Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha… yet.
"…" – speech
'…' – thoughts
- change in scenery, time, or perspective
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Previously, on Lock Down:
{Inuyasha grabbed hold of the ledge just under the window. He quickly pulled himself over the ledge.
And when the android walked around the corner, they saw nothing but an empty ally.
He was safe- for now.}
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Important:
I'm leaving for Italy on the 1st of June, and won't be able to update for about two, or even three weeks! Gomen!.
Situation
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Feb.28.299 NA
New Tokyo, Human Division, Sector 118.
Kagome yawned as she and her tired friends made their way back to their living quarters. Despite having agreed on staying out for only one extra hour, Yuka had somehow conned the others into shopping until the night was almost over. Now, armed with her sole purchase of a thick textbook, the blue-eyed girl trudged through the streets nearing the educational district.
"Almost there, just a bit further," groaned Eri.
Yuka looked up with bleary eyes. "Tell me why we stayed out that late, again?"
The other three threw annoyed glances at her, but then dropped their heads, too tired to keep them up.
"It was your idea, Yuka-chan. Remind me never to listen to you again," declared Ayumi.
Kagome spoke up, "Never listen to Yuka again."
"…What?"
"You said to remind you that… You know what? Never mind. I'm too tired to explain. Figure it out on your own."
Silence fell over the sleepy girls. The student settlements increased around the girls as they walked homewards. They soon passed the scanner android that was always stationed near their living quarters.
Not soon, student settlement 109 came into view, and Eri sighed in relief. "Finally! We're here! Home, oh glorious home!"
"Shut up Eri, I just want to sleep all day long. We are never doing that… ever again," groused Yuka
"I remind you, it was your idea to stay out so late," remarked Kagome dryly. "You have yourself to thank."
The sun rose over the horizon in a brilliant display of colour as Eri pushed into the glass doors leading into the building. They stumbled through the hallways, too tired to properly greet the few housemates and classmates who had bothered to get out of bed so early. The passing students stared at them questioningly, but received no response from the group of girls. They shrugged and continued on their way to an early breakfast.
The three girls left Kagome at a fork in the hallway, headed towards their own rooms on the other side of the settlement. That was one of the things about living as a student of the Government- you couldn't change your room once you chose it, although the four friends had tried.
"Good night, or morning… Whatever, Kagome-chan," said Ayumi, and the others nodded in agreement.
Yuka rubbed her temples. "You guys probably won't see me until tomorrow. I have a horrible headache right now."
Kagome waved and turned down the left fork as her fires took the right one. Her room was one of those located on the outer edge of the building, and was one of the few that had a window. She had been lucky enough to have been transferred into the student settlement earlier than everybody else to have picked her own room. While it sometimes proved a nuisance, letting in sunlight when she wanted to sleep in, the small opening was a thankful addition. It allowed fresh air and natural light to filter into the room. The other rooms were lighted solely through artificial means.
The blue-eyed girl neared room 137 and took out her personal identification card. A weary smile flitted over her face at the relief of finally reaching her room of four years.
'Finally, I can catch up on my sleep.'
As she slid her ID through the key slot, a sudden prickling began at the back of her neck. It only increased when her hand touched on her doorknob. It was a curious feeling that seemed to be a sort of warning to her of something to come.
The schoolgirl shook her head in silent laughter. 'You're imagining things, Kagome.' She turned the knob and stepped into the dark room.
Wait.
Dark?
'I thought I left the blinds open…' mused the raven-haired girl. She shrugged it off. 'It doesn't matter. I'm just going to get some sleep.'
Kagome yawned and stretched as she closed her door. It shut with a quiet click. But just then, the tingling grew, and she had the strangest feeling that she wasn't alone in her room. Something was definitely wrong.
She froze.
"Hello?" Her voice sounded small in the complete silence of her room.
Suddenly, a hand covered Kagome's mouth, and somebody grabbed her from behind.
Her heavy textbook dropped to the floor. Whoever it was must have been hiding behind the door. She tried to struggle, but the person's grip was too strong for the teenager. Muffled screams tore desperately from her throat, but were too soft for anybody to hear. She attempted to elbow her attacker, but the girl's arms were held firmly in place at her side.
Her heart was pounding in her chest, and all signs of sleepiness had disappeared off in an instant. Thoughts flew wildly through her head- none of which were particularly pleasant. Kagome tried to bite down on the hand over her mouth, but it had been curved, as if her captor had anticipated for her to try that very maneuver.
