Disclaimer: Inuyasha along with everyone and everything having to do with
him belong to people that happen to not be me. The ideas and OC's are mine
though :)
The room was cold and dark. If water could have found its way into the cell, you can be sure that it would have been wet as well. As it was, the room was so well built that there wasn't a crack big enough for water to get through. That was the only solace that the creature contained inside could find in having to be caged there.
The muzzle wrapped over its mouth bit harshly into its skin; the guards hadn't been very gentle in putting it back on. The only time it was ever taken off was when the creature got to eat. And even then, it was barely given enough time to inhale its food before they re-muzzled it.
Yes, existence here in Dr. Mochizuki's laboratory was far from the decently pleasurable one it had had before being caught. Or found. The demon hadn't truly been caught; it had been bound by some sort of spell when Mochizuki's hounds had smelt it out. They had to use a modern miko - which weren't anything compared to the ones from the era this demon was used to, mind you - to keep the creature from attacking them and running off before they were able to sedate it.
That was some trick. All they did was poke a needle in its arm, and everything would become hazy and distant. Then the creature would fall asleep or be too far gone to care what it did or was done to it. Not even the demon's it had fought before being bound by that dratted spell had that effect on it. How did these humans do it? Why did they even want to do it?
None of these questions would ever be answered because the youkai couldn't ask them. Somehow the scientists had figured out that there was a connection between it and the other dog-demon that had been in the lab and that this demon's blood had some human characteristics, but they hadn't been able to discover why or how. If only the demon could talk, then everyone's questions would have been answered.
Kicking at the wall and pulling on its chains, the youkai struggled to get out of its cell just like it always did. It would stop when it ran out of the energy it took to keep trying. For some reason, the reality that it wouldn't be able to escape by doing this hadn't yet sunk in. Several hours and multiple threats from the guards later, it finally called it a day.
Settling back into one of the corners, it let the memory of a certain raven- haired girl come to mind. She hadn't even touched it, much less hurt it. It had been a long time since anyone had, or rather hadn't, done that. The youkai wished that she would come back. But wait, it was just a demon. It couldn't wish or even remember things for that matter.
Across Tokyo, a school girl was just walking out the door after her last class. Excitedly, she ran down the street to the bus stop around the corner, careful not to drop her books in the process. It had been such a long day, with tests in half of her classes and then boring lessons in the others. She had thought that school would never let out. But it finally had, and now she was on her way to Dr. Mochizuki's lab.
Giving the bus driver her fare, she sat in the seat closest to the front. She tried to keep her feet from tapping on the floor, as it seemed to irritate her seat mate. After five other stops, the bus came to a halt near the facility. Hopping happily down the steps, Kagome ran the rest of the way down the street to her destination. She took a deep breath as she looked at the entrance, preparing herself for the exciting afternoon that lay ahead of her.
Taking a step inside the building, she wound her way around the building until she found an occupied office. Peering inside, she bowed her head politely to the woman at the desk before asking her question. "Excuse me," she started. "Could you tell me where I could find Dr. Kumaki?"
Thinking for a moment, the woman stood and made her way around the desk to the door. Pointing down the hall to her right, she said, "Take this hall all the way down. Then turn left. Take the second hallway to the right. Dr. Kumaki should be in his office. It's the third door on the right."
"Thank you," Kagome answered, bowing again and taking off down the hall. OK, now left, and then right. Third door, and...found it! She smiled happily as she knocked on the closed door. A stout man answered it and offered for her to come inside.
"You are Higarashi Kagome, is that correct?"
"Yes, sir. I'm here for the internship that was offered to my class."
"Very good. You see that stack of papers on that desk over there?" he asked, pointing to the side wall. Kagome nodded. "I need to you type those up. Everything is filled out and there are blank forms in the left drawer. Once you type them up, you'll need to put them in the cabinet in the corner. They are to be alphabetized by the title written on them. This will be good for me since it will lighten my load of paperwork. It will help you because you will be able to read all of my reports. Do you understand all of this?"
Kagome nodded again, excited to get to work even if she wasn't doing anything too fun. She loved learning new things, especially about youkai; and this would be a great way to do that. She snapped back to attention when the doctor started talking again.
