Notes: Not letting myself sleep til I get the next chapter out! ;;
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Anna Freaks. I'm not witty, so no jokes.
I only want to be someone speci-"
Her eyes bulged in terror as the other girl calmly placed her hand over her mouth.
"We all want to be someone special, don't we?"
Fabel; 02o
o
o
"Inu…Inu baby…"
Her hand on my pant leg, pulling her failing body to mine.
"Don't…call…an ambulance."
Blood exploding violently from her stomach, where she had stabbed herself.
"This time…you're coming with me."
My voice, feeble. Too pathetic! Why couldn't I ever speak up for myself?
"No…"
"What?"
"No! I don't want to come! I don't want to die!"
I let my mother die…and I didn't even try to save her. I was no better than a murderer. In fact, as the hours passed with my mother's body lying in front of me, I realized I had, in fact, caused the kill.
I was guilty.
But one good thing did come out of that. Now, I was not tied down any longer. And because of that…I met Her.
o
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o
She did it, I know. There's never been anything more clear in my mind.
Classes were suspended for three days, causing much panic. The students were not allowed inside. One week has passed. School's gone back to normal.
There's now an empty seat behind me.
The girl has not shown up either. On the night she went missing, I stayed outside in the apartment yard waiting. She did not come back.
Mother is not here anymore either. It seems to have all been a dream…
o
o
o
The pencil rolled of the desk.
'Damn, not again.'
Sighing, Inuyasha reached down to search for it again, hoping it hadn't found it's way under some girl's skirt. While searching, he noticed his bangs were too long again.
'Can't see a thing, sheesh.'
Finding his pencil and sitting up again, he pushed back his bangs with his hand. Wondering how silly he probably looked, he eyed the classroom for a mirror. The closest he could find was the window to his left.
He could've laughed. While the reflective powers of the window were poor, he could still make out a bemused looking boy, with silver hair down to his shoulders and sharp yellow eyes glanced back at him. Trying to appear casual to any wayward observers below, he looked down out the window and stared.
A girl waved back at him.
Standing up with a start, Inuyasha only dimly registered his desk being knocked over and yelps from students behind him.
"Inuyasha? Kitagawa! What's wrong?"
The girl was walking away, a sheen of black hair waving softly.
Inuyasha had to struggle to bring himself to speak. How long had it been now…over a week? His mother was dead. There was no one to stop him.
"Teacher…I.."
The class watched eagerly as the youth turned around, eyes flashing with a new determination.
"I quit school."
Amidst the startled gasps of his classmates, Inuyasha grinned. This was his chance. Breaking into a run, he leaped over screaming students and desks alike and sprinted down the hallway.
"Hey! Kitagawa!"
"What's wrong with him?"
"I heard his mother went missing…"
"Poor boy! He was always so quiet…"
"Class! Attentions back here please! I'll have to report this…wonder who he's living with now."
o
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o
Because my bangs were flying back into my eyes, I couldn't make out much of her in the crowd of weekday shoppers. Catching glimpses of her here and there, I had to struggle to push my way out into an alley.
It was getting hard to breathe. I never did like sports too much, although I was fair at running. Why was I running? Did I really not want to lose her? Or was this my first stab at defiance to my mother? I run now because…I feel she will tell me her name. Is it really so important to me?
Yes. Yes it is.
She turns, hair billowing softly on an afternoon breeze. A crow swings by overhead, catching a drift and sailing.
I feel like I'm being reborn.
"…You're negligent to your physical health, Inuyasha. Totally out of breath. That won't help in my line of work, you know. At least you seem to have -some- endurance."
I'm in love.
o
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o
Somewhere, in a dusty Victorian mansion, reeking of negligence and overgrown thistles, blood seeped into the badly deteriorated wooden floor. It blossomed in strange and weird patterns against the sheets and the couch stood, spotted with decoration it otherwise would never have.
A tall, sinewy man stood in the corner, eyeing his latest project. Hmm…maybe he should've been more careful with the knife. More cuts, less depth. He had barely managed to get the information he wanted out of the woman before she hemorrhaged.
"Well, did you carry out my orders?"
Smirking, the man took the phone with him and sat back on his knees, holding the phone close to the dying woman.
"Gyah…cough…heelllp…"
Putting the phone back to his ear, Naraku waited.
On the other line, a girlish voice giggled. Naraku smiled. His deed was done, then.
"What do you want to do next?"
"We're finally close to getting the last part over and done with. I'm bring back a boy who I expect will greatly help us…at least, I have high expectations for him."
"Who is this boy?"
"The son of the Kitagawa family."
"…really? I thought he was dead. Well, keep on having fun then."
"See ya."
