Hunting Fear

Sango looked down the leaf-covered winding sidewalk that led to her high school. She took a deep breath, savoring the crisp autumn air. She sighed, her eyes darting frantically, looking for the best friend she had since the second grade.

He said he'd be here...where is he? I hope he's okay...

A particularly bitter preliminary winter wind nipped at her ears. She covered them with her woolen mittens, silencing the knife-like burn in them. Her eyes stung with the wind as well, but she ignored it. She was too worried about her friend to care. She wondered if he was dawdling, or if something had actually happened to him. Her heart pounded with the thought. He was only a teenage boy; he was very vulnerable in the world they lived in. Her entire body twitched with the shudder that ran down her spine. She suddenly jumped as she heard the sound of a tree branch snapping behind her.

"Houshi-sama?" she asked timidly, hoping he was just playing around with her like he always did. The wind whispered mysteriously, colored leaves swirling around her. She felt her heart speed and her breathing rush. Then it dawned on her. The victim was not Houshi-sama...it was her! She was about to scream for help when a hand was clamped over her mouth and a cotton swab was thrust under her nose.

She struggled violently, but it was useless. She was no match against her captor. Her lungs screamed with agony as she held her breath. She finally took a sobbing breath and passed into the world of unconscious oblivion.

Inu-Yasha sat at his cluttered mahogany desk, deep in thought. He was normally worked around the clock, overloaded with various cases of missing people, finds on his latest cases, or direct investigation of any clues or crime scenes. Time had rolled into late November, and he was surprised that all of his work had come to a screeching stop. He had not a case, minor or major, in the last couple of weeks, which was very rare, especially during the holidays. He wondered if it was a blessed break, or a sign of a building plot or crime. He was somewhat well-known, maybe because he had never left a case unsolved, so he knew that it wasn't a case of people not reporting their cases. He pondered the situation in deep thought, but he could not come up with anything but speculation.

"Mr. Hanyou?" a voice asked, knocking on the nard wooden door.

"Yes?" he replied, turning in his chair to face his colleague, Koga Ooakmi. "What's up, furry legs?" A grin played at his lips.

"Nothin' but the sky, dog breath," he replied in a grim tone, horribly clashing with his normal playful reply to this question.

"What's the matter?" he asked in an instant, backing out of his chair.

"There's an urgent call on line one. It's some guy who sounds pretty distressed. His friend, a senior at high school, has been missing now for eight hours or more. She did not attend any of her classes today, according to her teachers' records. She hasn't been spotted and no evidence has been revealed."

"Hmmm..." Inu-Yasha said, scratching his chin. "It sounds like an interesting case. Are there any clues?"

"None, sir."

"Any crime scene?"

"Nope."

"Parents we can contact?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Witnesses? Suspects? Anything?"

"Not a single lead except the hours she's been missing." To his friend's surprise, Inu-Yasha looked happy.

"Well, that solves my case. Why don't you connect this man to my office line, Koga?"

"Will do, sir." He left as soon as he said this, the door shutting gently behind him. Inu-Yasha knew at once that this was the big case he had expected. With not a single clue or lead, it seemed that the kidnapper was very cunning and had planned well or had plenty of experience. Though this was the one case that Inu-Yasha had ever encountered that didn't have a foundation to begin with, but this kidnapper shared a trait that all criminals carry. They could all be outsmarted.

He jumped out of his thoughts as the phone rang loudly, irritating his sensitive ears. He picked it up, pulling out a pen and paper so he could write down all the details he could extract from the conversation.

"Hello, you're speaking to Mr. Hanyou of the missing person's network of Tokyo police department. What seems to be the problem?"

"Hello," was the fretful reply of the man on the other line. "I am Miroku Houshi, and I'm reporting a disappearance.

"What is your relation to the missing person, and what is her name? If applicable, does she have any family we can contact, Inu-Yasha said calmly, drumming his pencil against his desk.

"She's my best friend. Her entire family was killed when she was sixteen, and she lives in an apartment alone. She was supposed to meet me this morning before school, but when I came, she was no one where to be found. Her teachers say she didn't attend any of her classes, and the landowner of the apartment complex said she hadn't signed in, and he hadn't seen her at all, either. She's been gone now for over nine hours."

Inu-Yasha quickly scribbled the information down, though he already knew some of it. He paused for a quick thought and then returned to the call.

"Well, is there any more information you can give me about your friend or her disappearance? Anything helps, and the smallest thing can help bring her home."

"She weighs about one-hundred and twenty pounds, she's about five eight in stature, her hair and eyes are a chestnut brown, she can outwit almost anyone, and she doesn't succumb to anything. She's never late, either, and that's why I was worried in the first place."

Inu-Yasha added it to his notes.

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Houshi. We'll call you if we find her or any information."

"Okay," he replied in a stressed-out voice. Inu-Yasha put the phone down and studied the information he had. He sighed. With no leads, this was going to be a hard case to crack.

"Inu?" He looked up to see Koga again. He smiled at him.

"Yes?"

"They do have one suspect."

"And who would that be?"

"Naraku. Naraku Omnigumu."