Disclaimer: I do hereby acknowledge to all that stuff you have heard before and that you don't need to hear again since we all know it by heart. Takahashi-sama is the only one who can do that.

Cyancat (\/)

Let Me Out

Chapter Three – What A Neighbor!

An hour later, the pair arrived before a large five story red brick building. Inuyasha merely stared at the structure as Brian got out and rounded the car. Inuyasha grimaced his dislike of the place and begrudging followed Brian inside.

Taking the elevator to the fourth floor, Brian stopped at a door marked 4E in bright brass lettering, though the E hung crookedly. Inuyasha frowned more at the shoddy look of the place, which made Brian just smile more at him.

"Looks can be deceiving, Inuyasha. From now on and until future notice, this is your apartment." Brian dug into his jacket pocket and retrieved a set of keys. The keys jangled as he began to unlock the door.

"My apartment?" Inuyasha squawked. "What are you talking about? I thought I was going to live with you."

Brian straightened to look at Inuyasha with a puzzled face. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "I don't know. I just figured that I was going to live with someone. I mean, Kaede sent me here, so I figured…"

Opening the door to the apartment, Brian shook his head. "Sorry, but that wasn't the plan. Yoshika and I only place people in homes for themselves; we don't take them into our own house." He gestured toward the room. "Look, I'll show you the basics of the place, but that's all I can offer you right now."

Inuyasha snorted at his reply, irritated more at the fact that no one had even told him what was happening until now, but followed Brain inside nonetheless.

Inuyasha's first glance at the apartment was horrid and the second was terrible. It was meager, to say the least, compared to his old room at Sesshomaru's house. Suddenly he actually missed that bastard and his house, for a moment.

There was a small living room supplied with a couch, a coffee table and a small television. The kitchen had a sink, a mini fridge, and a portable table top burner along with a dining table. Inuyasha sullenly watched Brain walk over to a door and open it wide to view its contents.

"This is the bedroom. The next door down is your own bath and toilet. I figured that since you lived your whole life in that house, you've never been to a public bath, so it would be easier for you to have your own bath than start going out." Brian scratched the back of his head, trying to make sure he didn't forget anything. "Other than that, the place is all yours until every thing calms down at your old home."

Inuyasha scoffed at the idea. "Keh! Yeah, like that's gonna happen any time soon."

Making his way for the front door, Brian stopped in mid-step, snapping his fingers together in recollection. He turned back to Inuyasha, pulling a manila envelope out his jacket pocket.

"Knew I was forgetting something. This is all that you're going to need for living here, at least for a while. There's residency papers, an I.D., and some money. There's enough to live off of for a while but you'll have to go and get a job soon." Brain dropped it in Inuyasha's hands. "There are some phone numbers for you to call if you need help. There's also a map of town which you should learn by heart and oh, you should know… we've changed your name to Yasha Takamura."

"Yasha? Are you kidding me!" He balked at the sound of it.

"Well, Kaede had this funny idea about calling you Mimi…" Brain remarked, confused as to why Kaede had even thought of that name.

Inuyasha's eyes widened in shock for a moment and he let out a groan. "Fine, call me whatever you want."

Brain smiled as he dropped the set of keys into Inuyasha's hand. "Good call."

Bidding him good-bye, Brian left the poor hanyo standing alone in the stark blank apartment.

Inuyasha looked down at the keys in his left hand and the envelope in his right, wondering what the heck he had gotten himself into.

"A job?" he scoffed. "How the heck am I supposed to get a job!"

Walking over to the couch, he plopped on the couch only to shriek in surprise. He jumped up and looked at the bleak yellow couch where something had just bit his butt. Rubbing the attacked area on his posterior, Inuyasha spied a thin piece of metal poking out from the cushion. Cursing loudly, he grabbed the cushion and threw it against the wall.

"Damn apartment!" he yelled. "I hate this place already!"