With a click, the phone line went dead. Flashing his knife, Naraku cut the phone lines in one clean swipe, and then wiped the blood on a curtain.
"Hasta la vista, baby."
Flicking his hat in an almost gentlemanly gesture, Naraku left the building.
The woman inside died a few minutes later.
o
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o
Across the city, a girl hung up the phone in the booth she had used. Stepping out, she watched her partner as he lazily closed his eyes and fell into a mock slumber.
"Stay there."
Cocking open one eye appraisingly, Inuyasha waited for an explanation. When it didn't come, he asked, "Well then, who was on the phone?"
"It's a secret."
"Good god, woman," he exploded. "You expect me to help you go on a slaughtering rage, but you give me no information! Where? Who? Why? When?"
"Now."
Completely awake now, Inuyasha leaned forwards onto his knees. "What do you mean? Don't leave me in the dark…Kagome."
Feeling the syllables slide off his tongue, Inuyasha gazed up at the willowy girl standing above him.
"Hush," she laughed, half joking half not, "Don't say my name. Someone might hear. I mean, right now is what I'd like to say…but we can't." Looking wistfully at the sky, Kagome sat down next to Inuyasha. "I don't even know where my parents are living anymore. Wait 'til I get the address."
Letting out a sigh, Inuyasha slid down in his seat, feeling each individual wood plank as it ran across his shoulders.
Kagome laughed. "Was that relief?" she teased.
"Ah…! No!" Inuyasha blustered.
"You've already killed your parents, haven't you?" Kagome dead panned, putting on her best poker face. "Why not kill another?"
"Eh…"
"Whatever happened to your dad, anyways?" Kagome asked curiously. Distracted by the light glinting off her hair, Inuyasha swallowed.
"When I was six, he left without saying anything." Realizing where his story was leading, Inuyasha immediately turned serious and stared down into his hands. "It was when he left that Mother…"
"What did she do?"
Even without looking up, Inuyasha heard the care in her voice as she lightly tread on something unknown to her. It wasn't curiosity, but a real secret need of her to know.
"Ah…no. It was nothing."
Feeling the iron wall that immediately came down hard between them, Kagome stood up.
"Well, okay. If you want to come with me, take my stuff, because I have to do some things. Let's meet under the Turnstile bridge in two hours."
Glad that she could take his blunt ending of subjects and still give out an invitation to him, Inuyasha nodded. "Turnstile…got it."
She flicked a finger out at him in departure. "See ya."
Stumbling out of the bench, he called, "Wait…" Realizing his feeble call didn't even reach her, he sat slowly back down. Looking back down to the ground, he started when he saw her boots in his line of vision.
"Why do you look like that?"
Squinting against the sun, Inuyasha looked up into the girl's dark brown eyes. Her bangs waved softly at him.
"I don't have time to spare. Two hours. I'll see you then."
"Uhm…ok."
Not caring to watch the girl leave once again, Inuyasha stood up and walked away in the other direction. As the steps he took grew longer, his stride became more powerful and decisive.
'I'm my own person,' he realized. 'I'm free!'
o
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o
I was freed of my mother.
When she was still alive, I had to take Japanese acting courses and piano at the evening school. As a result of having to work so much to pay the tuition for school and normal living expenses, she became angry.
In the evening she came into my bed.
"I love you Inu, because you're becoming more and more like your daddy."
And then, that one night…
She was particularly depressed, and had gotten the kitchen knife in an attempt to kill me.
"Stop it mother! Please!"
"Somebody like you…-swing-…I shouldn't have given birth to!"
And then she broke down.
"…brute."
Mother had already been mentally unstable for some time. I just wanted to forget everything. Nobody knew about my situation. Why couldn't I just hide it from myself as well?
Washing my hands, I remove any last trace of whatever it is in this house that haunts me.
Kagome has helped me out of all of it. I owe my sanity to her. I'm in luck now. Maybe I'll never have to come back.
Everything's packed now. Clothes and utilities. Some money. No memories.
"Goodbye Mother."
But I still don't know if I can kill somebody.
o
o
o
"Ah! Kitagawa! You've returned!"
From the back of the classroom, Inuyasha turned to sweat it out under a goggle of students.
"Are you really quitting?"
"Are you going to work?"
"How will you support yourself?"
"Sensei was worried because of you."
Going to his desk, the youth smiled weakly as he took out books and papers to place in his luggage. "I quit because of personal reasons."
"Eh, uhm, what for?"
Smiling mysteriously, he shook his head. "I cannot say. But hey, I'm not that popular. You guys won't miss me that much."
While the girls swarmed and giggled at their last chance to say goodbye, one dark featured boy stood apart and eyed the crowd suspiciously.
