Part 7
There is a major split in the story here. The first part is Kagome and the second is Inuyasha who did the same thing. I'll explain at the end.
"Kagome. Wake up! I can't feel my legs!" I gently roused the sleeping girl. Well, now that I look back on it growling isn't the gentlest way to wake up someone.
"Huh? What's going on?"
"You are busting outta here. I've been thinking, and I think that vent up there is just big enough for you to fit." I explained.
"But what about you?"
"I'll take the back door. Now hurry up and get off of me."
"Oh, sorry." She said quickly. She jumped up like a cricket, fast and with a small chirp.
"Do you need me to help you get up there?" I asked.
"I can't even see the wall." She replied.
"Sorry, sometimes I forget…."
"-That your part demon?" she asked sweetly, just a bit too sweet for my taste.
"Just get in there!" I sigh, almost throwing her into the vent. Sure was lucky that it had a mesh screen, or she would have had a concussion for sure.
"Hey, watch it!"
"Now get moving!"
'That was rude! Well, I guess it's my fault for putting him in such a bad mood.'
"Aren't you coming?" I asked. I didn't want to go if he wasn't coming.
"You just go!"
"I can't leave without you! I promised you that in the alley!" I couldn't remember if that was true or not, it seemed like a lifetime since I had been hating the world in my last hour class just over two days ago.
"You get out of here and then you get somewhere safe. I'll come for you."
"But-"
"I said I'd come for you! Now get a move on!" he said, shoving the lid back on the vent.
'You better you stupid, stupid…. Ugh! What ever!'
I started to crawl through the vent. I must have hit at least a million dead ends before I saw a small beam of light coming from my left. I scuttled to it. There really isn't another word for it because the vent became smaller and smaller the closer I came to it. I was wriggling like a fish on a line once I got to the light. It was a screen that opened up from the vent and the tunnel got wider farther ahead. I looked in to see if it was a way out, but all I saw was an empty room. I was almost going to dismiss it until I heard a chillingly familiar voice coming from the 'empty' room.
"I thought we had a deal, Dr." a voice similar to Naraku's threatened amidst a heavy stream of static.
"Unfortunate for you. I'm not scared of you Mr. Onigumo. I don't make deals with terrorists."
'Mr. Onigumo. That must be Naraku's dad. But if he's a terrorist…'
"Such a harsh word. I'd call it a…very persuasive person."
"Only because you use black mail and violence. I cannot and will not give up one of my subjects. You'd just kill the poor lad!"
"And you won't? You are known for your love to disassemble things. A half demon would be too hard for you to resist."
"You are right about that, but your still not getting him.
'Half demon? INUYASHA'S A HALF DEMON! This can't be good.'
"You go have your fun then, but I'll be back to… check up on things."
"And the answer will be the same."
"Oh, I doubt it." And then the static stopped and footsteps went away from my opening and left the room after the licks flicked off and the door slammed shut.
"I have to get back to Inuyasha. I have to tell him this!"
But I couldn't turn around, the tunnel was to small, so I crawled to where it widened out and I turned around there just to find that I couldn't find my way back. I searched for hours, but I managed to find was an opening to the outside. Eventually I gave up. I couldn't be of any use if I was lost in the ventilation system. So I squeezed myself out and ran for the nearest city, which happened to be not too far away.
"Man, I had no idea! You need to tell me these things!" Sango said, shaking me by the shoulders.
It had been two years since that fateful week with Inuyasha. I had just told Sango the whole story, start to finish. She was the first I had ever told, except when I had written it down in my diary. I had pretended I was writing a letter to him, telling him how I knew he was a big sweetie deep down. But I had even abandoned that fantasy after a couple months. My family bought the story of Inuyasha going back to the streets. That was sort of true. Souta got over it pretty quick and the social workers couldn't find him, so everyone stopped looking.
"You blame yourself for it all, huh?"
"Yeah. You can't tell anyone though!"
"About the story or you blaming yourself?"
"You know what I mean!"
"I'm just playing! I'm sure he'll come back. He did promise."
"No he didn't. He only said he would."
"It doesn't sound like that. Besides he's a demon. They can look out for themselves. And they are stubborn. He's not going to give up as easily as you're trying to make it seem." Sango said through clenched teeth.
"You hate him already, don't you?" I asked, picking up on the bitterness.
"Why didn't you tell me my boyfriend was a demon?" she shrieked, having finally lost her composure.
"He wanted to tell you when he was ready. Wasn't he a nice guy before you knew what he was?"
"But still! EW!"
"You just don't get it! Not all demons are bad and not all humans are good. GOT IT?" I was sick of this.
