INUYASHA - A TALE OF TWO HANYOUS CHAPTER FIVE - PART ONE
By Sandrock (sandrock@sandrockproductions.com)

Legal Disclaimer
Inuyasha do be the property of one Rumiko Takahashi

Content Guideline: PG-13, violence, sexual dialogue

UPDATED March 15, 2004: Minor edits for spelling and grammar. Added Japanese word guide. No major plot changes.

Japanese Word Guide

"Aa... urusai!" - literally something like 'Oh, shut up!'
hanyou - half-human, half-youkai. What Inuyasha is.
ofuda - sacred talismans, occasionally used by Miroku, and not so effectively by Kagome's grandfather
Sengoku Jidai - the Warring States era
suikan - the upper half of Inuyasha's fire-rat armour.
youkai - Japanese mythological creature, sometimes translated as 'demon'
youki - youkai energy

A primal roar resounded in the quiet night, startling the sleeping city of Tokyo. Those who awoke from slumber saw what could only be described as supernatural - a creature of the night, veiled in flowing robes of blood red, its wild eyes shining a menacing gold, like those of a wolf, with fangs glinting in the moonlight. It leapt from building to building, moving at a speed that easily outpaced the few vehicles that traversed the roads below. With claws digging into concrete and hair of death-white raging wildly in the wind, its feral animal ears sought out what could only be its prey, as its roar morphed into a single word, a single name repeated like a dark litany a girl's name.

Standing up to his full height in the morning sun that blazed down a brilliant gold, Inuyasha found himself unconsciously clenching a fist. Shifting his gaze to the large road beyond the quiet alleyway he had taken refuge in to keep away from human contact, his keen senses kept constant vigil, ready to react at the first sign of human life in an age unfamiliar with his kind. His mind raced.

The night that had just been condemned to oblivion by the rising sun was like a mindless blur - one he had spent racing hundreds of miles around the sprawling city Kagome called home, in an effort to detect some sign of the girl who had finally succeeded in doing what no other, not even Kikyou, had ever been able to do to him.

But his efforts, considerable though they were even by youkai standards, had come to naught.

The clenched fist moved, as though of its own will, meeting the target chosen to bear the hanyou's wrath, the sound of ripping metal and shattering glass a violent accompaniment to the fluids now gushing profusely onto the ground.

The hanyou was silent, removing his fist from the shattered wreck of the lone vending machine on the street he occupied. He gazed at his hand, but only saw hers - hers as they held hands just the day before, hers nestled snugly inside his firm grip as they walked down the street hers as they had lain together in bed.

The light breeze picked up in a sudden gust, sending locks of his silver-white hair astray, obscuring his vision. His fist clenched again.

He had never felt this powerless before.

The hanyou allowed himself a brief sigh as he carefully measured water into the cup of instant ramen patiently awaiting his attention on the kitchen counter. His actions were routine, done without thought, his attention focused on the major problem at hand, as he dumped the cup of noodles into the microwave and set the device to the proper settings.

He smiled momentarily, his mind distracted as he watched the cup rotate within the microwave - the food it contained representing one of the few remaining elements of a love affair that had begun over five centuries ago.

It was hard being around her again after so long hard to see her with another, even if that other wasn't really someone else. He shook his head.

Grabbing the cup out of the microwave, he crossed the apartment quickly, sitting down in front of his laptop computer, ready to face another intense session of scrutinising historical records and mythological lore databases, hoping to dig out something, anything, that would help them to put an end to the situation.

And hopefully, those two can find someone back there who might know a thing or two about it as well.

He stuck his chopsticks into the cup of noodles, mixing the contents idly as he stared at the screen and at the endless reams of data. He sighed again.

The door to his apartment came crashing down, its wooden frame splitting into pieces as someone stormed in, the intruder's distinctive shouting already identifying him as clearly as if the hanyou had turned around to look.

For a moment, Inuyasha closed his eyes, clenching his fists as he fought his rising instincts, as he fought every urge to return to the wild ways of his youth, to tackle his younger self and to beat him into a pulp.

