Dark as Day
Chapter Three
He landed on a rooftop later that week and inhaled deeply. He'd grown used to the putrid scents of the city and it no longer caused him to cringe as much. It was Saturday night and he'd finished his classes and was ready to take his break, until classes started again next week. Silver hair fell over his golden eyes and he quickly brushed it aside. Over the past few days he'd taken to spending his nights outside.
With his new demonic powers Inuyasha had soon discovered that his enhanced hearing made it increasingly hard to sleep. He could hear the traffic with ear splitting detail, and he could even detect his neighbor's gentle breathing if he concentrated hard enough. Luckily, he'd discovered that his demon body needed little to no sleep to function properly and had either spent his nights doing his blasted homework, should he have any, or roaming the city.
His ability of functioning without sleep had led him to longer shifts at his work, which would work well for him, even if he hated being cooped up inside. He had to work hard so that he could help his mother. Even though she hated her reliance on two jobs and some of Inuyasha's pay check, he made her accept it simply because he didn't want his mother to have to move out of the apartment or worse. His mother had trouble with money, she and Inuyasha both knew that, and her son was trying his hardest to help her.
"And Mom told me to worry about demon hunters," Inuyasha snorted and grinned as he galloped across the roof and with a mighty leap landed on another one a few buildings away. He continued running and jumping. He enjoyed the feeling of the wind whipping his hair back. "I haven't seen one since I started this."
And it was true. Inuyasha had spent the last few days 'rampaging' through town—as his mother called it—and he had yet to see even a glimpse of the fabled demon exterminators. He was beginning to suspect it was just an urban legend used to help calm the human's uneasiness over the supernatural beings that romped through their city at night.
As he ran, his foot caught on the ledge of a building and he went tumbling over the edge. It was a regular occurrence, and Inuyasha's actions proved it. He remained calm and simply flipped in the air to land gracefully on his feet. He stood up from his cat-like crouch and rolled his ankle, checking to make sure the building hadn't done anything to his foot.
He coughed lightly and dusted the dirt off of himself. He looked around, trying to determine where in the city he was.
He didn't recognize the area he was in, but figured he was near home. He rolled his shoulders and sighed as he looked around. It was rundown and all the lights were off on this particular block of the city.
He'd fallen in front of a bank. It wasn't a well-known bank, seeing as how it was on a side street near the edge of Tokyo, but it was a bank nonetheless. Inuyasha stared at it for a moment and stuffed his hands into his pockets. He frowned thoughtfully.
'Banks hold money,' he told himself silently then rolled his eyes. 'Well, no shit. But…'
The cogs in his head began turning and he took a hesitant step towards the bank then paused, his lips quirked downwards in a deep frown. His golden eyes narrowed in thought, the orbs flashing in confusion.
'If I take a little no one will miss it. It will help Mom in the long run. She needs the money.' He took another step towards the bank. The hands in his pockets fisted. 'But that's still stealing. That's wrong.'
He rubbed his forehead. "What the hell am I thinking? Where are these thoughts coming from?"
How had he suddenly gone from ass-kisser to social delinquent so quickly? He felt the undeniable urge to go and take money.
"God," he cursed and frowned to himself. Clawed hands racked through the half-breed's hair as he tried to focus his thoughts and figure out what it was that he was really thinking.
He glanced up and down the street before jumping onto the roof. He stood on it, staring down at the roof beneath his feet. He looked around again then extracted a hand from his pocket. Fisted, he pounded his fist against the roof and it crumbled. He stood up again, nervous.
'But, is it truly bad if I'm doing it to help my mom? I don't want anything to happen to her…' Inuyasha bit his bottom lip before jumping down into the bank. He landed in a crouch and glanced around, expecting to see guards or a security system. He saw no such thing. He stood up and spotted the cheap security system near the door. 'It will be a snap to take some cash.'
He pressed his hand against his brow. What was he doing? Wasn't he proving that demons were all bad by doing this? He wasn't evil, though, at least that's what he was telling himself.
His inner turmoil was giving him a headache. Was it bad to take money if it was to help someone in need? Technically, in the eyes of the law it was. And in the eyes of a human, the half-demon stealing money was pure evil.