"Fine, just don't explode Mrs. Vesuvious."
"Huh?"
"It was a volcano that destroyed Pompeii. And it's on our history test, so you need to study, and bad!"
And the subject was changed that easily. Just like that, exactly the same as the decision to abandon hopes of Inuyasha's return when I ran away from the building; stopped writing the letters to him; and later that night when I ripped out every single page of my diary with Inuyasha's name on it, crying my eyes out.
"And then I pushed her out. Happy?" I asked Riku.
He was my best pal here. He was an eagle demon and very proud of it. He was a tough nut to crack, but I actually had a friend now. Of course I did offend him once in a while, but he always flew up to the rafters of the room, huddled indignantly in his huge brown wings until he got over it and then back down to make up. He also had an extremely annoying habit of jerking his head around like a bird whenever something was interesting. Like he was now, trying to think about the story I had just told him.
It had been two whole years since I had thrown out Kagome, and I learned a lot. One, this place was a castle turned lab that housed at least a hundred demons. Two, the guy who owned it, Dr. Janzu, had an arch nemesis that wanted to take all the demons in here and kill them all. Three, this 'nemesis' wanted to kill me in particular. I had no clue why yet and I didn't have time to think about it. Between arguing with Riku and doing what dr. j said, I didn't have time to think.
Dr. j had a plan to create a pill that would give a human the strength and speed of a demon. To do that, he had to figure out just how strong and fast they are and what lets them do that. Because I'm half human, he gets to see how that would react with human blood or something. That is all I've figured out after two years. He likes to use big words to impress people. What impresses me is why I still have to take these stupid tests to see how well I can track things or how fast I can run after doing it for two whole stinking years!
"Hello? Earth to dog brain, earth to dog brain, do you read me?" Riku asked, tapping me on the forehead.
"Lets see." I said, suddenly pinning him to the ground. One of the most fun things to do was to tickle Riku. If you did it just right, he would flap his wings hard enough to make you float a foot in the air. And it was hard to do too. These wings are huge. They hit hard and where it hurts and there isn't really anything to hang onto. He can't wear a shirt because nothing will fit over his wings so you can't hold onto that. His hair is too short to grab that and his wings move to fast to grab one of those, so it is a very difficult job. But I manage.
After Riku had been 'punished' for calling me a dog brain, it was lights out and we had to go to bed. The room was completely black when the lights were out. That is why it was so dark when I was with Kagome. We came in the day and slept the whole time, woke up at night and went to sleep again, woke up at night again and I forced Kagome to leave. You couldn't blame me right? I didn't know it was okay here. I wonder where she is right now.
"Stop sulking." Riku said out of the darkness.
"I am not!" I was.
"You are too! It's not your fault. She is probably fine. Good riddance. Miko's are trouble, even if they aren't very powerful."
"Shut up." He's skating on thin ice now.
"Well, stop worrying about her and cheer up. She's not worth it."
"One more word about Kagome and I'll rip off those feather dusters and mount them on my side of the room." I said/growled.
Well he shut up after that. I was going to pay in the morning. He hated it when I insulted his wings. He pays way to much attention to them. He's always cleaning them, making sure every feather is in place. It's disgusting! A boy his age should be lounging in a messy bedroom eating leftover pizza and listening to the latest punk rock music.
"Marshmallow boy." I heard Riku grumble.
"Excuse me? Marshmallow boy?"
"Yes. You are half demon, half human, and half marshmallow. What else would explain the hair?"
"That's three halves!"
"Ooh, you can count too."
"Hey, I'm sorry about the wing comment. Get over it."
After a long awkward silence Riku just started to laugh. He looked so ridiculous. He almost fell off his bed up in the rafters. He was a bird demon after all.
"What's wrong with you?" I asked when he finally stopped laughing.
"I can't believe I didn't notice before, but you have so much hair. And all of it is white. It makes your head look like a marshmallow from behind."
"You are so weird."
"Seriously! It does." Riku started another fit of laughter.
Normally I would throw a halfhearted insult at him, and he'd throw one back. And we'd sit here insulting each other like we were the worst of enemies, but we never meant any of it. But I didn't.
"What's wrong?" Riku asked after a while.
"You've been here since you were a baby right?" I asked.
"Yeah. So?"
"I just miss being outside, that's all."
"hmm. didn't your mom have a poem for it?"
"yeah, so?"
"Let's hear then! Unless you don't want to tell it to me." Riku said, trying to give me the puppy eyes. Imagine that! A bird giving you the face! It was so sad it was funny.
"Fine. I don't remember all of it."
"Mom's Poem"
I grew up it a small town
And when the rain would fall down
I'd just stare out my window
Dreaming of what could be
And if I'd end up happy
I would pray
Trying hard to reach out
But when I tried to speak out
I felt like no one could hear me
I wanted to belong here
But something felt so wrong here
So I prayed, I could break away
I'll spread my wings
And I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes
Till I touch the sky
And I'll make a wish
Take a chance
Make a change
And break away
Out of the darkness
And into the sun
But I won't forget
The place I come from
I'll take that risk
Take the chance
Make the change
And break away
Want to feel the warn breeze
Sleep under a palm tree
Feel the rush of the ocean
Get onboard a fast train
Travel on a jet plane
Far away and break away
"Pretty much sums up your mood, huh?" Riku asked when I was done.
"Yeah."
"What was your house like?"
"Huh?"
"Where did you live before you got here?"
"Well, first in my mom's house until it burned down. Then I lived in my alley, and then I was dumped in my uncle's house for 3 days then I spent 1 night at Kagome's until this whole thing happened. I'd probably still be there now if I wasn't here."
"Yikes. I still can't see why you would want to go back. It's nice here."
"You've never been out. You don't know what it's like. The best part was jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Almost like flying."
"Well, that is fun. The flying part."
"Yes, you're the expert on that, aren't you?"
"Anything bad?"
I didn't want to talk about the bad stuff. I'd end up punching out the walls and scaring the poor kid to death. Riku was younger than me and I had to remember it, even if he was full demon.
"Let's not go there, Kay? It's time to sleep anyway." I said, changing the subject.
"You never sleep. Everyone knows that!" Riku pointed out. It was true; the most I did was doze.
"Only because you snore really loud." Which was also true, but it never bugged me.
"I do not!"
"What ever, you whine like a plane when that head hits the pillow. Almost instantly."
"Well, when you do sleep you mumble!"
"God forbid that I mumble when I do sleep."
"Well, you do. It's annoying. Last time you began to list all the flavors of ice cream in alphabetical order, and then you did it again but backwards!"
"That is interesting. Maybe we should inform Dr. J about our strange sleep patterns."
"At least tell him that poem. It's a really nice one."
"You better not go telling the whole lab that I know a pretty poem. I already get pushed around enough with out that." Oops, mistake.
"What do you mean?"
"Huh, I didn't say anything. Nothing at all. Nope, no talking here."
"Inuyasha. Tell me, I'm your friend aren't I?"
"Don't do that! Now I have to tell you!"
"That's why I do it. Now spill!"
"You do realize that I'm half demon, right?" this would not be easy.
"Yeah, so what?"
"The others hate me for it."
"WHY!"
"I've been wondering that for years. I've only figured out why humans hate me, and I had help with that one."
"WHAT!"
"Why can't I keep my mouth shut?" I asked my self. I have so much trouble with these things; eventually they slip out, one by one. Riku was practically getting it all in one night.
"Why do the humans hate you? Why does anyone hate you? I don't and neither does Dr. J!"
"Most humans think demons are pure evil. So they think that it would take an evil human to have kids with one so the result is an extra evil half demon. Plus I have ears on the top of my head and claws on my hands. Do you think any respectable human would in their right mind not hate me?"
"But what about Kagome and Dr. J? They don't hate you? And it doesn't matter since most humans are evil anyway."
"And that is probably why the demons hate me! Just switch it around!"
His eyes almost popped out of his head when I said that.
"No one gets it! NOT ALL DEMONS ARE EVIL AND NOT ALL HUMANS ARE GOOD AND NOT ALL DEMONS ARE GOOD AND NOT ALL HUMANS EVIL! WHY CAN'T THE WORLD JUST UNDERSTAND THAT?"
"I don't hate you."
"I know you don't." I sighed. That's what I've dealt with all my life. This kid and Kagome were the only ones who didn't try to kill me right off the bat when they could have. Except for Kikyou, but she tried to kill me in the end.
"I didn't know it was like that still." Riku said.
"What do you mean still?"
"There was a deal the eagle demons made with the dog demons to put aside our differences and not care that some demons weren't full demons. I thought everyone had done that."
"Well, I guess there are some demons who have the brains to see it's not my fault my mom was a human." I could have said it a little bit nicer, but I didn't.
Riku didn't say anything more, and after a few hours I heard the familiar soft snore that said Riku was asleep. He would tell Janzu what had happened and I would get chewed out. Dr. J always said that out of all the demons here that I was the most dangerous because I had a demon's strength and a human's feelings. Whatever that meant!
I guess it made sense if you thought about it.
In the morning, Riku kept a vow of silence. I didn't get chewed out, but he didn't talk to me either. The day was pretty long and boring so I'll give you a short version.