"I believe that you were told that you would also be given some responsibilities such as taking care of some of our subjects. We thought that you would be more interested in the stronger youkai, which is why you are working with me. I am in charge of researching and testing the more powerful demons that we have here. You will be in charge of feeding some of the demons under my care. Does that suit you?"
"Yes, sir," she answered enthusiastically. Her eyes were glowing with joy by now. The doctor told her to go ahead and start, so she did. The reports she was to type up and file seemed to be unending, but she just kept going through them one at a time. She hadn't realized how many different types of demons they had here at the facility. She had already gone through and typed at least forty forms, and not one of the demon subjects had been of the same species yet - and these were only the strongest of the youkai they had here.
After typing for a few hours, Kagome's fingers were ready to fall off when Dr. Kumaki stood. "It's time to feed the creatures. I'll show you how to do it today, and then you can start doing it yourself tomorrow. Just remember not to do it by yourself. These are dangerous monsters; you must have at least one guard with you at all times when you're in one of the cells. Is that clear?"
Kagome nodded sharply and swallowed. She was going to have to be careful, but that didn't make it any less fun for her. She could hardly contain herself as she went from cell to cell with the doctor. They were all so interesting. Some were even...cute.
The routine was fairly simple, and Kagome had it down after they had down it three or four times. They would go in with a couple of guards. The food would be set on the floor and then slid across to the demon. You couldn't get too close, you know. Once the youkai had finished eating, the guards would hold it down while the food dish was retrieved. Then they would exit the cell, the guards following behind them.
Kagome was fascinated as she watched them eat. She had, of course, thought that they all would eat like dogs. Even though the occasional one looked fairly human, they were still just animals after all. Although some did just dive in face first and inhale their food, others actually picked it up with their hands and put it in their mouths and bit more civilly, albeit not much.
There was something interesting about the human-like ones, though - besides the fact that they ate with their hands. They all had human-type clothing on, but that didn't surprise Kagome much since she had noticed the dog demon wearing clothes before. What surprised her was that they were all muzzled. The others, even when they had fierce teeth and growled menacingly at them, weren't. And yet these all were. Why was that? After pondering the question for a moment, Kagome shook her head and cleared it out of her mind. They must just be more vicious than the others.
As one of the cell doors closed behind him, Dr. Kumaki turned to Kagome. "Well, Higarashi-san, that is all. You will perform these duties everyday for the rest of your internship here. Do you understand how to do all of them?"
"Yes, sir, I do. Thank you," Kagome replied smiling.
"Alright, I'm going to finish feeding the rest of the demons. You can either stay and watch through the door, or you can leave for today. It's up to you."
"I'd like to stay and watch, please"
"Very well. Just make sure that you don't go into any of the cells that we'll be visiting next. Agreed?"
"Agreed."
Dr. Kumaki started for another door with the high school girl bouncing along behind him. She watched in awe as he fed the strongest of the youkai. They were terrifying. She was glad that she wasn't supposed to go into those demons' cages; she was sure that wouldn't have ever come out.
After a while, they came to the last door. The doctor informed her that it led to the most powerful demon that they had contained at the lab. Watching as the door shut behind the man, Kagome cautiously made her way up to it and peered through the window at the top. Her breath caught when she realized which youkai it was.
Inside was the demon in red that had been brought in so that her class could see it. He had recovered from his previous condition and was no longer just submitting to the scientist and his guards. Not that he had really submitted before, but he hadn't truly tried to attack anyone. This time was different.
As soon as the group walked in, the creature stopped pacing around the room and spun to face them. A growl escaped its throat, filling the room. Taking an offensive stance, it readied itself to attack the intruders. Just as it was about to lung towards the guards, they ran towards it and grabbed its arms and legs. Dragging it away from the doctor, they pinned it to the far wall.
One of them freed his hands as the guard next to him took over for him. He moved around to the front of the beast and reached for its muzzle. As he pulled it off, Dr. Kumaki placed the food on the floor just as he had done in the other youkai cells. The guard finished removing the muzzle and walked over to the dish. After kicking it towards the demon, he walked back towards the doctor.
