DISCLAIMER: I do not own InuYasha and company, however I DO own an overactive imagination...
Chapter Twenty Five
There was definitely trouble in paradise.
Miranda grimaced as she looked around at the mess Kouga had made of her kitchen, searching for what he called 'proper victuals'.
He had rummaged and slammed around every cupboard, the refrigerator, and even the microwave had suffered abuse in his rampage, all the while cursing and accusing her of believing herself to be some kind of fowl or rodent.
She thought he knew she was vegan, she had certainly told him so... perhaps he hadn't understood exactly what that meant.
She sighed as she reached for a broom to sweep up the lentils he had dumped unceremoniously onto the floor, just before that freaky punk Ginta had shown up on her back porch. She had seen him before a couple of times, but he had never entered her home, and she hadn't wanted him to. There was just something off about him, with his Mohawk hair style and weird, twitchy, subservient attitude.
But then again, there was something off about Kouga too. Just Kouga hadn't put her off. No, he had intrigued her from the start. I wonder if that Ginta is a... what did he call it? Youkai... wonder if he is one of them, too.
Men... you can't live with 'em and you can't shoot 'em... she mused. Not that she would ever use a firearm, but she liked the saying. It reminded her why she had chosen to stay single. Well, at least before now.
Men were fickle creatures.
Like the way Kouga had just taken off so quickly after talking to Ginta. Hardly a word, just a head back in the door with an order for her to eat something, and then gone in a flash.
Ginta had looked at her strangely, too. A air of shock in his tweaker eyes... and what was up with that weird little bow before dashing off after Kouga? She shook her head.
Biting at her still slightly swollen lower lip, she set the broom aside and went to shut each of the cupboard doors, reaching to grab a half-empty bag of rice cakes.
Wondering how her fruit bin had fared with the Ookami's thrashing of her refrigerator, she opened the door to pull out her pitcher of apple juice.
Frowning, she noticing the holes neatly punched by Kouga's claws in the plastic bottle of pomegranate juice. It had spilled all over the floor of the refrigerator, still dripping maliciously from the metal grate.
She sighed, opening up the drawers to find it pooled on the bottom around her fruit.
Shutting the door, she thought about how she really should make him clean it up, since he made the mess. But no, he's run off leaving her the mess. MEN!
Pouring her juice into a small glass, she shuffled with it to the table where she sat, pulling open the newspaper she had retrieved during Kouga's rant.
She refused to let him get to her.
She'd clean it up in a little while.
Same news different day... more Redwood Mangler reports. It had been a few days since the last attack, this one seemed exceptionally gruesome, near the Lake County Line. They seemed to be moving south.
She frowned, suddenly feeling very alone. Looking out the window at the surf crashing on the beach, not really seeing it as she wondered where Kouga had run off to. Damn him.
She shook herself. Being alone never bothered her before, why should it now? She was having trouble ignoring that knot that was forming in her stomach and had been ever since he left. He'll be back, if for nothing else to retrieve this stupid headband...
She reached for the band, to pull it off, then hesitated. What if what he said is true? She gingerly ran fingers along her abused neck, noticing that it was much less tender than it had been just a short time ago, and decided it wouldn't hurt to keep the thing on a little while longer.
Returning to the paper, she decided to read something on a lighter note, focusing on an article about the gala planned for the opening of the new production of 'Don Giovanni' at the opera house. They were calling in extra police to patrol the area for the event, there was something about the city council's refusal to increase the law enforcement budget to the requested amount. So much for lighter...
She wondered how that was affecting her cousin. She had heard that she had been promoted, so she would probably not be involved with opening night, though knowing Selene she might just volunteer. Wait... Selene has a friend that's into Japanese history, mythology stuff.
The knot in her gut grew tighter. Her world had begun careening out of balance, and she was at a loss as to what to do to stop it. I haven't talked to her in while, maybe she can give me a reality check...
Of all the people in Miranda's life, Selene was the most realistic. She had a no nonsense way about her that made law enforcement a perfect career choice for her. Not that she was always serious, far from it... but if anyone could put Miranda back on track, it would be Selene.
She reached for the phone, and pressed the numbers for her cousin's cell phone. It rang several times and just as she was expecting it to kick over to voice mail, there came a whispered answer.
"Rodriguez"
"Selene? Did I catch you at a bad time?" she must be with Michael. I suppose it's still early for some people... she mused.
"Hey Randy! How's the crystal ball business?" her tone still hushed, Miranda heard her moving around, then a door close.
"Other than feeling like a vampire? I'm getting tired of the night work... can you tell?" she grinned.
"I know what you mean, I hated night shift... oh!" her voice rose to normal conversation level, "did you hear about my promotion?"
"Yeah, I did... way to go!"
"So, what's up cuz?"
Miranda hesitated, it was a basic question. Simple really. She didn't want to sound like a total idiot. She doubted that was possible.
"I wanted to ask you something..." she began. "Your friend... the one that introduced you to what's his name..."
This was a running theme with them, ever since Miranda's first meeting with the man, who knew nothing about her profession. He had made an offhanded comment about people seeking psychics instead of professional therapy, which most of them really needed, rather than bogus fortune tellers.
"Oh no you don't!" Sally laughed on the other end. "His name is Michael and you know it!"
"Right... well, your friend... the teacher, didn't you tell me she was into Japanese mythology and stuff?"
"Yeah, she is. Why do you ask?" Was that a guarded sound coming from her?
"I was wondering, has she ever talked about any kind of..." how to word this, "I dunno... supernatural beings?"
Her query was met with silence. She decided to try a different angle.
"There's this guy..." she realised her error before she finished her sentence, but it was too late. "He's really special to me, Sally."
