Light Pink and Tainted Violet
Chapter 2
Kagome sat on the cold concrete, heavy rain soaking her clothes and weighing her down. She wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve, pushing her bangs to the side so she could see a bit more clearly. As she moved to stand up, her right hand grazed the beaded necklace that was still forgotten on the floor.
'Prayer beads…" she noted, her eyes drifting to the silver-haired man who had solemnly picked up her grandfather's lifeless body and was carrying it inside. 'Just what in the world is he?'
Much like Sango's newly adopted cat, she had witnessed the transformation begin right before her eyes as soon as he had removed the necklace. Diamond grey orbs brightened to a rich amber, like night ending to give way to dawn. His pitch-black tresses morphed into a beautiful silver that clung to his forehead as the water dripped down. Closing her eyes, she could still feel the growing prickling of his claws against the skin of her wrist. The man that had greeted her in the shop had stolen the breath right out of her lungs but this being was something else entirely.
He was ethereal.
And she wanted to kill him all the same.
"Damn you," she groaned, her hands balling into fists and her forehead scrunching up in anger.
With what she hoped to be a terrifying war cry, she sprung from the floor and ran to the man.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" she cried, hands pulling on his long silver hair. "Grandpa could have been saved had you said something, you jerk!"
"Listen, you can hate me all you want and try to beat me in a bit, but right now can I take him inside, at least?"
"No! You don't get to act all- all righteous and dignified now!"
"Believe me," he turned to her with a glare, "I know I'm anything but. I'm not trying to get your forgiveness."
She choked on a bitter laugh. "Oh, good because you can kiss that goodbye, asshole! And give him to me. I don't even want you breathing anywhere near him!"
Inuyasha scoffed, "Sure, I'm giving the 150-pound dead weight," he didn't miss her shocked silence at his choice of words, "to a puny little woman-child."
"Woman-ch-?" Kagome bit her bottom lip with such force she could taste copper. "You- you abysmal fucking jerk! Do you have no decency or sense of regret in you?!"
The man rolled his eyes. "Suit yourself."
Before she could open her mouth to argue, he had vanished in a blur from her sight. Squinting her eyes, she noticed he had made it to the entrance of the shop already and was pushing the door inside. Groaning in frustration, Kagome ran after him as quickly as she could.
"I'm calling an ambulance…" she muttered while scampering to the counter, her hands shaking.
"It's no use. I can't hear his heart anymore."
"Then the police or something!"
"And tell them what? That I existed so hard he had a heart attack?"
She hit both hands on the counter with a half-broken cry. "You're not gonna get away with this!"
"I didn't fucking do anything, woman. In case your listening comprehension is compromised," Inuyasha answered, laying the body of the old man on a padded chair at the corner of the room.
"I don't know what you did! All I know is that you showed up and Grandpa's dead now! And if anything, the way you look right now should be enough proof that something is very wrong and that it was no accident!"
It was then that he turned to her and noticed the necklace still in her hands. Allowing no room for more talking, he got to her side in a millisecond, taking both the necklace and the phone she had been dialing from her hands.
"What're you-"
"Either you're really fucking brave or really fucking stupid," he explained with a calmness that, for the first time that afternoon, chilled her to the bone. "I'm not to be played around with. You'd be a smart girl to realize that quickly. So, unless you plan on purifying my ass with those makeshift marbles you call sacred, I'd sit the fuck down and not try anything."
As if to illustrate his point, he crushed the phone in his right hand without even blinking, like it was nothing more than a paper ball.
"Purifying?" she repeated in a small voice. "What are you, exactly?"
Inuyasha gave her a last glance before turning around, "I'm a half-demon."
Deciding he was better off keeping his appearance concealed should someone still come by, he put the beaded necklace back on. His now greyish eyes roamed the small giftshop, surveying everything from the small porcelain figurines on the shelves to the boxes of junk that still sat on the counter.
He chuckled seeing the Shikon no Tama keychains. "Never actually got around to paying you for these. How much-"
Out of nowhere, a piercing pain shot up his spine, making him groan and his teeth grit in response. The half-demon turned around to see the young brunette with a bow in hand, her terrified expression telling him she half-expected to have injured him fatally.
"If you were aiming for the heart, wench," he snarled and reached back with his hand to remove the arrow from his back, "it should have been more to the left."
Kagome screamed as she suddenly felt one of his hands around her throat, the other having already grasped both of hers behind her back.
'The necklace only conceals it…' she mentally scolded herself and cried as he dragged her to the inside of the counter.
"In case you get any other funny ideas like that," he punctuated his threat with a tight griping knot around her hands that was sure to cut her blood flow. "Have you ever even held a bow in your life?"
She frowned at his mockery. "I've had them gift-wrapped."
Inuyasha chuckled, his eyes trained on the watery pain threatening to escape her own infuriated ones. The half-demon kneeled at her side for what seemed like forever, contemplating the hell he had put the young girl through in the span of not even half an hour. He knew the pain of losing someone dear and had it been him in her place he'd for sure have reached for an axe instead.