'Robbing a bank, no matter how little, seems pretty evil to me,' the sensible side of him whispered in his mind. 'But,' he countered himself, 'This is to help someone else. Not myself.'
His mind refused to give him peace. So what if he wanted to steal money? It wasn't for him. And it wasn't as if his mother was going to put it to ill use. No, his mother would use it to help her keep her apartment for another month. It wasn't as if he was going to take a lot, after all. Only enough to save his mother sore feet and weak arms from busing tables all day.
He licked his dry lips. What should he do?
"Good is good," Inuyasha murmured. "Bad is bad. There are no shades of grey."
He glanced over his shoulder, as if expecting something that would be the deciding factor in his indecisiveness. He saw nothing but darkness and the abandoned streets. As if to demonstrate the loneliness of the road, a stray newspaper fluttered by, blowing around at the mercy of the gentle nightly breeze.
He took a step forward and waited. Perhaps this was a trap? What if there was high tech security around? He looked around and spotted nothing. Not even a camera. What kind of two-bit bank was this?
It was no skin off his nose, though. He walked forward valiantly into the depths of the bank.
Fifteen minutes he left with his pockets stuffed with cash. He hadn't taken much, but it would help his mother for a few months, hopefully. He gulped the lump in his throat. He felt obligated to help his mother, but at the same time he told himself he was stealing money from someone else.
'If it happens, it happens,' Inuyasha told himself and patted his full pockets. 'Everything will be fine. I'll just tell Mom that I worked an extra shift and got a bonus… or something.'
The burden of what he'd just done weighed heavily on his mind and he pulled on his silver hair. He had to get out of here. He began retreating but was stopped when something whizzed past his face.
He screeched to a stop and stared at the thing that had embedded itself into solid stone. An arrow. His breath caught in his throat and he turned to where the arrow had come from. The thing had nearly gotten him right in the head.
Golden eyes locked on a figure on a building adjacent to the one he was on. He could tell at once that it was a female, her black top clutched to her skin. She was poised with her bow in front of her. It wasn't an ordinary bow, however; from what he could see it was made of metal and had a scope on it, like a sniper's. Her hair was pulled back into a pony tail high on her head and her face was covered by a mask.
"What the hell was that?" Inuyasha demanded before he could stop himself. But he knew who it was. He'd finally come face to face with a demon hunter.
Instead of answering him she jumped the gap between the two buildings and stood on the same building as he. He stared at her. Was she a demon, too? If so, what was she doing firing arrows at him?
His mother's words returned to him. Being a half-demon, humans and demons would both despise him. Well, that explained the arrow.
The wind blew her hair back, brushing black bangs away from her eyes. Her eyes were hidden beneath lenses; they almost looked like sunglasses. The metal mask over her mouth and nose probably doubled as a gas mask as well.
She pulled out another arrow and fired it at him. He dodged it, but just barely.
"Holy hell!" Inuyasha yelped out and began racing away from her. He jumped high and dashed away. Positive that he'd outrun her, he turned around and was shocked to see her following. His eyes widened and he sped up, trying to dodge the oncoming arrows that whizzed past him and attempted to pin him against buildings.
"Return that which is not yours!" her voice demanded. He glanced over his shoulder only to be pierced by one of her arrows and pinned to a wall of a building. He frowned and struggled to free himself but more arrows soared and pinned his loose clothing to the wall.
"Damn it," he growled out and glared darkly at her. He couldn't see a facial expression but he imagined she was probably gloating beneath her mask. "What the hell do you want?"
An arrow aimed itself at his heart and he froze. She seemed to glow with an almost unearthly light but he excused it as a trick of the light.
"Return that which is not yours," she repeated and moved forward. Seeing as how he seemingly couldn't move, she stepped beside his prone body and dug into his pockets, extracting a fist of cash.
With a mighty ripping sound he wrenched his arm free and slashed it across her. She gasped loudly as her mask fell from her face, exposing her nose and lips. The full, pink lips curved downwards into an annoyed frown as she quickly jumped away from him, clutching her bow like a lifeline.
"Stay away from me, wench," he demanded and narrowed his eyes at her.
She smirked. He growled. The little wench had the nerve to smirk at him? He debated killing her and was shocked that the thought even crossed his mind. What would his mother think of him now?
