Summary: AU. Anthropologist Kagome specializes in ghost towns. When she learns from a stranger that there's a ghost town nearby, she immediately goes to investigate the deserted town. But what happens when that town isn't as deserted as she thinks?

A/N: whoa! Thank you everyone who has reviewed/followed/favorited so far! I'm so happy that you liked part 1, so I was inspired to write part 2 :) don't forget to leave a review *hint hint*


Ghost Town

Part 2


Kagome stared in horror as the blanket began to slip off the body. The head of silver hair shook as it lifted up from the couch, sending dust flying in frantic swirls, and—

Whoa.

Whoa.

Kagome's crisp blue eyes stared into amber ones; amber eyes so intense that her knees turned to honey and she nearly stumbled over. The face that stared angrily at her was ruggedly handsome; the long silver hair that framed his face almost distracted her enough to not notice the triangular ears sticking out on top of his head— almost.

"What… what are you?" Kagome whispered, slowly backing up under the scrutinizing stare of the— demon? No, he didn't look like one. Human? Definitely no. Half-demon, perhaps? She decided to call him a half-demon for now — half-demon in front of her.

"I should ask you the same thing," he growled. His eyes narrowed into slits, the dog ears twitched on top of his head, and he took a quick sniff. "What are you doing here, and why are you here?"

"I… I'm just… passing by—"

"Don't even think about lying. I can smell it if you do," the half-demon in front of her warned. He took a step forward, and Kagome scuffled back.

Kagome licked her lips nervously. "I'm an anthropologist," she started to say. Her voice wavered and she fisted her hands by her side; no way would she show how terrified she was. She almost trailed off at the way his eyes snapped back to her face, but she forced herself to stay calm, stay professional, and say the right things and stay alive. "I'm currently working on a project on ghost towns and other abandoned settlements. I was told that there was one here, so I came to investigate. I didn't realize that there would still be…"

"That there would still be someone here, huh?" the half-demon interrupted. Kagome gave a small nod, and he smirked arrogantly. "Keh. Typical humans."

"Excuse me?"

"Humans. I mean, come on. Who told you about this place, huh?"

"It was… he was… he came up to me last night and told me—"

"And this person— a stranger, I assume— told you about this place and you trusted him? You're such an idiot! What if it had been a trap, huh? You could be dead by now! See, this is what I'm talkin' about. Humans are too trusting, too easily manipulated."

"I am not too trusting," Kagome insisted indignantly. Hearing the half-demon's rant had melted away some of her apprehension, and she was starting to feel normal again. Or, at least, normal enough to be offended by the half-demon's words.

"Sure, sure," he said in a tone that indicated he didn't believe her at all. "And that's obviously why you decided to stay and talk to me instead of runaway when I spoke."

"I was curious!" Kagome defended.

"Curious about what?"

"Well…" Kagome looked around the living room for a second before returning her gaze to the half-demon before her. "About everything, really. Why this place is empty, who Sango was, and why you're in a supposedly deserted town."

The half-demon regarded her suspiciously. His amber eyes narrowed as he scanned her body, presumably looking for weapons or anything of the sort.

"Why do you care?"

That wasn't the question she had been expecting. "I'm an anthropologist," she repeated. "I'm just curious about these things."

The half-demon rolled his eyes and stood up. He was barefoot, wearing a pair of black jeans and a shirt so red, it reminded Kagome of blood. He stretched his arms above his head, revealing a strip of his stomach. Kagome blushed and diverted her gaze; he obviously didn't have to worry about squeezing into clothing that definitely fit last year. He obviously didn't need to watch what he ate, either, Kagome thought jealously.

"You coming, wench?"

"Huh?" Kagome looked up and to her surprise, he was standing in the doorway that separated the kitchen from the living room. He looked at her as if she were stupid, and repeated what he said earlier.

"Going where?"

"You'll see," he said, and disappeared.

His words about being too trusting echoed in her mind as she followed the faint footsteps in the dust. His feet were big, she thought randomly as millions of half-formed sentences whizzed through her mind. Who was this guy? He definitely seemed like a half-demon; he didn't have the markings on his face that distinguished demons from their half-siblings. Where was he taking her? Was she going to die?

"Hurry up, wench! Why are you so slow?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Kagome huffed, picking up her pace.

His footsteps ended back at the front door, and when she looked up, she saw that he had walked out the door, down the steps, and was now waiting for her on the main street. He was standing alone, arms crossed, impatiently tapping his bare feet against the cobblestones. Maybe she shouldn't piss him off, she wondered. She had seen what half-demons were capable of, and she didn't particularly feel like dying a painful death today. Kagome hurried out the door and towards the half-demon.

In the light of the setting sun, his hair seemed to glow like a halo as he continued to wait impatiently. He definitely had a nice body, Kagome thought to herself, blushing a little. When she caught up to him, he started to stride down the road, walking away from the house.

"Where're we going?"

No response.

Kagome followed him in silence. She stared at her surroundings, trying to take in what had happened. She had found a body on a couch. The body was alive, and belonged to this mysterious half-demon. Was he taking her to her execution or something? Kagome was so lost in thought that she didn't notice he had stopped until she ran into him.

"Watch it, wench," he muttered, catching her with a hand around her wrist.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

"I take it you know that this town is called Tessaiga?"

"Of course," she said.

"Hm."

The half-demon was quiet for a few minutes, staring pensively at the store to his left. Kagome followed his gaze and recognized the store she had seen earlier, the one with all the newspaper clippings pasted on the window. The half-demon walked up to the glass and, with his claws, gently traced his finger along the article about Sango defeating Naraku.

"Do you know the feeling when you do something really great, and you expect some sort of recognition for it but everyone just ignores you?"

"Um, not really, no," Kagome said quietly. She had a feeling she knew where this was headed, and she mentally prepared herself.

"Consider yourself lucky, then," the half-demon said with a dark laugh. He gestured to the newspaper article with his claw and said, "I was with them when we brought down Naraku. I did most of the work, actually."

Kagome let out a soft gasp.

"But that was nearly fifty years ago," she managed to say.

"I age slowly," the half-demon said with a shrug. He continued to stare at the newspaper article. Kagome couldn't figure out his expression. Sorrow? Regret? There was definitely a hint of wistfulness, though.

"After we brought him down, I was expecting some kind of triumphant heroic return," he said quietly. All the anger in his voice had disappeared, leaving a strangely emotional tone. "But the rest of the group told me to stay low. They got their interviews, they got their fame and fortune, but me? I got nothing. All because I'm a half-demon."

Kagome stared at the half-demon in shock. He was telling her this? And to think that she thought she wouldn't get out of this town alive. She itched to get her voice recorder, or at least her journal and pen, but decided against it in case the half-demon got offended and stopped talking.

"They told me, 'Inuyasha, we can't bring you with us' because it would ruin their reputations. Working with a half-demon. Ironic, isn't it? That one of the best demon exterminators worked alongside a half-demon? They were afraid that the media would twist me into some blood-thirsty monster who killed his own kind."

Naraku was a half-demon, too, Kagome remembered.

"And so, they left. They moved on to bigger and better things. Big houses, big cars, fancy suits and ball gowns. And me? I just stayed here. I didn't want to reveal myself, because they were my friends and they'd worked so hard to finally have a peaceful life and I didn't want to ruin it with my tainted blood. So I stayed here. And I'm still here."

Blissful silence. Kagome's mind raced, trying to process and store the words the half-demon— Inuyasha, if she heard correctly— was telling her.

"Where did everyone else go? Not your friends, the other townspeople?" she asked timidly.

He let out another humorous laugh. "It's hard to keep secrets from the media, as I'm sure you already know. Word leaked out that they had help from a half-demon, and they were right: their reputations were damaged. But not for long; they denied everything. They called me a mercenary, someone they'd hired to help them because I was known for me merciless methods of murder." He spat out the words venomously, and Kagome could almost feel the anger, the hurt, the sorrow radiating from his body. "Then those words got twisted. I became known as the monster, the murderer, the creature so cruel that I'd kill my own kind. Everyone around here began to fear me. And so they all left."

"Oh," Kagome said, and fell silent too. The pair stood at the window covered with yellow paper for a long time. Each time Kagome tried to say something, the words would die in her throat and nothing would come out.

Poor Inuyasha, she thought. He probably worked hard for a peaceful life too, and yet all he got was heaps of betrayal and hurt.

"And that's it," Inuyasha said, breaking the heavy silence. "I'll stay here until I die. Probably." He turned and looked at Kagome with startling empty eyes. Where had all the emotions gone? Where was the intense anger, the blazing amber eyes she had first seen? All that remained was a dull stare. It reminded her of a wall, as if he was purposefully closing himself off to protect himself from… from what? Rejection? Another betrayal?

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. As she thought through his story again, tears began to well up in her eyes. What a terrible life! She imagined growing up as a half-demon, belonging to neither the human realm nor the demon world. She imagined a young Inuyasha, innocent amber eyes and everything, being scorned and mocked for simply being who he was. He had been fighting for a peaceful life ever since he was born, and yet he allowed his friends to live in peace while he rotted away in this town. A tear dripped down her cheek and fell to the ground with a noise that sliced the thick silence in half.

Inuyasha's ears flicked, and suddenly a little bit of light returned to his eyes. His eyebrows dropped over his eyes, concerned.

"You're crying," he said, stunned.

"No I'm not," Kagome muttered, wiping her sleeve across her eyes hurriedly.

"Yes you are, I'm not that dumb. You are crying. Why are you crying?"

"I… I don't know. It's been a long day, and I feel bad that your friends betrayed you, and I won't even begin to imagine how horrible that must've been—"

"I was fine," Inuyasha interrupted. His face became stoic again, all traces of emotion gone. "I survived on my own. I don't need other people to bother me all the time, anyway. They only get in the way. I'm happier here."

But even as he said it, Kagome could tell he didn't believe it.