"I am really sorry, Kagome," he spoke after a moment. "Like I said, I don't expect you to forgive me. I know I wouldn't. But the human side of me doesn't allow me to just walk away without at least apologizing."
Kagome kept her lips tightly shut, the tears she had been fighting with all her might to keep from falling slipping down her cheeks. She watched as the man got up from where he was kneeling next to her and walked over to her grandfather. He used the oversized sleeves of his red haori to wipe the water off the old man's pale forehead. Gathering some of the water still on his cheeks, the half-demon spread it on her grandfather's lips, a gesture she recognized as traditional for paying respect to the deceased.
After a minute of silence, she watched him go back to inspecting her shop with narrowed eyes, looking for something.
"So, you're a half-demon?" she started dully, her hands attempting to get free of the bind that restricted her. "What does that even mean?"
Inuyasha glanced at her. "Means I'm half-mortal, half-immortal."
"That makes no sense. It's not like saying half vanilla ice cream, half blueberry. You can't be one while also being the other," she mumbled. "Do you like- sometimes die, others don't?"
He chuckled at her logic. "Depends on the time of the month. And the prowess of the killer."
She groaned at that particular jab. "How are you even born a half-demon?"
"My mother was human, my father was a demon," he stated as a matter of fact, not bothering to look at her.
She mulled over that piece of information for a bit. The charming man that had come into her shop a little while ago was long gone and had been replaced with a half-demon that had let her grandfather die and that was now attempting to turn the place upside down.
"What do you keep looking for? I thought you would have figured that there's nothing of value here, they're all fakes…"
"No," he answered, his hands opening all boxes and drawers faster than her eyes were able to see, "it's gotta be here, somewhere."
"What does?"
"The Shikon no Tama."
For a few seconds, all noise that could be heard in the small room came from the half-demon's pacing back and forth.
"What?" the brunette sighed in exasperation. "What are you talking about? Is this your idea of some sort of sick joke? Have you escaped from a mental institute somewhere?"
The half-demon groaned in response and decided to ignore her.
"The jewel doesn't actually exist, you moron!"
"Says who?"
"Modern-day history books and common sense in general."
"Then tell me something," Inuyasha argued. "What do your books say about the existence of demonic creatures and others alike?"
Kagome was ready to fire back before realizing he actually had a point and adding stubbornly under her breath, "That they're ugly and red and… horn-y."
Throwing the last box of pencils to the side, the half-demon grabbed her arm and propped her up.
"I can't sense it here," he wondered. "Let's check the other rooms."
"What? No! No way. You're not destroying my entire house!"
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow at her defiance and twisted her tied arms. "I fail to see where the confidence to say that is coming from."
The girl squirmed in pain. "We- don't have the jewel! You idiot, it's a myth! Or even if it wasn't, thousands of years have gone by! It's disappeared by now!"
"You're wrong," he said, releasing her arms but still pushing her forward. "I've felt it before. Right here in this same shrine."
Kagome stumbled into the room where she had been drinking tea with Sango that afternoon. To think that at the time she believed the strangest thing she would see all day would be a red-eyed two-tailed demon cat.
"What do you mean? You've been here before?! That's trespassing and what were you planning-"
"Calm down, wench. It was years before you were even born."
The half-demon noticed her looking him up and down with a frown, her stance showing she was less alert than before.
"No, I'm not 19 or whatever you're conjuring up right now," he answered her unvoiced question. "I just told you I'm an immortal demon."
"No, you told me you had a time of the month," she argued. "The immortality part was unclear. Not to mention you didn't say when that immortality started in the first place."
Inuyasha groaned, grabbing her by her shoulders and sitting her in one of tatamis with less care than she would have liked.
"I see torturing you for it ain't gonna get me nowhere."
"Are you calling me stupid?"
"I'm saying you're clueless. Even if your old man knew where the jewel was, he would never entrust you with it."
Kagome visibly recoiled. "He trusted me with everything. Don't talk about what you don't know…"
Noticing the bite in her words, Inuyasha silently went back to searching every crevice of the space, hoping to find something that would at least give him a clue.
"Look, the sooner I find it, the sooner I'll be out of here and you won't have to see me again," he uttered back, knowing she could hear him. "It's probably a little too late to say it but I really don't mean to fuck your life up more than it already is, okay?"
Kagome watched him from her spot on the floor, her tied hands not allowing for much else. As he was ravaging through the drawers and doors in the small kitchen, the beads that concealed his appearance slipped from his neck, allowing for his demonic characteristics to come back.
Though there was something she hadn't noticed before.
"You have… dog ears?"
The half-demon hummed back at her inquisitively. Noticing her line of sight, he rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Yep."
"Can I touch 'em?"
"No."
The young girl snorted noticing the clear distaste he had for having the furry appendages be the topic of conversation, much less touching. At that moment, she doubted he would care for any topic of conversation at all. His desperation was starting to show.
"What the- what in the actual hell is this?" he asked while holding the mummified kappa hand Grandpa had given to her on one of her birthdays.
"Last demon that raided our place asked the exact same thing…"
He rolled his eyes at the pathetic threat. "Looks like your old man lived a full life."