They began running at each other, his claws aiming to slice and her arrows aiming to pierce. She gasped in pain as his claws slashed across her left arm. He could just picture her eyes narrowing as crimson blood began to trickle down her arm.
He leered wickedly at her, claws poised to slice through her arrow should she move to grasp one. She never betrayed an emotion. Her lips didn't quiver and her jaw was set in determination.
She strung an arrow and poised at him, but he was nimble on his feet. He dashed across rooftops, with her hot on his tail. Arrows flew and he sidestepped, sending slash marks towards her when she dared to approach him.
It seemed that their escapade progressed through the city, their feet never once slowing down as they both rushed over rooftops. It was annoying to see that the woman could keep up to him. Before tonight he'd been under the delusion that he was the fastest person in Tokyo. He hadn't encountered other demons and he certainly hadn't encountered demon exterminators with arrows poised to pierce him.
Of course, the moment he does something wrong the damned demon hunters appear. That was his luck, after all. He was the unluckiest man alive. He'd been blessed and cursed with his half-demon blood and now it was coming to bite him in the ass.
Maybe not literally, but certainly in the non-literal sense… In short, Inuyasha was not a happy camper. Inuyasha hissed in pain as an arrow nearly caught his chest. It whizzed under his arm, nearly striking over an artery. The arrow slashed against his skin, missing a fatal wound by a mere inch.
He cringed. That was going to leave a mark in the morning, if anything.
"What the fuck is your problem, bitch?" Inuyasha snapped out, his eyes burning with fury as he swiped at her. She did a nimble flip and crouched like a tiger, her hand perched and ready to grasp another arrow.
She sneered at him, wisps of black hair fluttering over her face and framing the gentle curve of her jaw. She tucked it quickly behind an ear. She didn't dare move. She was in the defensive, yet it was obvious to both that she had the upper hand in this dispute. Curses.
He leapt towards her, but she was ready for him. She bent backward, her back pressing against the roof as she presented her legs, covered in combat boots, and dug her heels into his stomach. He felt the ashiko on her feet. He released a small sound that could only be akin to that of a puppy's scream after being kicked. And he had been kicked. Kicked by feet with tiny spikes on it, the ashiko. With a small grunt of effort, using her legs, the demon huntress shoved the half-demon over her head.
He went flying, sprawled across the roof. He landed on his back and groaned quietly as his head slammed against the hard concrete of the Tokyo building. She was on him quicker than he could blink, her foot pressed against his throat.
He struggled to breathe and his golden eyes narrowed as the arrow was strung and aimed at his forehead. He growled threatening, still managing to rummage up a small amount of pride as he glared up towards her.
She allowed herself to smirk, which furthered his annoyance in his current situation. He would be damned the day he allowed a woman to beat him at what surely should have been his own game. What was he, a little child? Wasn't he supposed to be a black belt? Wasn't he supposed to be a great half-demon, with his father's blood pumping through him? Surely someone such as he would not allow a little girl to beat him.
"I give you a chance to surrender yourself to the demon hunters," the huntress said sternly, her voice never betraying a single emotion or hesitancy. She'd done this before, Inuyasha could tell by her actions.
She pressed the heel of her combat boot harder against his throat and he gasped for air. He felt the color draining from his face but he refused to relent. If the wench expected him to beg, she had another thing coming. He'd only been a half-demon for a few days, but already knew that those with demon blood never relented to the weakness of a human. At least, this woman looked human. He could only assume, in the end.
"Never," he rasped out, his breath sounding distant to him, as if he were speaking from far away. His ears twitched and flattened against his head. The rouge demon drew his lips back in a snarl. He'd practiced the said snarl every morning after he took a shower. In hindsight, he realized that sounded rather pathetic, but it wasn't as if he were discussing this over tea with the demon huntress above him. "Bitch."
He added the insult for effect, and it certainly seemed to have an effect on her. Her grip on her metal bow tightened. He could hear the flexing of her tendons and the small crack of her knuckles as they whitened. Sometimes even he was amazed by his hearing.
"You have a lot of impudence," she growled out, her heel digging into his esophagus relentlessly. He gasped but refused to back down, keeping the triumphant look in his eyes. "I'm giving you a chance to prove to me that you are not evil."
Inuyasha snorted. "All demons are evil, you stupid wench. Even you should know that."