'So Kitagawa truly is leaving…'
o
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o
The principle lay down his glasses and sighed. Lines in his face sagged and dug deep.
"So your mother is missing. I'm very sorry, it must be hard on you. If it's like that, then it can't be helped. But this is all very surprising." Seeing the boy's pained expression, the principle immediately apologized.
"I'm sorry, it was not in my business to express opinions. It is good, however, that you want to go and work for your own living expenses. We already have part of your tuition fee. If we don't receive all of it, you can't come back to school."
Inuyasha shook his head. Once again, the determination came back into his eyes.
"I think you misunderstand. I have decided to quit. I'm leaving."
o
o
o
The sun sparkled on the flowing waves of the river. Stretching his legs, Inuyasha flicked pebbles into the water. Making sure the luggage was all carefully placed under the bridge and out of range of the water, he lay down and sighed.
Now all he had to do was wait.
Suddenly, he realized the air around had grown cold. Maybe a cloud had passed by overhead. Opening his eyes, he looked up to see the hard face of another boy standing over him.
Sitting up quickly, Inuyasha stood and brushed off his pants. Even while appearing merely surprised, he mentally counted and added up the odds.
Three guys…the one in middle seems to be their leader. Their uniforms…guys that went to my school.
The boy he had seen first walked up. Swinging his arms into his pockets, Inuyasha caught a glance at muscles before they disappeared, shoved deep into the school uniform pants.
"You…" The voice was cutting, some rough and ready quality that had been disturbed was now out.
"What kind of connection did you have to Ayame Tagami?"
Shit.
Thoughts raced rapidly inside Inuyasha's mind. Ayame Tagami was the girl who had silently watched in horror as he buried his mother. The prevent things from being known, Kagome had killed her. But could he say any of that?
"Mizukiwa Kouga…" Inuyasha started, remembering the old classmate's face. Kouga didn't seem to be planning on just chatting. Abruptly, he stepped up. Inuyasha bewilderedly saw the hurt expression on his classmate's face.
"Ayame…" Kouga said haltingly, "…she was a childhood friend of mine. I told her to stay away from you, but she didn't listen. She really cared for you, you know? I told her someone like her shouldn't get messed up with a creepy guy like you. While she was getting killed, I was arranging her surprise birthday party. She would've been sixteen you bastard, sixteen." Continuing, Kouga walked closer and Inuyasha felt himself backing up. He was mere feet away from the edge of the river now.
"Your mother disappeared, Ayame was killed, and just one week later you decide to move. Don't play innocent with me, boy. Something's been weird about you and I'm just now getting to the bottom of it. You…probably killed them both. You bastard!"
Inuyasha stared coldly back, even though his mind was racing in turmoil. 'What can I say?'
"I didn't do it," he snarled, pushing a startled Kouga back into his friends. "I didn't kill my mother or Ayame. You're a sick psycho to think that up."
Inwardly, Inuyasha was surprised at his own daring. He hadn't killed Ayame, that was true. But his mother…?
Something inside Kouga's eyes snapped, and his eyes brows immediately came together in anger. "You fucker! Stop lying!"
With a kick, he sent Inuyasha sprawling in pain onto the ground. Wrenched up in pain, Inuyasha dimly saw the two other boys coming closer. As they menaced him, Inuyasha sleepily saw his mother standing behind them.
'Mother. So you've come to take me back.'
She grinned, unseen by anyone else.
Suddenly, a splash came from in front of Inuyasha. Looking up, he saw the three boys, running back with arms raised over their faces. All three were dripping with some strange black liquid.
Up on the bridge came a giggle. "Looks like fun, Inu-kun. Why didn't you wait for me?"
Kouga growled, wiping the thick black liquid away from his face. "You bitch, piss off."
With a cry of delight, Kagome grasped the handrail in one hand and leapt off the bridge. Falling from over fifteen feet down, she landed perfectly in the grass.
"Piss off," she said quietly, "to here, maybe?"
'Impressive,' Inuyasha thought proudly. The other guys were already backing up. Only Kouga stood firm, but even he looked vaguely surprised. Inuyasha couldn't tell too well. His hair had also taken some of the strange liquid and his bangs were in his way again.
"Uwah!" The three boys backed up as Kagome walked forwards. She threw something into the air and then caught it. A lighter. A small spark lit up.
"Do you know what you were sprayed with?" she asked calmly.
Inuyasha felt his insides rebel. "No…" he whispered.
"Gasoline."
The three dripping boys stood, torn between their faithfulness to their cause and the menacing power of the one girl with her lighter.
"Didn't you hear me? Fuck off."
Immediately, two ran off, leaving Kouga behind.
