Disclaimer: No, I do not own Inuyasha!
A/N: The last line in the last chapter was "Nothing Inuyasha." that's what Inuyasha's remembering and thinking of...the "secretary" he runs into at the door, I'll give you one guess who it was...(sniggles) also, do you remember the first chapter? There was a dog...see if you catch the detail of its fate...also, there's a series of swtches in semi-perspective, they are my attempt to show the chaortic style in which Inuyasha and Kagome meet for the first time, the way they are inexplicably draw. Later then, in the midst of the interrogation, Inuyasha drops that f-bomb...in light of what he was being accused of I felt it fit...but I am warning you all now, it is dropped...after that I surprise you a little...is it a cliffie? (shrugs) you guys can tell me...anyway, ENJOY!
Interrogation
(April 30th: two days after the Reds murders)
Absolutely nothing my ass, Dad! Inuyasha Aikenka thought, grumbling to himself disgustedly, as he pulled into the large, messy parking lot for the drab and bland, square office building. Outside the place a boring plaque had announced it as being called, "The Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Population Control Center." Little lilac shrubs had been planted, squatting cheerfully, on either side and in a semi-circle about the sign. When the hanyou had pulled in driving his bright red Ferrari, he'd felt his dog-ears fold backward, a growl lingering in his throat.
Metropolitan Population Control Center my ass! If he knew anything it was that, despite its attempt to sound big and utterly lame, the "metropolitan population control center" was actually one of many the Agency's buildings. It was one of so many federal offices that locals of the city passed by every day of their short lives and never gave it a second thought. The place looked busy enough, but no one that passed by it would've know exactly what the "metropolitan population control center" was in charge of monitoring or controlling…was it a census building? Most humans would never know…but behind those lilac shrubs and the boring nameplates, the building was full of demons and the agents that watched over them.
Like most demons, Inuyasha harbored a slight grudge against the mysterious human-controlled Agency. He detested their policing of the local youkai—especially when it involved himself, his clan or his family—and when he recognized a working agent in the street, which was very rare, he avoided them like fleas. His father and brother, however, being great leaders, were required to submit to whatever searches and demands the Agency felt it had the right to make. Thus, as a relatively recently born demon, Inuyasha had had to suffer through medical exams as a young pup, fingerprinting, blood-typing, and a host of other strange tests and records that the Agency kept on him.
Slamming the door shut, Inuyasha tugged his red outer shirt more snugly against his chest, but left the thing unbuttoned so that it easily exposed his white sleeveless shirt just underneath. On his feet a pair of summer sandals were half-hidden by his casual blue jeans. One ankle, though no one could see it—which was how he liked it—Inuyasha wore a black anklet that carried within it his disguise-spell.
The spidery shadows of the crab-apple tree that he'd parked underneath fell over him and the car alike, and, though no one that might've been watching likely would've been able to see it, one white ear flicked impulsively. He stared through his dark black sunglasses at the still leafless tree limbs and scowled when he noticed a very serious looking teenager staring at him from across the parking lot…the youth was, it seemed, gawking at Inuyasha's ears…
Damn! Is the spell on? The hanyou hurriedly looked toward his car windows, staring at his reflection. Fair hair glinted at him in the sun—more gold now rather than the silver of his normal features, his eyes were a light simple human brown—and on his head there were no dog-ears. He sighed with relief and turned to look back across the lot, searching for the kid—but he was already gone.
Stomping up the sidewalk and toward the large set of double steel and glass doors, Inuyasha reached for one and jerked it wide just as someone else—a woman about his age—strolled through the space…their bodies collided. The woman was thrown stumbling back, squeaking a little. Inuyasha, with the better balance and the heavier body, remained solidly where he was, blinking confusedly as he stared back at the woman. She was wearing a long sleeved plain white shirt and a dark black skirt, nylons darkened her skin a few shades tanner, and her feet bore small, closed toe high heels.
Looks like a secretary…he stepped forward and extended his hand toward her, mumbling his apologies embarrassedly. When she looked up, her hand poised to take his, he caught sight of her brown eyes and long black hair—and blinked in surprise. I've seen her before, I think…but just as he was beginning to feel tingles of excitement at the realization, the woman scowled at him deeply.
She slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me." she sneered.
Insulted, Inuyasha pulled back, throwing her a glowering snarl of his own. "Geez, sorry—bitch—see if I ever offer you a hand up again!" he didn't miss her quick flinch as he spoke, and recognized that her reaction wasn't one his words elicited, it was one his teeth had. She could see through the spell that hid his demonic traits, she could see his fangs. She's a miko.
A shiver rushed through him, though he worked to suppress it, and scowled heavily as he pushed past her and into the building. The moment their bodies touched Inuyasha felt a surge of some emotion he couldn't name—but thought it might have been relief—pass through him, wash over him like a rainstorm. She and I don't know each other…with a jolt it came to him that he'd thought she was the one he'd dreamed of only a few days ago, the one with the changing eye color…weirder than hell…
He strolled to the front desk, catching a lingering whiff of the same strange woman's scent. Apparently she'd been sitting at the secretarial desk all day—only to be replaced by the man that currently staffed it mere moments before. The man occupying the space now was blonde-haired and blue-eyed, and thoroughly involved with typing at the computer. Sighing loudly, Inuyasha pounded his palm over the bell at the desk and waited, scowling, as the man rolled his chair closer, one eyebrow raised. "Yes, sir? May I help you?" he asked automatically.
"Yea—my old man said you guys want to talk to me because you think I killed somebody." He blurted, ripping his sunglasses off and tucking them into his shirt for the time being. "I'm Inuyasha Aikenka…"
The secretary blinked for a moment, stupidly, and then nodded, turning to reach for a phone. "I'll be right with you Mr. Aikenka, just wait here for a few moments…" Inuyasha watched him carefully, trying to figure out if this was an agent or a real secretary. Curiously, Inuyasha flicked his ears back and forth, hoping to catch the secretary's eye…on the third try the blue eyes of the man swiveled to the ears and locked on them, narrowed in concentration. Inuyasha was relieved—if the man could make out the ears then he was a houshi—the masculine version of a miko in the Agency—and likely an agent. After blurting his "crimes" straight to the secretary Inuyasha had momentarily worried that he'd been telling someone who didn't even know what their employers really did. He was glad to see that his fear was wrong.
The secretary might've continued to stare if at that moment his query with the phone hadn't gone through. Blinking he nodded at the invisible being at the other end of the line. "Yes, tell Mr. Hancock that Inuyasha Aikenka is here for questioning, would you?" there was a pause, throughout which the secretary strictly avoided glancing at Inuyasha. Then, finally: "Thank you." He lowered the phone with a click back into its hook. "An agent shall be down to retrieve you for questioning shortly, Mr. Aikenka." The secretary lost interest in the hanyou immediately and pushed his rolling chair back to the computer. As Inuyasha watched he began to type away furiously, his back half turned from the waiting half-demon.
"Uh, yeah…" he frowned, "What do I do until then, anyway?" the white dog-ears fell backward.
The secretary threw him a bored look and shrugged slightly, "Take a seat—" he gestured loosely with one hand to three chairs that stood against the nearest wall of the lobby flanked on either side by fake palm plants, "Make yourself at home, it won't take them long to get you."
As the computer once more reclaimed the man's attention Inuyasha shuddered in a mixture of ominous anxiety and disgust. These arrogant mortals have some sort of agenda against me…is it because my mother was human, like them? Or because my father is a demon, not like them? Or, hell, is it just because they're such cranky bad-asses, they want to make my life miserable? As he took a seat, in the middle chair, with a deep scowl on his face, Inuyasha crossed his arms, glaring at the secretary in a last ditch effort to regain a semblance of control over the situation. Finally he sighed and began waiting.
"Higurashi Kagome. Higurashi Kagome."
Sango's palm on the gearshift paused. The slayer blinked, listening to the hum of the headphones, waiting for that one voice to repeat itself and its order. Beside her Kagome was chattering on, reading the newspaper to her.
