Dedication: Um…to…something or other… Okay, I dedicate this one to my friend Emiko, because she always liked stories that had action in them rather than the extreme dramatic romances that I haven't gotten around to writing yet—but I will! So, Emiko, this rather dark chapter is all for you!

Disclaimer: What? Inuyasha isn't mine? But all these years I thought I was the one making the graphic novels and working with the people to get the show on the air! Oh, right, the show and everything that goes along with it is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi. (That lucky girl…)

The Beginning of the End

Miroku pulled into a parking space in front of an abandon hospital and cut the engine, turning to gaze at the woman sitting in the passenger seat. He could honestly say that he had no idea what was so special about her; she looked like a regular girl off the street. However, that didn't change the fact that his boss was very interested in her for some reason, one that he may never know.

Sighing, he opened his door and walked around to the other side of his sleek black car, to open the passenger side. Once it swung open, he wasted another moment staring at her. He would never think of himself as an emotional person, but he did know that something in side of him didn't want to take her inside that building. A part of him was screaming to just take the girl and run; to get away from everything that Japan had to offer him.

He hissed in pain as his right hand suddenly felt like a dagger was being ripped through it, a warning for having thoughts such as that. Clenching his hand, he glared down at the girl; no mercy was to be shown that night.

Reaching down, he grabbed her beneath her arms and dragged her out of his car. Her body hit the pavement limply, the sound of it making him cringe. He then swung her legs up to him, hooking one arms beneath them and the other propping up her back. Carrying her bridal style, he walked across the parking lot, and up to the entrance doors to the hospital, where two men stood in front of the door, both dressed in black with long white hair.

The taller one nodded at him, "Monk, what business do you have here?" He asked in a cold, even tone. Miroku noted the usage of his nickname from off the streets, and shifted the girl in his arms.

"I am here to drop her off."

"Feh," the shorter one muttered, noticing the blood dripping off both Miroku and the girl, "What the heck did you do to her?"

He slowly blinked, "She fought back." He stated simply, though that hadn't been the complete reason as to why he had hurt her. He had known going into her house and waiting for her that his fighting instincts were sometimes faster than his mind; he would kill without meaning too. When she had fought back, he had needed to apprehend her without killing her, and the only way to insure that, was to put her out of commission.

The men, both assassins themselves, seemed to understand what he wasn't saying, and waved him in. "The boss is in the library." One whispered, before shutting the door behind him, leaving him in a room of complete darkness.

The library had once been a meeting room for doctors to discuss their patients, surgery, and quite possibly what they had done wrong when a patient had died on them. However, when he moved in, he had changed to place to fit his own needs, transforming the room into a rather large library with shelf after shelf of books on the occult.

Miroku made his way to the fourth floor of the hospital, and then pushed through a set of doors. He knew the building like the back of his hand, which was a good thing, seeing as there was hardly ever in lights to lead his way. Stepping into the room, he made his way to the large desk that had been situated in the middle of the room, and deposited the girl to the floor.

"She's hurt." A disembodied voice whispered from behind the desk.

Miroku's jaw clenched and he nodded his head, "She is."

The chair behind the desk swiveled around and the man, the Boss, got to his feet, and slowly walked to where the young assassin stood. "Why is she hurt?" The man hissed his breath warm against Miroku's face.

"She fought back." He said once again, only this time without so much conviction and authority.

The man took a step back, his long black hair flowing behind him, "So she did," He whispered almost to himself, sounding slightly happy about the fact, "Did you notice anything odd about her fighting?"

Miroku immediately thought back to the tiny gash across his ankle, "No."

"Nothing?" the man prompted, turning back around to him.

The gash had been the first time that he had ever felt the sting of another's blade, he knew this and knew that she had no idea. Staring defiantly into his boss' eyes, he shook his head, "No, sir."

"Fine then," the man muttered in disappointment, "What of the rest of the taijiya?"

He thought back to the young boy, and once again shook his head, "They're dead."

"Every last one?"

"Yes." He whispered his mind still on the boy, the boy that had looked at him with such terror when he had snuck up behind him. He had gazed into the eyes of the young one, and knew that he wouldn't be able to kill him.

"You will tell a soul nothing of what has transpired here. Do you understand?"

"Y-you're going to spare me?"

"Leave at once."

"What about my sister? I won't leave without her!"

"You will, and you will do so now."

He shook his head to rid himself of his last words to the kid, and then gazed into the cold eyes of his boss. "They have all been taken care of."

The pale man nodded, "Good…" He murmured, "Leave her, and go. I will be in touch with you soon enough."

He hesitated for a moment, gazing down once again at the young woman lying on the floor, and then nodded, swiftly turning and walking towards the door.

"And Miroku…?"

He stopped, still staring straight ahead at the door.

"That which I have given to you, I can easily take away."

He nodded his head, "Yes…Naraku…" He replied, his right hand clenching involuntarily.

"Go on then." His boss stated in his eerily voice, a voice that seemed to be coming from everywhere at once.

He nodded once more, and left the room, his hatred for his boss once again consuming him. He wanted to kill the man, or slowly torture him, and then kill him. It wouldn't be hard either; it was Naraku that made him what he was. It was also Naraku that held all the cards, he knew it and so did Miroku. And unless he wanted to die, Miroku would follow his every bidding without a thought of ever wishing against it.

Ignoring the searing pain in his right hand for the mere thought of killing him, Miroku made his way to his car, walking past the two guards without a second glance. He knew they would understand his anger and hurry to leave; they two were only there because Naraku had something they wanted. Or something they needed, whatever it was, he had his hold over each and every one of them.

He jumped into his car and sped away, back to his apartment—yet another place that wasn't a safe haven away from the man. But it was the only place he had to go.

Sango slowly blinked her eyes open, and rubbed her head. Her mind slowly fumbled over what had happened the night before. For some strange reason, she couldn't remember anything. She couldn't remember the dinner with her father or the inevitable fight, and she couldn't remember talking to her brother like she always did.

What had happened? She thought to herself, slowly dragging herself up into a sitting position—she couldn't even recall going to bed. "What the heck…?" She muttered to herself, bringing her legs up beneath her, and then she gasped as an intense pain when racing through her leg. And with the pain, came the memories of the night before.

Her heart immediately started to race and she gazed around her, wondering why things hadn't sunk in sooner. She was not sitting in her bed at her room at home; she was sitting in a hospital bed in a brightly lit room of white. The ceiling of the room was full of overhead lights, bouncing off the silver boxes that surrounded each bulb. The floor of the room was made of some kind of clear substance, and she could see lights beneath it too. And only three walls were painted white, the other wall was made of glass, and it overlooked another room just like it across a hallway.

She began to shake in fear, and slowly she looked down at herself. She was dressed in a pale blue gown that came down to her knees and was several sizes to big for her. Her long black hair had been let down, and carefully washed and brushed, she could tell by the dull shine off of it. The glass had been extracted from her hands, and then they had been bandaged in gaze. Her legs had been bandaged as well, and reaching up to her collarbone, she felt even more gauze.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Where am I? What happened? Who was that guy and why didn't he kill me?

"You're awake, I see."

She jumped at the sound of the voice, and turned around to look at the glass wall; an old lady with an eye patch and a tray full of food stood on the other side of the wall. She smiled warmly at the girl, and then reached over, pressed a few buttons on a keypad mounted on a stand in front of Sango's room, and the glass wall swung open.

"I did not think ye would ever wake." She went on to say, setting the tray on the bed beside Sango. "Thou was wounded badly in the battle."

Sango took a deep breath and stared at the woman with slight suspicion, "What battle?"

"Thee one ye had with the young man," She replied, unfolding a stack of clothing and handing it over to Sango. "Here, put this on."

Sango stared at the garments for a moment and then back up into her face, "Who was he? Who was the man that killed my family?"

The woman sighed, "To know the name of the man is not in your best interests—not while you hold so much anger towards him."

"He killed my family!" She screamed, glaring at the elderly woman, "What is his name?!"

The woman sighed wearily and carefully set the clothes down in front of the young woman, "He does not wish to do the things he does…" She whispered softly and then turned away from the young warrior, "Get dressed, and dine, for soon hardships will find there way to you."

"What hardships?" Sango demanded, "Where am I? Who are you? What do you want with me?"

The woman slowly turned around and smiled sadly at the girl, "My name is Kaede, and ye are under his domain now." Her eyes filled with sadness, "I was once someone…we all were…." She shook her head as though to clear her thoughts, and walked to the open glass wall, pushing another few buttons on the other side, the wall swung shut. "May Buddha be with ye, pray the he takes pity on ye soul."

Sango watched Kaede walk down the hall and then disappear from sight. Taking a deep breath, trying to calm her anger and fear, she reached down and picked up the clothing that the woman had left. It was only a pair of baggy white pants and a huge smock-like shirt. Something that would be seen on a patient from a rather expensive hospital, a pair of slippers came with the outfit.

She quickly took off theoversized gown,and dressed herself. Sighing, she began to eat; it seemed only minutes later that another person came to stand in front of her glass wall. It wasn't until it swung open that she even knew that they were there.

Jumping to her feet, she slid into a fighter's stance, glaring at the man that stood in front of her. He rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded a lot like feh, before finally clearing his throat.

"Are you done stuffing your face?"

Her eyes narrowed, "Who are you?"

He ignored her, instead he turned on his heels and waved her on to follow him, "Come on, follow me."

"Why?" She croaked, the ware and tear of having been kidnapped finally beginning to creep in on her—she felt too tired to even defend herself, whether she had a bum leg or not. She felt almost like curling up into a ball and giving up on life; there was no need for her anymore. Without family, she was nothing, and if she couldn't kill the man that killed everyone that ever mattered to her, than she was less than nothing. She couldn't even bring back honor onto the Hogosha line.

Their deaths were for naught. She thought to her self, and wiped away a tear that had begun to make its trek down her cheek. "Why?" she repeated in a whisper, though she was no longer asking him why he wanted her. Why had this happened to her? Why did that man come into her house? Why was she the only one that he didn't feel the need to kill? Why?

"Because the testing is about to begin."

He led her down many hallways, seeming to not be heading in any particular direction. He seemed to choose halls at random, and once she would have sworn that he looked around lost; but in the end, they finally made it to their destination.

It was a very brightly lit room, one with computers and all kinds of foreign equipment scattered about everywhere. Sango wasn't sure that she liked the look of all the machinery, but she kept her tongue still as she observed the room, trying to see if there was a way out. She had yet to find a hidden door, though she did find many swords lining one wall, and what looked like stun guns along another. It all looked very menacing and foreboding.

"Stay here." The white-haired man muttered, and then left the room. Even he appeared a little apprehensive of the place. This did nothing to calm her nerves.

It wasn't long before another man made his way into the room, staring steadily down at a clipboard in front of him, he looked up only once—and that had been to make sure that he wasn't alone in the room.

"You are Sango, are you not?"

She said nothing, and he looked as though he had been prepared for that. He gazed up at her and smiled eerily at her, "My name is Dr. Zenko, could you please step over to the right?"

She didn't move, and a second later was rewarded by the feel of a sharp object sinking into her forearm. She looked up at the doctor in confusion, and he only shook his head, "You should've done as you were told to." He laughed, and watched as she sunk limply to the floor. "That was a paralyzing potion; it'll only last a few moments, just long enough for this to not be painful." He leaned over her, and prepped her arm for an IV. "After this, Sango, all the fun begins."

She watched him numbly from the floor, and for the first time in her life, she was completely terrified.

Author's Note: And that's a wrap! Sorry for the delay on this chapter, I'm going through a weird time right now. And by weird, I mean that I got a job. Between balancing schoolwork and actual work, my writing has been taking the back seat. But seeing as this is going to be a long weekend (and this week I only have to work on Friday) I'll try to make sure to update every one of my stories. And, I might be finally fixing the whole computer thing soon—I'm either going to help out, so that we can finally get a new Dell, or I'm going to buy a laptop. So, until then, here's chapter three! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews!