CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Truth be told.
Spike stood motionless in the dead center of the mosh pit. He should be looking for Inuyasha amongst the crowd…but he couldn't move. He should have been dancing along and screaming; this was the concert of a lifetime…but he couldn't move. He stood there staring off into space, getting bumped and knocked over occasionally but he refused to move.
He had something on his mind and it was driving him crazy. He couldn't stop thinking about something Rei had said earlier at the Hotel's pool before he had left for the concert.
Rei smiled at him as she wadded over to him. She gave him a slight kiss on the cheek, but when she noticed he didn't at least give her one back or smile; she frowned.
"Is something wrong?" She leaned in, trying to see into his eyes as he kept his head bowed.
He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm fine." His words were stern.
Rei's expression dropped. "Spike are you okay?"
He just shrugged his shoulders again, not really wanting to talk to anyone at the moment.
"Spike look at me." She took his chin and forced him to look into her eyes. She couldn't help but giggle at the sight of his wet hair; he looked like a little puppy left out in the rain. "Now tell me what's wrong."
"Nothing." He growled, which was out of his character.
"Spike?" She whispered.
"What?" he snapped.
"I like you…the real you…and I know who the real you is. And no offense but you're acting way too much like Inuyasha right now."
Spike snorted. "He tends to rub off on people."
Rei sighed. "This is about the whole kiss thing isn't it?"
The green haired boy froze instantly. "N…O."
"You're lying." She stated.
"No I'm not." His eye twitched.
"Yes you are…you're eye always twitches when you're guilty."
Damn.
Her smile widened. "I think that's why I like you so much, Spike."
His eyebrow raised. Are we talking about a general like? "You like me because of a kiss between Kagome and…Inuyasha?" his eye twitched.
"No." She giggled. "I like you because you're upset by it."
"?"
She smiled. "The reason I like you, Spike is I guess…because well." She took a deep breath. "I know you still love Kagome…and as much as I wish you…well you know…um…liked me back, I find the fact that you love her sweet. I like the fact that you love her so much that you're stepping back and letting her be with Inuyasha. You love her so much that you want her to be happy…even if that means it's not with you."
Ok now Spike was confused. Rei liked him because he liked Kagome. And he thought the Kagome-Inuyasha-Kikyo love triangle was confusing.
"I like you because you care more about other people than yourself." She gave him a sad smile, which really sent Spike's heart on a downward spiral.
"You like me?" he sounded like a small child during recess.
She giggled and nodded.
"Even though you think I'm in love with someone else?"
"Well you are."
"But that's besides the point. You like me even if you think I…I don't like you back? Now this is theoretically speaking."
She hung her head and nodded. "Kind of pathetic huh?"
Spike shook his head violently. "It's just a little hard to believe…you're weird you know that?" he laughed.
She glared playfully at him before she grabbed his head and dunked him under water. "I'm not the one who's letting some other guy have the girl I love am I?"
When Spike resurfaced he sighed and stared at her. "You know…you're-"
He was cut off when Rei pressed her finger against his lips and silenced him. "I know it's all sudden and everything…and I'm probably making a total idiot of myself but…I like you, Spike…I really do…so I'm willing to wait."
He looked at her in disbelief. Was she serious? "What?"
She rolled her eyes and nodded. "Are you deaf?" She dunked his head under again.
That's it. He couldn't stand it anymore, he loved Kagome more than anything in the world, but he couldn't have her. He didn't understand why he wanted something he couldn't have when he could have something that was in his grasp and maybe even better.
He pushed his way out of the crowd and headed for the exit, nearly getting trampled all the while. He knocked over a few people by accident. He loved Kagome but she wasn't his, he loved Rei and she was waiting for him.
Spike ran out the double doors, apologizing for hitting the bouncer on his way. Nobunaga Matsumato ran down the hallway towards the entrance of the peace center, where coincidentally the concert was being held. He was running past the front desk and out the front doors when he spotted a limo pull up to the entrance. He watched for a brief second as Demona and Gore stepped out of the vehicle and then the car drove off, probably going around back to drop off its 'cargo.'
Spike took off at a run, ignoring that sense in the back of his head that was screaming 'there's something wrong with that limo.'