The mention of her grandfather had her breathing in a long gush of air to calm herself down. Had it all been for that? A forgotten glorified marble?
"Why do you need the jewel so badly anyway?" she asked dismally after a while. "I mean, you already seem equipped with enough resources to destroy drawers and houses and lives in general."
Inuyasha sighed at the accusation. "I really don't need to explain it to you."
"No, I think you do," she answered firmly. "At least, you owe me that much."
Throwing the box he was inspecting down, he turned to her impatiently. Kagome was sitting quietly, in the same spot he had left her in, but with more unanswered questions than before.
"What ya wanna know?"
She breathed in deeply and shrugged her shoulders, with an expression that said she had asked already.
Inuyasha groaned and got back to searching before answering, "The jewel started it all. Well, not the jewel but we wouldn't be in this hell if it weren't for it. Hundreds or-thousands of years ago, I don't even fucking know… Demons hunted humans. For food, for play. Come daylight or nighttime. And as a punishment the human priestess who created the jewel locked us up."
Kagome raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I'd say you more than deserved it, then."
"I never fucking touched a human," he gritted out. "My mother was human. The only one who ever loved me. I fucking despised them, yeah. They beat me and hunted me down. They let the wolves loose on me the night she died. I wasn't even of age," his chest heaved as his breathing quickened with every word. "But I never killed anyone. I never hurt anyone. But I was just lumped together with the rest of them. Funnily enough, demons despised me even more. At least the humans grew afraid and eventually left me alone, but demons aren't so easily deterred."
Kagome listened in silence. She could feel her own heart picking up as he continued, a small spark of sympathy making her chest feel heavier.
"Where were you uh- locked up?"
Inuyasha paused. "In darkness. I don't know where. Some other dimension, a portal, I have no fucking idea. All I know is that it's dark. And monsters keep you company. You're lucky to run into a sentient one from time to time. Decade to decade I'd say. Can't really be sure, the sun doesn't rise and set there."
She nodded her understanding, although she was anything but enlightened. "And, how did you make it out?"
"Some of us are allowed out. The non-flesh devouring ones," he smirked at her visible discomfort. "And we get the lovely task of looking after a suffering human, as punishment for our sins."
Kagome narrowed her eyes at him. "So, your way of looking after me is tying me up and destroying my house like a hurricane went by…"
She didn't miss the glint in his eyes. "Could be. All you have to do is ask."
A wave of heat surged up her body and she wanted to throw up in horror. That was definitely not the time.
"And where exactly did you come from? Do you remember?" she diverted the conversation.
The half-demon took a second from rummaging through a pot to point outside. "The well."
"What?!" she squeaked. "Do all demons come up from there?!"
"How would I know, woman? There could be other portals or whatever the fuck they are. You live here. You tell me, are you used to seeing lots of demons crawling out of your house?"
She scowled at his response, suddenly wishing she was free again so she could reach for the arrows.
"Didn't realize back in the day demons already spoke sarcasm… Oh, and yeah, a powerful ancient jewel capable of mass destruction would definitely be kept safely inside a cat treat jar."
Inuyasha stopped and put the jar down with a grunt, taking one of Buyo's treats for himself.
"Nothing…" he sighed before reaching for the girl again. "Let's go. Up, up, up. I'm gonna look upstairs."
"Wait," she crawled away before he could pick her up. "If you do end up finding the jewel…what are you gonna do with it? Are you gonna destroy it?"
Inuyasha stared at her silently. She half-expected not to receive a response and then she heard him utter something she definitely hadn't seen coming.
"I'm gonna wish to become human."
Could it be possible she was feeling pity for the man who had watched her grandfather die and did nothing about it? There was something dejected about his gaze, an emptiness she hadn't seen before.
"Do you…have any other family, Inuyasha?"
The corner of his lip twisted in a cynical half-smile. "I have a brother - who stabbed me through the chest with his poisoned claws when I was 10."
Kagome gulped down the lump that had formed in her throat.
'Yes. It was possible.'
"So," she added, "I'm assuming your niece isn't visiting…"
He fought to suppress a laugh at her question but wasn't quick enough. "No. No niece that I'm aware of. That'd be the day."
Then he froze on the spot. His hand tightened around her arm and she heard him intake a sharp breath. It took her a few seconds longer than the half-demon to pick up on it, the sound of the bell above the door once again alerting her that someone had come into the shop.
"Customers?"
"No," Inuyasha answered, a threatening growl rumbling in his chest. "Not customers."
Following his gaze to the sliding door that separated both divisions, Kagome waited as slow footsteps approached. A tall figure stood at the entrance, long silver hair draped over a rich white kimono.
"Hello, little brother."
I am very worried that last line sounded like the opening scene of a bad mafia fic but believe me, my other options were worse.
Also, if you're wondering no, I didn't accidentally forget the concealing spells, it's part of the story :)
Lastly, thank you very much to the wonderful readers who kindly left a comment in the last chapter but who I wasn't able to reach directly - your feedback means the world to me and I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far!
Anyways, please let me know what you think. Sharing is caring :)
-SpookyNoodle