Chapter 2 – Hiding From the Enemy

Inuyasha strode into the building, taking a swig out of the polystyrene cup. Coffee is coffee is coffee in the mornings, but somehow this crap tasted like dirty dishwater. It was an interesting achievement, but strangely enough this didn't help to lighten his mood after being robbed of his morning elixir.

Inuyasha Takahashi was a police officer. He was twenty years old, having graduated early because of his demon nature – he had needed little to no physical training, a requirement for human officers.

And today was a bad day. The sky was grey, it was cold, and he had been deprived his early morning cup of coffee.

So therefore he was entirely ungracious when Miroku approached him.

"Hey Yasha," the cop said, leaning on his desk. "How's things?"

Inuyasha sent him a black glower and turned back to his computer.

"Wow, you're in a good mood," Miroku quipped.

Inuyasha growled low in his throat. "Bite me."

"Sorry dude, I don't bat for that team," Miroku grinned, and then ducked as Inuyasha chucked the polystyrene cup at him. "Hey! That could be really dangerous!"

"Feh. That shit's only lukewarm. It wouldn't bring a butterfly down," Inuyasha stated, leaning back and crossing his arms.

"Takahashi! Yanatsu! This is urgent!" Sango called. She was standing at the door, brandishing a file, looking completely harried, stressed, and, most of all, irritated.

"Why don't you go ahead, Inuyasha?" Miroku suggested innocently. "I'll be right along."

Inuyasha shot him a glance. "What did you do this time?"

"Miroku! Get your perfectly formed arse over here before I end up drop-kicking you out of the building!"

Miroku gave Inuyasha a sheepish grin. "I forgot her little brother's birthday."

Inuyasha whistled through his teeth. "Nice move, idiot."

They approached to where Sango was standing, tapping her foot impatiently. "It's about time," she said crisply, pulling out a sheaf of paper from the brown cover. "There was a disturbance in Sakura apartment building last night. Apartment 7M. Witnesses reported some screaming, a loud cracking sound, and a window breaking. The ceiling partially collapsed, causing the above tenants having to evict the building. A police car was called out." She pulled a glossy sheet from the pile. "Take a look," she said grimly, handing it to them.

Inuyasha pulled in a sharp breath, and Miroku closed his eyes in consternation.

The apartment was a mess. Shattered bricks and glass littered the floor, coating it in a ruddy carpet. The paint was cracked, and the ceiling was sagging.

But that wasn't the worst of it.

The worst was a pool of viscous red liquid, moistening the dust, turning it into soggy clumps. The liquid was leading directly away from a huddled shape against the wall. Multiple cuts scarred the skin where the bone had physically broken though. The face was almost unrecognisable. A dark purple bruise stained it along the cheekbone, and the eyes were half-closed, lidded. The hair was clumped where the scarlet liquid had seeped into the matted mass.

Blood. Blood was staining the entire room.

"Horrible, isn't it?" Sango said quietly, her tone more subdued than normal. She then cleared her throat, attempting to get back to business. "The two tenants in this apartment are a Kikyo and Kagome Higurashi."

"Which one…?" Inuyasha asked hesitantly. He didn't need to finish the sentence.

"Kikyo," Sango supplied. "Kagome – her younger sister – is missing."

"You think she did it? You think she killed her sister?" Miroku asked, swallowing heavily, his skin taking on a sickly colour.

Sango shook her head. "We're not sure, but I doubt it. Our sources tell us that they are – were – both very prominent mikos. Although they were well matched in terms of strength, Kikyo would undoubtedly come out on top of any fight with her younger sister."

"Unless she was caught off guard," Inuyasha suggested.

Again, Sango shook her head. "It's a good theory, but there's one thing you didn't enter into the equation." And she once again reached into her pile of papers, drawing out a single sheet. "Naraku."

Inuyasha snarled, the sound low in his throat.

"Kikyo was involved with him. We were keeping tabs on him, and, lo and behold, the same night his girlfriend is violently killed, he disappears."

"You think he did this?" Miroku asked, gesturing towards the sheet. He didn't mean Kikyo's death; he was talking about the absolute carnage that the tiny apartment had been left in.

No, Inuyasha thought, frowning. Naraku was a piece of work, but this wasn't the kind of thing he usually went for. Stealth, secrecy, and no evidence. This looked more of the kind of thing that would be produced by a large and intensely violent outburst. Probably the girl.

Sango frowned. "No; I think this was Kagome." She said, echoing Inuyasha's resolve.

The two looked sceptical. She sighed, and indicated a set of chairs. Once she had taken her place, she rubbed at her temples wearily. "It's not hard to piece together the events of the evening. Kikyo comes home. Naraku follows her. He attacks the pair of them. Kikyo defends her sister, and in the process gets slammed into the wall, explaining all the broken bones and cuts over her skin. Kagome lashes out at Naraku with her power, explaining the ceiling, broken window etc, and makes a run for it. And now she's hiding."

It made sense.

"What do you want us for?" Inuyasha asked. "You must have plenty of people on this thing already."

"You're a half-demon, Inuyasha," Sango told him bluntly. "We need to find Kagome before anything else happens. Bring her back here for questioning, if nothing else. But if I'm right about what happened last night, Naraku will be after her. You can sniff her out better than a human officer."

"Why not get Koga to 'sniff her out'?" Inuyasha asked, using air quotations.

"He's completely wrong for this kind of thing," Sango told him. "He would find her, and then try to flirt with her. I can trust you not to try that."

"Maybe you can trust me, but what about the pervert?" Inuyasha deadpanned, jerking his thumb to indicate said lecher.

Sango's eyes practically flashed fire. "He won't… if he knows what's good for him," she threatened in a low tone.

Miroku swallowed. "Of course not, my dear," he agreed hastily.

