Dark as Day
Chapter Thirteen
"Just as I suspected," Kamen murmured as she extracted a long trail of paper sprouting out of the printer. She scanned over the pages—at least, he assumed she had because of her tiresome goggles—and made tiny noises of agreement.
"What is it that you suspected?" Inuyasha asked casually, golden eyes watching Kamen's jerky movements. He sat, longing to be near her, watching her movements like a hawk.
They were in the process of analyzing the purple dart that had plucked Rin a couple days ago. When Kamen had showed up at headquarters with the dart, she'd weaved a rather believable tale about how the dart had been found in one of the Prime Minister's bodyguards. Of course, Inuyasha knew the dart was found in Rin.
Many times Inuyasha had wondered whether the dart had been meant for him. After all, he'd been right there next to Rin. Had the shooter had the slightest miscalculation in his aim, it would be understandable that he hit the little girl as opposed to him.
"There was a hallucinogen on the tip of this dart," Kamen announced, eyeing the purple contraption with a look of utter distaste. Inuyasha nodded slowly.
"And what does that mean?" Inuyasha asked slowly, watching for any strange reaction Kamen might make. Oh, how he longed to tell Kagome who he really was, too. He felt slightly mean keeping his identity from her when he knew hers.
"The official who was infected started convulsing and seeing things," Kamen instructed. A slight variation of what had truly happened, but Inuyasha understood what the hallucinogen had done to Rin. Rin often had dreams, something he was well aware of, and the hallucinogen could have easily transformed her happy dream into a terrifying nightmare.
"And you think the dart caused this?" Inuyasha questioned as he eyed the small dart Kamen was inspecting.
"I know so," Kamen told him firmly and continued to do more analysis with the dart. She was currently looking at a slide of the hallucinogen extracted from the tip under a microscope.
"I'll take your word for it." Kamen didn't seem to hear him; she was too engrossed in her work.
He watched her form silently, his eyebrows furrowed. After a quarter hour of silence, he finally spoke. "Why?"
Kamen paused in her work and sighed gently. "I'm not sure… But whatever it is, it's not good."
"Protected by the STARS Act," Inuyasha muttered as he and Kagome traveled down the sidewalk. They were currently entertaining themselves by counting all the STARS Act posters there were hanging on just one side of the street.
"That gets us up to fifteen," Kagome announced as she stared lazily through the window, silently admiring the clothes or merchandise she saw inside. She sighed lightly. "I don't really like the STARS Act."
"How come?" Inuyasha questioned as he counted off two more posters to Kagome, who announced their current standing of seventeen.
"They're stripping down our humanity with these laws," Kagome grouched out, crossing her arms and her blue eyes shimmering. Her blue eyes betrayed so many emotions; it was no wonder the girl chose to keep the orbs covered up when she was Kamen. "It's allowing the police and government to treat us like animals and break other laws that ensure our rights."
"It's sort of ironic," Inuyasha muttered as he counted off three more posters to Kagome—twenty.
"Why's that?" Kagome questioned curiously.
"That's how we treat the demons," Inuyasha said slowly, making sure they weren't passing one of the countless police men. If he did, he'd be subject to arrest for daring to discuss demons out in the open—yet another adjustment made by the STARS Act to 'ensure' public safety. He'd watched the news the night before to know that anyone who dared discuss demonic nature outside their home was automatically arrested.
"Maybe the government's too stupid to see what it's doing."
"Maybe," Kagome agreed, a frown quirking her lips downward. "I don't like it."
They turned the corner and started moving towards where Inuyasha's apartment was. Inuyasha and Kagome had been in the process of going to Inuyasha's for lunch. Despite the fact that Inuyasha had tried to tell the girl that his house wasn't amazing and he didn't really take good care of his home, Kagome had told him that it was only fair since she'd had him over to her house more than once already.
The scene that presented itself when they turned the corner stopped their plans for lunch in their tracks. There was a large crowd around the door of his apartment and he and Kagome moved cautiously forward.
Weaving through the crowd, Inuyasha grasped Kagome's hand and pulled her along after him. Once they'd made it to the front, Inuyasha saw the large STARS Act poster on the door leading inside and one of his neighbors fidgeting and stumbling over his words as he tried to talk to a police officer.
