Chapter 21
Disclaimer: Blah, Blah, Blah. Same as chapter one.
Author Note: Well this time I could not get a hold of anyone to edit the chapter, so you are getting it as is.
I apologize for bad grammar and possible spelling errors (although my word processor indicated there were none, but these things are not perfect)
This is a double post as chapter 22 gets posted too, making up for this one being shorter than my usual chapters.
In this as in the previous chapters telosphilos was a great help, providing ideas to get the fic going.
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Inuyasha went ahead and changed in the locker room rather than wait to change in the infirmary. The idea of being less than fully dressed in front of a female offended his sense of decency when he was not injured, as well as the lingering memories of being rejected and made fun of because he was a hanyou. Never mind that at the moment he looked completely human. Kagome was the exception, but she was his mate. And she had told him that she actually liked how he looked. A small smile appeared on his face and he had to admit that he could not wait to see and kiss her. A small blush darkened his cheeks and he pushed the thought aside, no need of embarrassing himself by giving those guys something to tease him about.
He had let Kaede and Sango see him shirtless before, but they had helped to tend his wounds and were members of his pack, and they too accepted him as a hanyou. The young man understood that the standards of decency had radically changed over the centuries, but to him it still was not right to be seen less than fully covered. He had seen on that TV thing many almost naked women and men, Kagome's Ofukuro had said they wore something called 'bikinis', swimsuits, Kagome used one of those when she bathed in his time, and trunks, parading on those commercial things. As a male he had to admit the view was nice and Miroku probably would not stop drooling if he saw one of those, in fact he could imagine the monk plastered to the TV screen and he chuckled. Showing him a commercial or one of those 'magazine' books Kagome had, would be a good prank on the lecherous bouzu, one that Kagome might actually help him with.
Once fully clothed he followed the older men's scents to the infirmary. Nomura had an odd 'thing' on his bare shoulder and back, and Watanabe was lying down with a couple of them on his back. On seeing the mass of bruises on both men, Inuyasha winced almost imperceptibly, visible only if you were paying close attention. The captain caught it even if no one else did, it did not take much thought for him to realize that the young hanyou had not intended to leave the pair in that bad a shape.
Shirosenshi Inuyasha intrigued him. His case had been one out of three in his long years of experience that he was never able to solve; and to his immense surprise at least half of that case had resolved itself. The kid had returned to civilization on his own, unfortunately a year too late to meet his parents. Captain Fukasawa made a mental note to keep his eyes on the pup; perhaps he would be able to ask, even if advised by Lady Chie not to, how the boy had evaded both police and criminals before ending in the Untamed Lands.
"It's ok, it just looks bad," Fukasawa said wanting to reassure the pup. "You just need to learn to meter your strength more carefully though, I don't want to deal with my officers complaining about unintentional injuries." This time when Inuyasha winced again, everyone picked up on it.
"I thought I had," he said looking a bit sheepish. Kagome's Ofukuro did not want him getting on the police's bad side and from what he had started to learn about those people; he rather agreed with her, they might try to find out things he did not want them to know. So he did something that was quite out of the norm for him, "I… hmm… sorry, I… hmm… didn't mean to hit you so hard." He looked quite uncomfortable apologizing; they all got the gist that he did not do that often. Nomura and Ando were really appalled to note that the boy was serious and really had not intended the damage he caused.
"Its all right pup, we'll be healed by the time of the bust next week," Kojiro told him. "I want you to teach me how in hell you pull those changes in direction in midair without touching anything. I can only do some of them and it has been years since I even tried most of those."
'Teach him? What is it with the people of this time wanting me to teach them things? No one ever thought I knew something worth teaching before, not even the rest of the pack.' Inuyasha wondered, not for the first time that week.
"I don't know if I can teach you to do them. It really hurts when you get it wrong," the young man told the older one. "You can break a number of bones on impact." And he had broken a few while learning, mostly because he had to learn on the fly. A youkai would toss him out and he had to do something to avoid crashing against a rock, a tree or other youkai. The end result could have been his death and not just a few broken bones. In fact he could do those turns, with only a bit less strength and control, when he was human.
