Dark as Day
Chapter Seven
"Follow through with your swing, you bumbling dolt," Sesshoumaru said coldly as he took a step around his half-breed brother. Inuyasha's grip on his sword tightened and he pivoted, threatening to thrust the blade of the average sword against his brother. Once again, Sesshoumaru side-stepped expertly.
"Come on," Inuyasha groused as he slung the sword around, resting the blade against his shoulder. He frowned. "When can I swing Tessaiga? This sword is stupid. I want my sword."
"Stop whining like a fool," Sesshoumaru snapped back, never once losing the cool monotone of his voice. Inuyasha's brow furrowed in frustration.
Sesshoumaru had taken it upon himself to train his whelp of a? brother, as he so nicely put it, and it was grating on Inuyasha's nerves. He far preferred the hunters that Sango had him train against before. Now, he was stuck with his pompous brother.
After triggering the transformation of Tessaiga, Sesshoumaru had stepped in and announced that while Inuyasha had successfully unlocked the secret to using Tessaiga—which he really didn't know—he still had far too much to learn before he could be worthy of their father's sword.
So, naturally, the humans had deposited Inuyasha's training regime into Sesshoumaru's capable hands and quickly left the two demon brothers alone.
"How can you ever expect to honorably wield Tessaiga if you can't even master the simplest of sword techniques?" Sesshoumaru questioned, a slight, almost unrecognizable tone of mockery in the elder's voice. To the untrained eye, it would seem that Sesshoumaru was just as cold and stoic as ever, but in actuality—and in Inuyasha's eyes—Sesshoumaru was silently mocking him. And it was beyond annoying.
"Oh shut up," Inuyasha snapped back half-heartedly. He already knew of his inferiority. Sesshoumaru had spent the last couple of days making sure of that.
Under Sesshoumaru's watchful eye, Inuyasha had gotten the hardest training of his life. Even harder than his martial arts training. Partly because it was the most annoying person in the world that was training him and that he really had no idea how to hold a sword. His entire life he'd used his hands for fighting.
"Is that the best you can do, halfling?" the lord questioned, a hint of challenge in his voice. Inuyasha's golden eyes narrowed as one of Sesshoumaru's finely primed eyebrows rose towards his silky silver hairline.
"Look, all I wanted to know is when I can actually start training with Tessaiga," Inuyasha huffed out, crossing his arms after slipping the sword back into its scabbard. Sesshoumaru inhaled slowly, closing his golden eyes as if talking to Inuyasha was the most aggravating thing in the world (knowing Sesshoumaru, it was, though).
"If I had my say, it would be never," Sesshoumaru spoke smoothly, as he always did, his voice clipped and cold. Inuyasha worried his bottom lip with a fang. "But I do not have that power. Yet."
Inuyasha snorted.
"You've been an exterminator for centuries, and the best gig you can get is to train your 'pathetic' little brother in sword combat," Inuyasha laughed. "Who's the pathetic one?"
Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed, the cold golden orbs staring down at his fiery little brother before he turned away from the half breed and strolled across the room. Inuyasha watched him go curiously, wondering what it was that his older brother was plotting.
A moment later, his question was answered. Quick as lightening, Sesshoumaru's hand whipped out and a long, yellowish-green strip of energy rushed towards the half demon. Inuyasha yelped in surprise as the thick strip of energy wrapped around his neck and squeezed. He gasped for air as he felt poison slip into his bloodstream.
With a flick of his wrist, Inuyasha was off the ground and sailing through the air. He barely had time to brace himself before he slammed against the ground and stayed there, feeling the energy melt away. The poison pumped through him and he shook, feeling his muscles spasm. He reached lightly for the compartment that held his small bottles of antidote.
"Pull yourself together," Sesshoumaru stated coldly as his foot pushed his hand back to the ground. Inuyasha flinched. "If you need to waste your antidote after such a small dose, then you truly aren't worthy of being a demon hunter." Inuyasha continued to quiver, his vision going blurry. "And if this is the way you react after a simple, slow attack, then you truly are not fit for Tessaiga power."
Inuyasha struggled, but after a few long moments he managed to sit up, rubbing his wrist which Sesshoumaru had stepped on so harshly. He glared up towards his brother, still feeling the ramifications of the poison within him.
"My job is to prepare you for the world outside. You may have been lucky with the security breach the other day, but you are not prepared for the work you will be subject to once your training is complete," Sesshoumaru stated.
