Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. However, if some idiot coughcough decides to sell him… I'd be more than eager… would you accept five cents?
"…" – speech
'…' – thoughts
--- - change in scenery, time, or perspective
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Previously, on Lock Down:
{Gritting his teeth, Inuyasha stood up angrily. "Fine. Bring me to this baba, but make it quick." The human male started towards him. "You, stay the fuck away from Kagome." He backed off, dejectedly.
The humans exchanged weary looks before walking off towards a hallway with a hanyou carrying a girl in tow. Bringing up the rear was Kouga, in a rather sullen mood.}
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Meetings
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Feb.28.299 NA
Underground, Sector 118Footsteps echoed in the seemingly endless hallways of this… place. Golden eyes roamed around the rather spacious area, taking in doors leading off to other rooms- none of which were open. He could hear the soft murmur of voices, but saw nothing. The way was dimly lit with lights that Inuyasha had never encountered before. They seemed to be generated through rod from the top of the ceiling rather than the usual built-in automatic lights used by the Government. The walls were made of a silvery metal, but the room they had just exited- the 'entrance room' had been surrounded by rock.
Just then, golden eyes detected the barest flicker of movement in the corner. Inuyasha whipped his head in that direction but saw nothing.
Sango noticed the hanyou looking off, and she spoke up in answer to his unvoiced question, "There are people situated at strategic points around for any situations." She shot him a pointed look. "It'd be foolish to try anything."
The hanyou narrowed his eyes, and this time, he was able to barely distinguish the grey that was the colour of the person's uniform. There were, indeed, armed persons, but at the moment, they weren't doing anything. He turned back and resumed walking normally.
The group walked in silence while the pair ahead occasionally exchanged glances. Inuyasha could feel the eyes of the wolf demon burn into the back of his head, and he unconsciously tightened his hold on Kagome. He didn't trust that demon. The hanyou was now carrying her almost in what people would call 'bridal-style', but his hands stayed in more impersonal places. For the most part, she remained still, but the girl would irregularly shift in her slumber, or call out in a weak voice.
He frowned at the way her face was scrunched up, as though she was having an unpleasant dream, but at the moment, he could do nothing to help her.
"We're almost there."
Inuyasha's eyes snapped to glance ahead of the humans, and saw that they were quickly approaching a fork in the hallway. There was a flat wall with a single door in it, while the corridor sharply diverted at ninety-degree angles, leading off to two separate ones. The man's hand directed to the one door ahead. Inuyasha had yet to lean his name.
A pit began to grow in the stomach of the hanyou. What would happen to him? He was hardly in the best of situations, and had no power in this place. Whatever was to happen in that room, he would have no control over. Kouga must have smelled the apprehension, for his next words were, "What, you scared, dog turd?"
That chased away any anxiety that had built up in the inu-hanyou's body as he whipped around to glare at the smirking wolf youkai. "Yeah, right. I'm not scared of anything, least of all what lies in there."
The full-blooded demon scoffed. "I'll believe it when I see it." He glanced away, mouth set in a line once more.
The girl, Sango, shook her head disapprovingly, and sighed. "Stop arguing like kids. You don't have to be worried or anything. It's not like we're going to harm you or anything." She added under her breath, "Like the Government would…"
The hanyou chose to stay silent, but the tension decreased somewhat as he was put to ease. However, he stayed cautious. If these people were to be trusted, then he would be in no trouble. They didn't seem to want to hurt him, but the problem was knowing whether to trust them or not. The entire situation was frustratingly covering shadows, and Inuyasha knew nothing about it. Everything he did understand had all been thrown at him, and he had yet to fully comprehend why there were people living below the ground.
He was completely clueless, other than the fact that this was some sort of 'rebel base', but even that had been vague.
With no warning, the girl he held suddenly stirred, giving a soft moan. "Uhhn…" Inuyasha almost started, but stopped himself before the wolf had a chance to throw yet another insult at the 'half-breed'.
Everybody was surprised by the sound, and four sets of eyes immediately glanced at the moving girl.
She shifted, facing upward. "Mmm…" Slowly, ocean blue eyes opened to look up blearily. "…G- gold?" The world swam in and out of focus, and the only thing that really stood out of the mass were two fuzzy orbs of gold. Kagome tried to squint and focus her vision, but that didn't accomplish anything. She moaned again.
"Hey, Kagome? What's wrong with you?"