"I know, I've done that a few times," the neko told the inu. "Grab an ice pack, it will help the bruising." Kojiro said pointing to where some more of the things on his back were.
'Ah… so that's what those things are for. Those 'ice packs' seem interesting; I'll have to ask Kagome about them. With as often as Miroku gets slapped or hit with Hiraikotsu, they might become handy.'
"What bruising?" Inuyasha asked, looking a bit perplexed. He could not believe the neko was that badly hurt, actually, he was supposed to be able to stand a lot more than a human, and he had not hit him as hard as he could.
"What do you mean what bruising? Watanabe-kun kicked you hard enough for people to hear the impact across the gym." Goroko asked incredulously, the kid seemed to be trying to cover his injuries when he had to be in pain.
"So, when you knock the air out of some one's lungs it makes noise. When you hit anything hard enough there is a sound. He did hit me, but not enough to harm me," Inuyasha stated plainly, and it sounded cocky even though he had not meant it that way. He just could take a lot of damage and the neko had not been anywhere close to causing it.
He also did not see what the big deal was about, and he needed to get out of there to pick up Kagome, he wanted to see her and smell her lovely scent. Besides those 'friends' of hers might convince her to leave on her own, although he felt pretty sure that girl Emi would side with Kagome. She knew the truth and seemed sensible, but that Yuka girl was another matter altogether, and he did not want to find out if she was able to convince his mate to leave without him.
Ando looked at the scowling boy, he was clearly a high level fighter and the comment about mortal combat was definitely not a joke. He figured the boy just did not know when he was in pain any more. He knew that to happen to some fighters, or maybe he just had a big resistance to pain, but that did not mean there was no damage. And if he was to judge by the sound, there was probably a cracked rib at the very least, although how the kid managed to look so casual baffled him.
"Just let us put some ice on the bruises from where you were hit." Ando insisted, as a father with a kid around Inuyasha's age he just could not let him go injured. It bothered him a bit to have to use him for a dangerous job, but there was no one in the police force, or anywhere else for that matter, that had his superb sense of smell. A human/dog team like Rurouni and him would not do for such a delicate mission.
'Bruises?'Inuyasha thought a bit astonished 'I don't even bruise easily; these humans and even the youkai must be really weak to be worrying about those things,' the young hanyou scratched his head puzzled. He then thought about the only actual black and blue he received that stayed long enough to be noticed. Sesshomaru had caused it by punching him on the face the second time they fought for Tetsusaiga.
"You might not be noticing any pain right now, but you will in a while. If you will take off your shirt we can put a balm on it as well that will help." Ando kept on saying unaware that the kid was not really paying attention.
"Don't bother, save it for when I actually get hurt. I am not hurt. Besides, it isn't proper to be less than fully dressed in the company of a wench when you aren't wounded, or have a damn good reason to be." Turning his head so that only Goroko and the Captain would be about to see his lips move, Kojiro told the pup in a voice too low for the humans to hear
"Our standards of propriety are different here, pup. The Untamed Lands you have been living in are apparently stuck in the past in more ways than one." The younger hanyou gave the neko a mulish look and continued to refuse.
The light went on in Nakada Goroko's head at the neko's comment. It made sense that the boy would be used to mortal combat in the lawless Untamed Lands, it was rumored that hanyous were still hunted and brutally killed over there. She shuddered a bit at the thought, as she had nothing against hanyous; the kitsune always thought that part of demon history was a bit too barbaric. But it certainly explained why the kid seemed so feral. He was feral.
The inu hanyou's combat skills were incredible and the boy might even be able to track very, very well. She allowed herself a small smile, she was experienced and very good at detecting drugs, but by the results Fujimaro showed her, Inuyasha seemed much better than she could ever be. The narcotics division had been given a godsend in the form of this puppy if they could house break him.
"Look, if it makes you that uncomfortable, I'll leave and you can prove it to the rest. However, I'm talking to our resident nurse and if you have so much as a bruise, she will be checking you for broken ribs and the like if I have to sit on you and hand cuff you to the bed." Detective Nakada told him in a sharp, but amused tone. Ando shot her a wry and grateful look and said
"And I'll help. Come on just prove it to us." Goroko waltzed out the door shooting her partner a wink as she grabbed the nurse on her way out.
