Chapter 4 – Silent Tempest
A lone figure stood facing a panoramic display. Beams of light created the massive, untouchable screen, stretching floor to ceiling in a curtain of ambient glow. Upon it, dozens of digital files had been opened on window after window. Sharp, intuitive eyes scanned them relentlessly, concentration pinned raptly as each acute detail etched into memory.
The first of webs were beginning to connect, but essential pieces were still missing.
A glass lifted to touch cold lips, savouring the warming richness of liquid amber over ice. It coated his tongue, his throat. Left him slightly numb. But it was what he had needed. Swirling the drink in hand, the rest was downed with not a drop to waste, the sound of the empty glass on the table a ringing pitch to keep him company.
He took a step back to survey the progress. Every detail, every note that had been taken on the case were splayed on bare walls for scrutiny. Now all he had to do was find the missing link.
The tenor of his voice reverberated across the spacious room.
"Open file 905."
Immediately, a sonorous, female voice chimed. It was robotic from all directions, an echo of the command.
'Opening file 905.'
Another screen appeared projecting a slowly spinning diagram as light glinted off wispy bangs. Sesshomaru brought a hand beneath his chin in thought, elbow resting on the arm crossing under a ribcage. His head tilted at a slight angle while examining the now-familiar logo of a double helix.
"Run all known pathways from Jewel Entertainment Inc. to GenexisLab."
Like before, the program reacted without pause to the voice command.
'Running all known pathways . . .'
A new window had opened up to begin the search, however –
'Scan completed. No known pathway exists from Jewel Entertainment Inc. to GenexisLab.'
Glancing at another image that had caught attention off-side, he repeated the protocol.
"Run all known pathways from Shikon Ltd. to GenexisLab."
'Running all known pathways . . .
Two pathways found from Shikon Ltd. to GenexisLab.'
It had taken just a nanosecond for two new documents to appear. The wonders of quantum computing had once again saved him hours of grunt work.
"Display results."
Carefully reading over the reports produced, he was appeased at the findings that would hopefully lead to solid ground.
The investigation had started off with the basics – public information and securities filings. It had been simple enough to find that Naraku held seventy-five percent ownership of Jewel Entertainment Inc., which was comprised of various nightclubs and bars across the country. Straight forward enough. This included the place of Kagome's current employment. The other twenty-five percent were held by privately-traded stock owners, most of which were other corporate entities. Retail investors were a thing of the past, with an exception for the ultra-rich. He hadn't even touched his own investment accounts in what seemed like ages. The dividends alone had been enough to sustain his simple lifestyle and fund whatever caught his curiosity. Any interest once held for the market had faded; dwindled before vanishing just like much of everything else in this forsaken existence.
He could admit that he was once ambitious on all things of capital gain. It had been the way of his upbringing for centuries. But none could have predicted how quickly things would change. None could have known that within just a few meagre decades that the scales of balance could be tipped so fiercely, rewriting a preconceived future into history. Supreme conquest mattered little when the spoils were naught but a desolate wasteland.
Back to the current and most prevalent focus, it wasn't until their little recon that resulted in identifying Bankotsu Shichinintai – the apparent CEO of Shikon Ltd. – that had him digging through his company's operations. They were a fairly recent producer of organic chemical compounds typical for use in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Formed only two years prior, public records were clean as a whistle, but he knew this was just the tip of the iceberg.
After a few strategic calls to members of the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission that had owed him favours, he had finally unmasked the sly details that had been kept under wraps.
It would seem that amongst a swell of other manufacturing companies Shikon Ltd. had investments in, two had finally stood out.
ShardPLUS and BAND7.
Both of which there had been little information on other than the names and inception dates. They were clearly shell companies; its assets consisting solely of cash and cash equivalents, no operations. But it was the shares they both held in GenexisLab that had finally solidified the connection.
So then the question becomes;
What interest does Naraku have in a company specializing in both human and demon genome sequencing?
Silver brows furrowed.
Something sinister was brewing like a storm on the horizon. Many possibilities ran through his mind then, bioterrorism being at the top of the list.
"Search for weapons manufacturers in all Case-86 subfolders. Include all mentions of nanotech."
'Searching all Case-86 subfolders . . . no results found.'
Damn it. He needed to get to the bottom of it, and fast. He needed more resources.
He needed to make the call.
-X-
"Sesshomaru, you need to stop this conspiracy theory that's taking over your life. You are becoming delusional; surely there are better things to invest your time in."
The apparition projected in his living room had not changed in the slightest over the long centuries. His two round eyes were bulbous as ever, never seeming to focus on one particular spot but giving the distinct impression he was still observing every detail in rapt attention like a preying lizard. Twin grey strands draped out from each side above those withered lips in a Fu Manchu moustache, complete with a thinning chin-puff beard. The remaining half head of hair was always pulled back into a short horsetail while aged wrinkles deep as canyons lined the skin on his scalp. With such a pointed chin and sunken, hollow cheeks, one would think he was a mummified corpse if it weren't for his boisterous speech.
"And you are old and blind." Sesshomaru's outward demeanour was still as a pond's surface at the break of dawn, but inwardly he was practically seething. How many times have they had this conversation already? "Do you not see the web that Naraku is weaving? With all the evidence, I am surprised you are still refusing to see logic."
"This is not evidence. This is circumstantial hypothesis, at best." The ancient one sighed long and hard. "Sesshomaru, I understand the grief of losing your father. I miss him dearly as well. He was the greatest and most powerful of our kind, but even you knew the sides were neck-to-neck back then. Going after Onigumo's descendant will not bring Inu no Taisho back from the dead. We won the war with great losses. Do not go seeking to start another."
"If you only listen, you would realize that the gears of war are already turning. If we do not anticipate what is coming, then we are even bigger fools to let history repeat itself."
The elder youkai shook his creaking head dejectedly. What would it take to get the pup to listen?
"Peace has reigned for over a century now. Though the newer generations of the human race may not understand much of The Great War, we have not forgotten the sheer force and drive of their will in masses should they feel threatened by our kind. The world is not as it once was. Magic continues to fade away, and with it, the source of life for our kind. Our numbers are small and getting smaller still. And though strong as you may be – stronger than even your father had been, dare I say – I do not think we would survive another war raged against us."
Clawed hands balled into fists, ready to launch his mounting frustrations straight at the senile being. "And yet, that is exactly what I am attempting to prevent. The exact details of Naraku's plot may not be known at this time; however, my instinct is never wrong. He is scheming to break the unison that had lasted this long."
"We are not to meddle in mortal affairs, you know this well enough. Let their own police force deal with Naraku."
"They have been aware for years, yet they do nothing," Sesshomaru scowled vehemently. "Corruption runs deep within their politics. They have no honour."
"Regardless, the decision of The Council stands. Unless you are able to come back with greater evidence of this malicious plot you suspect Naraku of, Bokuseno and I will not be backing your endeavours."
"Totosai –"
But the call abruptly ended, cutting him off mid-sentence. Hologram fading, Sesshomaru angrily lashed a ribbon of sizzling green acid, slicing at the spot where the projection had been standing just seconds ago. The caustic, youki-infused substance ate away at pristine marble tiles, burning holes straight through his expensive floors.
Screw their pussyfooting hesitation.
If The Council refused to help, refused to heed reason, then he shall take matters into his own hands.
-X-
The light breeze swept flowing, midnight hair like a billowing curtain, teasing the ends to tickle against arms bared to the wind. A slender hand brushed the loose locks behind an ear to expose the woman's side profile in full display. From the soft curve of her cheeks, the delicate slope of her nose, to the slim lines of her jaw – she was relaxed as he'd ever seen her. Stripped of the usual make-up that dusted her face and circled her almond eyes, she was left in her most natural state.
There was a radiance to her, he noticed, accentuated by the glow of the full moon as it casted a sheen of ethereality upon her flawless skin. He caught the blues of her irises as they turned his way. The color of the deepest ocean, they were a window to the tumultuous emotions that she kept within, hiding them in secret, buried like a ship lost at sea beneath the towering waves. And despite the gentle smile tugging at those full lips, he knew they were a mask to the sadness lying under her readable façade.
She was never as good as he was in the art of concealment.
The silence was a welcomed comfort. There were no words exchanged between them. There was no need. For tonight, at this moment, it was not about the case, not about their covert operations, not about swapping confidential information.
At this moment, they were simply two beings at peace.
He turned his head away, sight sweeping along the cityscape below. Despite his withering opinion of the metropolis, he could admit that it was still a captivating sight. From the roof of where they stood storeys high into the sky, they could see the almost endless reach of civilization as it coated the land in a kaleidoscopic mesh of light. The rare clarity of the atmosphere was a much needed reprieve, allowing miles upon miles of a transparent view.
"It's quite beautiful when you see it all from up here."
The words were softly spoken, drifting to his tactful ears like a smooth caress and reminding him of a simpler time. He knew what she was referring to, but his mind gravitated to something else entirely in reluctant agreement.
"It was more so before."
"Before?" she absently questioned. The scene from up here was her favourite. It was one of the few unobstructed views she had access to thanks to a faulty security clearance. Her building's management weren't the most diligent in upkeep, but it worked to her advantage. It was the best place she'd found to unwind. The air was fresher, and the lack of aerial traffic allowed for a pocket of quiet amongst the chaos. It was a great place to just sit and think.
"Before the Tokyo we see today."
A breathy laugh fell from her lips causing a side-glance aimed her way, curious at the easy amusement that befell her.
"I can't believe you still call it that. Everyone knows it as Sanctum City now." She gleamed at him, and added playfully, "Just how old are you?"
There was an intrigue to the question that humoured him. He flashed a knowing look. "Old enough to have seen it as Edo."
"Y-you can't be serious." That meant he was at least three hundred years old! Maybe even five hundred or more, from her historical calculations. He was practically a relic, ancient as dust. She'd never encountered a demon quite so old. Though frankly speaking, she didn't encounter much of them at all. They were few and far between – most, if not all, being out of her social class entirely.
And yet here he was; solid, strong, and cascaded in silver like a decorated aristocrat, looking not a day older than thirty. Their species was astonishing. She could never quite grasp how they're able to survive a dozen lifetimes, how they were practically gods in comparison to a human's feeble existence.
She was just a speck in the sand for him. A single snowflake in a winter storm.
"A Daiyoukai's life is long, indeed," he intoned, and she was drawn out of her moment of sobering revelation.
Long was an understatement. She couldn't fathom what it was like endure so many years. It was her curious nature that dropped the next unfiltered question. "How do you cope?"
"Cope?" With what? – he thought.
"With loss." A visage of her family's smiling faces drifted in her mind, faces she would never see again. "I mean, that's a long time to be alive for. I'm sure there's people you've cared about that don't have quite the lifespan that you have."
He made a sound of derision, haughty as his response. "Death is an inevitability."
"That's not really an answer." She wondered what he was trying to avoid.
"Coping would infer their deaths had mattered in a significant way." She could see his posture stiffen, though expression remained placid as before. "I have no need to cope."
There were slivers of unaddressed pain between those callous words. She recognized it for what it was, for she felt the very same all those years ago when the loss of her family was still fresh and hurt and threatened to drag her through the deepest depths of hell. But she had waded through the waters and paddled for life. And though her arms had ached from the strain of holding on so tightly, and her lungs had burned with the blaze of an eternal fire, she had not given up the fight. She had refused to surrender to the darkness that had beckoned for her to join them.
"Who did you lose?"
Her question was barely a whisper – an echo of her thoughts – but rang as loud as if she had screamed it. She had no right to pry into his past. A trickle of ire rose through his veins, and he was angry at himself for letting the conversation drift towards a path unwanted.
"No one of importance," he replied coldly.
"Jeez, look at Ice Prince over here." A bit taken aback, she tried diffusing the sudden tension by diverting. "Perhaps that's a good thing then. You're saved from the grief. The turmoil. I wouldn't want to wish that on anyone."
When he didn't speak another word, she turned back to the cityscape, letting the topic drop. He was not talkative in nature, and she didn't want to push her luck. She took what little dialogue he would allow, and tonight he had seemed extra talkative, more so than usual. At least, when it came to topics outside of the investigation. He was mostly secretive otherwise.
But it had been nice though. To be able to get to know him, maybe understand the demon a little bit more, even if just slightly. He was as guarded as they come. And though she couldn't claim to know him, there was a sense of accomplishment at being able to recognize the subtle signs of his calculated, tightly-wrapped expressions. From the questioning quirk of a brow, to the arch that would indicate a surprised reaction, she was starting to decipher bits and pieces that would escape between the cracks of his iron-firm countenance.
Yet, the reason for keeping himself so withdrawn was beyond her hope to comprehend. She wondered if he ever gets lonely. If he had anyone special to lean on when the world just seemed to want to swallow you whole.
A stronger wind picked up with a cooling chill, causing shivers to run down her spine like ghostly fingers. She quickly rubbed along her upper arms to add back the missing warmth. Maybe it was time to head back inside anyway; it was getting close to midnight.
Before she could push away from the railing they had both been leaning against, she felt a weight across her shoulders as it enveloped her back. Startled, she looked down to see the lapels of Sesshomaru's coat draping over to her front.
Turning her head to thank him, she saw that he had fallen back into his previous position as though having not moved at all, gaze still cast across the illuminated city. The gratitude died on her tongue. It would seem that his preference for sustained silence remained.
But as the unspoken moment stretched, she found she was not able to settle back into the comfort of the earlier peace. A cold had nested within her stomach, and no matter how much she tried, she could not force it away.
"Sesshomaru – " she faltered, eyes flicking away to the ground as her hands wrung the thick sleeves of his coat nervously. Maybe she should just keep it to herself. She didn't even know what she would have expected of him anyway.
When she did not continue, he finally turned to face her, sensing a new nervousness darkening her usually bright aura. "What is it?"
There was something troubling her, and he'd rather it be said than not. Straight-forward was more his style. He loathed wasting time or breath on things that could be said and done in a quicker and more succinct manner.
Yet even in the face of his short patience, he found himself patiently catering to her pace of discourse.
"I – " She took a deep breath, not trusting the quivering of her lips as thoughts struggled to form words. "I just have a bad feeling that something big is going to happen. Something terrible. And the fact that we still don't know what Naraku's ultimate plan is worries me."
He could sort of understand what she meant, but he didn't quite share the sentiment. He wanted to tell to her that she was digging her own grave with overthinking. But he curved his words as anxiety continued washing off of her in opulent waves.
"Worrying of the unknown serves no purpose," he offered instead.
"Don't you think I know that!" she practically yelled, but caught her voice from pitching too high. Frustration gripped at her insides, clawing its way like a warning bell. How was she to articulate the dread that had been rising over the past few weeks? This intangible, illogical feeling that she'd fallen under a frozen pond, trapped under a heavy sheet of ice, not able to swim up.
How was she to explain the feeling of running out of air with each breath she took? Physically, she was fine. But something sinister gnawed at her, telling her to take serious precaution like that sixth sense of stepping away from traffic right as an oncoming vehicle veers your way.
Inhaling a shuddering breath, she forced her nerves to subside. "I'm sorry, I just can't seem to shake this awful feeling."
Just when it seemed like he was to remain silent – maybe mock her for such feelings of insecurity – the stoic demon said something that surprised her.
"Focus on what you are in control of. Your actions and decisions – use it to shape your emotions." He was looking directly at her now, as though commanding heed to every word spoken. "Do not simply sit aside. Only you are in control."
Kagome was about to rebut, but a well-placed finger upon her lips shushed her immediately.
"You are in control."
And just like that, she wanted to cry as all the bunched up tension and coiled apprehension released at once, flooding across limbs and fingers and toes. Lifting her gaze to meet his eyes, the surety of his words shone like candles in a cave, a shielding comfort that was new and familiar all at the same time.
She was so fragile. This tiny slip of a woman was an enigma that confounded him in more ways than one, and had stolen countless thoughts in the solidarity of his days. And as she beheld him with those shining eyes that threatened to spill, she gave a simple nod, showing that his message had been received.
His finger lingered just a bit longer, the claw tracing her lush, bottom lip in a touch light as a sakura petal before falling away. A tongue unconsciously darted out to wet that same lip, and his eyes were drawn to the alluring sheen left upon that pink flesh.
Golden eyes drew back up to lock upon her azure orbs. "Do you remember the plan?"
Kagome was suddenly jarred from the fog, the fleeting moment dispersing like smoke. She gave an affirming nod. "I've got Sango onside to help with the distraction long enough for me to sneak into the office."
"I should be the one going."
"No," she refuted, not for the first time. "We've already talked about this. There's too many cameras and the blind spots are just small enough for me to slip through. And you're not fast enough to not trigger the camera sensors to just speed by unnoticed."
She was right, of course. They had managed to obtain a copy of the building's floorplan from city archives. And though the exterior had been fairly flimsy in security, the interior had been extensively upgraded, converting the top floors into Naraku's personal offices. A few well-placed conversation starters with a certain loose-lipped, Russian bouncer had provided the missing details on the location of surveillance devices scattered throughout the venue.
There was only one way in, and one way out. So he had relented and allowed her the lead role in their plan.
"And the device?"
Holding up a wrist in view, she gave it a shake as the sleek bracelet dangled.
"Press this to record," she pointed to a rounded ruby along the shiny cuff, "and this to initiate the decoding sequence and data sync once I get within a foot of the system," she added while pointing to another one.
"Good. Do not stray from plan."
At this, she dropped her hand and rolled her eyes, mood just a tad lighter than before as the melancholy lifted from her spirits. Ridiculous as it sounded, she felt like a secret agent, pretending she was someone useful for once – someone more important than just a crippled stripper at a mid-tier club.
Good progress had been made in the past weeks despite the refusal of assistance from the D.C.A. The previous few spy missions had yielded additional information that had ultimately led them here. They had tracked down the transportation company and their shipping routes, figured out the incoming and outgoing schedules, and overlaid their findings to identify operational anomalies. With the additional insights discovered yesterday from the regrouping of Bankotsu, Renkotsu, Suikotsu, and Ryuga, they now knew for sure that something big was going down in the next day or so. It was imminent, and they had to move fast. Though they still do not know what it would actually be, Kagome was almost a hundred percent sure just where to find it. And though Naraku had not been in attendance in any of these secretive meetings with the other men, they knew for sure he was the mastermind pulling the strings to his puppets.
Tomorrow. They will have their answers tomorrow. They will bring all these fuckers down. Especially Naraku. Especially Bankotsu.
And Kagome will finally be free.
"I won't, Detective Taisho." She winked before laughing full-heartedly at the deadpan look he was giving her. He was clearly not as amused as she was at the impromptu nickname given as though they were in some neo-noir fiction.
Grabbing him by the arm, she tugged him towards the rooftop doors upon which they came.
"Let's go eat. I'm hungry."
-X-