Laboriously, the student closed her eyes, placing a hand on her forehead. She had a horrible headache, and her body felt sore all over. For some reason, her memory was fuzzy, and she had trouble recounting recent events. The last thing she could recall was walking hand in hand with the hanyou boy, and then it all had turned black. Anything beyond that was shrouded behind a curtain of something that prevented her from digging into her memory. She didn't want to find out what had happened- she was afraid.
For some reason, she felt as though something horrible had happened, and for the moment, she would be content to stay ignorant.
Opening her eyes once more, the girl focused on those two golden spheres, until her eyesight recovered.
The first thing she noticed was that a person was staring at her intently.
The second thing was that it was Inuyasha's face.
The third was that she was not standing, and instead, was being carried in what was not the most innocent of manners.
Groggily, the teenager's mind pieced together all the clues.
Fuzzy memory. Headache. Sore body. Being carried by a half-demon she barely knew (yet strangely trusted).
Now, at this point, Kagome could have taken the situation many ways.
She took it… badly.
The girl shrieked, "Ah! Pervert! What did you do to me?!" She scrambled out of his arms to fall onto the floor. She had yet to notice her suddenly interested audience.
Pulling his ears back in annoyance, Inuyasha scowled at her. "You don't fucking remember? I saved your damn life!" He attempted to mask his hurt feelings. Did she honestly think he would have taken advantage of her in her sleep? 'Why the hell would I want to do that?' He mentally snorted. 'It's not like she's any special.'
"How should I know if you're telling the truth?" Kagome stood up, brushing herself off. "I don't remember anything at all! I just know that I was holding your… hand…and you were human" She drifted off, slightly pink. "And then there's nothing!"
The hanyou studied her.
A small hand rested on the side of her forehead, and an almost frightened look was thinly veiled by that sheen of uncertainty in her eyes. But the dominant emotion was definitely… anger.
Looks like Kagome was back to normal…
She shook her head in frustration and anger. Anger at not knowing what had happened, and frustration at trying to remember, but at the same time, not wanting to do so.
She was very confused at the moment.
In the meanwhile, the three others remained unnoticed by the pair, watching the correspondence with amusement, although Kouga had deflated slightly at the 'holding hands' comment. Sango stood, blinking in confused mirth, while the man just looked… confused.
'Lover's spat?' Ran through all three of their minds.
Inuyasha looked away from the steaming girl. "You don't believe me. You don't trust me. Even when I say I didn't do anything. Dammit, wench!" His hands, relieved from their duty, were now held in fists at the hanyou's side. "You don't have anything I'd want!"
The raven-haired girl regarded the boy carefully. He really did look like he meant what he was saying, and although it was true that she hadn't known him for long, the half-demon just didn't seem to be like that. Not like many of the other teenage boys she knew. She frowned at the 'nothing I'd want' comment, but disregarded.
But now, she had obviously hurt his feelings, and so she apologised in the most effective way she knew…
The hanyou nearly jumped as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his torso, and as a weight rested on his chest. He whipped his eyes down to see a black-topped head just reaching past his chin. "Wha-what are you doing?"
"Apologising," was the blunt reply.
The only other person to have embraced him like this had been his mother- and that had been years ago. Even she hadn't dared touch him like this.
"I'm sorry…" continued the whispered apology. "I-I guess I believe you."
Inuyasha was wordless, but slowly, hesitantly, his hands unfisted to wrap his arms awkwardly around the girl. "It's… er… I- um… Keh!" A pink blush spread across the half-demon's face as he wordlessly accepted her apology. She was the first to have actually amended for her actions while being completely truthful.
Really, the two didn't know each other that well- they'd only met a day before after all, but undoubtedly, a bound was slowly forming between them. Somehow, there was just something there that just called for a mutual understanding and trust that wasn't always found in friendships. Even now, the hanyou could feel something stirring deep within him that he could not name. It was almost warm, and a little foreign, but it was there, ever so small as it was.
Kagome, on the other hand, felt much the same way, but this feeling was not as entirely new to her. After all, she had been brought up with plenty of friends by her side, and she was extremely popular at her school. She'd had a loving family and three of the best friends she could ever have had. However, there was just something that somehow set this emotion apart from simply friendliness. For the time being though, she would just appreciate being held for once, and let herself rest in Inuyasha's warm embrace.
The couple had stayed together for a while, offering each other silent support, when a cough disrupted the silence.