"What has that got to do with supernatural beings?"
"Well... he seems to be kind of an expert... and I just wanted to check out some of the stuff he has said."
"What kind of ... stuff... has he said?" her cousin asked. Yes it definitely was a guarded tone.
Why do I get the feeling I just stepped on a hornets nest? She took a breath, not realizing that she had been holding it.
"He told me about a kind of... being... called youkai. He told me they are like gods, that long ago they were worshiped... but now they have to hide to survive." There, it was out. She worried for a moment about having worded it exactly the way she had, as she waited for Selene to respond.
"Gods, huh?" came the reply, finally.
"That's the word he used... so... you're a cop, have you ever encountered anyone that seemed... I dunno... a little odd?"
"I work in San Francisco, for crying out loud..." Selene chuckled. "What does that tell you?"
"Touche... ok, so has your friend ever said anything about it?"
There was another moment of silence. Miranda began to rethink her decision to make the call in the first place..
"I mean legends... myths about them..." she explained.
"Sure," Selene replied, then added, "She's from a long line of practitioners."
"Oh, really..." a small light was dawning on Miranda.
"Yeah, she's put together a thing for the cultural fair in a few weeks, a story told in her family about the Shikon no Tama, a magical jewel." BINGO... thought Miranda.
"Hm... he talked about a jewel too..." could it be the same one? oh that would be too easy...
"Well, there are a million stories out there about ancient, sacred, magical artifacts... Seems to keep Hollywood busy, anyway..." she chuckled again, then she took a deathly serious tone. "Her's is just one, but Miranda... in her story the youkai are not gods... they are known as demons."
Selene's revelation cut her to the quick. Demon equals evil. Kouga is not evil...
"Huh?" she asked stupidly, her tone did nothing to disguise her shock.
"You heard me... whoever this guy is, just... be careful..." her warning was low, and serious as a train wreck. Miranda was frozen for a moment, uncertain about how to proceed. Kouga is not evil!
"It's a little late for that..." she reached up and touched the headband, her fingers then drifting to his mark. As she touched it, she felt a warm sense of reassurance.
"What do you mean?" Selene's voice was bordering on sharp.
"He... he spent the night with me..." she stammered. "Well, more like morning, but I guess you get the idea..."
"Is this Miranda Rodriguez? She doesn't sleep around..." here comes the reality check, about time! But she wasn't so sure she wanted it, after all.
"I know... I told you, there's something special about him." She touched his mark again, and the knot that had been plaguing her began to recede. "I think he's the one, Sally..."
Her cousin was silent on the other end. Miranda knew there were things she wasn't being told, but she didn't know how to ask. She wasn't sure she wanted to know. Kouga is not evil!
"It sounds like you have already decided about him." Selene's tone sounded resigned, and concerned all at once. "Do we get to meet him?"
"I would like that," Miranda said hopefully. Even if it did mean that headshrinker boyfriend of Selene's would have to be involved. "What are you doing Saturday night?"
"Making a trip out to your beach house I think...oh! Wait... can Kagome come along?"
"Kagome..."
"She's had a rough week, and I don't want to leave her alone. And who knows, maybe she and your boyfriend can debate the divinity of youkai or lack of it, and compare stories about magical gems."
This was going to be very interesting, provided she could get Kouga to stay around long enough. And maybe the headshrinker would butt out if the two of them got to talking about supernatural and superstitious folklore. That would be very interesting indeed.
"It sounds like a date then, what time should we expect you?"
"Let me get back to you, I need to confirm with Mikey and 'Gome," why did Selene sound worried?
"Okay, well leave a message on my voice mail if I am not around, I might go shopping... or something," she looked at the rice cakes in front of her and frowned. "Hey! Weather permitting we can do a bonfire, like the old days... why don't you bring that old acoustic of yours?"
"I can do that, you supplying the tequila?" her cousin countered.
"I can do that... just... no naked dancing this time, agreed?" Miranda chuckled. Tequila and bonfires had inspired some interesting behavior when they were younger.
"Only if you promise to keep the gas can AWAY from the fire..." Selene warned.
"Oh ouch... you KNOW I didn't do that on purpose..." It had been a wonder how no one had been seriously injured when it caught fire. It had been open, so it hadn't exploded, thank the stars. "Okay it's a deal... no gas cans at all."
"Miranda..." Selene pulled her back to the present. "What ever you do, just know I love you. I really do want you to be happy."
"Thanks," she was caught off guard. "Let me know what time."
"Will do."
She pressed the end call button and returned the phone to it's charger. Kagome, huh?
This should be a very interesting weekend.
She took another bite of the bland rice cake, and had the thought that this must be what eating cardboard was like. Where did that come from? Must be stale...
Chewing, she bit her tongue. Once she got past the pain and the metallic taste of her own blood in her mouth, she ran her tongue along her tooth line to discover that something very subtle had changed.
She ran to the bathroom to look into the mirror, sticking out her tongue first to examine the damage, a very neat puncture mark just to the side of the tip.
Turning and lifting her hair, she found the bruising was only light yellow swatches now, she also discovered that the tops of her ears had changed, no longer exactly... round.
That emerald shimmer in her eyes seemed to have become permanent.
She raised her upper lip in a grimace into the glass and found that her eye teeth had... elongated. She had fangs.
Well I'll be damned... I can bite him back now!
She stood there grinning at the thought, while examining her reflection.
Her overall appearance had not really changed, but the subtle changes that had, indeed, occurred lent her an almost feline appearance.
All this from a love bite?
She wondered what else she might have to look forward to, and her smile slipped as she realized that everything had changed, now.
Everything.
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