Seeing the food on the floor, the other guards released the creature and joined the others across the cell. The demon attempted to jump across the room to the men, but came to a stop before it even left the ground. Its chains which had been quite slack before were now extremely tight. The only thing it could reach was its food.
After a moment, during which it seemed to be deciding what to do, the youkai quickly sat and ate its food. It, too, ate with its hands. Kagome took note of this, but pushed the thought to the back of her mind. The demon finished its meal in mere minutes, picking up the plate and throwing it at the guards once it was done.
Once the plate had crashed into the wall behind them, the guards again rushed the demon. The muzzle was again wrapped around its face and the chains loosened. Waiting for the doctor to pick up the pieces of the dish and make his way out the door, the guards let go and quickly followed him. The locks clicked back into place as the sounds of the demon pulling at its chains and beating the walls filled the hallway.
Kagome turned her wide eyes to the doctor. Looking down at her, Dr. Kumaki smiled at her frightened expression. He started back down the hall with her trailing after him, ignoring the sounds of the youkai behind them.
"That is why you are not allowed in the cells of the stronger demons. They are extremely dangerous. I trust that I have your word that you won't go in any of those rooms?"
Kagome nodded, not having regained her voice just yet.
"Well, that's all for today. Have a nice evening, and we'll see you tomorrow."
"Alright," she managed to say. "Good-bye, Kumaki-san." She then went down the maze of halls to the door and then to the bus stop. She would have a lot to tell her family about when she got home tonight.
AN: Here's chapter three. I think that its much better than the last chapter. Hope that ya'll liked it :) I will be updating this fic every Sunday from now on. Thanks for all the reviews! You have made me so happy :) The next chapter will probably have some history and flashbacks. Kagome and Inuyasha will be interacting soon, don't worry! Please send me a review or e-mail! I love to get them!
ICE-QUEEN605 - I'm glad that you think the story is getting better! I was worried that chapter 2 would be too slow, but you liked it! Thanks!
Issa-chan - Thanks! Its always encouraging for someone to say that someone's a great writer! I hope that this update was soon enough!
Silver Eyes Bright - Glad you're liking the story! I'm going to update every Sunday. Hope that's quick enough! Thanks! :)
The room was cold and dark. If water could have found its way into the cell, you can be sure that it would have been wet as well. As it was, the room was so well built that there wasn't a crack big enough for water to get through. That was the only solace that the creature contained inside could find in having to be caged there.
The muzzle wrapped over its mouth bit harshly into its skin; the guards hadn't been very gentle in putting it back on. The only time it was ever taken off was when the creature got to eat. And even then, it was barely given enough time to inhale its food before they re-muzzled it.
Yes, existence here in Dr. Mochizuki's laboratory was far from the decently pleasurable one it had had before being caught. Or found. The demon hadn't truly been caught; it had been bound by some sort of spell when Mochizuki's hounds had smelt it out. They had to use a modern miko - which weren't anything compared to the ones from the era this demon was used to, mind you - to keep the creature from attacking them and running off before they were able to sedate it.
That was some trick. All they did was poke a needle in its arm, and everything would become hazy and distant. Then the creature would fall asleep or be too far gone to care what it did or was done to it. Not even the demon's it had fought before being bound by that dratted spell had that effect on it. How did these humans do it? Why did they even want to do it?
None of these questions would ever be answered because the youkai couldn't ask them. Somehow the scientists had figured out that there was a connection between it and the other dog-demon that had been in the lab and that this demon's blood had some human characteristics, but they hadn't been able to discover why or how. If only the demon could talk, then everyone's questions would have been answered.
Kicking at the wall and pulling on its chains, the youkai struggled to get out of its cell just like it always did. It would stop when it ran out of the energy it took to keep trying. For some reason, the reality that it wouldn't be able to escape by doing this hadn't yet sunk in. Several hours and multiple threats from the guards later, it finally called it a day.
Settling back into one of the corners, it let the memory of a certain raven- haired girl come to mind. She hadn't even touched it, much less hurt it. It had been a long time since anyone had, or rather hadn't, done that. The youkai wished that she would come back. But wait, it was just a demon. It couldn't wish or even remember things for that matter.