An unmistakably masculine voice caused her to fall silent instantly. "Don't speak. Don't move. Don't struggle. Don't do anything. Or I'll kill you."
Inuyasha flattened his body against the wall of the room he had jumped into. He stayed still. If he had been just a few seconds too late…
Not soon enough, the clunking of the androids' footsteps passed away into silence. His doggy ears twitched, catching any sound, but there was none. He leapt up and drew the blinds closed.
He breathed a sigh of relief. That had been way too close.
He waited for his quickened heart beat to slow down. Then he looked around the room.
It was a room in a student settlement.
It appeared to be the same as his own, if not smaller. There was a small bed right beside him and a door across the room from it. The closet was located beside the door with a small mirror on the opposite wall. An opening lead to what he assumed to be the bathroom. From all appearances, the resident wasn't here- probably an early riser.
'Or a really late sleeper…'
The fading scent, however, told the hanyou that the person had left many hours before hand- than meant they would be probably getting back soon.
He walked over to the mirror and examined himself.
Silver hair. Dog ears. Slitted amber eyes. Claws.
'Great. How the hell am I supposed to get back now?'
He was thankful that it was a Day Seven, which meant there was no school. It also meant he had a day to figure out how to get back to the Demon Division without having to wait for the new moon. He couldn't go out now, since humans were starting to populate the streets again, and if he were to reveal himself…
Let's just say it wouldn't be pretty.
The hanyou tossed back onto the bed and took in a deep breath. It smelled like… vanilla. In fact, the entire room was saturated in the scent of fresh vanilla flowers with just the tiniest hint of lavender. Flower scents usually belonged to females. The student who lived here must be a girl.
For some reason, Inuyasha was calmed by the fragrance, and his tensed muscles relaxed considerably. The fatigue that came from staying up all night as a human came back after the adrenaline had worn off. Now that the danger had been thrown off, the half-demon began to feel at ease. All of the problems began to fade away, until he wasn't thinking about how to get out of the Human Division anymore.
Vaguely, he wondered what the owner of the sweet scent was.
There had only been one person who owned a scent that had even remotely calmed him.
But of course, he hated her now…
Amber eyes began to slowly drift shut. Even the dog-ears atop of his ear drooped in the calm atmosphere. The hanyou was beginning the visit to the land of dreams…
Then, there was a swishing sound followed by a click.
At first, this noise and what it signalled didn't register in Inuyasha's head, but when the door of the room slowly began to creak open, the hanyou became of the sudden increase in the soothing scent. Alarms rang all over his mind, and thinking quickly, he jumped behind the slowly opened door. He scratched his arm on something sharp in his haste, but ignored it.
From the outline of the person, it was definitely a female.
He held his breath, limbs tensed, as he silently berated himself for nearly falling asleep. Right, escape the androids to be caught by a human. Stupid!
The person paused, probably considering the darkness of the room. He readied himself as they casually swung the door closed without looking back. She seemed to be extremely tired for one reason or another.
Then, she stiffened, and Inuyasha knew that something had clicked in her head.
"Hello?"
She knew that she wasn't alone in her room, so he did the first thing that had entered his mind.
He grabbed her.
Clapping a clawed hand over her opened mouth, the half-demon was able to stop her from screaming what was probably meant to be an extremely loud shout. The other arm swung around her midsection, effectively pinning her arms to her sides, and braced himself by leaning into the wall.
Predictably, the girl began to try to thrash, and yelled into his hand. Insults and muffled screams that would have been incomprehensible to the average human reached fuzzy dog-ears, and Inuyasha nearly winced at her surprisingly broad vocabulary.
She tried to bite through his hand, and not wanting to risk any marks or punctures, the hanyou cupped it.
It was getting a little annoying, having to restrain her. So he stopped her the only way he knew how at the moment.
"Don't speak. Don't move. Don't struggle. Don't do anything. Or I'll kill you." Even the boy himself was surprised at the deep, threatening quality of his voice.
Of course, he didn't mean anything by it.
…
So it was less than civilised, at least it stopped the girl from thrashing!
Bending his head down to speak into her ear, he warned her softly, "I'm going to let you go, but you have to promise not to do anything, do you hear? You aren't going to move when I release you. No talking, no shouting."
She nodded.
"And just to let you know, if you do try to do something, I have the… resources to kill you immediately, understand, wench?" He flexed the hand over her mouth, digging his claws into her skin slightly.
She gave a barely audible whimper, and nodded again.
He could hear her swallow thickly.
She was scared. That was good.
It meant he would have some leverage in… dealing with her.