"Feh! Like that would stop me," he muttered so low only Kojiro and Goroko, before closing the door, were able to hear.
"We aren't going to let you out of here until you do, so save us all some time, besides I believe my partner mentioned you have an appointment to keep with a pretty girl," Seijuro snickered at him.
Inuyasha could just leave if that was what he wanted. Nomura-jiji and Kojiro were the best they had and he beat them, so there were very few chances of anyone actually stopping him. But he was increasingly becoming aware that even the way people acted was different in Kagome's time. He could not act like he was used to. Because no matter that in his time he had reached adulthood, he had not in this time. Or the fact that he was the leader of his own pack; no youkai his age ever had one, then or now. For these humans and youkai he was still a kid; as much as he hated that word even after Kagome explained it; and he had to act the pup part when he had stopped being one in his mind a long time ago. That did not mean he had to like it though. So the young hanyou gave a barely audible growl of disgust at his situation, shot everyone in the room dirty looks and grumbled as he removed his shirt, forcing himself to comply.
"There, happy?" He snapped as the chief and Ando tried to find a bruise.
There was not a single mark on the young man, not even a birthmark. What little body hair there was, was just as silvery white as the hair on his head. The color was quite definitely natural, matching the description in the missing persons file of a natural albino with amber instead of red eyes. This was just one more confirmation to Nomura that Inuyasha was indeed the same kid. But something caught his attention; he was wearing some prayer beads around his neck hidden under the T-shirt. The detective could not help but be reminded yet again of the legend he had discussed with his father on Monday night.
The Inuyasha from the legend wore a set of prayer beads around his neck that only the Miko, Kagome, could control and that would subdue the hanyou by saying a 'special' word. The Inuyasha in front of him was wearing a similar set of prayer beads around his neck. That was something no modern day kid his age would be caught dead wearing.
Seijuro had not had the time, or presence of mind to read the scans and the translation his father sent him but after seeing the rosary around the young man's neck he decided that no matter how weird he though the idea was, he was going to check that legend thoroughly, there were just too many coincidences to let them pass.
"What's this?" Ando asked, grabbing a hold of the prayer beads and looking about to remove them. Inuyasha snatched them from his hand as he moved away, what would they think when they did not come off? He better think of something and fast.
"Are you blind or something?" Was his retort, it would buy him some time to think. "They are prayer beads."
"No, we're not blind Shirosenshi," the captain said a bit surprised by the outburst. "It's just that it is… strange to see a young man your age wearing them, it's not used anymore."
"Yeah it is rather weird..." Nomura began saying and there was just that look on his face that told Inuyasha he suspected something was amiss though he was not sure what.
'Think you fool!' Inuyasha told himself, 'Think! Think! Think!'
"I live at a Shinto shrine, what would you expect?" he blurted out, "These were a gift from the family that took me in, so what do you expect me to do? Throw them away?" He added just the right amount of annoyance and defense to his voice that would usually work with his friends to avoid questioning. Of course after that, he usually just climbed up a tree or left. Still, he hoped the tone dissuaded those guys from asking more questions.
"Of course not pup," Kojiro responded knowing the true nature of the beads and not wanting the others to ask more questions.
With his tone of voice Watanabe hoped the others understood it was a sensitive theme for the pup and would drop it. Although Nomura looked like his brain was being overworked, and the neko wondered why. The captain looked curious too, and Kojiro suspected he had noticed they were magical, but knew his boss would not ask in front of untrained people. He saw him and Ando shrug and kept looking for inexistent bruises.
What really caught everyone's notice after the prayer beads was the young man's physique. He was built like a man, not a boy, although a bit more slender. There was not a bit of fat on him and every muscle was clear and solidly defined. The bulky clothes he wore hid it well, but boys this kid's age were not supposed to have such well-defined musculature, nor such powerful pectorals and shoulders. The chief sighed and nodded this were all signs that he had to fight to stay alive in the Untamed Lands, he had to make himself strong or he would have been killed long ago.
"Looks like you were right, there isn't a mark on you, no baby fat either," Fukazawa commented.