Across Tokyo, a school girl was just walking out the door after her last class. Excitedly, she ran down the street to the bus stop around the corner, careful not to drop her books in the process. It had been such a long day, with tests in half of her classes and then boring lessons in the others. She had thought that school would never let out. But it finally had, and now she was on her way to Dr. Mochizuki's lab.
Giving the bus driver her fare, she sat in the seat closest to the front. She tried to keep her feet from tapping on the floor, as it seemed to irritate her seat mate. After five other stops, the bus came to a halt near the facility. Hopping happily down the steps, Kagome ran the rest of the way down the street to her destination. She took a deep breath as she looked at the entrance, preparing herself for the exciting afternoon that lay ahead of her.
Taking a step inside the building, she wound her way around the building until she found an occupied office. Peering inside, she bowed her head politely to the woman at the desk before asking her question. "Excuse me," she started. "Could you tell me where I could find Dr. Kumaki?"
Thinking for a moment, the woman stood and made her way around the desk to the door. Pointing down the hall to her right, she said, "Take this hall all the way down. Then turn left. Take the second hallway to the right. Dr. Kumaki should be in his office. It's the third door on the right."
"Thank you," Kagome answered, bowing again and taking off down the hall. OK, now left, and then right. Third door, and...found it! She smiled happily as she knocked on the closed door. A stout man answered it and offered for her to come inside.
"You are Higarashi Kagome, is that correct?"
"Yes, sir. I'm here for the internship that was offered to my class."
"Very good. You see that stack of papers on that desk over there?" he asked, pointing to the side wall. Kagome nodded. "I need to you type those up. Everything is filled out and there are blank forms in the left drawer. Once you type them up, you'll need to put them in the cabinet in the corner. They are to be alphabetized by the title written on them. This will be good for me since it will lighten my load of paperwork. It will help you because you will be able to read all of my reports. Do you understand all of this?"
Kagome nodded again, excited to get to work even if she wasn't doing anything too fun. She loved learning new things, especially about youkai; and this would be a great way to do that. She snapped back to attention when the doctor started talking again.
"I believe that you were told that you would also be given some responsibilities such as taking care of some of our subjects. We thought that you would be more interested in the stronger youkai, which is why you are working with me. I am in charge of researching and testing the more powerful demons that we have here. You will be in charge of feeding some of the demons under my care. Does that suit you?"
"Yes, sir," she answered enthusiastically. Her eyes were glowing with joy by now. The doctor told her to go ahead and start, so she did. The reports she was to type up and file seemed to be unending, but she just kept going through them one at a time. She hadn't realized how many different types of demons they had here at the facility. She had already gone through and typed at least forty forms, and not one of the demon subjects had been of the same species yet - and these were only the strongest of the youkai they had here.
After typing for a few hours, Kagome's fingers were ready to fall off when Dr. Kumaki stood. "It's time to feed the creatures. I'll show you how to do it today, and then you can start doing it yourself tomorrow. Just remember not to do it by yourself. These are dangerous monsters; you must have at least one guard with you at all times when you're in one of the cells. Is that clear?"
Kagome nodded sharply and swallowed. She was going to have to be careful, but that didn't make it any less fun for her. She could hardly contain herself as she went from cell to cell with the doctor. They were all so interesting. Some were even...cute.
The routine was fairly simple, and Kagome had it down after they had down it three or four times. They would go in with a couple of guards. The food would be set on the floor and then slid across to the demon. You couldn't get too close, you know. Once the youkai had finished eating, the guards would hold it down while the food dish was retrieved. Then they would exit the cell, the guards following behind them.
Kagome was fascinated as she watched them eat. She had, of course, thought that they all would eat like dogs. Even though the occasional one looked fairly human, they were still just animals after all. Although some did just dive in face first and inhale their food, others actually picked it up with their hands and put it in their mouths and bit more civilly, albeit not much.
There was something interesting about the human-like ones, though - besides the fact that they ate with their hands. They all had human-type clothing on, but that didn't surprise Kagome much since she had noticed the dog demon wearing clothes before. What surprised her was that they were all muzzled. The others, even when they had fierce teeth and growled menacingly at them, weren't. And yet these all were. Why was that? After pondering the question for a moment, Kagome shook her head and cleared it out of her mind. They must just be more vicious than the others.