Slowly, cautiously, he removed the arm around her middle and the hand at her mouth. She still didn't move when she was completely free, and Inuyasha could tell that she was holding her breath.
He thought about tying something over his ears, but decided against it. Even without those furry appendages, the other unusual feature were more than adequate for someone to peg him as 'not completely human.'
"You can… turn around now."
She did so, gradually turning so that they were face to face.
There was a pause.
His mouth dropped open.
"It's you!"
The first thought that had registered in Kagome's brain was that the person was younger than she'd thought. In fact, he couldn't have been older than she herself was.
The second, was the fact that he had the absolute cutest dog-ears!
Wait.
Dog-ears?
That… wasn't normal, was it?
The boy's sudden exclamation had left her completely baffled. How did this guy recognise her, and from where? She most certainly would have remembered meeting, or even seeing somebody who had a pair of fuzzy white triangles perched on their head. At first, she started getting angry- even defensive about him breaking into her room, and rightfully so.
"What were you doing in my room, pervert?!"
Inuyasha was taken back. "Didn't I tell you not to speak?"
"Get out, get out, get out!"
He advanced towards her and reached out. That was when she caught sight of the cut on the side of his arm, and all hostile thoughts flew out of the window in an instant.
"Oh, you're hurt!" she drew the surprised boy to her. "Let me see."
The hanyou gaped at the girl who was suddenly handling his cut arm remarkably gently. What was wrong with her? He'd broken into her room, manhandled her, threatened her, and now she was helping him? Then, there was also that whole demon thing… but she didn't even care… or realise?
He yanked his arm out of her grasp. "H-hey! It's just a cut! I heal fast!"
And indeed, the nip had already closed, steadily become less visible. Kagome stared at him in awe.
Just what was he?
Then her thoughts turned back to the ears.
Those absolutely adorable, twitching, fuzzy, white dog-ears!
The female unconsciously reached out to pet them, but he stepped back.
"H-hey! What do you think you're doing, wench?"
Kagome remained surprisingly calm, cocking her head to the side. "Why do you have dog-ears? You look a little familiar, I'm sorry, have we met before?"
Inuyasha gaped at her. Had they met before? Didn't she remember? And then it clicked. Of course she didn't remember him. She'd met his human image. Now, as long as he kept it that way, everything would turn out just fine.
Right, keep telling yourself that.
Kagome studied the boy in front of her critically. For some reason, even though he definitely wasn't normal, the fact that she was still alive and whole testified to the fact the he really wasn't too bad a person. Now, if she could only figure out why he looked so familiar…
The azure-eyed girl suddenly gasped, and walked right up to the boy. Of course! She covered the ears with her hands before he could stop her, and then examined his face from that angle.
"You're that guy! I… Inuyasha!"
He mentally punched himself. So much for remaining mysterious.
Kagome slowly put together all the pieces of the puzzle, "Inu…Yasha? Dog demon…?" She gasped again, "You're a demon?" The girl took a cautious step back, her fear returning. The weariness had evaporated from her mind, and adrenaline started to course through her. After all, the stories she'd been told weren't pleasant, and even if she doubted them, it didn't mean they weren't true.
The boy almost snorted- almost. "You just figured that out?"
"I-I thought it was sort of a birth defect… or something…" Kagome trembled.
Not knowing why, the hanyou suddenly had the urge to stop her from being afraid of him. It was just… a sort of gut instinct. This was quite possibly the only person in the entire Human Division who would have a civil conversation with him, and maybe she'd even be able to help her…?
He took a step towards her. "No! Not demon… I'm only half."
But she continued to step away, and he continued to advance. Not soon, she was backed into a corner, and very alarmed. When he reached out a hand- a claw-tipped hand, Kagome automatically stuck out hers in a defensive position.
"Get away!"
Abruptly, there was a blinding flash of white light, and Inuyasha felt a strange prickling all over his body. It was almost as it- but it couldn't be! It was almost like he was transforming- but it was daytime! But sure enough, the slight pain alerted to his rapidly changing body, and his eyes opened wide in bewilderment.
Kagome stared in astonishment as the boy in front of her turned before her very eyes. In a matter of a few seconds, the demon had disappeared, and the boy she had literally bumped into last night appeared.
She fingered a strand of his black hair. "Wha- what exactly are you?"
The boy examined his body, still shocked that he'd been turned into a human by this… wench!
Turning around abruptly, Inuyasha sat crossly down on the bed. "Now do you believe me? I'm a hanyou. Half demon, half human." Critical lavender eyes turned to look at the girl. "I think the question is, what are you?"