"It's hard to get fat when you hunt your own food," he responded.
Even though lately he had not really hunted, only a few times after he was unsealed actually, since Kagome would bring stuff from her time. Mostly the ramen he loved or Miroku would get them a place to stay and get them free meals. And Kaede-baba was not a bad cook either; she actually made very good soups. He was starting to get hungry if his thoughts wandered toward food stuffs, so he began wondering what strange foods Higurashi-sama would prepare for lunch, and so far he liked everything he had eaten. He was brought back from his musings by Nomura.
"I think Kojiro must have done a better job of pulling his punches, but it sure didn't sound like it in there." Nomura pointed out. Internally, Kojiro winced as he had not been pulling them that much, just enough to keep from putting a hand through the pup's body, although by all means Inuyasha should have had at least a couple of bruises.
"He did and I know how to take a hit as well," Inuyasha sighed as he tucked in his shirt, making sure the prayer beads went under his t-shit. "Can I go now?" He asked with the martyred patience of a teenager.
"Just wait for me to put my shirt back on and I'll drop you off, I don't think you'll get there in time if you take the subway. Do the rest of you want me to pick up food?" Kojiro asked as he got dressed.
"Yeah sure, I'm pretty hungry," Nomura said, "exercise always opens my appetite."
Ando got out his billfold and handed Kojiro some money and a piece of paper with what he wanted to eat written on it. Nomura and the captain did the same as Ando went to go get his partner and find out what she wanted. Goroko could not believe the boy really was uninjured, but all of the men swore up and down that there really was not a mark on him, so she let it go. The hanyous left Nomura and the others in the infirmary and went on their merry way discussing technical aspects of sparring versus the real deal.
Seeing them talking Nomura began thinking that the sparring actually did a lot of good towards earning Inuyasha's trust, at least for Kojiro. He had messed it by calling him a child, so he would have to be careful not to offend the kid again. They needed him for the case, cases he corrected himself. As he won, there was no doubt the Captain was going to let him do the sniffing around for Fujimaro. Besides, after fighting him, he was sure the kid might actually cause some serious harm the next time he made him mad. And he did not like the idea; the boy's fuse was just too short for his liking.
"Damn that kid is good," the Captain began once they were out of earshot. "I'd been told he was an accomplished fighter, but I didn't expect him to be that good. Makes me wish we hadn't had to call off the search when he went missing so that he wouldn't have had to become that skilled."
"You were assigned to that case, correct?" Nomura asked to refresh his memory and for the benefit of the other two.
"You already know I was. I tried to reread the case file as soon as you mentioned his name on Monday, but you had already checked it out. That poor kid was a very sweet little boy by all accounts before everything happened," he sighed sadly, Lady Chie had also reminded him of that when they talked. "He is damn lucky to be alive, what with what those bastards did to his parents. Once they were recovering from their injuries I met them, and they were really decent people." The chief tried to explain to his people. He remembered that case very, very well. It was also his first major contact with the local demon lords and one of the worst attempted murder cases he had seen in his entire career.
"I'll have to take your word on that Chief, seeing as how they died over a year ago now. I'm still trying to gather enough evidence to prove that he is really the same boy. He won't talk about it. Any ideas on where the kid learned to fight like that?" Nomura asked; he really wanted to know.
"I know it is him, just take a look at the photo in his file, there is no doubt it is the same boy. Still, it puzzles me no end how he managed to survive, but I won't press for answers… yet. And for the moment you shouldn't either Seijuro, we need to know a bit more about him, and let him know us. Only then we might be able to ask how much he remembers of the incident, most kids that age would block the memories." This was at the demon's lord daughter request. She suspected her 'cousin' might be traumatized by the experience, so they were probably better off with waiting a bit.
Nomura believed his Captain was right on his assumption that Inuyasha might not remember and thus that being the reason why he did not speak about it. He was also probably right on the trust issue, and again he made the mental note 'not to piss the kid off', although it was going to be hard, that was just the way he was.
Seijuro technically understood why Inuyasha was such a good fighter even if he had no school at all. But he still could not help but find all of those killing moves and the comment about mortal combat very disturbing. The kid did not seem like a murderer, but then some of the murderers he had caught were definitely not the people you would suspect at first blush.
"Well yes, seeing that photo and then Inuyasha, doesn't leave much of a doubt. But I still would like to have the hard evidence of a DNA test. I know that might not be a choice now since the only living relatives are his father's cousin and his children and back when this happened, DNA tests were not that common so we don't have any samples from the parents."
"Yes that is one of the problems now, as they were cremated."
"How would you know about that Chief? The case is 10 years old." Ando asked a bit surprised.
"I have kept in contact with the family over the years as the case was never closed, looking for clues or more information to solve it. And I have to say I'm a bit disappointed that you have not asked how come I knew about their deaths in the first place?" He got sheepish looks from his detectives and he just nodded.
"Well their deaths are recorded in his file…" Nomura began, mentally berating himself for not questioning the information and not paying more attention to a case file in which he had gotten involved. This was one major slip up on his part.
"And you didn't question why they were? Seijuro I think you're slipping if you passed that." The detective flinched a bit at hearing his superior officer voicing his own thoughts. "I guess I'll assign you another case beside the park killer to keep you sharp. It's been a while since you and Kojiro worked at something else, can't have my best homicide detective getting all rusty."
"Captain we really have our heads and hands full with that case."
"Maybe you should assign them over to our department for a while Chief, just to get them back into working form." Fujimaro commented knowing full well that both Kojiro and Seijuro had almost begged out of narcotics when they were starting in the force. None liked it.
"Now that would be a good idea, we are short of officers for some cases…" Goroko agreed with a little mischievous smile at Nomura's rather annoyed face.
"No way! You know working over there is not our thing Chief Besides, Kojiro is not even here to argue in his favor!" That sounded more like a whine as he saw that the Captain was indeed considering Fujimaro's suggestion. He glared at his co-workers and friends.
"Now, about how Inuyasha learned to fight I have some ideas, the family would occasionally get word that he had been sighted." The captain decided to change the subject, but he was seriously considering the suggestion. Besides if Inuyasha was to help narcotics and both, Nomura and Watanabe, were sort of informally in charge of the pup, they might as well get involved in that case. "Stories about a white haired boy with golden eyes saving small children from predators, human and otherwise, and taking them back to within sight of the villages. Every time anyone tried to look for the boy, it was as if he had vanished. Since the children were all so young, most of the stories were discounted as fibs and trying to get attention using local legends, but even these stories stopped coming after about a year of the disappearance. The psychos that tried to kill him and his parents also put a very large bounty up for his severed head. I think any number of those bastards may have tried for it. All they had to do was kill one boy and they would be instant millionaires many times over." The Captain tried to explain what Lady Chie had told him in terms Nomura and Ando could understand. "I think the young man's foster mother went over a bit of what he had to deal with on a daily basis with Watanabe-kun from the way they are getting along."
"I'm fairly sure she must have. He came back into the office looking pretty shell shocked after she chewed him out on Tuesday. She was rather amused about shocking him into speechlessness too when I went over there to talk to her about the surveillance teams. Inuyasha spotted them as they were setting up. We are still trying to figure out how he did it."
"It certainly takes talent to get Watanabe-kun that startled," Ando noted wryly. "Regardless, want to take this somewhere else so that the nurse can have her infirmary back?" he had noticed the woman hovering around them and looking a bit impatient, but the Captain's presence was probably the reason she had not said a thing.
"Let's," Goroko agreed along with the Captain who nodded.
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Inuyasha decided to go talk with Miroku and Kaede-baba a bit earlier than he had told Kagome and her mother he would. Somehow he had the feeling that it was important that he be there, and Kagome too had felt like something bad was going to happen, so she had not objected when he explained that he was going without her. After lunch, he changed back to his fire-rat outfit, grabbed Tetsusaiga and made his way discreetly to the well house, making sure no one from the surveillance team saw him. He then jumped into the well and as he came to the other side his nose itched at the stench.
With a leap he was out of the bone eater well to find the scene of a fierce battle, a very recent one. It could not have been more than ten minutes ago by the smell of it. Trees were pulled out of the ground, as well as torn and cut in places. The grass that surrounded a part of the well was burnt. And there was the stench of terror, pain and blood. He began tracking the scents, recognizing the members of his pack almost instinctively. Miroku, Sango and Kirara seemed to be fine so far, although very distressed. But Shippou… the blood, the pain and the terror were all his and so strong it was almost overwhelming. There was also an underlying, and very disturbing, odor he could not place mixed with the familiar one of the kit.
Inuyasha did not even have to go down in all fours, the scents too strong and clearly marked for him to follow, along with the fact that the fight was moving upwind from him. The young hanyou began to hurry to the east, the direction where the destruction and scent trail seemed to be going. As he sped in he began noticing splotches of blood on the ground, all Shippou's and too much to mean he could be already dead. Something in his heart clenched and he pressed himself to go faster. He could not be too late; he would not be too late. Shippou had to be still alive.
Leaving the forest he finally came upon the battle. A huge flying youkai that had the vague looks of an eagle had the kit held in one of its claws. The kitsune pup did not move. He just hung limply like a rag from the demon's claw. Inuyasha did not want to consider the possibility that he was already dead, he was still too far to be able to tell for sure. So he hung on to the hope that Shippou was just unconscious because of the loss of blood or whatever injury was causing it. He took a scant few seconds to survey the scene and try to find a way to rescue the little fox, it was then that the others noticed him and he could see relief and hope flash on their faces for a few moments.
Miroku was using his Kaza Ana to keep the huge youkai from leaving, while Sango and Kirara tried to free Shippou. Unsheathing Tetsusaiga Inuyasha was about to use his Kaze no Kizu when Miroku warned him not to. The youngster would also be killed by it. Cursing under his breath he approached the eagle youkai trying to use his claws instead, a Sankon Tetsuo managed to injure one wing, enough to keep it from flying away, and Inuyasha prepared to jump at the demon's neck. The youkai saw him and he moved away, then needing his other claw free, and to the small group's utter horror, it swallowed Shippou whole. Sango collapsed where she was in shock as both Miroku and Kirara could do nothing but stare horrified. For a moment everything went still, no sound and no movement and then Inuyasha exploded into action.
"NO! SHIPPOU!" Inuyasha shouted and rushed in a blind attack to the eagle youkai.
It had not expected that reaction from the dog demon and was taken completely by surprise; Inuyasha was faster than he had anticipated. Before he was able to react the hanyou's mighty sword had cleanly separated its head from the rest of the body. His companions had never seen him draw Tetsusaiga that fast, and would have commented on it if they were not so shocked.
The youkai's body fell lifelessly to the ground in what seemed like slow motion, and everyone gathered before it, fighting their own battles with grief. Shippou, the youngest member of their group was dead and no one had been able to save him. The tajiiya sobbed openly, Kirara mewled in distress, calling for her playing companion, at the time she rubbed herself against Sango seeking comfort. Miroku had a few tears rolling down his cheeks as he began a prayer. It was the only thing he could do for the little guy.
Inuyasha just stood there watching the dead raptor youkai, his throat was constricted and his eyes burned with unshed tears. He was late! He was too late! One member of his pack was dead because he had not been there to protect him, it was not fair! And he wanted to scream that out loud, it hurt to know the runt was gone, and he knew Kagome would be devastated, how was he going to tell her Shippou was gone? How?
It had only been that same week when he had asked himself about is feelings for the little twerp and found out that his death would break a part of his heart. And it had happened. In a bout of rage, impotence and grief he let out a roar and pummeled his fists against the youkai's carcass, letting his anger and pain out as he hit it repeatedly.
"No! No! No!" And each word was followed by a punch against the corpse. He had failed his pack, had failed to protect someone he cared about again. "You weren't supposed to die runt! You were supposed to wait for us to take you to Kagome's time! Do you hear me Shippou? YOU WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO DIE!"
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A/N: Cliffhanger? Yes!!!! Sorry to leave it like this but the story just begged to be left off here. But we're not cruel (or crazy enough to risk lynching) so just go to the next chapter, to see what happens next. There won't be any author notes there.