"Ahh, hey, wait! You jackasses!" he screamed. Turning, he let loose his anger on Kagome. "You bitch, who are you? Jumping from three stories up…are you crazy?"
Kagome ignored him and turned to Inuyasha. "You 'kay?"
Weakly, Inuyasha stared.
"Hey! You!" Kouga shouted. Turning her attention back to Kouga, Kagome jerked a finger behind her.
"Go take a dunk in the lake," she called to Inuyasha. "You reek of oil."
As he stumbled off to comply, Kagome grinned. Reaching into her belt, she pulled out a rod. Flicking her wrist, the rod extended as segments inside slid out and locked into place, revealing a long iron pole.
With a whip-like movement, Kagome brought the pole crashing into Kouga's cheekbone. A audible crack sounded as bones were smashed. Inuyasha crawled out of the lake in time to watch, stunned, as Kouga fell to the ground.
"Shit…" Kouga moaned, holding his bloodied face. "What…are you?"
"Maybe you should've run like your friends," Kagome replied, stepping back to Inuyasha. "In other words, you're really in no position to question me." Throwing a malicious smile at him, time seemed to freeze.
"Complain and I'll kill."
Inuyasha looked up to the back of the girl he followed. "K…Kagome…"
With a kick, the girl spun and nailed Kouga in the midriff, causing him to fall over retching.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha screamed. "Stop it! Kagome."
Pausing, the girl stood watching Kouga writhe in pain.
Maybe he really could stop her. "Uh…uhm…Kagome. Stop it, he's had enough. "
"Eh?"
Reaching up, Inuyasha felt his hand fall softly on her bare shoulder. As he watched his fingertips slide slowly off, he saw she had the tattoo of a lizard running up her arm.
"I think you've done enough."
She shook his hand off. "And I think you're too weak, Inu-kun. Do you really want to be my partner like that?"
Speechless, Inuyasha watched as she flung the pole to him.
"Take this. Stand up."
Following her orders, he stood up, wondering how he could tower over the petite girl so much while still following her orders.
"Ka...gome?"
"Look, grasp it firmly…"
"But…"
"…so that you can strike."
Looking into her set expression, Inuyasha realized she wasn't joking. Staring at her in horrific bewilderment with the sound of Kouga whimpering in his ears, he realized just how lost he could become, listening to her voice. The slim corners of her eyes shot up in amusement.
"Come on."
Taking the rod, Inuyasha walked forwards and looked down at the lying form of Kouga without emotion.
"Whoever you kill won't be able to say anything afterwards. 'Dead men tell no tales'."
Kouga panted. "Kita..gawa…don't…"
"You can finish him in one strike. I won't show you how to do it. Don't worry about anyone else, it's only important for you to survive."
Inuyasha didn't give voice to his own thoughts. 'What about me, Kagome? If you had to, would you kill me?'
"Kill him Inuyasha. Along with the ghost of your mother."
With Kagome's voice ringing in his ears and the sight of his mother replacing that of his classmate's in front of his eyes, Inuyasha felt tears form from the corners of his eyes.
"So…sorry…"
Inside his mind, he saw himself cowering in front of his mother, tears rolling down.
His eyes from back then and Kouga's eyes turned into one.
He swung down.
Gong.
From behind him, Kagome watched in approval.
o
o
o
'I…'
Sitting on his luggage pack, Inuyasha carefully rinsed the iron pole under a water fountain in the park nearby. When he was done, Kagome took it from him and showed him how to retract it until it looked like an ordinary keychain.
'…hadn't hit another person until now.'
"How long are you going to cry, Inu-kun?"
"I…"
Kouga's frightened eyes haunted him. Inuyasha couldn't get them out of his mind. Through the haze of his tears, Inuyasha saw the girl bend down in front of him. She took his hands into her lap and smiled, no more Cheshire cat. Now, she was just a harmless little kitten.
"They didn't hurt you badly," she remarked, looking as innocent as she could. "It's hard the first time. You'll get over it. Truly…your training will take some time."
"…"
She grinned. Taking his hands, she wrapped them around her face.
"Well done. I have to praise you."
Feeling his hands encircle her pale, cool face, Inuyasha had to smile.
"Let's go," she said, dropping his hands and getting to her feet. Slinging a backpack over her shoulder, she waved to him. "While you were waiting, I got some more supplies for out trip." She pointed to a deceptively light looking knapsack. "Carry that for me."
Putting his hand on the strap, Inuyasha felt himself lurch forwards. "What the hell? It's way too heavy! What do you have in this, bodies?"
"Nope! No human inside -that- one!"
"Wait…ew!"
"I was just joking, sheesh."
Both disappeared, each following each other into the fading sun.
o
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Notes: This is fun. I haven't slept for hours now. :grin: