After the Noh Mask

By: Estevan R.

E-mail: EVL5011@yahoo.com

The characters of InuYasha are the sole property of Rumiko Takahashi. I in no have ownership of those characters. I make no profit in writing this fanfic.

Chapter 3: The Invisible demon

            The sun slowly disappeared behind the forest, and the land became consumed with the cover of darkness. The beautiful landscape now hidden in the cloak of night, and all things nocturnal woke up. InuYasha climbed up into his favorite tree and feel asleep, and Kagome and Kaede remained awake talking to their new guest. Kenshi sipped an herbal tea from a small cup and looked up at the two females. He turned his attention primarily to Kagome and was ready to answer any other questions she had.

            "So how did you follow me here?" asked a cheerful Kagome.

            "When you hesitated to answer my questions earlier, I knew that you were the person I was looking for." Kenshi answered.

            "What bureau or agency do you work for? I can tell that no person in the military can turn invisible." Asked Kagome.

            "Even if I told you, you'd never be able to confirm the agency that I work for actually exists. I work for the B.P.P.; we monitor all strange activity in the country. When we noticed strange energy spikes coming from your house, I was sent to investigate. Then a week later that thing appeared (the Noh Mask). I visited your injured grandfather at the hospital and heard him mumbling "Beware the Noh Mask", and minutes later I got a call. I was notified that some strange creature was attacking police officers, firemen, and civilians. Many people had also called 911, and reported seeing a strange boy in a red Haori leaping across a bridge. I then arrived the last known scene of the mask and found many empty police cars." Kenshi explained.           

            "I have one last question though, how did you know where we were at?" asked Kagome.

            "That was easy, satellite images confirmed a person jumping from roof to roof. I then went from there and photographed you two up on the construction site. Now, can I ask you a simple question?" Kenshi asked. Kagome nodded in agreement and asked what it was he wanted to know.

            "Where the hell am I?" Kenshi asked, while still trying to be polite.

            "You're in the feudal era." Answered Kagome.

            "I'm having trouble believing that, but having just fought that…InuYasha kid, I guess anything's possible. Now, how do I get back to our time?" asked Kenshi.

            "We both have to go done the well, then we'll be back in our time, but we got to wait a day or two." Kagome answered.

            "Why is that?" Kenshi asked.

            "I just got here and I don't think that InuYasha will let me go home until we find some jewel shards." Replied Kagome. Kenshi nodded his head and told her that he would help retrieve some of the shards. He knew from the information given to him on his computer that she was attempting to rebuild a sacred jewel.

            "You know what the jewel shard is?" Kagome asked Kenshi.

            "Yeah, its some legendary jewel that'll give either man or demon immense strength and power. I also know that InuYasha wants to turn into a full fledge demon using the jewel." Kenshi answered. Kagome couldn't believe the amount of things he knew about them. "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you something. It goes beyond what I was told, but know this, never lose faith in InuYasha. Even when things seem lost he'll pull through and be there to help you and your other friends." Kagome wondered what Kenshi meant by that and stood up. She walked outside and shut the door as she walked outside. Kenshi looked at lady Kaede and approached her.

            "You must make sure that she learns about her true power, and promise me that nothing happens to her. Kagome has a great destiny ahead of her. And lastly, if something is to happen to me, DON'T trust any other Agents " Whispered Kenshi.

            "I don't understand, but I trust your advice…" she replied. Kenshi stood up and reached into his backpack for his weapon.

            "What is wrong child?" Kaede asked Kenshi.

            "Something is outside, its been watching the village. Don't forget what I just told you." Kenshi replied. Kenshi reached back into his backpack and retrieved his night/thermal goggles. He put them on his head and exited the hut. Kagome turned and noticed Kenshi quietly walking out of the house. Kagome walked over to Kenshi, as he was about to put on his goggles.

            "What's wrong?" she asked.

            "Just do what I say, and get inside Kaede's house. Don't come out until I say so." Commanded Kenshi. Kagome was uncertain of what was going on and went inside the small house. Kenshi lowered the goggles and scanned the forest. He saw the body heat of InuYasha who was still asleep on his favorite tree. He quietly ran over to the tree and grabbed a rock off of the ground. He threw the rock at InuYasha, startling the half-demon. InuYasha fell off of the tree and landed face first onto the ground.

            "What the F**k you do that for!" yelled a pissed off InuYasha.

            "Shut-up and listen. Do you hear that?" asked Kenshi. InuYasha stood up and looked around.

            "You're right…something's watching us." InuYasha whispered. The two then proceeded to walk towards the forest. InuYasha unsheathed tetsusaiga and followed behind Kenshi.