"What do you mean?" She answered with a question, not knowing why she was talking with a complete stranger who was probably more dangerous than she knew.
"You turned me into a human, wench. I only turn human once a month, yet you were able to do it." He stood up again and rounded on her with a suspicious eye. "You aren't a witch, are you, bitch?"
Kagome's temper flared. "What who you're calling 'bitch', dog boy. The name's Kagome." She pushed him back onto the bed.
Inuyasha was surprised, and a little impressed. He would have thought that she'd be screaming by now, but this girl was still as fiery as when they'd first met.
She paced around her room. "Okay. So you're a hanyou- a half demon, who somehow ended up in my room, threatened me, and got purified by me. And you were here in the Human Division last night as a human. Wait- how did you get here? And why am I talking to you? Shouldn't I be running around and alerting the authorities to you? What's wrong with me?!" She ran to the door. "I should just call the androids right now!"
The boy hopped off the bed in a hurry, and grabbed her arm. "Don't- please!"
Kagome looked back and was startled by the amount of desperation in those purple orbs. She shook the hand off and crossed her arms. "Then tell me why you're here."
Inuyasha sat on the floor. "Well, it's a long story…"
She joined him. "I'm listening."
Why he trusted this girl, he didn't know. Maybe it was the fact that she hadn't freaked out at him (too much) and was giving him a chance to explain himself. But for some reason, he knew that this Kagome wasn't going to judge him that easily.
He took a deep breath and began his tale.
"And that's why I'm here now." Inuyasha finished, and took a sideways glance at the girl at his side, gauging her reaction.
She sat, contemplative. "So now you're looking for a way to get home?"
"Didn't I say that?"
She shot him an annoyed glare. Now that he had explained everything, she didn't feel nearly as threatened as she had before. "Well, you look human now, what's stopping you from getting out of here and back to your division, huh?"
Realisation struck the boy.
He looked down.
He was human! He could have left this place a long time ago, instead of sticking around talking to some girl!
"Damnit!" Inuyasha stood up and headed towards the window, getting ready to climb out.
Kagome rose with him. "Hey! Where do you think you're going?"
"I'm going back to the Demon Division before I turn back, which could be any moment…" The hanyou drifted off as a tingling spread out through his body. "Fuck no!" But alas, whatever had turned him human to begin with had worn off, and the demon attributes came back.
The blue-eyed teenager calmly raised an eyebrow. "Well, looks like that didn't work."
Ears flicking back in annoyance, Inuaysha stomped back to the girl. "Whatever you did before, do it again! Purify me!"
She became defensive. "Do what? I don't know what I did!"
He flopped back onto the ground. "Shit. Now what?"
Doggy ears drooped in disappointment, and Kagome actually felt bad for the half-demon. Although it was really his fault that he was trapped in this situation, the fact that she could have done something to help him made it worse.
"I'll… I'll try."
Golden eyes looked up. "What?"
She walked over to him. "I said, I'll try. I don't know how I did it, but maybe I can figure it out."
Inuyasha stood up and silently appraised the girl. She was willing to help him even after all he had done to her.
"But first…"
He raised an eyebrow. "First?" There was always an ulterior motive.
She crossed her arms. "First, you have to let me touch your ears."
Gritting his teeth, the hanyou leaned forward reluctantly. An eager smile lit her face, and small hands reached out for the fuzzy appendages. He found himself almost wincing as her fingers brushed them, but her touch was gentle and not at all painful compared to what the demons had done to his ears. Actually, he found the slow rub quite soothing, and found a low growl starting to well up inside of him.
He straightened abruptly, stopping the growl before it happened, and turned a soft pink colour. "There. Now do what you have to do and get me outta here."
The female resisted the urge to pout. She had been enjoying that. Back home, she'd had a fat cat named Buyo, for obvious reasons. When she'd been moved to the student settlement, the beloved Buyo had been left home, leaving Kagome quite lonely.
This half-demon's ears had been warm and delightfully soft. While she'd rubbed them, she could almost feel the muscles relaxing under her grip.
Kagome sighed and nodded, laying a hand on his upper arm. She closed her eyes, and began a sort of mantra in her head. 'Turn human. Turn human. Turn human.'
She opened her eyes.
Nothing.
He was still silver-haired.
The girl squeezed her eyes shut and put all of her effort into purifying the demon blood in Inuyasha. She could feel no physical signs, but all of a sudden, there was a curious sort of stirring starting up somewhere in her spirit that was oddly warm and comforting. Kagome concentrated on that warmth, gradually dragging it out until her entire body felt calm and at peace.