He jogged all the way to the highway and flagged down a taxi.
Sango, Katsumi, and Asuka giggled amongst themselves.
"How 'bout we have a girls' night in our room, Sango?" Katsumi laughed. "We could spend the whole night talking and laughing…"
"And making complete fools of ourselves." Asuka added.
Sango chuckled. "Sounds fun to me…just let me ask Kagome if she wants to come."
Asuka and Katsumi nodded in unison.
"She's been in a funky mood ever since she kissed Inuyasha." Asuka hmphed.
Sango sighed. "I'm still worried about the whole demon and miko mixing."
Katsumi patted Sango's back comfortingly. "It's alright…I'm sure nothing that bad can happen."
Sango sighed as she slid her key into the lock and opened the door. "I hope you're right-" but the second she actually looked into her room she froze. Asuka and Katsumi standing right behind her just as shocked.
It wasn't the bound and gagged Kikyo who was struggling to free herself that horrified them. It was the message written in blood on the vanity mirror: We have the miko, if you come after her or tell the police we'll kill her.
"Oh God." Asuka gasped. "It's happened."
"Where is she, damn it?" Sango screamed as she slung Kikyo against the wall. "What kind of joke are you trying to pull. Tell me where she is."
"How the hell am I supposed to know." Kikyo surprisingly sobbed.
Sango wasn't buying it, not for one second. "What did you do to Kagome? What did you do to your own sister? Where is she?"
"I don't know." Kikyo cradled herself into a ball and stared down at the floor. "They must have took her."
Katsumi walked over to her, much to the cat demon's dislike, and comforted her. "It's alright…just tell us who took her."
"That lady." Kikyo whimpered. "And…and that man."
Katsumi gave her a confused look. She was trying to be as patient as possible but it was hard. "You're not making any sense. What happened?"
"I was coming to change…I…I was about to take a shower when I heard a voice and then…I saw that-that lady…that one from the tournament…the one with the red hair…the sponsor lady."
"Demona Sigfreed?"
Kikyo nodded her head furiously. "Yeah…she, she asked me my name…and I-I told it to her…and when I did she didn't believe me…she kept calling me Kagome over and over again. And then that man, he put some kind of cloth over my mouth and…and it smelled funny and it hurt my head. And before I knew it I had…"
"You passed out?"
Kikyo nodded.
"Chloroform" Katsumi stated.
"Oh my God." Sango felt like she was going to throw up. She didn't believe this was happening…it felt like something from a bad horror movie that just seemed to rush past her making her dizzy.
"What are we going to do?" Asuka panicked, pacing around the room before she finally collapsed down on the floor beside Kikyo. "Do we go after her? Do we tell anyone? Do we tell the coach? Do we call the police? Do we act like nothing's happened?" she stared up at Sango for answers. "Do we tell anyone?"
"No." Sango stated. "You've read the message…we're not supposed to do anything."
"Then how are we going to get my sister back?" Kikyo wept into her knees. "They're going to kill her…they're going to kill her." She chanted those five words over and over, as she rocked back and forth.
"I think we should tell the coach." Asuka whimpered.
"NO!" Sango blared. "What are we going to do, tell him that she's a miko…for all we know he could be a demon that wants her dead…she's not safe if anyone finds out."
"It's a little late for that." Asuka snapped. "Demona must already know."
"What are you talking about?" Kikyo cried. "Please tell me what's happening."
The other girls ignored her.
"I say we tell the coach." Asuka persisted. "He might know what to do."
"No." Sango screamed. "For all we know he might not even know what the hell a demon is-" Too late. The door, having been left wide opened, let Rei as she was passing by hear their conversation.
The Coach's daughter ran into the room and stared at the warning written on the mirror in horror. Oh my God…she's actually been kidnapped. I didn't do my job. Dad brought me on this team specifically to watch over her and I got sidetracked over a boy. I'm so stupid. Rei inhaled deeply before she let out a loud and shrill scream. "DADDY!"
Inuyasha sighed as he turned the water off and stepped out of his 'cold' shower, having already wrapped a towel around his waste he went over to the sink to find some Tylenol in the medicine cabinet when he heard a blood curling shriek. He ran out of his room and across the hall. Kagome?