"Listen to this Sango: "Veterinarian Kenneth Biaz described the injuries, 'Five claw marks tore into the dog's side. When the animal was hauled in he was already in shock from blood loss. Those gouges went deep.' The dog died a few short hours later. What attacked the dog? Medical officials aren't certain. The attack looks like the work of an animal, but what kind of animal leaves five gouges?" Doesn't that sound like demon involvement to you, Sango? I think that we should radio this in…Sango?" the young miko's eyes were wide and almost concerned, trained carefully on her partner's face.
"Shh!" Sango hissed, pressing the headphones closer to her ears, "I'm trying to listen!"
"For what?"
"Higurashi! Kagome Higurashi! Come in, repeat: Come in Higurashi-Hiraikotsu, come in!" Sango stiffened for a moment and then jumped into action, reaching her strong, nimble fingers for the radio that was connected to their dashboard, flicking it on. She pulled the thing to her lips, fumbling briefly with the curled and tangled cord that trailed behind it.
"Hiraikotsu-Higurashi reporting in, repeat: Hiraikostsu and Higurashi here." Her warm brown eyes flicked to Kagome's darker orbs, a mixture of emotion within them, a silent question hovering there: Why Kagome? Is she in trouble? There was always the possibility that Kouga Takekenso's infatuation with her partner would cause the Agency to take action and reassign them both…
"Kazana Miroku has ordered your return—interrogations are to be held with the Reds homicide case." The headphones whistled into Sango's ears and she blinked, a little surprised. Interrogations?
She brought the radio closer to her lips again, "Orders received. Returning to home base now. Hiraikotsu-Higurashi our." She put the thing away with a click, flicked it back off again. Her hand fell on the gearshift again, put the car into drive.
Kagome's eyes pinned her, begging for an explanation. "…Sango…?"
"Interrogation, Kagome." She answered, lips pursed, "Apparently the bastard responsible for killing that poor little kit's family has been brought in for questioning." A savage, sadistic pleasure curled her lips slightly, "I hope we nail his ass!" she gushed.
Disturbed, Kagome looked away, out the window. I never wanted this case; it's too terrible… Docile, unsuspecting and utterly innocent homes passed by her eyes, a come suburban neighborhood. None of them knew or even in the least thought about the possibility that there were monsters out there like the inuyoukai that had torn apart the kitsune family…even if they did, Kagome bitterly knew that she would never be credited with helping to keep those defenseless, clueless citizens safe from the monsters that whispered in the night, that thirsted wildly for blood…she closed her eyes to the houses that flew past as they neared the highway. It's not about credit Higurashi, and you know it. You've never wanted it to be about that…it's about…
The traumatized kitsune's green eyes entered her mind. She recalled the terrible keening the child had made as he clung to her aunt, Rini Gouzuku, who had been one of the first agents to the scene. He'd held onto Rini as if his little life depended on it, and sobbed wildly. His words still made her blood run cold… "Make them stop bleeding! Make them stop!"
Her fists clenched on the armrest. Her gaze flew to Sango suddenly and she sighed heavily. "I hope we nail him too Sango, I really do." Whether she'd wanted the case or not, Kagome was determined to give the tiny, helpless kit as much justice as she could…
So much for them calling me in soon… Inuyasha glanced around the Agency's lobby for the millionth time, fast losing his temper. The cell phone in his pocket had grown heavy and tempting against his thigh, despite the bolded sign above the secretary's prominent desk that proclaimed that the area was off-limits for such modern technology. After ten minutes of waiting he found himself stroking it with two fingers. Ten minutes after that and he'd pulled it out, giving into the temptation, despite the warning of the sign. He scrolled through the menu that listed all his various favorite numbers…old girlfriend, family adviser, another old girlfriend, his father, his half-brother…his mother…yet another old girlfriend…
The hairs on the back of his neck and arms suddenly tingled and stood on end. Inuyasha shivered convulsively, and looked up, his falsely brown eyes searched the Agency's lobby again…and this time it was not a fruitless quest. The cell phone in his hands was forgotten completely as he stared at the apparition that had walked through the glass doors and into the lobby.