After looking the place over a few times, Inuyasha decided that he needed to get out and at least buy a few necessities. Pocketing the roll of money from the envelope, Inuyasha stepped out of the apartment and locked it behind him, wondering if it was even worth the effort.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he made his way to the elevator and waited for the lift to arrive. After several moments, the machine dinged, signaling its arrival and the doors opened swiftly. Instead of stepping on, Inuyasha only stared straight ahead at the figure in the lift. He stood motionless, staring at this form of beauty that appeared out of nowhere, eyes wide in wonder and amazement. She had been leaning against the back of the lift, bored with the elevator ride apparently. Her long raven black locks surrounded her rosy oval face. Large brown eyes stared back at him, trying to figure out what he was doing. She wore a spaghetti strap green dress that fell to just above her knees. It didn't cling to her, but it was good enough for Inuyasha's eyes.

She shifted her weight from foot to foot, uncomfortable by Inuyasha's bold gaze.

"Are you getting on, or what?" She commented, killing the deathly silence.

His mouth opened and closed like a fish, before nodding dumbly and getting on. She skittered to the opposite side of the elevator as he turned around, already weirded out by him.

Inuyasha stared at the doors as they closed and then locked the two inside the little room. With a grunt it started and started its descent once more. Inuyasha glanced once over at the girl before looking back at the floor.

"Sorry about that." He mumbled.

"Oh, you talk now? Funny, it looked like you were a deaf mute." She commented crossly.

He turned to glare at her, opening his mouth to retort. Meeting her brown eyes, he faltered, but caught himself before he could stumble. "Look!... I'm just not good at interacting with people, alright? I just moved in and I'm just a little on edge. I said I'm sorry and I meant it. Okay?"

She scrutinized him for a second, contemplating if he was truthful or not. "You just moved in? In what room?"

"4E. Why? You live here too?"

"Yeah, just below you in 3E. Weird."

Inuyasha nodded in agreement. The lift dinged once more as it stopped at the third floor. "This is my floor." She stated quietly. With the doors open, she stepped out of the elevator, but turned around suddenly. "Hey, what's your name?"

"I…Yasha, I'm Yasha."

"Yasha, huh? Well, I'm Kagome." She turned with a wave to the black haired boy. She called over her shoulder as she walked away. "See you later neighbor."

Inuyasha didn't reply, but watched her walk down the hallway, watching even as the doors closed, staring through the quickly narrowing space until the doors slammed shut.

'Oh, what a neighbor!' He thought to himself. What had he been missing, living all those years at Sesshomaru's? Apparently a lot, after seeing that girl.

With Kagome's image still in his head, Inuyasha walked down the sidewalk, taking in the scenery. It was a lot different than home, less crowded and you could really see the mountains in the background. He passed shops where the owners waved at him in greeting and he waved back. Every once and a while, he'd stop and look behind him, searching for something, but shake his head and start walking again. Every time he stopped, he had a weird feeling that Sesshomaru was behind him, watching.

Stopping in front of a store on the street corner, he studied the area around him. A park was just down the road on his right, more apartment housing across from the park, and more small shops to his right. It seemed like a nice place to live in, better than he'd ever imagined living outside the house.

Like the wind, a young boy ran past Inuyasha, just grazing his arm. He stared after the boy running down the road, wondering why he had taken off like that.

"Hey, stop that boy!" yelled out a voice from the store.

Looking behind him, Inuyasha saw a young man around his twenties with his black hair pulled back in a ponytail running out the front door. He wore a black t-shirt and brown pants, covered mostly by the purple apron he wore over them. Seeing the distress in his face, Inuyasha turned toward the boy and set off after him. Not even thinking about hiding his demon abilities or anything else that Kaede had told him, Inuyasha sprinted faster toward the young boy, running through the crowds. It didn't take him every long to catch up to the child, only a few seconds, and then set himself running alongside the boy.

"You're pretty fast for your age." He commented with a smirk at the kid.

The shock was evident in the child's face, seeing someone running beside him. Determination filled his eyes and he turned suddenly, skittering through a narrow passage between two buildings. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and followed after him. He leaped easily over the blockage in the alley the child had run into, running as soon as his feet his pavement. Again he found the child quickly, but now the kid was panting for breath and clutching a box to his chest. Inuyasha's eyes narrowed as he approached him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He yelled at the breathless boy.