But the second he made it to her room he wish he hadn't. He gazed at the message written in red on the mirror. They took Kagome. Who is they?
He still stood like a stiff board even when he heard Spike, who had just come back, and the coach rush up behind him to see what all of the commotion was about.
"What's going on…?" The coach froze when he saw the message. He turned to glare at Rei but when he saw her about to burst into tears he decided not to.
Spike froze. He could smell the metallic scent of blood…and it terrified him, as it burned his demon senses. Oh my God…is this for real.
"Rei…tell me whose blood it is." The coach demanded. His daughter obeyed as she walked shakily over to the vanity.
At first, everyone, except Spike and the coach, was confused on how she would get that answer, but then they saw the skin of her forehead slowly split open, revealing a third eye in the center of her brow. Her jagon eye. She, grudgingly whipped some of the blood onto her finger, and brought it up to her third eye. She didn't seemed embarrassed at all as everyone stared at her…she was too worried about Kagome to really care.
Her eye scanned the blood carefully, and as if the red liquid was speaking to her or like she was reading a book she shouted out the answer. "It's not Kagome's…" she continued to 'stare' at it as the answer was told to her. Our DNA holds the book to our lives, telling everything about us…a book that only the jagon eye can read. "It's Gore Leblanch's."
Kagome was dragged out of the trunk of the limo, pushed into the building, and lead all the way to the peace canter's boiler room. It was damp and cold, she felt her heart slowly shatter a little more as the realization hit her hard in the face. I'm going to die.
Kagome was lead to a small room off to the side that had two walls made completely of one way mirrors, making her feel like she was in an interrogation room at the police station. The cement walls were all lined up with shackles and chains. And suddenly Kagome felt her ankle being handcuffed to the wall by a long chain. She stared down at the anklet and groaned.
She heard her captives leave her and someone else enter, but she didn't pay them any attention. Instead, she continued to stare at the bondage that held her to the wall. I could just use an energy blast to break the chain and I'd be free. She glanced up and found herself face to face with Demona. I could easily take her…I can escape. But suddenly her 'heroic' side kicked in again.
"Sorry about the accommodations." Demona chuckled to herself. "But I'm afraid we don't have anything fancier."
Kagome shrugged her shoulders. "I doubt I'm going to be here very long…so what does it matter?"
Demona's smirk spread from ear to ear. "You're different from most mikos aren't you?" She took a seat at the round table that was sitting in the middle of the room. "I've killed over a hundred mikos in my life…fixing to be a hundred and one." She glanced at Kagome's face to see her reaction but there wasn't one. "But I must say…most of them would be threatening to blow my head clear off by now…but you…you're different." She glanced into Kagome's eyes, trying to read the last miko's mind for any signs of fear. There was none. "You know you're strong…and powerful…and yet you bottle it up…if I'd been in your shoes I would have already killed me and ran off…"
"So are you admitting that I am stronger than you?"
Demona's smirk dropped. She raised to her feet and glared at Kagome seethingly, but it just ended but irking her more when she saw Kagome not even deter. "You've also got an arrogant tongue." She went to slap Kagome but Demona's hand stopped a few inches away from Kagome's cheek. Kagome still stood strong despite the threat.
"I hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but your little show of bravery isn't impressing anyone."
Kagome stared at her cold. "Why are you putting me down here when you could just kill me now and get it over with?"
Demona's smirk returned. "Because…I want to at least torture you first…" she turned to the door when it opened, there stood Sion. "What do you want?" she barked at him.
Sion Barzahd ignored Demona's angry tone as he brought a plate of food and set it on the table for Kagome. He smiled at her, you could tell he felt guilty for something. "I'm sorry Ms. Kagome...this is all my fault…please forgive me." He went to walk out when Demona grabbed him by the arm and pulled him up to face her.
"What the hell is this?" She roared.
"Are you that stupid?" He sneered at her. "Its called food."
"And the reason you're giving it to our prisoner…a miko? She's a monster, Sion. She kills our kind."
Sion pulled away from her. "She's a human being…just like I used to be before I sold my soul to you…and what good did that do me?" He grabbed a chair and threw it at her.
Kagome stood against the wall in confusion.
"You said if I sold my soul to you and became a demon, you'd make me forget everything. You said I'd never even remember what my dad looked like let alone all the murders he did right in front of me. But guess what, Demona. I can still see Dominique's face as plain as day."
Suddenly realization dawned on Kagome. Dominique? That was the name of one of the girls Kagome had seen in her vision when she had touched Sion at the tournament's dance. She remembered…now it all made sense…sort of. She was still completely confused though.
Demona's anger soared. "How dare you! I did as I promised…" she turned on Kagome, "but it was this little tramp of a miko who went and broke the spell."
Kagome suddenly felt sick when she remembered the things she'd seen when she had touched Sion. That must be when the spell broke; now it made a little more sense. Sion's father had been a serial killer, he'd killed a lot of women in front of Sion, then a few years later when Sion met a demon as powerful as Demona he sold his soul to her so he could forget everything his father did to him. And Dominique…she must have been Sion's girlfriend before his father killed her.
Sion's rage stayed firmly planted on Demona, for some odd reason he didn't have the heart to turn it on the miko. "That's bullshit and you know it. If you'd made the spell strong enough maybe it wouldn't have been so easily broken. You lied, Demona…I want my soul back."
Demona felt her heart being stabbed into a hundred pieces, Sion was like her son, and he wanted to abandon her. "But-"
"And if you dare lay a hand on Kagome…I'll-I'll-I'll-" He didn't have any real good threats at the moment. But just daring to come up with one was enough to send Demona off the edge.
"You'd dare leave me after all I've done for you…if it weren't for me you'd still be stuck with that father of yours."
"Please." He snorted. "He died a year before I even met you…you've never done anything for me…and you never will…and I like it that way. I don't need your help…I don't want your sympathy…and I don't want anything to do with you anymore…especially if you harm Kagome."
Demona sat down at the table. "I have to get rid of the miko, Sion. If I don't she'll kill me just like Midoriko tried to do."
Kagome suddenly reclaimed her voice. "I'm not going to do anything to you…so just let me go…" or then I will do something to you.
Demona sighed. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know you won't try to do anything to me…but the demon inside of you will. The soul purpose of your existence is to avenge Midoriko's death and kill me."
"Demon inside of me?"
Demona turned to look Kagome in the eyes, realization hit her hard. "You've got no clue who you are or what's living in you, do you?" She smirked…she rather liked the idea of killing a naïve innocent.
"What the hell are you talking about?
"Well, well, well…" she stood up to look Kagome in the face. "I never would have guessed that you were that clueless…allow me to enlighten you on your ancestor…seeing as I knew her…fought her…and killed her. But first…you don't know what's inside of you huh?"
Kagome shook her head.
"Have you ever felt like something took over your body and it wasn't you anymore…it was something far more powerful than even you could ever comprehend?"
Kagome's eyes widened. That happened a lot lately.
"Well my dear, that would be the demon inside you…which you inherited from Midoriko as it were."
Kagome was confused again.
"Do I need to bloody spell it out for you? Most mikos couldn't do what you and Midoriko can…you see…there's a demon living in you…and when you loose control, you're really tapping into it…your inner demon."
"I've got an inner demon? But how? What made Midoriko so special from other mikos?"
"Oh for the love of God…" Demona groaned inwardly. "I figured you were clueless but not this clueless. The reason Midoriko was the most powerful of all mikos was because she had a miko for a mother and a demon for a father…she obtained the best of both worlds I guess you could say. And the same goes for you…you may not have had a miko mother and a demon father, but Midoriko's power was transferred to you. And because you didn't inherit the powers indirectly…your demon and miko are constantly fighting each other for control. Each time you change, you're different. The reason you're so damn powerful is because you've got a little bit of demon and a little bit of miko in you, demon especially since Midoriko's father was an original demon like me. But your powers are not going to destroy each other like most people thought of Midoriko…no, on the contrary, they're going to keep making each other stronger…and sooner or later they'd bond together to form a hybrid. Midoriko had already become a hybrid when I met her; she was literally almost invincible…until I put her in her place. And because of that she condemned me, telling me she was going to send another miko-demon hybrid after me…or a.k.a. you."
Kagome was beginning to understand, she knew why she seemed to always loose her mind…like when she almost killed Naraku…Kagome had had no remorse or conscience, that had been the demon in her…and when she had touched Sion and seen everything and felt like she needed to protect him, that had been the miko. "I understand it all now." Kagome looked fiercely into Demona's eyes. "How do you know all this about Midoriko?"
Demona scoffed. "Her father was my brother…and she was my niece…my idiot of a brother used to tell me everything…but when he dishonored our family by not killing his hybrid daughter…I took it upon myself to do it for him…and so I was condemned by my kindness to my elder sibling."
Kagome snorted. "You think it was a mercy killing don't you?"
"More or less."
At that second, Gore came stumbling in sucking on his finger. "Why'd the hell did you have to cut me, Demona?" He held out his finger to show her the slit on his index finger.
"To write the message you idiot."
"But why me?" He whimpered. "That really hurt. Why couldn't we just use some of your lipstick or something?"
"Because that would have been a waste. Now tell me, where's Dante?"
Gore shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno...I haven't seen him."
Coach had a team meeting in his hotel room. Everyone was crowded around him; some were a little clueless as to what was happening, as others wish they were.
He stared at each student; with the acceptation of Yusuke…he had left that nitwit out of the meeting and sent him on a wild goose chase for a vending machine. Coach Hiei didn't exactly trust him.
"Alright…as I'm sure most of you are aware…Kagome Hirugashi's been kidnapped."
Sango and Katsumi started whimpering all over again.
"What?" Taki and Sano literally screamed. "What do you mean kidnapped?"
Hiei silenced them with a glare. "Kagome was kidnapped…and for an obvious reason…" he got a warning glare from all the PACK members, they didn't want Kagome's little 'miko' secret known. "Kagome's…the last miko. And she's been kidnapped by a demon called Demonatikyo…a.k.a. Demona Sigfreed."
Taki snorted. "You can't actually be serious…if Kagome's the last miko then I'm Brad Pitt."
"And if Demona Sigfreed is the Demonatikyo…the one that killed Midoriko…then I must be Sponge Bob Square Pants." Sano chorused.
"I'm very serious." He snapped. "Kagome Hirugashi's the last miko and has been kidnapped by the Demonatikyo."
"But how?"
Hiei sighed. "We have to save her…Kagome's the world's last resort…she's been sent to this world to avenge Midoriko and save us…but she's not powerful enough to do all of that yet. If Demonatikyo tries to kill her now…Kagome will have no chance for survival."
"So how are we supposed to rescue her?" Duo grounded his fist into his knees, trying to make his knuckles bleed. "We don't even know where she is…and what if they've already killed her?"
"That's where you're wrong." Rei pointed to her third eye. "I can see the trail they left behind…by following Kagome's scent."
A few of the demons who had good smelling sense nodded, since they could do the same.
"But what are we supposed to do when we get there?" Taki added, he didn't know why exactly he was believing this whole 'last miko's been kidnapped' story but he did.
"What do you think?" Inuyasha growled. "I'm gonna break Demona's neck in two."
Miroku nodded, and then scolded himself. "No…wherever she is…we need to sneak in, sneak her out, and then run like hell as far as we can."
"But that's the coward's way." Inuyasha screamed. "We have to make them pay for what they did."
"We have to at least find her first." Ryoko added from her seat beside her sister.
"And this Demona's supposed to be super powerful…how are we supposed to fight her?" Asuka protested.
"With out fists, stupid." Spike chorused, "we're going to make her wish she'd never heard the name of Kagome Hirugashi."
Kikyo continued to rock back and forth. "They're going to kill her - they're going to kill her - they're going to kill her - "
The room filled with an uncontrollable argument, making the ever-shy Kenji loose his temper once again. "Will you people shut up for one goddamn second?"
Silence.
"Alright." Kenji took charge. "We're not going to wait another second…we're going after her…now." He turned to stare at Rei. "Go start the bus." He turned to Inuyasha, who was still in his towel. "Go get some clothes on, and get your sword. The same goes for you, Sango, get the weapons you brought for the weapons' competition; we're going to need all the help we can get. Everyone else…I want you to divide into groups of three…wherever she is…knowing Demonatikyo, is going to be covered in security guards. We're going to have to scout the area…and find a way in without alerting anyone-"
"But that's the cowards way." Inuyasha growled. "We should just storm in and take the place by force."
"We are cowards." Kenji snapped. "None of us are strong enough to actually fight Demonatikyo…no one. We're going to go in…sneak behind security, and knock them out silently…we'll take care of everyone we see without making enough of a scene to be seen. I have a hunch…if that's Gore's blood…and he had something to do with this…then Kagome's most likely at the peace center."
"Take care of everyone?" Katsumi gasped. "We're not planning on killing people are we?"
"No." Kenji turned to stare at Asuka. "Asuka's a psychic demon…she can knock everyone unconscious by touching them if she wants. That's were she comes in. now…we'll go over everything else on the bus…we're wasting time just sitting around here. Let's move."
Kouga stared dumbfoundedly at the phone that had been ringing off the hook for the last hour. Kagome - dumped - me -?
Sorry this took so long, I got a little sidetracked with my other stories. Hehe…oops. But anyway, I hoped you liked this…hehe…I love it when Kenji looses his temper. Well sorry folks…this took a LONG time to get down and it still sounds oh-so-stupid. But hey…we've only got like three more chapters to go until this story is over and done with. Woohoo. And because It's almost done, I would like to start another story…because I'm one of those people who loves to write (just doesn't have the time or the talent to do it.) I was leaning more towards Born to be Wild myself. I had a lot of good ideas for that one, but now I'm thinking Once Upon a Time would be good. It could take place during modern time or his time, whichever one you guys would like. Nonetheless I'm gonna let you guys vote. Choose which story you like, and if it's Once Upon a Time, tell which era you want it in…though it's not going to be the feudal era like in the anime…it would be in a more mystical environment. Either send your choice via email or review. Just write in the title of your story and the one that gets the most votes wins. Here's the list of ideas I'm debating on starting:Once Upon a Time: Kagome's the geeky girl who loves fantasy novels. But when a group of bullies throw her book into a wishing fountain at the mall, she finds herself face to face with her novel's hero. But is he really the way the book portrays him?
I can update regularly on this one. It's based on my best friend. (I made Kagome just like her. Sorry for the OOC but I well…never really liked Kagome's personality in the anime. She seemed too weak. So, in all my other stories I always made her a super strong miko or something.)
All's Fair in Love and War: Kagome's the commander of a battleship. Inuyasha's the lazy-carefree space pirate. What happens when Kagome takes over his spacecraft, making him a prisoner of his own ship, just to take him back home to be tried for treason? Poor Inuyasha.This one would be really hard. It's original but I've never been all that good at stuff like this. But I admit the scenes that I had in my mind were hilarious. Though I would not be able to update regularly on this one because I'd have to type the chapter and let my friend check it. (She's an ace when it comes to Star Trek and all that stuff.)
Born to be Wild: Kagome's the mayor's daughter, raised to be a lady. But when she meets a group of misfits, they persuade her to ditch school and run away with them on the road trip of a lifetime that's filled with car chases, fistfights, and gay strip clubs.I like the idea of Inuyasha and his friends who just happen to be well…different, dragging Kagome along on their adventure. I pictured each character to be unique, so that there'd be a character for everyone to relate to. It's a group of unlikely friends who just happen to find themselves getting along. Imagine that. But this one I think I could update regularly on. It's really funny on all the problems they encounter on their journey.
Also…the friend that I asked you to pray for sent this to me when she was reading the story: Mooch...if I am your friend that u are worried about in chapter 21 I am fine...you know all that I have gone through and that is why you asked people to pray for me and I wanna thank the people who did and I wanna tell you mooch that I love you and your praying helped me get through everything...lylas ::muah::
Sorry, my nickname's Mooch cause I always mooch food off of other people. I love food. But anyway…she didn't tell me I could put this in my author's note…and she didn't tell me I couldn't…so I did, even though she's going to fry me alive when she reads this. But anyway…she says thanks…bye for now guys…and don't forget to vote.
Oh and one other thing, someone said that Spike got over Kagome quick in the last chapter. hehe...oops. I did make him seem a little too willing to stand back and watch...eww...but you have to remember, that was the Spike that lives inside Inuyasha's head. Not the real Spike. hehe. I'm not giving up much of a good arguement am I?