She seemed familiar. Standing above him now, arrow poised, her hands clenched and whitened. Her jaw set in her determination, her lips pursed. Surely he'd seen her before? He couldn't place it. But he couldn't really see her. She could be anyone in Tokyo, with her black hair and lithe body. She looked like any other female.
She sighed, her shoulders sagging and the arrow she'd slung loosening in her grip. He blinked in surprise. Surely she was not giving up? What was with this woman, anyway? She was fiery a moment ago and now it seemed as if all her energy had been zapped out of her with a whoosh.
Her heel still dug into his throat and he knew it would bruise unless his demon powers healed it soon.
"You fool," she muttered, her whole body tense. So she hadn't let her guard down? "You always have a choice."
Inuyasha frowned. Why was the stupid wench giving him a lecture when he was at her mercy? She would regret this moment of weakness.
His hand snuck out and grasped her ankle. She managed to release a small yelp of surprise as he sprung to his feet and threw the girl huntress into the air. She soared in a graceful arc before landing on the roof a couple of feet from him.
She groaned, her cheek resting against the concrete. She didn't move. Her bow was strewn away from her opened hand, lying on the roof uselessly. She struggled to stand but her right arm wouldn't move. She narrowed her eyes.
He walked up to her and pressed his bare foot—he'd taken to leaving his shoes at home simply because it provided easier traction—against the small of her back. She gasped in pain as he dug his heel into her spinal cord. He felt the blood rushing through her, her heartbeat quickening as her muscles flexed and tightened beneath his mercy.
He plucked the quiver of arrows on her back away from her, snapping the leather band that held it to her back. He fisted the arrows left in the quiver before snapping them, rendering them useless. He dropped the broken wooden arrows before the woman's face and smirked victoriously. Who had the upper hand now?
"You're not very good at this, are you?" Inuyasha asked, laughter in his voice. A mocking laughter. He taunted the demon huntress below him.
What he wasn't expecting, however, was that the huntress possessed other ninja equipment besides the ashiko. He heard the sliding of metal against a scabbard before he saw the ninja sword glint in the dying moonlight. She turned onto her back, kicking out his foot with a swift knock of her own boot and made to stab him with the flimsy almost-dagger.
He dodged, just barely. She narrowed her eyes and was instantly on her feet. She darted backwards and with a small swoop had obtained her metal bow again. She sheathed the dagger and Inuyasha noted the fact that the scabbard was much longer than the sword itself.
But in any case, the reason the woman had grasped the bow was beyond him. He soon learned why she'd made to save her main weapon, however.
The demon huntress, evidently a skillful ninja, flipped open a hidden compartment towards the center of the metal bow. Inuyasha saw that it had been grooved away and revealed a small, blue switch. With furrowed eyebrows, Inuyasha watched as her pink finger inched in and flipped the tiny switch.
He received his answer as to what it was instantly. The string of the bow began to glow neon blue and buzzed with electricity. Inuyasha's golden eyes swept over her features and he saw her smirk. He didn't like her smirk.
"I'll give you another chance," she said quietly, a warning in her voice. Was she so afraid to kill? Could it be the reason as to why she was giving him so many chances? Did she really believe he wasn't evil? Weren't demon hunters supposed to kill all demons? That was their job, he thought.
As he pondered this, the huntress dove forward, digging the blazing blue string into his stomach. He felt the electrical cord cut the flesh of his stomach and he gasped in pain as electrical currents coursed through him.
He convulsed, his body collapsing to the ground. He cringed and writhed on the ground, biting his lip to contain his screams of pain.
It seemed that time passed slowly as he squirmed at the mercy of the ninja-hunter. But what else could he do? His body betrayed him. He couldn't control himself. He gasped for air, trying to ease the pain that coursed through his body like a thousand pinpricks.
"Why aren't you dead?" he heard her whisper. "All demons disintegrate from this…"
He opened his eyes to see his vision blurred. He could make out the hunter's figure. She was wiry and slender. Inuyasha remarked silently, if only to himself, that for a damned annoying wench, she was still a rather attractive woman.
As his vision focused he could see the moonlight reflecting off her ebony hair, her pink lips quirked downwards in a frown and her hip jutting out as she placed a hand on her waist. The buzzing had ceased and he saw the bow strung over her shoulder. Her hand was on her dagger, ready to pierce his skin should he make a move.