The officer wasn't alone. He stood tall, far taller than Inuyasha's neighbor and he had a couple of officers standing behind him as well, interrogating other members of Inuyasha's apartment building. Inuyasha swallowed and felt Kagome move beside him, staring at the scene unfolding before them curiously.
"I-I've told you, officer, I'm not a member of the taijiya," the man mumbled out, shaking in his shoes as the tall officer glared down at him. Inuyasha recognized the man. He lived across the hall from him and he was a nice, little man. He worked hard to support his family—a wife and a little son—and he certainly was not a taijiya.
"I'll ask you again. And this time, don't lie," the officer sneered, waving his hand so that it swept his jacket away from his side, conspicuously revealing his nightstick and a gun. Whether the officer had meant to do that as an intimidation tactic or he just hadn't noticed, it seemed to get the point across to the little man.
"We have evidence that you are in fact a member of the taijiya…"
"What evidence?" the man stumbled out, his eyes wide. "I'm not…"
"We are not liable to present this evidence," the cop said easily.
Inuyasha's neighbor shivered. "Please, I would never…"
"I thought I told you not to lie?" the officer asked again, his eyes narrowing.
"This is terrible," he heard Kagome mutter beside him. "He's not even trying to be fair."
Inuyasha nodded his head mutely; never taking is eyes off the pair before them. Other officers were moving along, shooing the crowd away. Silently, a good half of the crowd dispersed, leaving only a couple of stragglers standing in a mock semi-circle as they watched the police officers.
"I never would have guessed that Koji would be one of them," an elderly women whispered to her companion as they watched the officers and the man before them.
"He seemed like such a good man, too. It's a good thing that the police will take care of this," the second elder whispered back, their voices hissing like two snakes. Inuyasha felt his fists clench.
"I think we'll need to take you downtown for questioning," the officer muttered out slowly, his voice laced with the slightest twist of amusement. Fury surged through Inuyasha.
"No, please, I'm not…"
"Resisting arrest, are we?" The officer tapped his hand against his belt, patting his gun. To some, this may seem like a subconscious gesture as he gazed down at the balding little man, but Inuyasha knew better. He could sense the malice thumping through the officer's body. He could smell the man's delight.
The overpowering stench of his neighbor's fright was wearing thin on his senses. Koji was certainly innocent and the policemen weren't even trying to give him the benefit of the doubt.
'This is Naraku's doing…' Inuyasha realized snidely. 'He's trying to make me angry by doing this. That's got to be it.'
Inuyasha looked around hesitantly, searching for some sign of Naraku, as if the man would be sitting on a balcony some distance away and smirking happily to himself. But Inuyasha caught no sign of the prime minister nor did he see anything suspicious. But he knew that it was Naraku who had ordered the men here to interrogate Koji.
All around him different officers were interrogating each one of his neighbors. They were old, withered, and tired looking elders. They all looked terrified, but the other officers seemed to be far more lenient on them than the officer was with Koji.
They all looked like they were about to fall over and die of heart failure. Despite the fact that his neighbors were all withering old bats who enjoyed aggravating him about being too loud at night (when all he did was listen to his radio), and bothered him about being more respectable towards his elders, they were still his neighbors. They were still human. And they certainly weren't capable of being members of the elite demon exterminators.
Even though he knew that this was what Naraku wanted, it didn't stop Inuyasha from maintaining his temper.
Before he could stop himself, he released Kagome's hand and took a step forward. He heard Kagome's whispered protests about this, but he wasn't listening. He stepped toward the officer.
That one step seemed to be the wrong thing to do, however, because all the officers snapped their attention towards Inuyasha. The said dog demon swallowed slowly and glanced over his shoulder at Kagome, who was silently beckoning him back towards her with her blue eyes.
"You got a problem?" the tallest officer sneered. He turned his attention away from the trembling Koji and towards the black-haired man instead.
"Yeah," Inuyasha spoke firmly, his voice dropping a tenor deeper than normal. He swallowed again and stuffed his hands into his pockets to feign nonchalance while he was really clenching his fists to the point of his claws digging into his skin.
His lavender eyes swept over the scene before him again. "I do have a problem."
The officer seemed to not be inspecting that answer. "And why is that, boy?"