Beautiful…Sango led the way, jerking the door open without a hesitation. The brightness of the early afternoon sunshine glinted off the glass doors as she stepped in, only pausing to hold the thing open a moment for Kagome to follow, as if that were just an afterthought. Kagome stepped after her more aggressive slayer partner, her mind still lingering on the heavy events of their current case. She knew that after they checked in Rini and Kari would likely run them through the deeper details of the case before they'd call in the suspect. Once those details had been shared she and Sango were committed…there was no going back.
Can I handle such a case…? She asked herself as she crossed the threshold into the Agency's vast lobby area.
You can do it—you're as strong a miko as anyone and more… another voice whispered in response, and Kagome felt her shoulders strengthen…a chill followed up that solidness, making her senses jump and sharpen, knives ready to stab the guilty under the Agency's blade of justice. But as she lifted her eyes to the lobby, unknowingly searching for something, she saw that there was one demon waiting in the chairs at the far end of the lobby.
She froze as shock and recognition flooded her mind. The bright golden eyes, the strong, form, utterly attractive build, the bright silver hair and most clearly the white dog ears pinned on her: I dreamed of this demon…
And he was staring straight at her!
Inuyasha knew he should look away. He blinked three times, thickly, taking his time, as if willing the apparition's form to disperse and fade. Was he imagining it? Could anyone else see it? He would've looked to the secretary and blurted that aloud had it not been for the simple fact that he couldn't force himself to actually take his eyes off her.
She seemed to have the same problem with him too.
She'd stopped where she was, just inside the lobby; her bright blue eyes were trained on him and him only. Thinking about her staring right back at him, Inuyasha fought the warmth rising in his face, and, instinctually, his ears folded backward…just as in his dream the young woman's eyes—which were clearly blue now—flicked toward his ears and stayed there just long enough that he knew what she was: a miko.
He shivered again and felt the nervous sweat break out. It's almost exactly like my dream was…God, what's happening to me? Did the old man know about this? He almost growled at the thought—no, the realization—but fortunately remembered that it was unwise. Unwise, huh? Try bloody stupid, baka! These people are all agents and they think you killed a bunch of fox demons!
That sobered him, and Inuyasha peeled his gaze away from her, back at the cell phone, lamely. He heard the shoes of the other woman that had entered the lobby with his apparition-dream-woman-miko halt and a voice speak up, apparently aimed at the secretary and struggled to ignore everyone, focusing everything on the cell phone…damn! This is hopeless!
Defeated, he snuck another quick look at the miko apparition—and froze in her stare again. She hadn't ever taken her eyes off him, not once…
"Samantha and Kelly reporting in." Sango informed the secretary—his name was Ben Edwards she believed. Her eyes flicked nervously to the person waiting in the chairs a short ways away, wondering if he was a demon or not…for how incredibly attractive he is he must be a demon…her uncertainty was why she'd not given their real names to the secretary.
When Ben smiled at her knowingly she felt her tension increase—it was a silent communication. Her suspicions had been right, the man waiting in the chairs was a demon…where was Kagome and her miko powers when Sango needed them? That was part of Higurashi's job as a miko: to make sure that her slayer partner knew demons from humans on the spot, even though without her own spiritual powers, Sango was blind to them. That was why a slayer was always paired with a miko. She turned away from Ben for a moment and scowled at Kagome, who was still back by the doors, frozen as if she were made of ice.
"Kelly." She hissed, irritated.
Kagome didn't respond; her eyes were trained still on the demon in the chairs. Sango scoffed in disgust and turned back to the secretary. "Are we expected by Mr. Kazana?" she asked.
Ben's light blue eyes were abruptly narrowed at her, his lips tight. "Mr. Kazana isn't waiting for you, Samantha," he cleared his throat, "But Mr. Hancock is waiting to debrief the both of you…" Sango stiffened on his words, her face flushing with self-loathing and embarrassment. Damn it! I said Miroku's real last name in the presence of a demon…
She looked toward the man in the chairs, brown eyes, healthy tanned skin, very light golden hair—and completely not paying attention to her. His large light brown eyes were aimed at the doors behind her. When Sango threw a cursory glance back in that direction she sighed, caught between anger and worry for her partner. What is it with Kagome catching the eyes of demons? She's going to get herself into trouble…
"Why don't you two just go right in to talk to Mr. Hancock, hmm?" Ben suggested, obviously having noted the same awkward and troubling situation that was transpiring between the seemingly entranced miko and dog demon.