Suppressing his once-violent nature, the elder hanyou composed himself, allowing calm to preside once again. He turned around, eyeing the younger hanyou.

"I don't lock my door. You didn't have to break it down, you know."

The younger Inuyasha glared at him, "Shut up! I don't have time to waste on things like that! Something's happened to-"

The elder Inuyasha frowned, "You didn't go back down the well."

His younger self blinked, his ears twitching in surprise.

The other sighed, shaking his head as he tapped his nose, "You don't smell like you've been back there. Instead, you have the smell of this city all over you - what on earth have you been doing all night?"

"Looking for Kagome."

The elder hanyou blinked, "What?"

"Yesterday, we tried going back down the well. It didn't work and Kagome just disappeared. I've been trying to find her all night."

"Why didn't you come to me sooner?"

The two hanyous glared at each other. Silence.

The elder shook his head again, "Fine. It's not as if we really have to guess where she is, anyway."

"You know where she is?!"

"I have an idea. But first, we need to get back to the Higurashi shrine."

"I still don't see why we had to take that stupid thing back here!"

Elder hanyou glared at younger as they made their way up the steps to the shrine, "I've told you - it's easier to avoid detection if we're driving around like everyone else instead of leaping from building to building in broad daylight. There's a ward preventing her from finding us around my apartment and around the shrine, but she would've spotted us immediately if we'd gone about it the usual way!"

The younger hanyou glared back down at the elder Inuyasha's car parked at the base of the hill, "Well, it's still damn slow."

The elder turned away, "You didn't have to scratch my seats and wreck the dashboard to tell me that."

Golden eyes glared at the back of the other's head as though trying to make eye contact through the mass of braided black hair that was part of his elder self's illusion. His fangs were bared as he growled out, "I'll wreck the rest of it if you don't shut up and stop telling me what to do."

Deep violet eyes swung around to meet his glare, "If you want to save her, you -will- listen to me."

He paused, noticing the indignant look on the other's face. He sighed.

"Or at the very least start working with me a little more. This isn't the time for some chest-thumping 'I'm-better-than-you' competition. You go find the Higurashis and tell them we're here and explain the situation to them. I'm going to go look at the well."

The younger hanyou glared back for a moment, a challenge in his gaze. Slowly, he turned away, allowed himself a subdued 'Keh!' and leapt up into the sky, bounding towards the house. The elder Inuyasha watched him go.

It's hard to believe I was ever that hot-headed and rude. I don't remember always being that bad thoughhe's probably in a foul mood over losing Kagome, I guess.

Maybe I should cut him a little slack.

Slowly, the elder hanyou made his way over to the well house that had become so familiar over the years. It had been centuries since he'd been this close to it since there'd been a need to approach it. In the distance, his ears picked up the sounds of his younger self's voice, as well as those of Kagome's family as he explained the situation to them he wasn't doing a really good job of it, but it was enough for now. He sighed again.

Gently sliding open the doors of the well house, Inuyasha looked in. He frowned.

Just as I thought. A definite presence.

His thoughts were interrupted by a new voice in the distance a familiar voice. His eyes widened.

Houjou.

Quietly, he cursed his younger self. Why the hell didn't he check to make sure no one else was around before he started blurting out stuff?

The boy was talking to the younger hanyou now, it seemed, his voice insistent, demanding to know more about Kagome, insistent on doing something to help. Turning about, he spotted the small cluster near the door to the Higurashi house. Houjou was right in front of Inuyasha, his hands grabbing the hanyou's suikan, his brow creased with worry and concern. The hanyou wasn't saying anything.

That was never a good sign.

Quickly, he crossed the distance, joining the group, his arrival providing momentary distraction to the situation at hand. Looking at everyone and no one, he spoke quietly.

"I've confirmed it. I know who has Kagome." He looked meaningfully at the younger hanyou. She does.