Sango flashed him a bright smile. "You see, Inuyasha? I can trust Miroku completely," she said sweetly.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, and grabbed his fellow officer by his collar. "Where are we starting?" he asked.

Sango reached, once again, into the manila folder, and pulled out a square of material in a plastic bag. She passed it to Inuyasha, paying absolutely no mind to the fact that he was practically throttling her boyfriend.

"This is a square of her clothing," she said. "It has Kagome's scent on it. Start at the apartment building, and see if you can follow to where she ran to."

"What am I, a dog?" Inuyasha huffed.

"Nope. Dog demon," Sango corrected.

"Why do I need him along?" Inuyasha asked, shaking Miroku by the collar.

Miroku clawed at Inuyasha's hand. "Oxygen… must have… air…" he gargled.

With a sigh, Inuyasha released his partner.

"For three reasons," Sango said. "One: he's your partner. Two: he's a monk, and he might be able to track her spiritual power. And three: he's backup, just in case."

"Just in case of what?" Miroku asked half heartedly, though he already knew the answer.

Naraku was the most ruthless criminal on record. They knew that he had been in for murder, theft, drug dealing, rape, manslaughter, GBH and loads more, and they also knew that he was guilty. But he was very, very good at his job. He always made sure there were no witnesses.

"Inuyasha, I can't find her trace," Miroku said, frustrated, running an irate hand through his dark hair. "Please tell me you've had better luck."

"Shut up, 'Roku," Inuyasha muttered, bending low to the ground.

"You look like a dog," Miroku observed, as Inuyasha sniffed the ground.

Inuyasha growled at him. "Shut your trap. We have a job to do."

Miroku rolled his eyes, and squatted beside Inuyasha.

"Realistically, Yasha," he said quietly, "How good do you really think the chances are of finding the girl alive?"

"What you talkin' about?" Inuyasha muttered.

"Think about it," Miroku continued. "She is the only witness there has ever been for a crime of Naraku's. Do you really think he'd let her live?"

Inuyasha's blood went cold.

"No," he said distractedly. "We haven't found a body, and her scent doesn't smell dead."

"That scent is from ten hours ago," Miroku said simply. "She was alive when she ran from the scene. She may be dead now."

Inuyasha shook his head, raising his head to meet Miroku's gaze. "Naraku would want an example made of her. We would have found her horribly mutilated corpse by now, if that were the case."

Miroku fell silent, biting his lip.

Inuyasha continued scouring the ground, sniffing.

There!

"This way, Miroku!" he barked at the surprised police officer. "I found it!"

Kagome was crouched in an alley, behind a set of dustbins. She was still in her night clothes. A pair of short shorts, and a tank top which stopped above her belly button. She was cold, but was afraid to move.

She had hidden where she had hidden, not because she liked it, but because she hoped it would mask her scent well enough that he wouldn't be able to find her.

She didn't hope much. He would kill her anyway.

She closed her hand around the glowing pink orb. Kikyo had thrown it to her. Just before…

It didn't look like much. It was a pure rosy colour, and round, and it glowed slightly. But it was just a jewel. Amethyst, emerald, sapphire, they were all the same. What was so important about this one? Important enough that Kikyo had been… for it.

Then she heard voices.

She crouched down lower in her hiding place, curling into the fetal position, and clasping the jewel close to her chest.

Kikyo had paid for this thing with her life. She was not going to let Naraku get it.

"Inuyasha, I doubt the girl's first instinct would have been to hide in a dark and smelly alley."

"Would you use your head, monk?! She's had miko training. If she kept her wits about her, this would be the first place she ran! Hiding her scent!"

"And yet you can smell her just fine."

"I could; I can't now. So I'm using my head. Something I doubt Naraku's lackeys would do."

Naraku's lackeys? Kagome thought. So… they aren't with him?

She closed her eyes, concentrating on what Kikyo had taught her.

Two men… a half demon, a monk… police officers… one dark, one silver… looking… searching…

Searching for her.

She opened her eyes. They were police. It was good enough.

She raised her voice.

"I'm over here!" she cried.

In a second, the half demon had swept away the bins, to reveal her, crouched and dirty, cradling something close to her chest.

Kagome Higurashi.

With a cry, she began to sob.

"Kikyo," she cried. "She's dead; he killed her, and now…"

"Ssh," Inuyasha soothed, taking off his jacket and covering the girl with it. "Ssh, it's ok; you're safe now."

"No," she choked. "No… he's coming for me."

"Miroku," Inuyasha said in an undertone. "Call Sango, tell her to send a car for us. No ambulance; get a doctor to the station. Someone we can trust. We have to hide her."

He turned back to the sobbing girl. "It's ok," he soothed. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Ka-Kagome," she hiccupped. "Kagome Higurashi."

"Ok. Well, Kagome, we're here to look after you. But you have to trust me, ok?"

She nodded, tears still in her eyes. "I know I can trust you."

"Oh?" his ears twitched in surprise. "How d'you know?"

"I'm a miko," she said, with an air of confidence, ruined slightly by her hiccuping. "I would be able to feel if there was something wrong about you by now, if you were bad."

"How old are you?" Inuyasha asked.

"Eighteen." He blinked. An adult. "What about you?"

"I'm twenty," he said.

"What's your name?"

"Inuyasha Takahashi."

"And you're a police officer?"

"Yes," he said. "How come you're so clear?" he blurted.

she shrugged, biting her lip. "Kikyo always taught me to…" her voice tailed away.

He nodded in understanding. "Ok, Kagome, can you stand?"

She nodded. He took her hand and helped her up, grabbing her shoulders as she swayed slightly.

"Inuyasha, the car's here!" Miroku called from the mouth of the alley.

"We're going to the station," he told her. "You'll be safe there."

She nodded.

And broke, once more, into tears.