As one of the cell doors closed behind him, Dr. Kumaki turned to Kagome. "Well, Higarashi-san, that is all. You will perform these duties everyday for the rest of your internship here. Do you understand how to do all of them?"
"Yes, sir, I do. Thank you," Kagome replied smiling.
"Alright, I'm going to finish feeding the rest of the demons. You can either stay and watch through the door, or you can leave for today. It's up to you."
"I'd like to stay and watch, please"
"Very well. Just make sure that you don't go into any of the cells that we'll be visiting next. Agreed?"
"Agreed."
Dr. Kumaki started for another door with the high school girl bouncing along behind him. She watched in awe as he fed the strongest of the youkai. They were terrifying. She was glad that she wasn't supposed to go into those demons' cages; she was sure that wouldn't have ever come out.
After a while, they came to the last door. The doctor informed her that it led to the most powerful demon that they had contained at the lab. Watching as the door shut behind the man, Kagome cautiously made her way up to it and peered through the window at the top. Her breath caught when she realized which youkai it was.
Inside was the demon in red that had been brought in so that her class could see it. He had recovered from his previous condition and was no longer just submitting to the scientist and his guards. Not that he had really submitted before, but he hadn't truly tried to attack anyone. This time was different.
As soon as the group walked in, the creature stopped pacing around the room and spun to face them. A growl escaped its throat, filling the room. Taking an offensive stance, it readied itself to attack the intruders. Just as it was about to lung towards the guards, they ran towards it and grabbed its arms and legs. Dragging it away from the doctor, they pinned it to the far wall.
One of them freed his hands as the guard next to him took over for him. He moved around to the front of the beast and reached for its muzzle. As he pulled it off, Dr. Kumaki placed the food on the floor just as he had done in the other youkai cells. The guard finished removing the muzzle and walked over to the dish. After kicking it towards the demon, he walked back towards the doctor.
Seeing the food on the floor, the other guards released the creature and joined the others across the cell. The demon attempted to jump across the room to the men, but came to a stop before it even left the ground. Its chains which had been quite slack before were now extremely tight. The only thing it could reach was its food.
After a moment, during which it seemed to be deciding what to do, the youkai quickly sat and ate its food. It, too, ate with its hands. Kagome took note of this, but pushed the thought to the back of her mind. The demon finished its meal in mere minutes, picking up the plate and throwing it at the guards once it was done.
Once the plate had crashed into the wall behind them, the guards again rushed the demon. The muzzle was again wrapped around its face and the chains loosened. Waiting for the doctor to pick up the pieces of the dish and make his way out the door, the guards let go and quickly followed him. The locks clicked back into place as the sounds of the demon pulling at its chains and beating the walls filled the hallway.
Kagome turned her wide eyes to the doctor. Looking down at her, Dr. Kumaki smiled at her frightened expression. He started back down the hall with her trailing after him, ignoring the sounds of the youkai behind them.
"That is why you are not allowed in the cells of the stronger demons. They are extremely dangerous. I trust that I have your word that you won't go in any of those rooms?"
Kagome nodded, not having regained her voice just yet.
"Well, that's all for today. Have a nice evening, and we'll see you tomorrow."
"Alright," she managed to say. "Good-bye, Kumaki-san." She then went down the maze of halls to the door and then to the bus stop. She would have a lot to tell her family about when she got home tonight.
AN: Here's chapter three. I think that its much better than the last chapter. Hope that ya'll liked it :) I will be updating this fic every Sunday from now on. Thanks for all the reviews! You have made me so happy :) The next chapter will probably have some history and flashbacks. Kagome and Inuyasha will be interacting soon, don't worry! Please send me a review or e-mail! I love to get them!
ICE-QUEEN605 - I'm glad that you think the story is getting better! I was worried that chapter 2 would be too slow, but you liked it! Thanks!
Issa-chan - Thanks! Its always encouraging for someone to say that someone's a great writer! I hope that this update was soon enough!
Silver Eyes Bright - Glad you're liking the story! I'm going to update every Sunday. Hope that's quick enough! Thanks! :)