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Back to the Future
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Their initial hunch about the building being abandoned was correct but the purpose for which it was created was different than they'd first assumed. This building that was once a beacon of its age - a remant of the train that used to run from Osaka to Fukuchiyama - now it more resembled something that had been through a war. Nothing so dramatic has befallen it of course - just the passage of time. Now the only comers and goers at first glance were the pigeons fluttering in the rooms and nesting by the windows, and spiders building door hinges are all rusted and the glass windows are all shattered. Water dripped rhythmically from the roof from some unknown source - accentuated by the steady echoing footsteps from the two officers below, generating a eerie melancholic melody as the building was surveyed. Kneeling down, Chiyo rested her hand on the aging concrete and began to study it like the random hair-line cracks were giving her some clue as to the whereabouts of this fugitive. As her eyes flickered over it, she spoke in a low, tense voice, "Someone's been here recently. You see up ahead where there's a line in the dust like somethings been drug through here? I bet you anything it was him."
"How much do you pay that informant of yours?" Kosei asked quietly as he too knelt down and began to glance over the dust covered flooring, "It always seems a little too convenient that his tips always pay off."
"He's been my friend since we were kids," Chiyo answered a little heatedly, "How I pay him isn't your business."
"Well now, that's an interesting way to phrase things," Kosei chuckled as he rose to his feet and slowly drew his weapon while Chiyo did the same, "What kinda arrangement have you got going on?"
Setting her jaw, Chiyo gave her partner a side-eyed withering glare before slowly approaching the door where the line in the dust ended. The shabby, chalky paint was peeling quit heavily but it was the shiny new iron bolt that drew her attention.
"Well whomever has been here was certainly trying to keep someone in," the woman whispered quietly as she slowly reached out to pull the bolt before pausing and looking up at her partner, "You stay here and call for backup. We need a search team and maybe an EMT."
"Like hell you're going in there alone!" Kosei hissed back a little louder than he intended as a few disturbed pigeons took flight. Starting again much quieter he continued to hiss angrily at the determined woman before him, "I mean, that's insane. This guy - if that's who hiding in there - has already killed one woman that we know of and probably more. Do you have a death wish?!"
"I'm more than capable of taking care of myself," Chiyo clipped, "Besides, we have a duty to see whether our missing victim is inside. Protect and serve."
"You can't protect and serve if he manages to trap you in there," Kosei protested as he reached out and gently gripped her wrist, "Don't do anything stupid."
"Don't plan on it," the woman reassured him as she gently pried his fingers from her wrist, "First sign of trouble and I'll call out alright?"
Taking a steadying breath, Chiyo held her gun at the ready as she slowly made her way inside the dark corridor. Shadows that the slightly opened door cast the walls a slightly darker shade of grey and the air that should be dank was still fresh as though it had been aired out for some time. There were no doors separating the rooms in the long hallway although there had been some at one point or another - the frames holding evidence of rusted out hinges and decades of doors swinging open etched on the cement floor. Surprisingly most of the furniture in this part of the warehouse had survived with minimal damage, only the dust, a few scratches and chips to their name. It was one of those surviving pieces - however - that caught her attention or rather the small, thick pool of a crimson liquid at the base that set her hair on end.
"Oh god," Chiyo whispered breathlessly as she followed the heavy trail from the chair towards a closed door behind it. If - and at this point that was a big if - the poor man survived whatever torment he'd been forced to endure, he was going to need immediate medical attention. Slowly, carefully avoiding the steady trail, Chiyo held her breath as she reached out a single shaky hand to undo the deadlock and as the door opened, she quickly jumped back with her gun at the ready.
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"And Koga and his tribe have moved to Wyoming in the United States since it's mostly wide open spaces," Shippo sighed anxiously - clearly trying to distract himself while simultaneously killing two birds with one stone by catching Inuyasha up on what had become of everyone - as he drove at top speed down the highway towards where he lost the man's scent. After a moment's silence, Shippo groaned and gave a humiliated looking Inuyasha a sympathetic grin, "I'll show you on a map when this is all said and done, alright? Don't feel bad for not knowing this stuff. You're doing really well actually. Love the haircut."
"Thanks," Inuyasha muttered quietly as he rapped his claws anxiously against the hand rest, "So, uh, what do you do in this era?"
"Believe it or not, I'm a teacher," Shippo sighed shakily before turning to give Inuyasha a mischievous look, "Funny thing is that I was one of Kagome's teachers during the quest for the jewel shards. I was shocked she managed to get an accounting degree. Shocked I tell you. You know I love her like my own mother but damn, I've never seen someone who was worse at math in my entire life and it's been a long life."
"Well I don't even really understand what an accountant does so I bet I'd be worse," Inuyasha laughed humorlessly as he stared out of the window, "I don't understand how anything works here."
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Shippo soothed as he pulled off at a seemingly random exit, "What you did? That's hard. Really hard and brave. You've got nothing to be ashamed of and once this is over, I'd be more than willing to help you get your high school diploma and anything else you want education wise. There'll be time..."
The fox trailed off and paled visibly as he pulled into a truck stop and put his car in park, "This is where I lost their scent. I was hoping since, uh, your nose is better that'd you'd be able to find something I wasn't."
Nodding in understanding, Inuyasha cleared his throat before giving Shippo another embarrassed look, "Do you have something with your son's scent on it?"
"Yeah," Shippo laughed humorlessly as he pulled a small stuffed cat from the backseat and stared at it with tears welling in the corner of his eyes, "This...this was...no, is his favorite. He takes it everywhere with him."
"We'll find him, Shippo," Inuyasha offered as he quickly took a sniff of the small animal, "I promise. Don't worry."
Despite those words of comfort, fear travelled in Shippo's veins but never made it to his taut facial muscles or skin. Although his complexion remained pale and slightly green, his emerald eyes were as steady as if he merely window shopping as he glanced around the small gas station parking lot.