            "What the hell is that on your face?" Whispered a curious InuYasha.

            "It helps me see in the dark." Kenshi quietly answered back.
            "You stupid humans, you're all so weak and pathetic! Can't even see in the dark, you're all worthless!" InuYasha mumbled.

            The two stopped in the middle of the dark forest and looked around. The both heard something moving about in the forest, but were unable to see anything.

            "I thought that stupid thing helped you see in the dark?" asked InuYasha.

            "It does, but I have it set on night-vision." Kenshi answered back. He reached to the goggles and pressed a small black button on the side of the visor; it switched the goggles to thermal. Kenshi then pushed InuYasha to the side. Kenshi fell to the ground and felt something pin him to the ground. He noticed some strange creature on top of him; Kenshi aimed the gun to what he believed was the creatures gut. He pulled the trigger and fired four shots into the creature. The invisible beast shrieked and jumped off of Kenshi.

            InuYasha got off of the ground and ran over to Kenshi. InuYasha looked on the ground and noticed a trail of blood on the ground. Kenshi stood up and the two followed the trail of blood. They walked deeper into the forest being even more cautious.

            "What did you see?" InuYasha asked.

            "I'm not sure, although I'm pretty sure I nailed it with my gun." Answered Kenshi.

            They followed the blood to a hidden cave in the forest; the two looked at each other and entered the cave. They walked in and noticed many skeletal remains, and then noticed a small tunnel leading down into the earth. They both looked down and continued searching for the creature. Kenshi stopped and looked around at the walls and heard something scurry about. InuYasha looked around and was pushed into a dark crevice in the floor. He tumbled down many feet to the bottom and hit the hard rocky ground. Kenshi turned and noticed a large lizard shaped creature standing in front of him. The beast pounced at him knocking his gun out of his hand. The large lizard clawed away at Kenshi, tearing his flesh into shreds. He felt his blood gush out of his stomach as the lizard attacked him; he then pulled the small metal baton from his side and gripped it tightly. Once the metal club was full extended he swung at the creature with all of his strength. He heard the beast cry out as a few ribs cracked, Kenshi pushed the lizard off and crawled to a safe distance. With his stomach badly injured he reached into his backpack and pulled out a white powder. He threw the powder on his stomach and screamed in pain; the powder sealed the injury and numbed the pain.

            InuYasha slowly got up and looked around, he realized he had fallen more than eleven stories down. He heard Kenshi scream and quickly looked at his surroundings, and he put tetsusaiga back into its sheath and looked at the solid wall. He thrust his hands into the cave wall and proceeded to climb up. He trembled a bit as he climbed; the fall injured his back and legs. He knew it'd be a while before he made it to the top. InuYasha hoped that Kenshi was strong enough to fight the demon, seeing as Kenshi was the only "human" who'd ever kicked his ass.

            Kenshi clenched his teeth and noticed his handgun lying a few feet away. He removed the goggles from his head and noticed that one of the lenses was broken. He threw the goggles aside and crawled over his gun. He was inches away from reaching it when the heavy lizard dropped down onto his back; the large lizard had clung to the ceiling. It plunged its sharp claws into his back and twisted its scaly fingers. Kenshi felt the urge to scream out in pain, but forced himself to his gun. With the lizard still on his back, it removed its claws and thrust them into his body once more. This time it buried them deep into his shoulder; by that time Kenshi had the gun in his hand. He aimed the gun blindly behind him and fired it four times. The beast was hit twice in its chest; it fell off of him and ran into the shadows again.

            Kenshi turned himself on his side and noticed that the creature had thrown his backpack. His supplies lay scattered on the ground; he crawled over to a canister of pepper-spray and concealed it in his vest. He then approached a few clips of ammunition and ejected the used one from his gun. His hands trembled as he loaded a new clip into the .45. Once he cocked the gun he attempted to stand and stumbled a few times. He regained his equilibrium by resting a hand on the cave wall. Kenshi slowly approached the crevice that InuYasha had been pushed down into.

            "InuYasha…Can you hear me?" Kenshi waited a second for an answer. "Are you okay?" He began to worry a bit when he heard nobody reply.

            "I fine! I'll be up there in a few minutes" InuYasha's voice echoed. Kenshi felt relieved that InuYasha was fine. He turned and was again face to face with the vicious beast; it healed from its injuries. Kenshi noticed that the injuries had healed; he kicked the lizard off of him. That's when he noticed a strange glittering object imbedded in its forehead, between its eyes. Unknown to him it was a shikkon shard. He raised the gun in the air again and took aim at the lizard. Although this time the lizard instinctively knew to dodge it, it jumped to the side and blended in with the cave wall. Kenshi became concerned, and fired his entire clip, hoping to hit the youkai. The gun fired its last bullet, and his other clips were seven feet away from him. He slowly dropped the gun and reached into his vest. Meanwhile… InuYasha moved as fast as he could up the cave wall, but felt his legs weakening. He looked up and hoped that he wasn't to late.