Blushing madly, the two broke apart, and Kagome was suddenly aware of the other people in the vicinity, not to mention the foreign surroundings. There was a small period of silence as she studied the three strangers, and Inuyasha fidgeted behind her. They, in turn, examined her reaction, remaining silent.
"Ahh…" The schoolgirl was the first to break the quiet. "Where… are we?" She glanced at the hanyou out of the corner of her eye. "What happened to me- us? And, not to be rude or anything," she continued slowly, "but who are you? Ha-have we met before?"
Azure eyes regarded them with curiosity as they ran over each of the three. The girl looked strangely familiar, almost as if she had seen her before, as the same was with the man. However, as much as she searched her memory, Kagome couldn't come up with a name to place the faces. They seemed to be absolutely normal. The third, however, was completely unfamiliar.
Cobalt eyes that strangely enough, had no distinguishable pupil brought out the sharp contours of his face. Sable coloured hair was pulled back in a ponytail, hair held back by a hairband, although some of his bangs fell over it. However, the most unusual features were… his ears. They were- pointed, definitely not usual in humans, and- was that a tail swishing behind him?
Automatically, Kagome blurted out the first that entered her mind, "You, you're not human, are you?" Eyes suddenly wide, the teenager clamped a hand over her mouth. "I-er…"
A smirk spreading over the features of the demon, he advanced on Kagome. She started to back up slowly, not exactly trusting the strange boy in front of her. Behind her, she almost swore she could hear a low growl start up, but she was too preoccupied to investigate further. The other two humans in the area rolled their eyes, but remained silent, anticipating the show that was sure to come.
The demon walked right up to the nervous girl. For a moment, he studied the weary girl, smirking so that his canines were in plain view.
There was a pregnant pause in the noise, broken only by the growl that was steadily gaining in volume.
Then, he surprised her by grabbing her hands in his own. "Why hello, beautiful, I'm no wimpy half-breed like dog shit over there." The growl intensified. "The name's Kouga, leader of the wolf-youkai tribe," he introduced himself while insulting Inuyasha at the same time.
Laughing rather nervously, Kagome tried (without success), to remove her hands. "I'm-ah- Kagome. It's –er- nice to meet you, Kouga-san."
"Likewise. Don't be so formal. Drop the '-san'. Maybe we could replace it with 'chan', eh?" The smirk had grown, clearly showing sharp canines that were not unsimilar to the ones Inuyasha possessed. "You seem like a tough girl, how about we… get to know each other in the near future?" He seemed oblivious to the girl's obvious attempts to free herself.
The smile on Kagome's face was now quite forced, as she pulled back on her hands. "Perhaps…" However, the grip on her hands was quite strong, and she was unsuccessful.
Nevertheless, another person wasn't as vague in his answer. "Get to know this!"
Suddenly hopping back, the wolf-demon narrowly avoided a fist that would have connected with his jaw had he not moved. A clawed hand pushed Kagome back as Inuyasha stood in front of her protectively. She was rendered momentarily speechless at the sudden move, and didn't protest. The two teenagers glared at each other intensely, each ready to fight at any given second. The two canines faced off, growls being emitted by both.
Kagome smiled nervously, a little perplexed at why they were going at it like that. 'Must be a dog thing…' She cocked her head in a confused manner.
In the meantime, the other two humans were quickly getting tired of this little performance- they still had a meeting to attend after all. The girl walked around the glaring match as the man attempted to break it up. Her long, dark brown hair was tied in a ponytail, and it swayed from side to side with her gait. Strangely familiar magenta eyes took in the girl, cautious and calculating.
She approached the confused student, sticking out a hand. "Hi, my name is Sango." Unsure where to proceed from there, Sango smiled politely at the other, carefully schooling her expression so that none would be revealed in case this 'Kagome' was proved to be a spy.
It wouldn't have been the first time that the Government had tried to infiltrate their forces, but while those attempts had been unsuccessful, their own spies had been more than apt at their job.
The blue-eyed girl, on the other hand, grinned without hesitation. Immediately taking the offered hand, she answered the unspoken question. "My name's Kagome, from Student Settlement 109. I'm seventeen, turning eighteen." She had always been open with others, not liking to keep secrets except in the direst of situations. Her smile wavered a little. "Can I just ask- where am I?"
