his eyes, his free hand rested on her shoulder, the other covered over her hands that held the shards.
Inuyasha exhaled a slow breath, as if he were trying to find a calm he couldn't feel, "Don't ever scare me like that."
She blinked unsure if she'd heard those whispered words correctly. "Sorry." The silence between them festered like a feeding leech, but she pulled back and slid the jar into her pocket, now, straight to business, "Come with me, there's something I need your help with." She continued despite his hardened features, "I know, I know it's been a while but it's only one day, just one."
He must have gathered from the lack of preparation on her part. And the direction she'd came from. "Alright—what am I signing up for?"
"I'm sitting for the neighbors, mom is worried about my safety."
"So, I'm to be your body guard." It wasn't a question.
Kagome nodded, "You kinda already are."
The group would have to put off their journey for a little while longer. One day wouldn't make much of difference. Right?
They headed back to the well, Kagome pulled out the cap from her messenger bag. "Try to keep this on, if the kids ask anyth—"
He tugged the baseball hat over his head, concealing his dog ears. "You don't have to tell me." There was the usual bite in his tone and the scowl darkening his features.
"All will be fine, just one night OK?"
He gestured she continue ahead.
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A/N: I had to rewrite this as the previous version was overly long and driveling. Let me know what you think. I'm going to rewrite the entire "draft" and post as I go. Thanks for reading, and those who already have read, well, there will be changes to the story you know so, stick around. :)