            Kenshi stood up and looked around, he was beginning to feel short of breath. He felt he heart slowing down, and noticed he had lost a lot of blood. He raised his head and heard something standing in front of him. He grasped the concealed pepper-spray and took a deep breath. He slowly pulled the can out and held it tightly and braced himself. The lizard reappeared in front of him again; this time the lizard slashed him across the throat. His eye's widened as his warm blood ran down his neck. He used his last ounce of strength to aim the pepper-spray at the demon lizard. His thumb pressed down on the small red button; the mist hit the lizard in the face. It shrieked in agony as and stumbled blindly around the cave. It ran into the wall and fell to the ground shrieking. InuYasha pulled himself up and realized a pool of blood on the ground. He noticed Kenshi lying on the floor dying, and he ran over to him and looked at his injury. Kenshi was fatally injured and was minutes away from dying. InuYasha looked up and noticed the lizard rolling around on the floor grabbing its face. He noticed the same red liquid covering its scaly face, and realized that it was the same stuff that was used on him. InuYasha unsheathed tetsusaiga and plunged it deep into the lizards' belly. It cried out in pain, and InuYasha smiled as it lay there on the ground. He pulled the sword out and gave one more swing, lopping off the lizards' head off. Its head hit the side of the cave and dissolved into a puddle of green slime. InuYasha noticed a small fragment of the shikkon shard on the ground; he walked over to it and picked it up. He put the shard into his haori, and ran back to Kenshi. He picked him off of the ground and ran out of the cave. He made his way through the forest in hopes of getting him to the village in time.

            InuYasha kicked open the door to Kaede's home and set Kenshi on the ground. By the time Kagome and Kaede prepared some bandages and medicine for Kenshi he raised his head up and spoke to them.     

            "Its too late for me…don't waste your time…Kagome…come close…I won't be the last…others will come…they want the shikkon jewel…" Kenshi whispered into Kagomes ear. Blood ran out of his mouth and he closed his eyes and whispered some more faint words to her. "This concerns the future…a powerful enemy will one day…appear…he will threaten you and your friends…but, InuYasha must…never lose faith in your friends and InuYasha…remember this…AMOR VICIT OMNIA…" and died once he finished telling her that. Kagome dropped the medical supplies and looked at Kenshi's lifeless body. InuYasha reached into his haori and pulled out the small shard. He handed it over to Kagome and she looked at the small fragment of the shikkon jewel.

            "I hope that this cursed jewel is really worth it." She muttered, while wiping tears from her face. She put it into the small shard into the glass vial and closed it. Kagome covered Kenshi's face with a white sheet and turned to lady Kaede.

            "I didn't even know his real name…" Kagome thought to herself. She stood up and asked Kaede what they should do with the body; she couldn't take it back home. If she did, more agents would appear, but what's to say that they weren't looking for the dead agent already? Kaede reassured Kagome that Kenshi would receive a proper burial. Kagome exited the small house and explained to InuYasha that she had to leave. He told her to climb on his back, he then ran into the forest carrying Kagome. Once at the well she said good-bye and jumped inside, the morning sun slowly peeked out of the horizon as Kagome climbed out of the well. Lady Kaede walked outside and watched as the two disappeared into the forest and silently thought to herself  "Love conquers all things…I hope that ye are correct "Kenshi".

            She set foot on the ground again and noticed the sun coming out again; it was a new morning. Unknown to her, two men hid concealed by stealth devices on the roof of the small structure; they were two agents from the "B.P.P". Kagome walked into the house and shut the door behind her. With the warning that Kenshi gave her still in her head she looked at the shikkon jewels and felt as if they were more trouble than they were worth. Another new day beginning, Kagome remained oblivious to threat that was watching her every move.

            "Everything went according to the ancient scrolls. The subject has retrieved the jewel shard. Agent Kenshi is not to be found anywhere, I believe that he has been compromised as predicted. How do we proceed now, General?" One of the invisible agents said, speaking into his wristwatch. "Take no further action now…Return to H.Q."  The two men jumped off of the roof and over the wall that surrounded her home. The two left the property and left no evidence that they were ever there.

3-16-04

That concludes After the Noh Mask, depending on comments and reader reaction; I might write one more story involving this shadow Agency, depending on any feedback that I might recieve.