Truth was, his training should have been over days ago. But Sesshoumaru had claimed he still wasn't ready, despite the fact that he was in peek physical condition, knew all the codenames for orders, where each sector was (that had been boring), and how to properly maneuver himself outside. But he was having trouble with swordplay. And Sesshoumaru wasn't helping, either.
He stood up on wobbly legs, rubbing his neck where a long, dark green mark had remained on his neck from Sesshoumaru's attack.
"Keh, I don't see what's so terrific about Tessaiga."
"There are powers that Tessaiga possess that not even you are aware of, little brother."
"What kind of powers?" Inuyasha questioned, his curiosity peeking.
Sesshoumaru didn't say anything at first. Then, slowly, "If you do not know now, perhaps you never will. These are secrets that you shall unlock yourself, I presume."
"That is so not fair."
"Life isn't fair," Sesshoumaru returned coldly. It was the closest thing Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru would ever come to a playful, brotherly battle. And the malice in the air could fool anyone into believing they were enemies.
"Swing faster," Sesshoumaru instructed. "You're going too slowly."
Inuyasha growled as he swung Tessaiga for what seemed like the one hundredth time. Tessaiga had yet to transform from its rusted form, but Sesshoumaru had said that it being in its true form was unnecessary for Inuyasha, seeing as how he truly didn't deserve the sword in the first place. Inuyasha had shrugged such a bias off, seeing as how his brother was just a bag full of hot air, anyway.
"So, what?" Inuyasha questioned after their final training session came to a close. "What do I do now?"
"What you were trained to do," Sesshoumaru stated as if it was obvious. "You follow instructions and regulations."
"Funny, I expected something more profound and philosophical from you," Inuyasha said sarcastically, staring dryly at his brother. Sesshoumaru didn't even grace him with a hint of amusement—not that he expected him to.
"Don't mistreat Tessaiga or I will take it from you," Sesshoumaru warned. Inuyasha shrugged a shoulder. He could totally take his brother (or so he told himself).
"Yeah, yeah," Inuyasha dismissed with a wave of his hand as he sheathed Tessaiga into the unpolished scabbard which he wore at his side. "I get it. Now, tell me these mysterious secrets about Tessaiga you keep yapping about."
"Firstly, I do not yap," Sesshoumaru stated coldly, regarding his brother with disapproval. "Secondly, I cannot tell you."
"What do you mean you can't tell me?" Inuyasha snapped out. "I demand to know what the powers are!"
"You cannot command anything out of your superior, whelp. Do not forget that I am the Lord of the Western Lands now."
"Which is ruled by the Japanese government. Congratulations, Sesshoumaru, you're one hell of a leader," Inuyasha said sarcastically, saluting Sesshoumaru with a large smirk on his face. Sesshoumaru said nothing. "You don't even rule these words ? anymore. The humans you ruled follow the government and the demons you ruled are on the wrong side."
Sesshoumaru said nothing. Inuyasha counted that as his own silent victory. Inuyasha one, Sesshoumaru… well, a lot more than one, but it was a small victory. Inuyasha shook his digressing thoughts away.
"We are the last of our bloodline, Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru stated calmly, not even bothering with his brother's childish antics. "I am all that's left of the pure bloodline. You are nothing but a halfling of what was once a grand and stable kingdom."
"And now it is nothing," Inuyasha murmured softly.
"And now it is nothing," Sesshoumaru agreed.
Inuyasha frowned and looked away. The shadows of their past seemed to be in the room with them. Sesshoumaru released a small breath that could have been considered a sigh. Inuyasha's lips twisted into a larger frown.
"Smell the wind," Sesshoumaru said after an abrupt silence. Inuyasha whipped his head up and stared at his brother. "To unlock the secrets to Tessaiga, you must smell the wind."
Inuyasha puzzled over this as Sesshoumaru left the room, leaving the halfling to his own musings. He gripped Tessaiga and stared at the ceiling, trying to sort out his turmoil of emotions. Why was it that he felt a sudden surge of hatred for the government? Was it because they robbed his father of his land and their family of their regal bloodline?
Inuyasha sighed and left the room, too.
The sound of his phone ringing interrupted him from a rare, peaceful sleep. He usually didn't sleep anymore because of his hanyou blood, but lately he'd been very tired. Probably because Sesshoumaru was a slave driver.
Rubbing his eyes and clearing away the foggy vision, he pressed the phone to where his ear had once been.
"Hello?"
"Ah, good morning, sweetheart," came the chipper call of his mother. Inuyasha released the tiniest of groans. He did not want to deal with his mother this morning. It was his day off from training and school. He'd planned on sleeping the entire day.
"Mom… It's…" He checked his clock. "Noon. Go away. I'm sleeping."
His mother made a small noise in the back of her throat that sounded like complete disapproval. "Don't use that tone."
"I'm not using a tone!" Inuyasha protested, sitting up and rubbing his throbbing head. "I'm just saying…!"
His mother made a small 'hmph' noise and he sighed, knowing that his mother was giving him a pouting face through the phone. Rubbing his eyes again he stretched and thumped off his bed.
"Reason for calling…?" he trailed off.
"Does a mother need a reason to call her only child?" Izayoi chirped. Inuyasha sighed and treaded across his room, pulling on some jeans over his boxers and slipping on a shirt as his mother continued to talk. He placed the phone down on the desk as he pulled on his shirt. He could still hear his mother yapping on the other phone line.
Picking the phone back up after dressing completely, he treaded across his small apartment, phone tucked between where his ear should be and his shoulder.
"Mom?" he questioned, causing his mother to pause. "Any real reason for calling?"
His mother made a familiar sound from before.
"Actually, I was wondering if you could pick up some fertilizer for my juniper plant. It's been dying lately." Izayoi finally cut to the point. Inuyasha paused in his steps and tilted his head to the window outside, feeling the warm sunshine trickle in.
"That's odd, they're supposed to last for a while, aren't they?" Inuyasha questioned.
"Yeah, it's just suddenly been dying out. I'm not sure why."
Inuyasha sighed. "Fine, I'll pick some up for you, mom."
His mom was weird.
"Why, hello, Inuyasha," greeted a voice behind him. The hanyou tensed and glanced over his shoulder at Naraku. The dark man slunk out from beneath the shadows of the building the silver-haired demon had been hoping over. He was late to get to headquarters… but it seemed that he'd be delayed. He couldn't show Naraku where the HQ was without risking the safety of his co-fighters. "Fancy meeting you out here."
"What do you want?" Inuyasha was instantly on guard, his body poised to attack or run away, whichever proved to be most beneficial to him.
"I'm wounded," Naraku said dryly as he circled the halfling. He observed Inuyasha, watching as the golden eyes pierced him silently. "I'm here to see if you'd reconsidered my proposal."
"Hell no," Inuyasha snapped out.
"That saddens me to hear, Inuyasha," Naraku said casually, regarding Inuyasha with his piercing gaze. Inuyasha growled warningly at Naraku. "You see… I don't take to rejection well."
"Get over it. I'll never join you," Inuyasha snapped out. Naraku's eyes moved over Inuyasha's body, covered by the youkai hide of his taijiya uniform. Naraku's eyes tilted back upwards towards the half breed's face.
"I can see that you went and joined the other side."
"I was forced to," Inuyasha murmured.
The Ring Leader's eyes moved to the rosary hanging around the demon's neck. "Ah, they've tagged you, have they?"
Inuyasha inhaled and exhaled, feeling his fury boil within him.
"What a shame. They had to force you into it, didn't they?" Naraku slunk towards Inuyasha, standing dangerously close. Inuyasha tried to inch away. Naraku chuckled. "We have miko on our side, too, you know. We can easily remove such a pathetic collar."
Inuyasha swallowed. He'd do anything to be free from Kamen's grasp. All ready he'd been sat a number of times, and it was proving to be a restriction on his freedom. But he couldn't join Naraku. Naraku and his demons were evil, and he couldn't succumb to that natural demon evil.
He rubbed his head.
He didn't want to think that all demons were evil, because of his own demon blood. His father was a demon, but he'd been on the good side. He'd been a good guy. But he was a demon. The social expectations from society weighed heavily on his mind. His entire life he'd grown knowing that demons were evil. But he was one now and he hadn't changed save for his blood.
"I know what you're thinking," Naraku's slick voice smoothed over his ears. Inuyasha cringed. "Those demon exterminators and those blasted humans have crammed into your head that being a demon means you're evil… that I'm evil."
Inuyasha didn't dare answer him.
"I know how you feel, Inuyasha, for I am in the same boat. We are more similar than you think," Naraku murmured, his red eyes flashing in the darkness. "We're stuck on a sandbar, unsure which side of the thriving river we belong on."
Inuyasha's mouth went dry and his widened eyes stared at Naraku. Naraku chuckled quietly.
"Join us, Inuyasha, succumb to your demon nature. Don't allow those pathetic demon hunters to gloss over the truth. We are evil beings, we lack human emotions. You are no longer truly human. You are a demon, with demon blood within you. Evil blood. Satan's blood."
"You're wrong," Inuyasha snapped out, throwing a punch at the Ring Leader, who easily dodged it. "I'm not evil. I'll never join you!"
"We'll see, Inuyasha," Naraku laughed as he sunk back into the darkness from which he'd come.
He scurried across the grounds of his school, his feet pounding against the pavement. He could very well be there in a flash, but the moderate amounts of students just loafing around prevented him from doing anything spectacular. He sighed and brushed black hair from his lavender eyes as he dodged around a couple holding hands.
He skidded across the slightly wet surface of his school—it had rained the night before—and dashed into the school. Checking the clock on the wall he slowed his pace down. Despite his attempts to remain slower than a true dashing pace, he'd still made it to the building his class was held in with time to spare.
Walking towards the door, he slipped it open and saw only a few students had made it to the classroom before him. He was thrilled to see that Kagome was one of them, her head bowed in a book, her feet crossed at the ankles and tucked under her chair. He walked towards her, feeling his palms begin to sweat.
Truth was, Kagome was becoming the highlight of his week. Between countless training sessions with Sesshoumaru, which had finally ended, and having to endure Kamen's ice-block nature, seeing Kagome in his history class every week filled him with immense joy.
He sat down next to her, and she titled her head up, glancing at him. She was happy to see him and flashed him a large, appreciative smile. "Hello," she chirped out happily, marking her book and putting it down. "You're early today."
He glanced at the clock on the wall. Twenty minutes early. He really had made a record getting here. He shrugged one shoulder. "Maybe I felt like coming early today?"
Her smile never wavered and he felt his cheeks begin to redden from her unaltered attentions. She was really a nice girl, and after really looking at her he could see that she was really pretty. He hadn't realized it when he started this course, but Kagome really was a nice person all around.
"Well I'm glad," Kagome said, her smile still spreading her lips apart. He saw her blush and felt his heart thump. Then he silently cursed himself because he was acting like a ridiculous schoolboy with a stupid little crush. "Being here so early can really be boring."
"Yeah…" he agreed softly, glancing over her shoulder to see that the other occupants of the room were sleeping, reading, or taking notes. Their hushed tones were the only thing that could be really heard in the classroom, and apparently they were the only ones paying attention to those hushed tones.
"Are you cold?" Kagome questioned, pointing to the scarf around his neck. Inuyasha's hand quickly covered the fabric, as if afraid that it'd disappear otherwise.
He nodded a little. "Yeah, I have a bit of a cold. I was out last night and the rain got me." He faked a small sniffle to try and convince her. It seemed to work because she nodded her head. "I'll be fine in a couple days, don't worry."
Kagome looked like she wanted to say something but she closed her lips and nodded. Truth of the matter was, Inuyasha's neck was still marred by Sesshoumaru's poison attack and the scarf his mother had given him for his birthday last year was the only thing he could wear to cover up the hideous, dead skin on his neck. He was glad that Kagome accepted his sick story and didn't question it further.
"Um… tea can make a cold feel better?" Kagome offered, glancing at him, her blue eyes shinning apprehensively. He felt red creeping up his face with that look.
"Yeah… it does…"
"There's a Starbucks down the street…" Kagome ventured, then trailed off, feeling her face burst into flames. She ducked her head, biting her lower lip. Inuyasha's face mirrored hers.
He waited for her to say something but she didn't.
He rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess I'll go there after class…" he murmured. Kagome nodded. He cleared his throat. "Um… do you want to come with me?"
She peeked up at him through her black bangs before lifting herself completely and locking eyes with him. With their faces both blushing they were truly the epitome of high school crushes. It was enough to make any sane person go crazy with how ridiculously innocent the two were acting.
"I'd… I'd like that," she finally answered him, smiling shyly. He released a small breath of air he didn't know he was holding. He nodded his head and she giggled sweetly.
The tiny bat demon was batted away easily with a small whip of miko energy from Kamen's hand. The glowing pink appendage died out like a flickering light bulb before she released a tiny sigh and rubbed her shoulder—the place the bat demon had attacked her before they could retaliate.
"Are you okay?" Inuyasha questioned, eyeing the place Kamen rubbed her arm. She shrugged her other shoulder. Tightening his gasmask, he glanced over the side and down the building they were perched on. Down below there was a murky green smoke, caused by the skunk demons that invested the area, contaminating the water.
Kamen and Sha were just outside the city, in a small suburb of Tokyo. The demon exterminators had been hired by the board of home owners to get rid of the problem. Of course, they hadn't known it was really the exterminators. They were, after all, an urban legend. The home owners had tried doing it themselves, but the skunk demons had simply grown in size and migrated to their water supply. The occupants didn't want their water to be contaminated.
"Let's just get this done quickly," Kamen muttered. "Why the hell are there bat demons around here?"
Inuyasha was going to answer her but figured that the question really wasn't directed at him so much as it was more of a muttering on her part. He rubbed the back of his head and looked down towards the disgustingly green smoke.
"Okay, let's go," Inuyasha walked towards Kamen and scooped her up into his arms. The first time he'd done this, he'd been blasted with miko energy and nearly lost his demon persona, but luckily he'd dodged around it mostly. Kamen had grown used to being handled like a rag doll by the half breed at this point and didn't really protest.
With a nimble jump, he landed among the gas. Both checked their gas masks to make sure they truly were sealed tightly around her mouth and nose before proceeding. Despite the masks, both could smell the disgusting scent of skunk in the air.
They crept along the walls, their bodies flattening against the hard brick. Kamen led the way while Inuyasha brought up the rear. Gripping her bow, Kamen peeked her head around the edge and whipped it back. She turned to him and signaled with her hands that there were demons behind the wall.
He nodded. He'd known because he'd smelled their approach. He punched his fist into his other hand. Kamen didn't move and he figured that she was fixing him with a blank expression.
Rolling his eyes, which she could see because he didn't like the goggles, he leaned over and whispered quietly in her ear, "They're lower class. Easily beaten."
Kamen nodded her head and pulled an arrow from her quiver. Unlatching a compartment in his guards, Inuyasha produced the small container of sleeping potion. Opening it for Kamen he allowed her to dip the arrow's tip into the white powder before he quickly closed it and slipped it back into its proper holding area.
Truly it took quick work to get the skunks into a deep sleep. The two partners made quick work to tying up the demons, as they slunk into her human forms, and called Sango. Telling her that the demons had easily been apprehended Sango relayed that someone was on the way to pick up the two captives in attempts to pump them for information. There was a possibility that they worked for Naraku or had information on Naraku.
The two jumped from rooftop to rooftop, getting as far away from the scene as possible should the cops decide to show up and investigate the matter themselves. They flopped down on top of a tall building in Tokyo. It was dangerous to go right to the headquarters in case another demon from the area had decided to follow them. Until then, they were to lay low.
"Heh," Inuyasha chuckled to himself after a long moment of silence. Kamen turned her head towards him and unlatched her gas mask.
"I hardly think this is the time to be laughing," she returned, her lips quirked downwards.
"Oh please, spare me your nagging," Inuyasha said with a roll of his eyes. He didn't like Kamen's way of condescending him with her voice. He was growing used to her coldness, but it aggravated him due to the fact that she was acting far too much like Sesshoumaru. And anyone who acted like Sesshoumaru was obviously a pompous and stupid moron.
"I'm just saying that you mustn't draw attention to us, if you start laughing it could alert some demons," Kamen supplied, trying to keep her voice even and not snap at her partner.
Inuyasha rolled his eyes again, kicking his legs out and stretching. "And your stupid little voice won't? Please, it would make anyone want to cry."
He could just picture her eyes narrowing and he smirked at her as she clenched her fists and he saw a miko aura begin to surround her.
"Oh, Wench, remember that we don't want to draw attention to ourselves and using your miko powers would certainly alert the demons in the area," Inuyasha returned sarcastically, his smirk never wavering from his lips.
The miko energy died. She stiffened and he could almost feel her deadly glare directly towards him. This was fun.
"You know, it's kind of funny," Inuyasha said with a laugh. Kamen didn't say anything but he knew she was curious about what it was that he thought was 'funny'. "You're a miko right?"
"A beginning one, at least," Kamen whispered, unsure what it was that Sha was getting at.
He snorted at that. She was powerful enough to purify him.
"Well, I'm just saying that… aren't priestesses supposed to live sinless lives? You kill demons left and right… maybe not right away, but if they don't have information about Naraku or don't want to join them, you're the one who kills them."
Kamen stiffened. He knew she was. She was the only one in the D.E. that had any form of miko powers, apparently. According to studies, studies Inuyasha was afraid to learn where the results had come from, purifying a demon was the least painful way out of all the ways to kill them.
"You're a miko but yet… you're still willing to destroy other lives, I just find it kind of funny," Inuyasha said casually, staring at his claws.
He glanced back at Kamen to see her quivering. Seeing as how he couldn't see or smell her emotions, he figured she was shaking from anger and preparing to lash out at him.
What he wasn't expecting, however, was the tiniest little sob. He stiffened up instantly and his eyes flew wide open. Was Kamen… crying?
"How dare you," she gritted out, standing up with her shoulders squared and her fists clenched. Inuyasha stood up, too, only because he was afraid of what she'd do if he were sitting down. "How dare you say those kinds of things to me!"
"W… Wench, relax," Inuyasha waved his hand around, trying to soothe the girl. She didn't hear any of it as she marched towards him.
As she approached he saw a single tear drip down the side of her cheeks and he stiffened more. He hated seeing girls cry, even if he'd never seen her complete face.
"I never asked to do this," she snapped out. "I never wanted to do this. How can you stand there, you… you! How can you stand there? You will never know true pain as I have. You will never understand what it's like."
She was screaming at this point and he looked around, almost certain that the demons were charging towards them by now. But the city was deserted, save for the stray cars that dotted the streets.
He turned his attention back to Kamen, whose head was bowed and her shoulders were heaving.
"I never wanted this job! I never asked to be like this!" she wept out, trying fruitlessly to reign in her emotions. "I never wanted to be… this way."
She dropped to her knees and pounded the roof for a moment before falling still. Inuyasha, with his eyes wide, knelt beside her.
"Hey…" he murmured, trying to draw her attention to him. She refused. "Hey…" he tried again.
"What?" she snapped out. The sound of tears in her voice was gone.
He sighed. "Look… I didn't mean to make you upset. Please, I didn't mean to hurt you." He tried to coax her to stand up but she wouldn't. "Hey, come on…"
"Save it," she snapped out. "Like you really care."
He pushed his silver bangs from his eyes. "Wench…" he sighed. "You're my partner. Like it or not, I'm stuck with you. Plus, I'm chained to you."
He fingered his rosary.
"But… I don't want to see you like this. You're strong, yes?" Kamen meekly nodded her head. "Okay, then. Now stand up." She did so. "I won't say something like that again, I promise."
"Mom?" Inuyasha questioned as he knocked on his mother's apartment door. He frowned, holding the bag of fertilizer under his arm. It had taken him a couple of days, but he'd managed to get his mom some fertilizer for her blasted juniper plant. He tapped his foot outside the door and glanced around, trying to figure out why it was his mother was taking so long.
"Mom?" he asked again as he slipped her unlocked door open. Peeking his head in, he felt a sudden chill run down his spine. He frowned darkly and opened the door completely. "Mom?"
Dropping the bag of plant food on the ground he ventured in his mom's house, not bothering to remove his shoes. He checked the apartment, searching for a sign of his mother.
"Did you go out without bothering to call, Mom?" Inuyasha whispered to himself as he checked around for a sign of her keys or shoes missing. They were both still here. His worry began to creep around him. "Mom?"
As he turned a corner to his mother's small sitting room—the place where he'd undergone his transformation—he realized something was seriously wrong. The glass to his mother's house was broken, shards of the broken glass sprayed across the carpet.
His fear seized him as he saw the shredded curtains and knocked over furniture. His mother had struggled, but whoever had taken her had won the upper hand.
"Mom!" he called out, as if hoping she'd still be around. He dropped down to his hands and knees, mindful of the shards of broken glass, and sniffed around, searching for scents. He detected his mother's juniper scent instantly, his eyebrows furrowing as he detected another scent. He knew that scent.
He stood up, his golden eyes blazing. "Naraku."
"Hm, I'm impressed," a voice murmured behind him. He spun around, his golden eyes locking on the Ring Leader instantly. He sat, perched on his mother's counter, observing him with his dark red eyes. "You found my scent much quicker than I'd expected."
"You bastard!" Inuyasha snapped out, his fist clenching. "What did you do to her?"
"Such little faith in me, Inuyasha?" Naraku questioned. Hearing the leader of the demons speak his real name sent shivers down the half breed's spine. That, and the Ring Leader now knew what his human form looked like. He felt dread encase him in a deadly pall. "Rest assured that Miss Izayoi has befallen no harm… yet."
"You bastard," Inuyasha growled out.
"May this be a lesson to you, Inuyasha. Do not cross me."
"Naraku! Give her back!" Inuyasha screamed out as Naraku began to retreat. He raced after him, jumping off the balcony, while ripping off his concealment spell, and trying to run after him. Naraku was already long gone and he slammed to the ground. "Naraku! Give her back! Give her back!"
But Naraku was gone, and his mother along with him.
Inuyasha punched at the punching bag furiously, his claws digging into the soft fabric that held the bag up. The material spilled out, but he paid it no mind; he continued punching and shredding at the training device. How dare Naraku take his mother away from him? His mother had nothing—absolutely nothing—to do with this and he'd dragged her into it. Izayoi hadn't even known that her only son was a demon exterminator, walking the path of his elder brother and father.
"Sha," soothed a voice and he glared at Kamen, who stood on the opposite side of him, watching him silently. "You cannot allow yourself to be controlled by such anger. It will overcome you and rip you apart."
She sounded genuinely worried, but he was beyond the point of caring. "Shut up!" he snapped out. "How dare that stupid bastard take her away from me?"
"Sha… You must calm yourself down. You'll hurt yourself eventually," Kamen scolded, frowning at him. She grabbed his hands and her hands pulsed with warm miko energy. He felt the warm white light surround him for a moment before fading away like an ocean's wave. He sighed, feeling a small, artificial calm overtake him, caused by Kamen's miko powers.
He rubbed his head and plopped against the wall, sliding down the wall until he sat on the ground. "That bastard. If I'd known he would have taken my mother…"
"There was no way you could have known," Kamen soothed, sitting down next to him. He glanced at her and shook his head, bowing his head and hiding his emotional face from her view.
"I… know how you feel," Kamen supplied hesitantly, as if unsure whether to relay her information to Inuyasha. "I lost my father. A demon killed him."
"How long ago?" Inuyasha murmured.
"I was younger then. Fifteen, maybe?" Kamen sighed. "It was terrible. The demon killed him and almost killed the rest of my family. I got to watch." She seemed to become overcome with emotion because she clenched her fists and her lips became pursed. "I got to watch and I couldn't do anything to stop the demon."
"Wench…" Inuyasha murmured. "You couldn't have done anything. You were young."
Kamen nodded her head quietly, not saying a word.
They sat in silence for a long moment.
"I just… I can empathize. I lost my father because of demons… and your mother…"
Inuyasha stood up abruptly and glared down at her. He knew where she was coming from, but, he didn't need to hear it. "My mother is not dead."
Kamen stared up at him, and he could see from her body language that she was hesitant. She shifted and he felt her aura pulse. He'd grown better at reading her aura pulses to determine what it was she was feeling, seeing as how he couldn't see her face a majority of the time. She didn't believe him but didn't want to crush his small hope of his mother being alive.
He clenched his fist. "I will save her. I will kill Naraku."
Hours later, after he'd left the HQ and Kamen's silent pitying looks, Inuyasha walked slowly down the sidewalks. He didn't feel like running. Besides, the cops were out on patrol tonight due to a recent demon attack in the central part of the city. He opted to take the subway home.
The train spent a good fifteen minutes over the city instead of underground. He much preferred it that way. It offered the illusion that he was outside, feeling the wind in his hair. He wondered idly how he ever survived in such a crowded city like Tokyo up until now.
He sat on the train, alone in his compartment. He sat, his body hunched over and his fingers interlaced with one another. He stared out the window, watching the sun sinking towards the horizon. He sighed lightly, feeling his apprehension gripping him.
What if his mother wasn't alive? How could he save her when Naraku was impossible to find unless he wanted to be found? He growled to himself. He'd make Naraku pay for dragging his mother into this. He would pay dearly. And if anything had happened to his mother under Naraku's care, he would make Naraku's life a living nightmare, for sure.
As the train bumbled along on the train tracks, heading towards his neighborhood, the sun slunk behind the buildings and the horizon far beyond. Something tickled the back of his mind and he wondered why that was so.
The disgusting scents of the train seemed to dissolve away as he thought of his mother. What was she doing now? The brilliant sunlight seemed duller now, knowing that his mother was somewhere, perhaps dead or dying, and he could do nothing to stop whatever Naraku did to her.
He cursed Naraku's name several times. The train stopped to pick up passengers, but they didn't enter his compartment. He was glad for the solitude, mostly. He didn't want to be around others. He brooded silently, staring out the window with his lips pursed.
As the sun sunk beneath the horizon and shrouded the city in darkness—before countless city lights screamed to life—Inuyasha felt a pulse run through him. He gasped and stood up quickly, darting to the window and staring outside.
No moon.
He felt the change grip him like a metal vice. His first new moon. He remembered his mother's warning about losing his powers. He gripped the seat as he felt a pulse of pain scream through him. His body was reacting to the new moon.