She nodded, "Good, good…idea." she flashed a genuine smile at him, "Thank you Ben." She moved like a snake, crossing the distance to Kagome in the blink of an eye, snagging her partner by the shoulder.
Kagome jumped and gasped, caught completely off-guard. "Sango!" she growled, tearing her arm away, "What's wrong with you?" she stopped when she noticed that now Sango was particularly unhappy. The slayer's eyes were narrowed dangerously, face bleached white.
"Come with me, Kelly." She growled, and led the now wide-eyed and distinctly pallid Kagome from out of the room. The miko was so dazed that she failed to look up at the hanyou as she passed out of the lobby and toward the stairs. I called her by her real name in front of the demon…now I've really screwed up!
Inuyasha waited only another five minutes—which passed him by with remarkable speed—brooding over what had just happened to him. The cell phone tempted him a thousand times more heavily than it had before because now he wanted to call his father and demand answers. I dreamed about the future…I dreamed about that woman and she…well, the miko hadn't seemed exactly to ignore his presence either. Why didn't he tell me?
"Mr. Aikenka?" the secretary's voice rudely intruded a second later, and Inuyasha looked up, forcing the smile that had been blooming over his face right off it again.
"What?" he barked, though his voice held no malice or annoyance in it at all.
"Mr. Hancock is here for you now." The secretary motioned with his head to the stairs across the lobby where minutes ago the miko girl and her partner had disappeared. Now a lean, quite handsome human male with curly brown hair and dark brown eyes occupied the stairway. Mr. Hancock, as he was called, slouched comfortably across the doorway, waiting patiently for his suspect to cross the room to him. That was half the investigation in itself—observing and learning a suspect's nature. Did the hanyou seem like a killer or a spoiled rich boy? Already Miroku Kazana, or as he was known to the demons, Mark Hancock, was sizing up his latest leading suspect.
Unaware of any of that, Inuyasha scowled and rose to his feet, hands shoved into his jean pockets as he walked quickly across the room. The hanyou's powerful and swift gait revealed that he was incredibly strong. Although he looked like a teen heartthrob—both with and without the magic spell on, Miroku saw as the hanyou passed the mirrored doors, giving the spiritually gifted houshi a view of Inuyasha's false human image—he was full of hidden potential, dark secrets…
The two young men shook hands warily when the hanyou reached the stairway. "Mark Hancock." Miroku gave his alias name, nodding his head in recognition of the hanyou, "You are Inuyasha Aikenka I presume?"
"Yea—can we get this over with?" he growled, pulling his hand from Miroku's quickly. "I have other places to be you know."
Miroku nodded and moved aside from the stairwell, "Do come this way then…" he gestured with one free hand and Inuyasha pursed his lips, grunting just once before he stepped forward and hurried up the stairs, cursing that it would likely alarm the miserable human behind him if he began ascending the steps in leaps and bounds. Miroku followed easily, though at his own much slower, relaxed pace, all the while carefully getting a feel for the hanyou and probing his nature, asking the seemingly simple question: Is he a killer? Could he be our murderer?
A short walk later through some twisting dogleg right-angle turns, Mr. Hancock let Inuyasha into a small rectangular room. It was as bland as anything he'd ever seen before—a small table surrounded by several other agents sitting in little hard chairs, a small phone on one corner lying silently. The people in the room—four other agents he supposed—were each sour-faced and stern. Their eyes were glued to the table.
Two chairs remained unfilled, both heading the table, one at each end. Miroku gestured Inuyasha forward with a light, but completely empty smile. "Take a seat Mr. Aikenka."
He stepped forward, feeling his insides clench up as if he really were guilty of whatever it was they were going to accuse him of, but that sensation left him as his eyes landed on one of the agents already assembled: her! He stumbled on his way to one of the empty chairs, trying to force his eyes off her, but unable to keep himself from sensing her presence, scenting her with a longing that he didn't understand. The blush that stole over his face made him scowl in self-loathing at his inability to remain stoic like his father and his brother would've in a similar situation.