He couldn't find the strength to do so, even if he wanted. He hated to admit it, but the woman had beaten him.
"Heh," he snorted sardonically. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I can't be done in that easily. I'm no average demon."
Suddenly he saw her body go rigid and he knew that she knew. He knew before she spoke. He inhaled, trying to commit her scent to memory, so that perhaps he could find her again and extract his revenge. He was surprised, and slightly annoyed, to find that she had no scent. But how was that possible?
Had he just gotten his ass handed to him by some crazy phantom lady?
But that was not his problem. She sighed and dug around in one of the compartments attached to her belt—a utility belt. He felt like he was in some lame comic book and he was the bad guy that always lost. She extracted small darts. They appeared to be long needles, nearly half a foot long, with a small black ball at the tip.
She turned to him and with a swift flick of her wrist Inuyasha watched as four darts embedded themselves into his thighs, two in each one. He gasped and hissed in pain.
"Half-demon," she whispered and he could hear the change in her voice. He narrowed his eyes.
"That had better not be pity I hear in your voice, bitch," he snarled out.
She looked miffed, if her pursed lips had anything to say about it. "Hardly."
Inuyasha felt a strange sensation start at his legs and work up his body. He felt numb. The needles had been poisoned. He felt his eyelids grow heavy. She stared down at him, at least, that's what it looked like. He couldn't tell with his blurry vision and the goggles that fit over her eyes.
"I have no reason to kill a half-demon," she murmured and extracted a third item from her belt. She threw it at her own feet and was encased in a cloud of smoke.
He wasn't sure if it was the poisoned darts seeping through his veins or the fact that the putrid scent of the smoke was too unbearable, but Inuyasha felt himself slip into a blissful unconsciousness.
"You're an idiot," his mother declared. Inuyasha sighed. He wasn't sure what was sadder: the fact that Inuyasha had dragged himself to his mother or the fact that his mother was not showering him with sympathy, as a proper mother should be.
"Thanks, Mom," Inuyasha muttered as he rubbed his aching head. A roll of bandages bounced off his forehead and he growled. Picking up the bandage, he began wrapping it around the various injuries he'd received from the hunter.
"Well, you are," Izayoi snapped out angrily, lavender eyes glaring at her son. "Do you have any idea how lucky you are that that demon hunter let you live?"
"It was only because I was a half-demon," Inuyasha snapped out. He fisted the bandage angrily as he wrapped it around his arm. Blood drizzled out only to be swiped away by his hand.
"Inuyasha," Izayoi said sternly. She used the voice she had used the last time he'd gotten in trouble: when he'd broken his arm from falling off the streetlight he'd been climbing at the age of six.
He sighed in defeat and threw his hands up. "Fine, fine! I was stupid, I know. Shut up about it already."
He was being a grouch. Izayoi would have none of it, however, as she demonstrated with a slap of her hand against the back of his head. He yelped in surprise and clutched the back of his head, feeling for a bump even though he knew that there wouldn't be one.
"You're more than stupid, you're reckless!" Izayoi huffed and crossed her arms. "Gods, when I think about what could have happened… I just…" She shivered and closed her eyes, willing the images away with a shake of her head and clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "Well… I'm just thankful you're alive."
Inuyasha sighed again.
"But really, Inuyasha," Izayoi's cross voice had returned and she fixed her son with a piercing look. "What were you thinking? After I told you not to go outside at night, especially in that form! Have you completely lost your mind? Do you want to kill yourself?"
"No, Mom," Inuyasha snorted with a roll of his eyes as he finished wrapping up the last of injuries. "It wasn't that bad. I'd been out there almost every night and that was the first time I'd run into one of them!"
"What?" Izayoi snapped out. Inuyasha cringed. That obviously was not the thing he was supposed to say to his mother to soothe her ruffled feathers. No, it seemed that he'd angered her even more. "What did you just say? Every night?"
Inuyasha swallowed as his mother loomed over him. He paled, his lavender eyes staring at his mother. "Uh… yes?"
His mother was fuming. He could almost see the smoke blowing out from her ears.