The pain felt just like the first time he'd transformed. His body wasn't used to these transformations so obviously there would be pain. Would it always be like this? Inuyasha wasn't sure, but he didn't want to find out.
He gasped for air and fell to the ground, twitching on the dirty floor of the subway train. The train dipped underground, covering him in darkness. He gasped for air as the ripping pain coursed through him and his senses numbed.
In the wake of his transformation back to a weak human, he felt feeble and vulnerable. How had he survived without his demon powers?
It was a strange sensation having all his senses ripped unceremoniously from him. He was a human again, at least for the night. He was weak again, he realized slowly. His senses were dulled and he couldn't see anything in his train. A moment later the lights flickered on, and he was shrouded in light. But, unlike if he were a hanyou, the lights didn't burn his eyes. Instead, the gentle hum of the fluorescent lights above sent him a small comfort.
Maybe being a human, at least for one night, wasn't so bad?
Fifteen minutes later, after he'd left the train, his mind changed again. With his senses gone, he felt alone and lost in the big city he once called his home. He stared around, bewildered. The sights and sounds were significantly different now that he could no longer feel them in demon precision.
He began walking home. He could no longer jump. He was no longer strong. He was weak. A weak and pathetic human. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and shifted his lavender gaze downwards. Kicking a rock across the sidewalk, be began the long trek to his home.
His silent endeavor was interrupted, however, when a clawed hand slunk out, grasped his shoulder, and pulled him into the alleyway beside him. He yelped in surprise and slammed against the brick.
"You smell like a half breed…" the demon hissed, cat-like eyes staring at him in the darkness. A large mouth, brimmed with yellow fangs, opened in a large impish grin. "But you are a human. How delicious. I've grown terribly hungry for human flesh…"
Inuyasha squirmed, trying to get out. He kicked and fought, trying to put his human hand-to-hand skills to the test, but the demon knocked him aside. It wasn't that he was weak as a human. On the contrary, he'd been rather strong for a human before his transformation. Just the demonic powers he'd acquired had pampered him, in a way, and he was unused to the decrease in ability. In short, he was very much screwed. But that was his life. That was his luck.
"Let go of me, you son of a bitch," Inuyasha snapped out, trying to kick himself away from the demon. The demon chuckled and slammed the hanyou-turned-human against the wall. He gasped in pain and felt a throbbing pain spread from his head downwards. He felt blood drizzle down his back and knew that he'd cut his head.
A flash of white light erupted from their left. Inuyasha and the demon both turned their heads in time to see Kamen, her bow poised and the string quivering. "He said let him go."
Inuyasha's eyes widened and nearly called out her name before realizing that he was in his human form. Kamen wasn't supposed to know his identity, so she wouldn't. He stared at her instead, wishing he convey his gratitude to his partner. Kamen drew another bow from her quiver and pointed it at the demon.
The demon tensed. "What are you doing here, wench?"
"Release him," she said gravelly. The imp did as it was told and dropped Inuyasha from its large, withered hand. Inuyasha dropped to the ground, crumbling like a rag doll. His hand went for his head, bleeding.
"I've done as you told, now release me we—!" The demon's speech was cut off as an arrow pierced his skin and he burst into a thousand tiny white bits. Inuyasha had just witnessed the purification of a demon. He'd seen it happen before, but not so close.
He turned his attention to Kamen as the huntress approached him. He crept away, staring at her with wide mauve eyes. "You're a…"
"Demon hunter," she supplied. Inuyasha silently congratulated himself on a job well done in the acting department. He should have been an actor. But he was digressing from the real point here.
"You saved me," Inuyasha marveled.
She smiled at him and offered a hand. He stared blankly for a moment before taking it and allowing the huntress to help him out. She'd never done that when he was a half-breed. Did even Kamen regard him as evil when he was a silver-haired dog demon?
"I did. It's what I do," the girl agreed, her lips still curved in a smile.
"Thank you," Inuyasha quietly spoke, unsure how to respond to the huntress. It was odd acting like he didn't know her when he did. But she didn't seem to realize or recognize him, which was fortunate on his part. He didn't like the idea of Kamen knowing his identity without him knowing hers first.
"Be more careful," she said pleasantly before taking a step back. "I must go now."
"Um… right… bye," he spoke. She was gone before he finished his sentence. He sighed lightly and continued his journey home.
Why was it that Kamen treated him differently when he was a human? Was Naraku right? Did everyone regard him as an evil being? Satan's being? At first he'd liked to think that not all demons were evil. But even Kamen treated him differently depending on his form.
Was Naraku right?