His head snapped up at the sound of Inuyasha's voice, eyes wide with shock. "Who are you and what do you want?" He yelled at Inuyasha's approaching form.

"Thieves don't get the privilege to know who I am! What did you steal from that store?"

"I didn't steal anything!"

"Then what's in the box?" Inuyasha pointed to the large silver box clutched to the boy's chest.

"This is mine!" He clutched it closer to him.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Right, now hand it over before I take it away." He held out his hand. The child merely glared at him.

"No, I'm not giving it to you!"

"No? Look you've got three seconds," He held up three fingers. "Three seconds to give up the box or else you're toast!"

"Forget about it! I'm not giving it to you!" The boy tried to bolt away, but Inuyasha caught him by the scruff of his shirt and held him in the air.

"Like I said, three seconds to give it up. Don't make me take it away."

The child clutched the box tighter and put up a determined look.

Miroku had just opened his store when that kid tried to steal one of his most treasured pieces. He stood in the doorway, watching with amazement in his eyes as the man who'd been standing on the corner took after the kid like lightning. Damn, he was fast! He wasn't surprised to see that it wasn't long before the stranger was walking back toward the store with the child in tow and the box under his arm. Miroku let out a sigh of relief. Thank the Gods he caught him!

Putting his hands on his hips, Miroku watched them approach.

"Well, Kohaku, what do you have to say for yourself?" Miroku stated angrily as the tall man pushed the boy forward.

Kohaku looked at Miroku without a touch of regret in his eyes. "I didn't do anything wrong! You told me I could have it!"

"When you're older!" Miroku reminded him. "You're only eleven! Until you're older and you know how to properly use it, you can't have the sickle blade."

"Don't treat me like a baby! I know how to use it! Sango's been teaching me!"

"Yes, she has, but you still have a lot to learn. Now get ready for school or you'll be late." Miroku stepped aside for Kohaku to pass by.

Still glaring angrily at Miroku, Kohaku stalked into the store and up a flight of stairs next to the counter. Watching after him, Miroku sighed once before turning back to the helpful stranger.

"I can't say how thankful I am that you caught him. He's been trouble ever since his sister started teaching him how to use weapons." He held out a hand. "I'm Miroku and you are?"

Inuyasha looked to Miroku's hand for a moment before taking it in his. "Yasha. So you know that kid?" He looked up to the second story of the store.

"Yeah, he's my wife's little brother. Good kid, just a pest at times." Miroku looked to the box still under Inuyasha's arm. "Can I have the box back?"

Suddenly realizing that he still it, Inuyasha handed the box over to Miroku. "Sorry about that. So what was the problem if you already knew him? Couldn't you get it back later?"

Miroku snorted. "That would have been highly unlikely. Kohaku has a tendency to hide things from us and he's pretty damn good at it too. He'd hide that box where no one could find it and we'd be at a loss." Miroku paused to think for a moment. "Yasha, you new in town?"

"Yeah. What's it to you?" Inuyasha crossed his arms.

"How'd you like a job?" Miroku asked, smiling widely at him.

Inuyasha's jaw fell open. A job? Was he kidding? "You're joking, right? Why would you want to give me a job?"

"Because you're fast!" Miroku said avidly. "I need someone to help with my messenger service. The last guy quit and I've been doing everything myself since. After seeing you catch Kohaku, I'm impressed. You're faster than anyone I've ever seen. So how about it, do you want the job?"

"Sure!" Inuyasha agreed. It wasn't everyday someone offered him a job. A messenger service could be fun. Plus, it didn't seem that hard to do.

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You know, I was surprised to see that no one wanted to read this story, even when my other Inuyasha fan-fic was doing so well in the reviews. If you don't like this story, please tell me why. Is it the plot, the story arc? What? Now, I'm not asking for flames, just helpful criticism. Okay? Thank you for your continued support of 'The Captive Bride' and hopefully more in the future. Hope to see more from my readers, meaning you!

Cyancat (\/)