Unaware of what caused the hanyou's distress the agents in the room tensed, remembering the details of the terrible crime they were currently investigating. Was he nervous because he, too, was remembering what he'd done? Was he afraid of being caught? Discreetly all four agents snuck glances at him, doing just what Miroku had done while they'd walked to the interrogation room moments ago. Only Kagome, with her alias image of the sleek black hair, the dark blue eyes, looked at the suspect with a startled, almost wounded gaze.
Miroku took a seat casually. Of all of them he was the loosest, the most comfortable. The others were all investigatory, there for evidence and initial impressions. It was likely that most of them would leave shortly after meeting the hanyou. Miroku, however, as the Youkai Relations specialist, tended to run the show. After taking a long, silent breath, Miroku reached one hand toward the nearest agent—Kari Klaebu—and flicked his fingers, gesturing for something. From in her lap the woman brought forth a thick manila folder and handed it quickly over.
With his alias image's brown eyes, Miroku pinned the hanyou once, sharply, and then slid over the file. Inuyasha's hand stopped the thing before it flew over the edge and into his lap, blinking confusedly. "What?" he half-choked, apparently too tense to be able to focus clearly.
"Open the file, Mr. Aikenka, and tell me if those names and pictures mean anything to you." Miroku instructed, his voice calm and even.
Inuyasha did as he was asked, slowly trying to regain his composure. That miko doesn't matter damn it—I have to convince them that I didn't kill anyone… he stared mutely at the three faces, drivers licenses. Two redheaded men and a Japanese woman, all of them in their early thirties according to the licenses. He looked up at Mr. Hancock and shrugged, "I don't think I know them."
Miroku nodded, this he'd anticipated. It seemed, according to the background check on Inuyasha, that the Aikenkas had had no open contact with the Red family. "So, for the record, you have never seen those three? Joshua Red, Theodore Red and Kurome Kiten Red?"
The hanyou blinked, the gold eyes of his natural form clouded for a moment as he scowled, "Kiten? That name isn't part of the…" he stopped himself his eyes unfocused as he apparently struggled to recall something.
Miroku didn't wait for him to finish reminiscing. "Turn to the next page and tell me if those three catch your eye?"
He did what was asked of him: more records appeared, but this time they were Agency records and the faces of before that had appeared human were no clearly demons. Inuyasha saw the two redheaded men like twins in full-length body shots. He saw their pointed ears, the bushy tails they sported—on the older or the two, Theodore Red, black streaks marked the cheeks, signifying that he was the heir of his clan, the leader. Inuyasha thought of his father's markings, of his brothers…he almost sighed but withheld it at the last moment, letting his eyes stray to the woman's picture instead. Unlike the two Red brothers Kurome was a gray kitsune demon. She had black hair and a blackish bushy tail…and paws. The Red brothers hadn't had paws. He smirked and then wiped the expression clear, realizing that it probably looked bad to the agents.
"I see that they were kitsune youkai." He stated the most blatantly obvious thing and waited for their response.
It wasn't long in coming. Mr. Hancock leaned closer to the table, his brown eyes drilling into Inuyasha carefully. "Are you sure that you don't know them, Mr. Aikenka?"
Hesitantly Inuyasha looked back at the pictures, then around at the agent's faces. The woman who'd handed Mr. Hancock the file, he noticed, looked particularly stiff, as if she were hell-bent one catching his next words. He couldn't have known that she was waiting to here about a connection to the victims that would prove her theory of a passion killing correct. He avoided looking at the blue-eyed miko agent from his dreams, though he swallowed invisible spittle anxiously trying to avoid her. The agent that the miko had called "Sango" in the lobby downstairs was throwing Inuyasha particularly evil glares, condemning him silently, daring him to deny or resist them.
Slowly he growled, deep in his throat, his eyes lingering on this "Sango" agent. "Look you idiots—the only contact I could possibly have had with them is through the Kiten kitsune clan from Japan. My father and brother have made deals with their company over there for software…it was a bad business deal, my old man hated the Kitens because they wouldn't work with him the way he needed them to…but damn it—I didn't kill anyone." He glared at them all—with the exception of the blue-eyed miko—praying that the interrogation would be over with his mild outburst.
Miroku persisted, calmly; despite the glares the others were giving the hanyou. "Are you certain that you have never really dealt with any of them then, yourself? And how long ago was it that your father had dealings with the Kiten clan?"
He scowled, "It was…" he felt himself sweating, wanted to curse, "About two months ago, but I'm sure I've never seen any of them myself."
Solemnly Miroku gestured with one hand, a waving motion. "Turn the page then Mr. Aikenka, and tell me if those pictures mean anything to you…"
As Inuyasha reached for the page and turned it he failed to notice the way the other agents, even Miroku, stiffened and unfocused their eyes. The page fell over and exposed several more pictures of the victims—but this time they were crime scene pictures.
Inuyasha felt as if he'd just swallowed his tongue. His stomach clenched. His mouth gaped stupidly as he stared, eyes flicking from image to image, drawing it all in… Blood splattered and splashed over a white wall bordered with bright, pretty pink cherry blossoms, a cream colored couch was stained crimson, a man lied at the foot of the couch, his neck cut open like a second mouth, his torso from chest to groin was split wide, a man and a woman were splayed over their bed, twisted into angles of agony, her nightgown was soaked through with blood from head to toe, her head twisted and gaped in an impossible way, the man's back faced the camera, covered in livid red slashes like sick confetti, like party streamers of flesh…
He slammed the file shut and instinctively flung it away, his ears down turned in horror, his lips curled back to reveal to the spiritually gifted agents of the room his gleaming white fangs. "What the fuck!"
Kikyo pushed her keys into the door, thinking of the TV dinner that was waiting in her fridge. Yet as her keys slid into the lock, Kikyo's fingers pressing against the glinting, chilly metal, a cold chill raced through her. The young miko's brown eyes widened in shock. Her fingers slowly withdrew from the keys, leaving them swinging lightly, jangling against one another.
Fear opened up inside her, like a yawning precipice. No, it's not possible, just not possible…
She inhaled deeply and put her fingers to the keys again twisting them hurriedly, before she lost her resolve. Kikyo, get a grip. You're standing in front of your apartment in America, terrified because you think you've caught the feel of his aura nearby. What a fool you are! She shook her head against her own thoughts, chuckled once nervously as her hand gripped the doorknob and turned. He's all the way back in Japan!
The door swung open. Timidly, Kikyo stepped into it. The floorboards squeaked under her heeled shoes, protesting. Aching pain swarmed in her lower spine—Damn heels.
She pulled the jingling keys from the doorknob and shut the door slowly, trying to force away the lingering sensation of fear, of dread…of him. Kikyo tossed her keys across the room toward the coffee table. They clattered noisily. Her high heels came off next, bumping and thudding clumsily. Her height dropped by two inches, and her shoulders loosened up. The lingering aura, the feeling of the room, had changed…tiny alarms seemed to shoot through her head, but Kikyo was too fatigued and hungry to register them, to give them any consideration.
Into the kitchen she came, pulled open the refrigerator. Frozen soups and fish and steaks and vegetables all placidly met her gaze, each being searched and rejected again. Waffles, pre-grated cheese, ice cubes: No TV dinner. Kikyo scowled at her refrigerator. Did I eat it sometime ago and just never realized it?
No…
Grumbling, she slammed the fridge's door closed again and walked to the cupboards opposite the hulking freezing machine. Campbell's Soup smiled cheerily up at her, and Kikyo hurriedly popped the tab open at the top and prepared a bowl and the stove. The smell of smoke made her flinch as she realized that some other bit of food from a few days before when she'd last used it had dripped under the burners. Damn…she rushed off toward the bathroom, seeking a towel to fan the stench away and out the window.