Houjou turned to him, letting go of the other Inuyasha, "What are you going to do about it? We can't just leave her in danger I I don't really know what's going on, but I want to help. I won't leave Kagome-"

A loud growl cut off his sentence, an instance before he had the wind knocked out of him as the younger hanyou grabbed the teenager, picking him up and slamming him against the wall of the house. The wall creaked menacingly.

For a moment, human and hanyou stared at each other, one in wide-eyed shock, the other in strangely unchecked fury, his golden eyes narrowing, his fangs bared, and ears tense. He spoke.

"I don't like you. I didn't like you the first time I saw you, and I don't like you now. Do you know what I am, human? I could crush you like a piece of paper right now if I wanted to. I've fought and taken down creatures larger than some of these buildings. I can outrun those stupid things you have on the roads down there and there isn't a human weapon out there that can kill me."

He thrust one clawed finger at the Tokyo skyline in the distance, "I could level half that city, and you or anyone wouldn't be able to stop me."

For a moment, the hanyou looked away, "I can do all that and I still wasn't able to protect Kagome from the one who has her now."

He glared at the boy again, "What the hell do you think a puny human could do for her?"

Both human and hanyou were silent. The elder Inuyasha watched, one hand on Souta's head as the boy stood behind him, his mother and grandfather a slight distance away, watching the scene play out.

"It doesn't matter."

The younger hanyou's eyes narrowed further. The human boy continued.

"It doesn't matter whether I can or cannot do half the things you say you can, or if the one who has her is as powerful as you say. Higurashi is a good friend a very good friend and I'm not going to abandon her just because you think I'm weak."

Brown eyes met golden, refusing to back down, the human boy's body tense and rigid, though whether from resoluteness or fear, no one could tell. The hanyou was silent.

"Keh."

He released the boy roughly, dropping him to the ground, and turning his back to him.

"Have it your way. Just don't expect me to save your sorry ass when you get into trouble."

The hanyou nearly jumped in mid-sentence as someone firmly took hold of his hand. He raised his eyebrows, his gaze tracing a path from the hand to the face of its owner.

Reaching out and grabbing Houjou's hand as well, Mrs. Higurashi looked at the both of them, "That's quite enough from the two of you. Why don't we all go inside and I'll make you something to eat? I managed to get some really fresh fish at the market this morning."

The hanyou stared. Kagome's mother tugged, her smaller hand barely managing to wrap around his larger, clawed one.

He allowed himself to be led.

Her vision was blurred.

Fighting off the unnatural daze that claimed her mind, Higurashi Kagome peered around, trying to clear whatever it was that was obscuring her vision. Her mind raced, trying to make sense, trying to recall what had happened.

They'd been in the well, heading back to the Sengoku Jidai. Inuyasha was with her but the well failed to activate. Instead, she felt herself getting swept away by some unseen force unlike the gentle waves of the well's time portal. Everything had gone black then.

The room was slowly coming into focus - dark and musty, thin slivers of illumination streaming into the room through a series of narrow slits that lined the top of the wall a short distance in front of her.

Blinking, she tried to turn her head, to look around, to see if Inuyasha was anywhere, but her body refused to cooperate, as though frozen in place.

"Thinking of Inuyasha, no doubt? How typical."

The voice echoed through the room, as though emanating from no distinguishable source.

The girl's eyes darted around the room, her field of vision limited by her inability to move. Finding her courage, she managed to give voice to the obvious.

"Who who's there? Show yourself."

A laugh.

"Do you really need to see me to know who I am? Let's not play games. You know exactly what's going on, my dear."

"I do?"

"Make a guess. You've always been the smart one."

"You're what I'm going to turn into after the final battle with Naraku, and you've spent the last five hundred years trying to kill Inuyasha, and you've brought me here to act as bait to get him into some kind of trap."

"Smart girl."

The voice coalesced into a form, several metres in front of her - a hooded form shrouded in a white cloak, standing at equal height to the bound girl.

Kagome glared at her future self, "It's not exactly the most original of plans, you know."