"You reckless… senseless… irresponsible… careless… foolish boy," she snapped out, punctuating each insult with a slap of her hand atop the crown of his head. Her palm slammed against his ears and they screamed in protest.
"God, Mom!" Inuyasha yelped cringing as her hand poised to hit him again. "This is domestic violence! Cut it out!"
Izayoi suddenly burst into tears. Inuyasha panicked, staring in surprise as his mother's stern, powerful form crumbled and dissolved into a blubbering woman. She wept out of relief, he knew this, but that did nothing to satisfy the urgency he felt whenever he saw tears falling from a female's eyes.
"M-mom!" Inuyasha gasped out, reaching out a hand to touch his mother's shoulder but thinking better of it. "Stop! Don't cry! Stop!"
Izayoi reigned in on her rampaging emotions and sat up with a sniff, wiping her eyes with the corner of her long sleeved shirt. She sniffled out an apology and took in deep breaths for a long moment as she gained control of herself.
"Inuyasha," she said, trying to comfort her son despite the waver in her own voice. "You can't do this anymore. You'll get hurt, more than you have tonight, or even get killed. I don't want that. Especially with you being only a half-breed…"
"What does my being a half-breed got to do with anything? The demons are hated just as much as half-demons," Inuyasha muttered out. Izayoi shook her head.
"It's not that, Inuyasha. It's you being a half-demon… as such, you have… limitations."
"Limitations?" Inuyasha was miffed.
"Yes, limitations," Izayoi soothed gently, trying to lessen the blow that Inuyasha knew was coming. "You have no control over elements or any such powers like that. All you have is your strength. And even then, your claws can only do so much. And only in short range."
Inuyasha pursed his lips.
"At least until you learn attacks… if you learn attacks," Izayoi was quick to amend her earlier words, trying to reassure Inuyasha and warn him the same time without jeopardizing her son's ocean of pride.
"Besides," Izayoi continued, her lips seemingly etched into a permanent frown. "You cannot go outside on the new moon."
Inuyasha reeled back, his eyes narrowing. The new moon was approaching. "Why?" he barked.
"You're a half-demon… Inuyasha… and… like all half-breeds, at some point during the month, you will lose your powers." Izayoi looked nervous.
Inuyasha recalled the lessons he'd received about half-breeds when he was younger and had gone through the necessary demon-defense classes. They'd had small units on the abominations, the Halflings. He remembered that there was a certain day every month for a half-breed that they feared the most because that was when the demon of ancient times had an easier time killing them: the time when their powers dimmed. Whether it depended on it being the night or the day, depended on the weather, the temperature, or the position of the sun, it mattered only to the half-breed. It varied for each one. No one knew for sure if there was an ongoing trait with the certain breeds of Halflings or if it was all randomized.
"My time is the new moon, huh?" Inuyasha questioned lightly. Izayoi nodded gravely. "For the entire night?" Izayoi nodded again. "When do I get my powers back?"
" Sunrise," Izayoi murmured gently, her lavender eyes staring at her son earnestly. "Please, do not do anything reckless."
"Right, of course, mother," Inuyasha murmured, lowering his head and frowning. He'd forgotten his night of dimmed powers. Luckily it wasn't for a long time. "Oh… Mom, I forgot to tell you."
He stuffed his hand into his pocket and extracted the very thing that had gotten him into the brawl with the hunter. She'd taken one pocket of cash, but forgotten the other. He handed his mother the roll of bills. Izayoi regarded him.
"I got in a few more hours than normal," Inuyasha explained quickly before Izayoi protested. He smiled at her.
"Inuyasha…" She had that warning tone in her voice. "You know I don't like to take money from you."
"You're not taking it, you're receiving it. It's a gift," Inuyasha protested and narrowed his eyes. "Just take it, Mom."
He swore if his mother rejected the money that nearly cost him his life, he would go ape on her. But he was happy to see that, after some reluctance, she took the cash from him and walked away, to wherever she kept the money he gave her. She probably refrained from using it for herself when possible.
"Just be careful," Izayoi said gently. "You were reckless as a child, too. You nearly killed yourself when you turned human because you tried to jump off the top shelf of your father's bookcase." Izayoi shook her head at the memory, lips quirking into a tiny smile. "Even then you were showing your powers."
"My powers?" Inuyasha asked, curious. Hadn't she just told him he didn't have powers?
Izayoi smiled forlornly. "You'll find out soon enough, sweetie."
Inuyasha didn't like the answer Izayoi gave him, but she didn't elaborate or say anything more on the subject.
Inuyasha groaned three days later as he slunk into his class and plopped down into his seat. He rested his head against the desk, warmed by the sunlight that filtered through the large windows. Whatever the huntress had had in those darts had obviously been made for a demon because his legs were still weak from the poison. He was sore. He was tired. He did not want to be learning about the Meiji era right now.
Kagome was already sitting there, as she always was. She always managed to make it to class before he did, no matter how early he told himself he'd set out for the room. She doodled in the margins of her notebook she used specifically for this class to take notes on their professor's lecture.
She must have felt his gaze on her because she turned her head, casting opaque blue eyes on him. Lavender eyes stared at her halfheartedly. He didn't even think to turn his gaze away out of modesty or embarrassment. He just… stared.
He must have looked like crap because she looked concerned. She rarely graced him with a facial expression. She licked her lips and tilted her head to the side.
"Are you okay?" she said at last. "You look exhausted."
"No," he moaned. He didn't even realize that this was the most emotion he'd ever put into his voice around Kagome Higurashi, his history desk partner. "I feel like shit."
She frowned thoughtfully, her summery scent wafting past his nostrils and filling him with a deep sense of tranquility and peace. Why did Kagome have such a calming affect on him?
"It's no big deal," he said lightly, waving his hand as if to banish the concerned look in Kagome's eyes. He didn't want her pity on top of the stupid hunter's pity as well. He'd spent the last few days searching for her, but she never appeared. Neither, much to Inuyasha's relief, did any other hunter.
"Did you party too hard or something?" Kagome asked, her lips quirking at the corners, betraying the smile she was suppressing.
Well, that was as good as of reason for him to be sore and tired as anything his mind had been thinking up.
He gave her a tiny, clipped nod. "Yeah…"
She hummed slightly, whether in understanding or disappointment, he didn't know. He didn't know anything about Kagome: the pretty, smart girl that sat next to him. He shook his head and cleared his throat, turning his attention to the window.
He watched birds fly idly by, their wings spread and their beaks opened, producing delightful song. He sighed and longed to be out there, soaring with the birds and not cooped up in his history class, trying to get an education.
Kagome rested her head against her palm, her fingers tapping gently against her cheekbone. Inuyasha could hear it in high definition. He focused on the noise, feeling his concealed dog ear twitch backwards towards her.
Up until now he hadn't really cared about Kagome. She was just a girl in his history class. So why now did he long to know her?
He knew his mother would kill him if she found out, but he didn't care. Blood roared in his ears, urging him to feel the wind in his hair again, the rush of blood as he raced across rooftops. He avoided all banks, though.
It seemed to be chalking up to be another one of his boring nightly runs, nothing exciting like getting ninja stars stuck in his skull or police officers firing bullets in his general direction.
He was wrong though.
He was sitting near the top of the Rainbow Bridge. Behind him he saw the Tokyo Tower, maybe five leaps away from him with his demon strength. The bright lights of cars' headlights below prevented him from doing something drastic. He didn't want to hurt anyone.
Instead, he sat cross-legged on one of the structures that held the bridge up. The horizon was dotted with infrequent stars; the burning balls were blocked out by the insistent light of Tokyo. He longed to see the constellations. The moon glowed, its heavenly light illuminating off the surface of the water below.
He was sitting there with really no inspiration to get up and do something, just simply sit and try and breathe in the semi-fresh air of Tokyo around him when he caught sight of something. It was a flicker and he wasn't sure what it was.
Soon enough, however, the demon got his answer. A tall man with long black hair landed on the structure he currently sat on, his eyes narrowed as he observed the half-demon. Inuyasha growled out of reflex, body tensing and golden eyes staring warily at the intruder.
"Hello," his voice murmured out. It was slick, and there was a hidden undertone of malice in his voice. Who was this guy?
Inuyasha sniffed and cringed. A demon. His golden eyes narrowed.
"What do you want?" Inuyasha barked out.
The man smirked slowly.
"Just a moment of your time…" He took a step towards Inuyasha and instantly the dog demon was on his feet, his lips drawn back in a sneer and his eyes staring at him.