I got up
I ate
I worked
I ate
I worked
I ate
I went to my room
I lazed in bed
That is what I did all day and more often enough, everyday. But then in the evening after dinner, Riku and me would talk about our boring/exciting day. I said it was boring, he thought life here was cool. It was only till lights out that I thought of a plan to get him to stop being mad and I didn't have to apologize.
"So, they made a deal huh?" I asked, baiting the trap.
Riku tilted his head to the side for a moment before he realized what he was doing. I love the fact that bird demons unconsciously talk by the way they have their heads tilted. To the side meant he had no clue what I was talking about.
"The dogs and the eagles." I continued. He then nodded shortly.
"Then let's make another deal, huh?" I whispered to him.
"What kind of deal?" he asked. YES! He took the bait!
"You've never really been out of here, right?"
"You know that!"
"Well, let's escape. We could always come back if we wanted too."
"But…."
"Come on. I wouldn't let anything too bad happen."
"Okay. But we have to come back if even one thing goes wrong."
"Fine."
"Just let me get some things."
"We can't bring all that. Just pick out an outfit and wear it. Then you can have one personal item but it has to be small. We have to travel light."
"You've run away before have you?" damn this was a smart kid.
"What makes you say that? Of course not." I hated when he guessed right.
"Fine, you don't have to tell me. Last night was enough to last me a couple days."
"Shut up and let's start thinking. There are only two ways out of this room; the vent or the door."
"Then let's make a way out!" Riku said joyously.
"Don't you think he's thought of that?" I asked.
"Well, can we cut through the walls? Maybe he only made the door strong." Riku thought aloud.
"And…"
"Oh, fine then. Inuyasha, could you please destroy the wall?"
"Sure!" I said. I loved to destroy things. Especially when someone asked me too.
A quick swipe of the claws and there were four huge gashes in the metal, and four beams of light illuminated us climbing out. Four more gashes hit the main wall on the south side, and four beams of moonlight was all that witnessed us leave.
Once outside, Riku took off into the air. It was fun to watch him take off. He was very clumsy about it. He had to start running really fast, and then get the wings going. And even then it took a long time before he got into the air. I watched him do a few circles around the area. This is the first time he'd been out, ever.
I considered calling to him to come back down, but just as the first words came outta my mouth, Riku swooped down and picked me up with him. The only thing keeping me from tumbling to the ground was Riku's hands holding mine.
"Relax! Don't you trust me Inuyasha?" Riku chuckled.
"No, I trust you. It's gravity and the ground that I don't trust!"
"Ha, ha, ha. Very funny."
"To you! If you fall all you have to do is fly again. If I fall I have ten seconds to say a short prayer before I hit the ground!"
"Fine. I thought you liked flying."
"When it's me who's doing it and there isn't a 100 chance I'll die if I fall." More street math!
"Yeah, yeah. What ever." Riku was pretty disappointed.
After we got back on the ground, I started talking before Riku did.
"Okay, we can't do that anymore."
"Why not?"
"Someone will see you and I don't think they are gonna think you're an angel. Can't you turn into a bird or something? Something small, like a hawk?" I asked.
"Well, let's see." Riku said concentrating really hard. Then in half the time it takes to say it, he had transformed himself into a red tailed hawk.
"That's a little big. Anything smaller?" I asked. He could sit on my shoulder if he had too, but his wings would always be hitting my head.
'Smallest I got.'
"What? Are you talking to me?" I asked. The voice sounded like Riku, but felt more like it was tugging at the back of my mind instead of hearing it.
'Yes. If you stop thinking so hard then it will be easier you lunk head!'
"That's you alright. Now it's my turn." I took out my old slip of paper with that stupid spell on it. I would have let Riku use it, but it was tailor made for a half demon. Full demons can't use it. It wouldn't work.
After explaining all this to Riku, he hopped on my shoulder and off we walked into the night. We had to put at least ten miles between Janzu and us before daybreak or he'd find us too easily.
So we walked. We walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked...
Endo of chappie, hope you liked it. If you didn't, your probably not even here to read it. Oh well. Hope luvinukagome likes it. She always likes my stories. She is still the winner of the LUV awards. She gets a cookie. You know, I never really asked her if she was a girl. She could be a boy. Hmmm. Naaaah. She's a she and that's what she is.
on the whole split thing:
the earlier chapters, when it had been in kagome's POV, that is pretty much what she told sango. when it was inuyasha's POV, that is what he told riku. so all of the chapters before this was just a story two people told their friends. got it? if you don't i'll explain it a little better next chappie, but you have to tell me how youliked the story and give me a cookie before you ask more about it. those are my rules!