The question was not answered by Sango, but by a masculine voice. "This is the base of the rebel operation, located underground." The familiar looking man had given up in tearing the ones with demon blood apart, and joined the girls. "Telling you any more would just confuse you, but I'm sure Kaede-baa-san will clear everything up."
Kagome cocked her head to the side, trying to figure out what was so familiar about this man. He had violet eyes, and black hair that was pulled back into a short dragon's tail at the base of his neck. Small gold hoops glinted in the dimly lit hallway was they swayed from his ears. She knew she'd heard that description somewhere… but where?
A little discouraged from the lack of response from the girl, the man held out his hand just as Sango had done. "My name's Miroku, nice to meet … you…?" He drifted off at the sudden light of understanding that had appeared in the girl's eyes. She clapped her hands together, and was now affixing him with a rather pointed stare.
Squinting, Kagome cocked her head to the other side. If she was right in her thinking… The girl racked her brain for what her friends had read just the previous day…
Sucking in a breath, the girl questioned Miroku, "You wouldn't happen to be 21 years of age, would you?"
He drew back in surprise. "Yes… how did you know?"
"And you wouldn't happen to be a technician?" She ignored his question.
At this, the man frowned thoughtfully. "Have we met before? Perhaps, up there?" He jabbed hit thumb upwards. "Above ground? I thought you looked familiar…"
Kagome shook her head. "No, we haven't met, at least, not yet. We're going to, though… I think…"
"What?" Miroku was officially confused, though not as puzzled as the magenta-eyed girl beside him was. "Come again?"
The raven-haired student sighed, shaking her head. She took the still extended hand, giving it a quick shake. "I knew I'd seen you from somewhere. It's nice to meet you, Miroku-san. I'm Kagome, PN 10031." She drew in a quick breath, and let the pin fall. "I'm your assigned counterpart."
This statement was met by compete and utter silence draped heavily in shock. The growling that had previously filled the room had cut off, and the two demonic boys turned around to stare at Kagome with wide eyes. Sango was blinking slowly, as if to clear her confused thoughts.
Miroku, however, didn't seem nearly as stunned as the others as he studied Kagome with a renewed interest. "Hn. Yes, yes, uh huh. So you're that girl I'm supposed to live with for the rest of my days?" He tilted his head, as if regarding her at another angle. "Yes… I could live with you…" Coming to a conclusion, he spontaneously swept up Kagome's hands in his. She squeaked in surprise. "Would you do me the honour of bearing my child?"
Everybody shifted their gazes to the violet-eyed man. A shocked silence hung in the air.
Nervously, Kagome whipped her hands from his. "Le-let's not jump to conclusions! Technically, we haven't even met yet, and you're asking me to…" Another forced smile decorated her mouth. 'What's with these men?'
"What?! You're actually going through with this? You're accepting it?" Sango looked supremely hurt, directing her gaze to Miroku, before her expression shifted to become unreadable. "I knew it." Her voice had turned flat. She turned away to walk towards the door of the conference room, body tense.
"Sango…" Miroku wore an expression of slight puzzlement.
Kouga, however, was more vocal in his disapproval, marching towards the couple. "Hell no, she's not going to stay with you! She's my woman!"
At this comment, Inuyasha, who had previously looked as though somebody had dumped freezing water down his back, suddenly appeared beside the ookami-youkai.
"What do you mean she's your woman?!"
Kouga raised his chin. "She's pretty, she's smart, and I'll bet she's brave too! She's the perfect woman for me!" A nasty sneer stole across his face. "Besides, you have no room to argue- she's not yours. Why do you care, anyway?"
"I- er… Keh!" Inuyasha folded his arms obstinately. She doesn't want to be yours, Who'd want to mate with a dirty wolf like you?" Suddenly, he whipped his head to the azure-eyed girl. "You… don't, right?" His voice was unsure, and slightly pleading.
Blinking, Kagome slowly shook her head. "Um… no?" She had yet to recover from it all.
Inuyasha turned around, grinning. "See?"
Kouga bristled. "Well-"
He was cut off by an abrupt shout from a short distance away. "Will you guys stop it with the whose woman is whose?" Sango stood there, looking rather intimidating. "We were called to the conference room over half an hour ago! Now lets go!"
The three men 'eeped' like the big, strong males they were, and stood up straight. The magenta-eyed woman nodded darkly, leading them towards the door in single file.
Inuyasha whispered discreetly to the others. "What's her problem?"
