Residual

Thirteen Years Ago

Kagome chewed on her pencil absently at the kitchen table, not really thinking about the homework sitting in front of her, instead enjoying the way the sun cast leafy shadows across her paper through the window. She didn't find her very first seventh-grade assignment difficult, just boring, and it was hard to concentrate when it was such a beautiful late summer afternoon.

Muffled voices from upstairs wandered into her reverie, and she pulled herself out of her daydreams when she realized they were both male. No one had come into the house as far as she knew (and she would know, since from her seat in the kitchen, she could see through the doorway to the living room and front door, and the back door was in the kitchen itself). One of the voices belonged to her father; the other she had never heard before. She couldn't discern what they were saying, but the second voice had a gravely quality to it that set her teeth on edge.

Slowly, she put her pencil down and snuck quietly up the stairs to investigate. It wasn't hard, with the house as new as it was. The pale blond wood was laid over with fresh, pale blue carpet that was thick and a delight to sink her toes into. It also muffled any sound she might have accidentally made.

Her parents' bedroom was at the right end of the hall, and as she crept closer, she could better make out what the voices were saying.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea," Kagome heard her father say. She was finally at the door, which was barely ajar. Her father was mostly faced away from her, but she could see the strange man he was speaking to quite clearly. She nearly pulled away from the door when she saw that he was facing her, before realizing that he was completely focused on her father.

"Keh," the man— or creature— Kagome wasn't sure, replied. He flicked a few strands of long silvery hair over his shoulder with a clawed finger. "You've been waffling about this forever. You should know by now that no one understands you. They all tell you to suck it up and get over it. Everyone feels sad sometimes. You know what they're saying."

Kagome's father sighed resignedly. "Yes, I do." His voice was flat, utterly lacking emotion anymore.

"Then you'll take this now, won't you? You want peace, take it for yourself." The man's yellow eyes flashed as he handed something to her father. He put whatever it was into his mouth and swallowed. He stood a few seconds longer, then stumbled and turned. He caught Kagome's gaze through the door.

Kagome stood, frozen in shock for a moment, and thought she heard him mutter something that sounded like, "No," or perhaps, "Go." Her eyes slid momentarily from her father to the man standing still as a statue behind him. He held her gaze for a moment before one pointed ear atop his head twitched, and he turned on his heel, moving out of her line of sight so fast she thought he simply vanished.

Her father convulsed on the floor. She pushed open the door as fast as she could then, rushing to his side and turning him over. His eyes were glazing over, and foamy spittle started running from the corner of his mouth.

"Dad!" Kagome cried, shaking him. "Dad!" She looked around for the strange man, but the room was empty. Shaking, she stood up and sprinted for the stairs, careening down them and out the back door.

"Mom!" She yelled frantically. "Mom!" Her mother came around a bush, looking worried, covered in dirt from working in the garden.

"What is it, Kaggie?"

"It's Dad! I think he— I don't know, something happened to him!" Tears welled up in her eyes now. "He was fine, and then he fell down, and—I couldn't wake him up—"

Her mother's eyes widened, and she took off for the house, Kagome trailing behind.

…

Kagome barely understood the whirlwind of ambulances and police and hospitals that happened shortly thereafter. The doctors pronounced him dead, confirming that he had died from poison ingested a few hours before. Everyone believed it was suicide.

At first, Kagome had tried to tell the detective she talked to about the man she'd seen in her father's room. He had listened intently until she described what the man looked like, and when she got to the part about his dog-like ears, the detective stopped writing. He looked at her with sympathetic blue eyes before telling her that sometimes people remember things wrong when terrible things happen. He said he would look into whether someone else was there, but that if her description was right, it was more likely that her mind had invented the man to help her deal with the situation.

She was crestfallen, convinced that the strange, silver-haired man had been in the room. The image was so vivid, it seemed impossible that he hadn't been real.

Her mother was inconsolable as she sat hugging Kagome to her chest in the hospital waiting room. Kagome herself felt oddly blank, not yet being able to process the giant father-shaped hole in her heart.

A/N: I hope you all enjoy this new story. I know this is a pretty dark way to open it (the story will continue to be pretty dark)… I'm thinking it won't be a very long story, though there will be multiple parts. This is actually going to be heavily based on a dream I had, which I don't want to move too much outside of (it was a really fascinating dream), so that will curtail the length somewhat. I won't tell you anything about the dream though, cause that will spoil the plot and premise. :) Also, despite the darkness, there will be some brighter bits (and InuKag romance, but probably not in the way you're expecting), I promise! Reviews are much appreciated, and I always respond!

-ebj