A shadow rose up in the hallway—a powerful spirit flew out as well, caressing her own miko's energy with its own terrible, evil soul's strength. Kikyo gasped and tried to back away, tried to open her mouth and call out, but she knew that was futile. She would be found no matter where she went, as long as he was hunting her…
Heartbeat racing like a mouse, Kikyo whirled around, whimpering like a lost puppy. Her brown eyes were wide with terror. She reached the kitchen table, fumbled as she reached for the keys, stumbled over her discarded heels, clenched her fingers shut so tightly she cut herself as gravity took hold of her, dragged her down. With a cry, Kikyo fell face-first to the floor but rolled immediately toward the door, still looking for the way out, for escape.
And you thought you left him in Japan!
The sound of her own ragged, desperate breathing reached her ears, and Kikyo was suddenly filled with the sickening sense of defeat: He's going to get me…it doesn't matter whether I run or not…
The darkness lashed out, blocking her path to the door. On instinct she tried to move away from it, backpedaling wildly, but there she ran into the same shadow too. It met her skin with a coldness that sent her muscles into automatic convulsions. It was not the touch of any normal creature, not the touch of a thing that she could even remotely consider alive—though once he had fooled her into believing that so completely…Kikyo collapsed when the thing wrapped a tentacle around her ankle and pulled it out from under her, threw her into the air while she screamed in panic.
One of the sickeningly cold, moist tentacle-arms clamped onto her mouth, silencing her, robbing her of breath, Kikyo felt a wave of dizziness crash over her. Stunned into uselessness, her body went flaccid and limp. Upside down, the thing lifted her, moved her closer to the hallway…and now she could see that he was not a shadow any longer—he was a man. Red eyes, dark black hair as straight as corn silk…the dark tentacles spread from his body like an octopus's limbs. A sick smile spread over the features.
"Kiki—or should I say Kikyo?" he chuckled darkly in his low, sultry voice, "It's been a long time, hasn't it? Too long…"
"Go to hell you son of a bitch!" she tried to scream around the freezing, numbing, choking grip of the tentacle, but found herself thoroughly stifled after only a few hardly intelligible words.
"Is that any way to treat an old friend?" he smiled maliciously, taking deep pleasure in Kikyo's sudden shuddering. "Now, we're going to have a nice little chat, "Kiki," just like we did when we were friends before in Japan." His smirk was sadistic, predatory, "And you're going to tell me and do everything that I tell you to…got it?"
But though she would've liked to have flipped him the bird, Kikyo found that her body was abruptly numbed, and her vision blurred. In a moment the darkness consumed her in its entirety, and she knew nothing more.
Endnote: Yes, if you hadn't caught it yet, the "secretary" Inuyasha bumped into was Kikyo. Yep...another short thank you section
THANK YOU all reviewers: slummyreddragon (Sorry though thought so, is this any better?), NefCanuck (I actually went back to reread it when I read your review and I think you're right, they way I wrote it, Sesshomaru really IS playing with fire, as much as his stony character can with the respected and revered "Old Man." GREAT observation!), toxiclollipop(Yep, that Kikyo, what can I say? I pity her a little but most of my stories ignore her as a character, this one doesn't, as you can well see from this chapter...), inuyasha'sbabe07(Myoga I suspect WILL make an appearance here...and as for Naraku...(smirks) what do you think?), fireofinuyashas, InuAndMiroku'sGirlSango Elric, sarah(You're right! But shh! Don't tell anyone...(sniggles)), angicakesisinuyashaluvr, andWolf. ...Preview time!...:
A new fear swam through his body, making him shiver. He was still standing in the open doorway of the stairwell, but he was frozen there, as if unable to move. What would he do if he came upon this woman? The answer, as provided by a deeper, darker animalistic instinct that scared the hell out of him, made Inuyasha continue to hesitate. What had come over him? Why was he so attracted to the miko agent that he'd never even really met? Why did he have the silliest urge to race up to her and throw his arms about her? His hands itched to touch her, his lips quivered with the ceaseless possibility of their lips meeting one another…
In what little I've written of the next chapter (I was writingmore on I Miss You and WOAWO this weekend instead) Inuyasha is a little bit possessed, or obsessed? Can you guess who he's tracked down in the preview and is thinking about...? hehe...until next time in which the plot thickens yet again and soon we shalle meet Inuyasha's accuser--a little traumatized kit that has recently lost both parents and his uncle...Later! Remember to drop me a line...