The form reached up, throwing back the hood of her cloak, and Kagome found herself staring at her double save for the long, silver hair and the deep, crimson eyes set deep in a face that smiled intently back at her.

The hanyou growled, trying to get a good look at the target of his annoyance, "Just what the hell is this supposed to be?!"

Sitting opposite the hanyou at the kitchen table, Jii-chan glared back, sipping from a small cup of green tea, "Isn't it obvious? It's an ofuda to keep your youki in check."

Ripping the ofuda off his face and shredding it, the hanyou scoffed, "You old haven't you learned your silly talismans don't work on me?!"

Fingering the charm necklace around his neck, he continued, "You mean to tell me that after all this time, you still don't trust me without Kagome around to drag me around on this leash?"

Unperturbed, the elderly human closed his eyes, "Nothing of the sort. I hoped it would be a precaution. You you've been unusually destructive these past few days."

Inuyasha's blinked for a moment, then sighed, "You're still going on about that? Look, I've already apologised for all that crap!"

The old man resumed his glare, "Be that as it may, do you know what kind of trouble I have to go through now to get people up here to clear away the tree you put a fist through, to fix the walls you've cracked, -and- to replace the doors of the well house? Do you know how many calls I'll have to make, and how many hours I'll have to spend waiting for-"

"Aa urusai! Fine, if it's such a big deal, I'll just go fix it up right now it'll take all of two seconds, and I won't have to listen to you whine like some-"

"Don't bother. I can still remember how you 'fixed' Kagome's bike. I'd like the house to still be standing when the repairmen come, thank you."

The hanyou shot him a look, but sat down silently.

"My, my it's nice to see everyone all so lively again. It's been so long since we've had so many people around"

The hanyou looked up for a moment, turning to face Mrs. Higurashi as she stood at the counter, whisking a batch of eggs. For a moment, he seemed as though he wanted to say something, but that moment soon passed. He turned back towards the table, looking at the array of food set before him. Kagome's mother continued talking.

"Now where's Houjou-kun gone to? He was just here a moment ago"

The elder Inuyasha, still in human guise, looked up for a moment as he took a bite of food from his bowl, "He's making a phone call, Mrs. Higurashi. He'll be back in a minute."

"Ah, that's good then. His food's getting cold."

Turning to his younger self, Inuyasha sighed, "Believe it or not, the boy could be of some use. He's from a fairly influential family, as you should know by now, and he's got connections. He might be able to dig up some stuff."

The younger hanyou glared, "Why the hell do we need him to do that for us? We already know who has Kagome!"

"Do you know where she's holding her?"

The hanyou stopped. Turning away with another 'Keh!', he resumed staring at his food.

"Inuyasha-kun, what's wrong? You've barely touched your food. You normally have such a great appetite"

She was standing behind him now, looking at his bowl. The hanyou was silent.

"Inuyasha-kun?"

He whipped around, his face a mixture of anger and confusion, "What's wrong with you?! Your daughter's been captured! She's in danger, and we don't know how to find her, and all you can do is ask me why I'm not eating! Aren't you worried about her?! Doesn't she?!"

He stopped abruptly as Mrs. Higurashi's hand came up to rest on his head, neatly nestled between his two fur-lined ears. Her expression was serious, yet a hint of her omnipresent smile remained.

"Inuyasha-kun how long have you known Kagome?"

He blinked, "Over a year now, at least. Maybe longer. What does that have-"

She interrupted him again, "And in that time, my daughter has told me over and over again of the dangers you and your friends have faced, and how you've worked to keep her safe and protect her from dangers I couldn't even begin to imagine. You've done all that, and each time, my daughter has come back safely to me."

She smiled at him, "I don't think you're going to fail her now."

The hanyou watched her as she walked back to the counter, resuming her work.

But I will. Even if I save her nowin the end, I will fail her... won't I?

Hidden in the shadow of the partition that separated the rooms, Houjou watched the scene play out.

TO BE CONTINUED