"I don't know. In all the years I've known her, she rarely blows up like that." Suprisingly, it was Kouga who answered him.
Miroku, however, remained silent, a thoughtful expression on his face. Kagome was quiet as well, looking at Sango with a light of understanding in her eyes. 'Sango-san likes Miroku-san…' A singsong voice echoed in her mind. The schoolgirl jogged up to the other, smiling kindly.
"So…" She attempted to start a conversation. "Is something wrong?"
Sango didn't spare the girl even a glance. "Nothing's wrong. Everything's fine."
Kagome obviously didn't believe her, and so tried a different approach. "Isn't it strange how Miroku-san asked me to bear his children? It would seem obvious that the Government intended for that, so perhaps he was simply…" She struggled for a plausible excuse, "asking my… permission first?"
The other girl remained silent.
"I mean, it's not like he was serious, or anything. I mean, just his tone of voice made it seem like he wasn't sincere- don't you think?"
Finally, the magenta-eyed girl turned to face the other. There was a short silence before she responded to Kagome's attempts. "It's just not the first time he's used that proposition. You can ask every other female you find in the underground, not just the humans, but the demons as well. Everything that seems remotely female, he requests of the them to bear his child."
The other blinked. "Then obviously, he wasn't serious, right?"
"No," Sango's voice was softer than before. "No, he wasn't."
There was another lull in the conversation, before Kagome thought of something. "If Miroku-san does ask everybody, he must have asked you!"
The rebel's eyes were suddenly downcast. "He did ask once, when we first met, and assigned to be partners here." She looked up. "But as always, he wasn't serious." She added in a whisper, "He never is."
Kagome looked understandingly at the other. There was obviously something deeper between the two that she knew nothing about, and she had no right to pry in the love life of a complete stranger. But even as a stranger, she'd always had an open air of honesty that compelled people to reveal more than they meant to. In some cases, it had been as gift- in others, not as rewarding.
"Perhaps, if Kaede-baa-san agrees, I'll show you around the Underground?" Sango surprised the other girl with her offer.
Kagome smiled. "Sure! It'll be fun!"
The magenta-eyed girl returned it. She'd never had too many female friends, preferring the hard, physical work to others such as documenting and cleaning. Often, before she'd been introduced into the Rebellion, the other girls had teased her about not being feminine enough. That didn't happen here, but she still wasn't as accepted as the other females were. There seemed to be something wrong with wanting to fight to the others.
However, here was a girl, not quick to judge, and who had a nice personality. It would be nice to be able to just talk with somebody once in a while.
In the back, three pairs of eyes stared intently at the quiet pair in front of them.
The boys strained to hear, but even with Kouga and Inuyasha's enhanced hearing, they couldn't tell what the girls had been whispering about. Whatever it was, by the time they had reached the females, they had already reached the door of the conference room, and had stopped their conversation. Sango looked particularly calmer, even a little more light hearted than usual.
"Let's go in, ne?" Her voice was not exactly cheerful, but it had lost its edge from before. Instead, it had turned serious, immediately depleting the calm atmosphere from before, and replacing it with one of more professionalism.
The males straightened, and Miroku walked up to stand next to his partner. Kouga threw a glance at Inuyasha before slowly edging towards Kagome. He froze at the threatening growl of a warning, and dejectedly backed off in the opposite direction. A confrontation right now would not bode well with the Elders. Instead, the wolf demon opted to throw a nasty glare at the hanyou, moving to stand beside Sango and Miroku, although a little further away from the couple.
Taking one last calculatory glance at the rest of the group, Sango opened the door, leading the way for everybody else to follow. Inside, the room was lowly lit and quiet- very quiet.
A little apprehensive, Kagome slowly made her way to the hanyou's side, since he was really the only one out of the four whom she trusted the most. Inuyasha glanced at her, but made no comment, golden-eyes raising back to the doorway.
And silently, all five of the people, humans, demon, and hanyou, entered the conference room.
Many Thanks to:
Tessa-Chan
Shadow Stone
luckykittykagome
darkscorpio28
Kim
inuphoria
buyo neko
Katami
Ryngrl5
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Eh? Where'd my review responses go off to?
[Sorry bout the delay and the lack of responses. I'll try to up my writing speed and manage my time more wisely (-.-;;) This chapter would have been up sooner if I could have logged on to ff.net, but since it wouldn't work...
Anyway,
Till next time…
Ja!]