Soon, a soft flash lit the room, and Inuyasha felt the familiar indications of transformation. In a matter of a few seconds, a black-haired boy stood where a silver-haired one had been before.
"It worked!"
His affirmation brought Kagome back to earth, and she grinned. "Wow. I didn't know I could do that… it's so… COOL!"
The girl released his arm, but as soon as she did so, Inuyasha's eyes widened, and his hair began to turn silver- though not entirely from shock.
"What?" he gasped. For the third time that day, Inuyasha turned hanyou, and he stared at the other teenager. "What happened?"
She shrugged, perplexed. "I don't know."
"Try again," demanded the boy.
Kagome rolled her eyes and placed a hand on his arm again. "Yes, your highness."
But this time, she didn't need to tell him to change, and the turn happened as soon as she had contact with the hanyou. It was almost like just willing for the hanyou to turn human would make it happen. He was human… again. Experimentally, the girl broke contact with he hanyou, and black started to lighten. She touched him again, and his hair darkened. "Interesting…" She repeated the process several times in intrigue. "Wow. Black… silver… black… silver…"
Inuyasha glared at her irritably and snatched her arm. "Stop playing around, wench. Let's go."
Kagome frowned, and threatened to move her hand. "Stop calling me 'wench', or I won't help you."
He sighed. "Fine, fine, Kagome. Now can we go?"
Kagome grinned rather widely at him. Ignoring the boy's protest, the girl slid her hand so that it rested in his, and looked determinedly away. "It's easier like this." She didn't add in the fact that she felt something warm and fuzzy in her, or the fact that she was blushing.
The hanyou flushed as well, but didn't reject her hand, and fixed his grip. They headed towards the door of the room and she opened it. "Now, whatever you do, don't let go of my hand. Don't talk to other people- just ignore them."
He glared at the back of her head sullenly as they headed down the hallway, earning stares from many of the students. "Yeah yeah, mother."All though the student settlement, they walked, hand in hand, looking for the entire world, like a couple. Several of the girls sighed in disappointment. Pulling aside the main doors, Kagome marched forwards, pulling the boy with her.
They continued walking through the streets silently, ignoring the glances from many of the people who were on their way to work or other districts. Kagome inwardly groaned at the amount of explaining she would have to do once the next day rolled around. Then there would be her friends who would undoubtedly question her about the mystery man.
The minutes trickled by, and the two teens' faces continued to grow hotter as they attracted gaze after gaze.
Not soon enough, it seemed, the business district came into view, and the two all but broke into a run. However, the streets had become crowded as it was early morning, and people were making their way to work. The place was way too bustling for anyone to really notice two students in the sea of grey and black.
All Inuyasha could think about was the fact that he was nearing the edge of the territory soon, and he sped up. The divider was in plain sight, and surely, nobody would really watch him cross over, would they? He took off into a run.
However, in doing so, he had inadvertently yanked his hand out of Kagome's grasp.
Time seemed to slow for the two, as their contact was broken, and their mouths dropped open. Blue met rapidly changing lavender in horrified glance before it turned amber.
The two froze.
Black turned silver.
Twitching dog-ears perched on top of his head.
And although nobody would have noticed two black-haired teenagers, somebody with silver hair stood out like a sore thumb in the sea of black heads. No one really paid attention to Kagome since she had separated from the hanyou before he'd turned.
Inuyasha's ears twitched nervously, and Kagome bit her lip.
The noise in the business district lulled, and all became very, very quiet as everybody's attention became fixed onto the strange boy in their midst. Mouths dropped open, and several pointed out the curious dog-ears atop his head, trying to figure out if they were real, or just an attachment.
Not a single sound broke through the dead silence.
That is, until Inuyasha summed up the entire situation in one word:
"Shit."
-- CJ-Chan
::grin:: Now why would you have thought that? But, yes, it was her window… coincidentally… .
-- Shadow Stone
Thanks! I'm glad you like it! I hope I don't disappoint…!
-- Seida02
Update? Here it is!
-- buyo neko
Glad you like it!
[Now, does that count as a cliffy? ;;
I've set up a notify list for Lock Down, and if you want in on it, go there.
Wow… Kagome's a whole myriad of emotions… . I wonder why…?
I'm headed off to Italy! Italy! Italy!
So… it might be a little while before I can update… coughthree weekscough
I… am going to run away now…
AHHHHHHH!]