"Then spit it out," Inuyasha snapped.
"I haven't seen you around," the man stated calmly, completely unfazed by the half-breed's bitterness. He examined his long claws, flicking away dried flecks of what appeared to be blood to Inuyasha. Dark crimson eyes focused on Inuyasha again. "I daresay you aren't part of the league."
"League…" Inuyasha's brow furrowed.
"The League of Demons, of course," the man said, humor in his voice. He chuckled, full of a dark mirth. He smirked, his eyes narrowing as he looked over Inuyasha's body. The said half-demon felt exposed under the dark man's unwavering gaze.
"I… I'm not," Inuyasha whispered, trying to resist the urge to bolt.
"Hm…" The man hummed, seemingly expecting this answer without asking.
Could it be… that Inuyasha was faced to face with the fabled Ring Leader? The man behind the demon attacks, who led the league? Could it be that Inuyasha was standing right with him?
"I go by the name of Naraku," said suspected Ring Leader. Inuyasha shivered at the name. "And you are…?"
Inuyasha swallowed. "Inuyasha."
"A suitable name," the man agreed. Atop Rainbow Bridge, the demon began to circle Inuyasha, his dark scarlet eyes sweeping over the half-breed's tense form. He tutted here and there, and hummed his approval or grunted his disapproval. What exactly the man was looking, for Inuyasha wasn't sure.
"Are you… their leader?" Inuyasha murmured before he could stop himself.
Naraku smirked, but this time not out of mirth. The smirk only accented the evil that seemed to hang around him like a pall. His dark lips never curved downwards. He looked angry, yet amused at the same time. It seemed to Inuyasha that his face always looked as such.
"You're quite curious. And what if I was?" Naraku asked, his eyebrows cocking upwards towards his hairline.
Inuyasha's brown furrowed. "I would have to wonder what you'd want with me."
"Hm… a fine question indeed," Naraku agreed. A light breeze ruffled the long black hair from his face. He almost seemed elf-like. A demented, evil looking elf, but an elf all the same. "Tell me, Inuyasha, why is it that you are out here on this night?"
"I…" Inuyasha faltered as he thought. "I'm just out."
"Do you have a reason?" Naraku questioned, his eyes flashing in the near darkness of the night.
Inuyasha shrugged one shoulder, trying to come off as casual, despite the fact his organs were knotting in his chest cavity. He would not let Naraku see his discomfort. But then again… perhaps Naraku could smell his fear? Well, damn.
"I have an important proposition for you then, Inuyasha," Naraku said silkily, finally getting to the point as to why he'd approached Inuyasha. Inuyasha swallowed and fisted his hands.
"What?" he asked, almost too fearful to inquire.
Naraku was silent for a long time. "We are running short on recruits. Obviously you of all people…" His eyes flickered. "A half-demon…" Inuyasha cringed. "Would understand how disgusting humans can be. They're destroying us. I have been scouring the city, searching for demons to fight for us. We will make the petty human race fall to their knees."
Inuyasha frowned as he gazed at Naraku. He fisted his own hands. "No."
"What?" Naraku seemed slightly taken aback by the man's proposal.
Inuyasha didn't like Naraku. He didn't even know the man, but he could just tell that he was not the kind of person he wanted to be around. It was his intuition. His own version of a women's intuition. Of course, he realized that that made no sense, but it wasn't like he was telling anyone about his faux women's intuition, now was he?
"That's not a wise decision, Inuyasha," Naraku said silkily, his sleek and smooth voice causing a shiver to claw up his spine.
Inuyasha paled. Why had he told Naraku his name? Was he a complete fool?
"I'd rather do my own thing…" Inuyasha whispered, clenching his fists.
"I urge you to reconsider my offer, Halfling," Naraku said, dark red eyes narrowing.
"Um… yes… I will," Inuyasha reassured. Anything to get the man out of his way.
He needn't worry, however, because in that very instant a figure jumped onto the bridge, and a combat boot, complete with ashiko, slammed into the side of Naraku's face.
Author's Notes: And one month later… I return. I'm sorry this took so long. I'm starting my junior year… the hardest year out of the four. I need to study and work on my homework. Updates will be infrequent, as you can see. Sorry for the inconvenience, everyone.