Inuyasha tilted his head to the side and glanced around. "You honestly think these people are members of the taijiya? They're old. Besides, he," Inuyasha turned to jab a finger at the man the officer had been interrogating and on the verge of arresting, "works in the grocery store down the street. You can even ask—"
"Be quiet boy," the officer snapped out, cutting Inuyasha's protests. "How dare you try to interfere with an arrest? That's a crime." The officer seemed to look over him before breaking out into a grin. "And you? Do you work at the grocery store?"
Inuyasha's brows knitted together. What was the officer getting at? "No."
"And you're certainly not 'old'," the man said slowly, his grin growing. Inuyasha didn't like the look the crooked officer was giving him. Whatever happened to relying on the police to protect you? At that moment, Inuyasha wanted nothing more than to run away from the men in blue. "So… by your descriptions… you must be a member of the taijiya."
'This is what I get for opening my big mouth, I suppose,' Inuyasha thought sourly, his lips twisting into a deep frown. 'And that's the stupidest logic I've ever heard, too.'
"Uh…" Inuyasha was cornered. He could deny it, of course, but something told him that just denying it wouldn't get the men off his back. The last thing he needed was some corrupted policemen. Terrific. "What are you talking about? Me? Hardly."
"You hesitated," the officer said breezily, grinning from ear to ear. Inuyasha glanced at Kagome hesitantly, but she seemed locked on what the policeman was saying. Could it be possible that she'd figured it out? Kagome was a smart girl, at this rate, it wouldn't take her long. In fact, he could be forced to do something drastic. Why did Kagome have to be here?
"I'm not a member of the taijiya," Inuyasha said firmly, with more conviction this time. "And neither are any of these people. We all work hard. I'm a student, I wouldn't have time to go and help demons."
He threw in the last bit of taijiya bias in hopes of swaying the man's suspicions. It didn't work. He continued grinning.
"A student, hm? A likely story."
"It's true!" This voice came from behind him and he watched Kagome step forward. She glared up at the officer, looking like she was about to run away or punch someone. "I'm his classmate."
"A weak alibi," the officer said indifferently. "You must be a member of the taijiya, too, then."
"What?" Kagome looked shocked for a moment and Inuyasha was about to jump to her defense when she started laughing. "I'm no demon exterminator!" she said between laughter. "Look at me? I'm small and weak."
Inuyasha did look at her. Kagome was a good actress, and it was true. She looked positively weak and skinny. Her long, slim body looked incapable of supporting any kind of weight. If he hadn't known for a fact that she was Kamen he would have to believe Kagome. The idea of her being a taijiya was absolutely ludicrous.
"That may be true, but your boyfriend here…" The officer glanced over his shoulder and signaled to his fellow officers. As they moved towards them, the tallest officer, the obvious leader, turned back to Inuyasha. "Get down on the ground with your hands behind your head."
"What? Why? Under what charges?" Inuyasha snapped out.
"Get down," the man said dangerously calm. "If you resist, you will be liable for jail time."
"On what charges?"
"You are in direct violation of the STARS Act," the officer said snippily, and jerked his head towards the ground, signaling for Inuyasha to move towards it. "You've complicated a police investigation and questioned our authority and intelligence."
The dog demon had never heard anything more ridiculous in his life. He glanced helplessly at the STARS Act poster behind the officers and silently cursed its existence. Then he cursed Naraku, because he knew that this was his entire fault.
"Get down," the man said again, "Before you're charged for resisting arrest."
Inuyasha slowly got on the ground and stayed flattened, placing his hands behind his head. A woman officer bent over and started feeling around his loose clothing. Inuyasha thanked whatever Gods out there that he wasn't wearing his taijiya uniform under his normal clothes, as he'd been prone to do (he'd had funny visions of him ripping his shirt off like Superman. He had yet to live this fantasy, though.)
He felt himself blushing as the woman moved her hands along him. Why couldn't they use a male officer? It wouldn't be as embarrassing… Realizing that that made him sound a little less than straight, even in his thoughts, Inuyasha quickly closed his mind and tried to ignore the feel of Kagome's eyes on him.
The officer stood up a couple moments later, holding a pair of keys. "To his apartment," she stated calmly and tossed them to her commanding officer. "We should inspect his apartment for incriminating evidence."
Kagome stood with her eyes wide and her body shaking. She hadn't known that the STARS Act entitled officers to cruel and unjustified treatment. And she didn't like it, for obvious reasons.
"You're coming with us," the officer commanded as he hauled Inuyasha up by the hem of his shirt. Inuyasha choked and coughed loudly when released, massaging his neck. The officers took no mind of the student's discomfort and continued forward towards his apartment. "Come, boy."
Inuyasha cast an apologetic look at Kagome before being forced to follow the officers. He saw Kagome try to follow only to be stopped by other officers that had stayed behind to interrogate the occupants of his apartment complex. The female officer and the tall officer pushed him up the stairs as they made their way to his apartment room. Inuyasha told them which door it was and watched as they unlocked his home and stumbled into his room.
His home was completely messy, one of his reasons not to bring Kagome here. He realized with some dread that his uniform was stuffed under his bed. The officers, if they truly planned to search his apartment, would find his taijiya uniform.
The two police men wasted no time. They started moving around his apartment, creeping about as if afraid that some demon would pop up from around the corner and attack them. They held him firmly by the shoulders for a brief moment before shoving him away as they searched his kitchen. Inuyasha swallowed. What was he going to do if they found his uniform? Would they arrest him? Or worse?
He didn't like the STARS Act, he decided, as he watched one of his plates fall from a cupboard the policewoman had whipped open and crashed to the floor. He decided again that he didn't like the STARS Act when his tea kettle was knocked to the ground and his refrigerator door was left open. He tapped his foot impatiently on the ground and considered darting to his room, grabbing his uniform, and making a mad break for the window.
He knew he wouldn't get far. All he could do was wait, it seemed.
After ransacking his kitchen and leaving a complete mess behind that rivaled even Inuyasha's ability to make messes, the two officers moved to his living room, where they upturned every cushion in his molding couch and checked in every nook and cranny.
Inuyasha's eyes darted to his room again. He was screwed. That was his luck.
With every passing minute they were approaching their final destination. Inuyasha felt the blood rush from his face. Should he kill the officers? Would Tokyo really miss corrupted and dirty cops? The answer was yes and Inuyasha wasn't sure if he could cope with killing two 'innocent' cops. They hadn't done anything to him—yet.
"Where are you hiding your weapons, exterminator?" the policewomen snapped out as she whipped her head around to glare at him. Inuyasha was taken aback by her abrupt questioning. He blinked slowly for a moment while he processed this information.
"Thinking up a lie?" the man asked and stood beside his fellow officer. They both stared at him with dark eyes burning with their hatred. They didn't even know him and they hated him. For one brief moment he thought that perhaps his sealing spell had slipped off. But no, his ring was still in place.
"No… I have no weapons…" Inuyasha said slowly, taking a step back when they both advanced on him.
"We know you're hiding them somewhere. It's best to come peacefully. I'm sure… arrangements can be made… down at the station. All you have to do is turn yourself over peacefully…"
"You think I'll turn myself in and snitch out people of some organization I'm not even a part of?" Inuyasha snapped out, quickly adding the last part.
The man's face darkened. "You're a lying bastard… and we're going to find you out."
Inuyasha stiffened slightly and suppressed a large growl that would certainly give away his species. Instead, he bit his tongue and watched the two continue to destroy his apartment. He knew that he wouldn't be able to sue them for anything. They were protected under the STARS Act. He was fighting a losing battle. Sooner or later they would enter his room, find his uniform and weapons, arrest him, and then…
He didn't want to think about it. He was jerked from his thoughts when the man grasped his shoulder and pulled him towards his bedroom. This was the moment of truth. He was as good as dead.
They threw things from his desk, sending his textbooks and his backpack flying. His lamp fell to the floor and the light bulb shattered. Inuyasha watched them, his lavender-eyed gaze wide and fearful. They were getting dangerously closer.
Suddenly, his window shattered and a figure jumped through the showering shards of broken glass. Inuyasha lifted his sleeve, shielding his eyes from the sudden burst of glass. When he uncovered his eyes, he was staring at the slim and regal form of Kamen.
He bit his lip to keep from saying her name. If the police officers thought he was in any way familiar with Kamen, he was as good as arrested, along with Kagome.
The two cops gaped openly at Kamen before the man whipped out his gun. He pointed it towards Kamen. "Put your hands up, taijiya. You're under arrest for conspiracy against the government and association with traitors."
Kamen didn't move; she grasped two darts, one in each hand. Her head moved a little as she observed the area around her. The cop kept his gun poised towards Kamen's chest.
"Get down on the ground," he commanded.
"Silence," the woman snapped out. The cop didn't seem to enjoy being commanded by a masked taijiya, and his furrowed brow and scrunched up face projected his disapproval of the situation at hand.
In a switch movement Inuyasha had come to associate with Kamen, she dove forward and dug the two darts into the two police officer's necks. They instantly collapsed to the ground. Inuyasha watched with muffled amusement as the man's head smacked against his desk. He officially loved karma.
"Er…" he stared at Kagome. What was he supposed to do now? He could tell her that he was Sha… but it didn't seem like the time. But pretending that he didn't know who she was seemed even worse.
"They're not dead," she informed him. "They won't wake up for a long while. They've both received huge doses of sleeping powder."
"Oh…" He paused. He might as well pretend that he didn't know who she was. "What are you doing here?"
"There have been a large number of disappearances in this area. I was sent to investigate it," Kamen said breezily.
'Damn, she's a good liar,' Inuyasha thought with wonderment. 'But then again… she doesn't know who I am, really, and she doesn't know that I know who she is. So, I suppose this is just a cover up. People have been disappearing a lot lately.'
"Oh," he said again.
There was a pregnant pause. "Why were they after you?"
Inuyasha blinked slowly and darted his eyes to his bed before sweeping them around his room to cover up the little slip up. It worked. Kamen didn't spare a glance at the hiding place of his uniform.
"They thought I was a demon exterminator," Inuyasha snorted and rolled his eyes. "And I defended my neighbor. They didn't like that." He gestured to the cops collapsed on the floor.
Kamen nodded mutely.
Inuyasha continued to inspect the cops on his floor. They'd wake up soon. But he wouldn't be here. And neither would his 'incriminating evidence'. When he looked up again, Kamen was gone.
"Reports indicate that fifteen people have gone missing this week. The strange and seemingly random disappearances are suspected to be in relation to the Demon Exterminators and the demons themselves." Inuyasha stared blankly at the television on the other side of the glass. His eyes read the subtitles without truly understanding what the words implied.
When he'd left his home a quarter of an hour ago to dispose of the cops in a sewer (he'd picked the location himself) they still hadn't awoken. He'd quickly packed up some belongings, including his uniform, into a backpack and ran away from his home. Once the cops woke up, they'd come rampaging to his home to arrest him, whether they had proof of his career or not.
The TV he was watching through the glass displayed an information hotline in case anyone knew of the whereabouts of the kidnappers and kidnapped victims. Inuyasha sighed and his breath fogged up the glass.
He'd wondered about where to go the moment Kamen had disappeared. His first thought was to go to Kagome's house. But he didn't want her to get in trouble. He also thought of his mother's abandoned apartment, but knew that that would be one of the first places they'd look.
He fiddled idly with the ring on his middle finger, the one that kept his true features at bay. With another suppressed sigh, the boy turned away from the television
He'd go to the headquarters once Sango was there, in the morning. She'd be able to keep him safe until his case died down. He'd probably just stay Sha from now on. His other identity, the only identity he'd possessed until his twenty-second birthday, was now completely destroyed and unusable. After tonight, Inuyasha Takahashi would disappear from this world. He would be Sha—only Sha—for the rest of his life, it seemed.
Despite his better judgment, Inuyasha found himself returning to his apartment. He entered nimbly, his knapsack sliding from his shoulder as he dug around through his fridge. His bedroom on the other side of his small hallway harbored the cool night air left from Kamen's abrupt break in. Inuyasha leaned against the wall and watched the way his curtains flapped in the cool night breeze. He crunched desolately on some dry cereal.
After his cereal was eaten, he fingered the ring on his hand. The band gleamed in the light above his head.
"Well," he spoke after a pregnant pause, shattering the calm silence that had fallen over his apartment. "Goodbye, Inuyasha."
With that, he slipped off his ring and his true image rippled into sight. His black hair transformed into the blazing silver of his demon heritage. Claws, ears, and fangs were visible now. His golden eye stared at himself in the reflection of his microwave.
"I guess I'm just Sha, now."
"Such a shame," a voice said behind him.
Inuyasha tensed and whipped around, his golden eyes locking on Naraku. The said man smirked sinisterly, his arms behind his back and his legs spread shoulder length apart. Why hadn't he realized that Naraku was near?
"What are you doing here?" Inuyasha snapped out.
"Just come to see how you're doing, that's all," Naraku said with a mirthless chuckle. He walked casually around his apartment, stepping on his fallen furniture and destroyed knickknacks the policemen had destroyed.
"Why did you send them here?" Inuyasha growled. "Why are you so keen on ruining the lives of innocent humans?"
"Innocent humans, Inuyasha?" Naraku asked causally. Inuyasha heard the underlying venom in the shape shifter's voice. "The innocent humans who are keen on killing you? On killing all demons? The innocent humans who are allowing the STARS Act to take place all over the world? The innocent humans who wouldn't bat an eye if I killed you right now?"
"So why don't you?" Inuyasha growled out, baring his fangs and narrowing his amber eyes.
Naraku chuckled. "You have no importance to me dead, Inuyasha."
"And why is that?" Inuyasha seethed, his eyebrows knitting and his face contorted in his disgust towards Naraku. The said man said nothing, simply observed him out of the corner of his eye as he moved along Inuyasha's destroyed apartment. "Answer me!"
"Why should I take orders from you?" Naraku asked casually, chuckling at Inuyasha's disgruntled expression. "You're nothing but a nuisance to me."
"Yet you're keeping me alive…" Inuyasha said slowly.
"Indeed."
"So why?" Inuyasha commanded.
"You've been hanging around Miss Kagome Higurashi lately, haven't you?" Naraku asked instead of answering Inuyasha's question. His dark red eyes glanced at Inuyasha before he chuckled and picked up a shattered photograph of a young Inuyasha with his mother.
"Why?" Inuyasha hissed out.
"Kagome's family is of great importance to me," Naraku said casually. "Her father was key for my plan six years ago. But he refused to cooperate. It was a sad day when I had to dispose of him." Naraku didn't sound like he regretted anything. "But my ice demon was more than happy to destroy him. "
"So you were responsible for her father's death?" Inuyasha growled out. He remembered Kagome's gorgeous blue eyes: The scars of a murder Kagome had committed.
Naraku chuckled. "Had her father been responsible with his priest powers, he would still be alive today. After he'd died, it seemed that my plan was ruined. But now…" Naraku paused to chuckle again. "Now father's precious little girl is displaying miko powers far greater than he."
"You're planning on using Kagome for something?" Inuyasha barked. "What?"
Naraku laughed again, lacking all mirth. "I hardly think it's fair for me to give away my plan to the likes of you, don't you agree?"
"It was you the other night… with the dart. You weren't aiming at me at all, were you?" Inuyasha's eyes widened. "You were trying to hurt Rin to get to Kagome, weren't you?"
"Let it never be said that you aren't a clever boy, hanyou," Naraku spoke slowly, his lips quirked in a smile.
"It will never work. Kagome will never bend to your will. You'll have to kill her first," Inuyasha said confidently.
Naraku was silent for a long time. He dropped the photo he'd been looking at and the frame shattered as it hit the floor. He frowned quietly, his red eyes flashing in the darkness.
"But will you let her die, Inuyasha?" Naraku asked.
His question seemed to shatter any resolve within Inuyasha. It felt as if he'd just gotten a sucker punch to his stomach. He couldn't breathe. He stared at Naraku wordlessly, his eyes wide.
Naraku's frown disappeared again. One eyebrow arched upwards and disappeared under his dark, wavy bangs.
"And now it seems that you've discovered why I'm here," Naraku whispered.
Inuyasha's golden eyes widened and he stood silently for a long moment. He swallowed the lump in his throat.
"It's me you want," he whispered, his voice a throaty, scratchy murmur in the darkness. "In the minister's office… you told me that you wanted me to give you what you want. It was me you were talking about, wasn't it?"
"Such a clever boy," Naraku said again, his eyes glittering. He smiled sinisterly, sporting his gleaming white row of teeth. Dark crimson eyes watched Inuyasha's reaction as he digested the disaster before him.
"I… won't."
"Ah," Naraku sighed. "Perhaps I overestimated you. Perhaps you truly are an idiot." Naraku's eyes narrowed. "You will do as I command."
"I won't," Inuyasha said more firmly this time.
"If you don't… I'll ruin you. I'll destroy the three most important things in your life."
Inuyasha pursed his lips and glared at Naraku.
"I'll start with your mother…" Naraku said and laughed. Inuyasha resisted the urge to charge Naraku right then and there. The malevolent man continued, however. "Then I'll kill your precious partner, Kamen."
Naraku laughed. "Then I'll kill her. I'll kill Kagome."
He loomed over Inuyasha. Inuyasha hadn't even realized the shape shifter had moved. "And I'll make you watch her die slowly. I'll make you watch as the last breath of her life escapes her and she turns cold."
Inuyasha clenched his fists and threw a punch at the Ring Leader, who dodged it with an adroitness only obtained from years of dodging.
"I wouldn't get me angry if I were you, Inuyasha," Naraku laughed. "Do you not think I'm serious? Do you think that I won't kill your loved ones?"
Inuyasha was shaking—whether from terror or suppressed rage, Inuyasha wasn't sure. He clenched his eyes shut and his whole body tensed. It took all he could not to launch himself at Naraku and kill the prime minister. He knew that he would lose. He knew that he didn't stand a chance.
'I told myself that I wouldn't let this happen. But what can I do? I can't go with Naraku because then I'll be betraying Kagome. But if I don't go with Naraku… he'd kill mom, and Kagome. What can I do?'
The only comfort he received was that Naraku didn't know that Kagome and Kamen were one and the same. But this slight advantage was overshadowed by the impending terror that stood only a short few feet from him.
Inuyasha gritted his teeth. What could he do? Naraku would destroy everything he found important and everything that he loved. He was backed into a corner. There was only one thing he could do.
"You won't hurt them?"
"If you join me, they will be unharmed," Naraku replied.
Inuyasha clenched his eyes shut again, wishing that there was some way that he could get out of this. Wishing that there was someway that he could save his mother and Kagome without bending to the Ring Leader's wishes.
He would save them. He would save them no matter what. Even if he had to destroy everything but them, he would protect his family. He would protect the ones he cared for, the ones that believed in him.
He sighed and bit his tongue, feeling his fang almost pierce the muscle.
"Fine…"
"Inuyasha?" Kagome called as she knocked on the door of Inuyasha's apartment. She checked the number again to make sure that it was indeed Inuyasha's home. She only knew where he lived from the outside, where she'd shattered his bedroom window yesterday.
She paused and knocked again. "Inuyasha, are you home?"
Perhaps he'd left? It was all over the news that the two cops Kagome had poisoned were found in a ditch on the other side of Tokyo. She'd been sure to infect them with long lasting sleeping powder as well as a mild poison that restricted the throat. The two cops wouldn't be able to speak of what happened for a long while. Until then, Inuyasha was safe. She'd assumed that he would call her. They'd been going out steadily for the past week and everything. But…
She knocked again and dared to try the door. It wasn't locked, which surprised Kagome. She inched the door open and peeked inside. Her blue eyes swept over the destroyed apartment. Inuyasha hadn't even tried to fix it up from the interrogation from the police.
She opened it completely inside. "Inuyasha?" she called out. "Are you here?"
She slipped off her shoes and fixed a nonexistent wrinkle in her sky blue sundress. She was worried about him. She stopped by to make sure he wasn't hurt. She almost wished he wasn't here. That meant that he was safe somewhere and waiting for everything to die down.
She turned the corner from the foyer and into the living room. She was shocked to see Inuyasha and nearly jumped out of her skin. He was standing in the middle of the wreckage of his apartment, staring at the large, shattered window in his living room. Who else had broken in? Or had the police done that as well?
His back was to her but when she entered the room; he slowly turned his head, glancing at her over his shoulder. He stared at her for a long moment, his lavender eyes seeming to pierce her soul. His face was apathetic, lacking all emotion.
Slowly, he turned completely and faced her. Kagome stood hesitantly, fiddling with her fingertips as she grasped the hem of her sundress.
"Are you okay?" Kagome whispered with her blue eyes wide. "Did the police hurt you?"
He shook his head mutely. Kagome bit her lip, and hesitantly ran her fingers through her long, wavy black hair.
"Are you okay?" Kagome asked, taking a step towards him. Her socked feet padded across his floor and she reached out a hand to brush his bangs affectionately away from his forehead.
He took a step back away from her. "Don't touch me."
The three words seemed to burn Kagome and she stopped abruptly, extracting her hand and cradling it against her chest as if he'd truly just burned her. She stared at him as if she'd just been scandalized.
She lowered her gaze to her feet before looking back up at him, looking like she was on the verge of tears.
"What happened? What's the matter? Did they hurt you?" Kagome asked, hoping that that was the reason he'd just shunned her and not because he was repulsed by her touch.
"It doesn't matter," Inuyasha sighed and looked away, his violet eyes staring out the window and catching the rays of the sunlight streaming through. Kagome bit her lip again.
"It matters to me," Kagome insisted.
"It shouldn't," he snapped out, returning his attention to Kagome's form. He towered over her, his body tensed and his fists clenched. He looked angry. "I don't care about you, so I don't know why you care so much about me!"
Kagome gasped and took another step back, her leg bumping against an upturned coffee table. She stared at him in complete horror. Her blue eyes were glowing sadly, and she looked like she was desperately fighting back tears.
"What do you…?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Inuyasha snorted. This wasn't like the Inuyasha she knew. What could be wrong with him? "I don't like you. You're a nuisance and you're always in the way."
"No… I'm…"
"God, woman, how dense can you be?" Inuyasha laughed mirthlessly. He closed his eyes, shielding the image of a depressed Kagome. "Don't you see that I only wanted you for…?"
"Don't say it." Kagome whispered, stopping him. "You don't mean that."
"You really are stupid, aren't you?" Inuyasha murmured, reopening his hard, lilac colored eyes. "You wouldn't give me what I want, and I'm tired of waiting."
"But I thought…"
"You thought wrong," he cut her off. "I only wanted a lay. But you wouldn't give it to me. And I don't want to wait."
Kagome fidgeted, tethered between believing his words and trying to disprove the obvious delusion he'd weaved himself in. She buoyed on the surface of her turmoil.
"You don't mean that," she said again, though this time with much less conviction.
She heard Inuyasha sigh again. The kind of sigh a mother uses with a tiresome child. Kagome ducked her head, not wanting to see the look on the man's face.
"You don't know me, little girl. Go home."
Kagome lifted a hand and shamefully wiped a tear away from her clouded blue-grey eyes. The shining orbs were dulled with her conflicting emotions and the crush of his harsh words.
"I…" Kagome sighed in defeat. "I never knew you were one who enjoyed suffering, Inuyasha. I thought you were different from the other guys." She felt dirty and Inuyasha's cruel words only added more salt to her wounds. "I thought you cared."
"You thought wrong," was all Inuyasha said. He turned his attention away from her again. The sunlight danced off his silky black hair, and he almost looked angelic. If Kagome didn't know any better, she would have thought he looked positively charming and handsome in the sunlight of the day.
She took a step away from him and couldn't control the tears in her eyes again. She ran quickly from him, only pausing to slip on her shoes and run from the room, slamming the door shut behind her.
"I hate you!" echoed down the halls, muffled by the heavy wood between the two.
Inuyasha turned his attention back to the door that had just slammed shut. Had Kagome looked up when she was speaking to Inuyasha, she would have seen the truly and undeniably tortured look on his face as he spoke to her. In the wake of her departure, he felt empty and dirty.
"I'm sorry…" he whispered and slipped off his ring again. Naraku had made him wear it for the occasion. He ducked his head, his now silver bangs shadowing his woebegone eyes.
Naraku slunk out from the shadows, his presence sending a shiver down his spine. A certain darkness seemed to fill the room.
"It's time to go, half breed," Naraku spoke coldly. Inuyasha nodded silently, turned towards his new master, and moved towards him. Naraku chuckled mutely to himself.
As the two slowly sunk back into the shadows, Inuyasha's thoughts focused on only one girl. A girl that he cared for almost too much. Silently, he called out to that sobbing girl and wordlessly begged for her forgiveness.
'I'll save you, Kagome… but please… please try and forgive me.'