The Chill Fury

Chapter 8

Sesshoumaru stared out at the midnight sky that was once again crying, through the large window that extended from the ceiling to the floor, on the second floor. His white clad form made him look like a specter every time lightning flashed outside.

"Sesshoumaru," a woman's voice called from the shadows that lead to another wing of the manor, where the guest bedrooms were located.

He had already sensed her approach and knew she had been watching him silently from the cover of darkness. He had kept quiet, not willing to engage himself in conversation with anyone, let alone the miko powered woman who had almost seen to his end.

"I didn't know who you were," Kikyo tried explaining. "That's why I…"

Sesshoumaru flicked his eyes to watch her emerge from the shadows.

"Who are you?" he asked as she came to stand a few feet away from him and stare out into the night like he was doing.

"I am Kagome's sister," Kikyo replied monotonously.

Sesshoumaru had his doubts about that; she behaved nothing like her sister! But he couldn't sense any deceit coming from her, so he took her word for it.

"Do you think we will hear from the FBI anytime soon?" Kikyo asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Hm!" Sesshoumaru smirked. "I doubt it. Either way, I am not waiting for them. First thing tomorrow morning I am going to go find Rin."

Kikyo turned her head towards him. "I am coming with you." she said firmly.

"Why would you want to do that?" Sesshoumaru asked suspiciously, turning fully to face her.

"I can't just sit around and wait to hear from someone. I want to do something."

"What makes you think I would be willing to take you?" he asked in cold fury.

"Rin is just as important to me as she is to you! I demand that you take me.."

Kikyo couldn't finish before she was backed up against the wall with a clawed hand holding her around her neck.

"You assume too much, Kikyo." Her name came out distastefully from his mouth. "I should kill you for what you tried to do to me. And now you are making demands…?"

Kikyo looked away from him, though her hands were wrapped around his hand that was choking her.

"I told you that I was sorry for that. But yes, I do demand that you take me with you."

She turned back to face him, and looked him straight in the eye.

"I love Rin very much, and I can't sit around and simply wait and hope to hear some good news. I need to do something, anything…"

Her voiced trailed off, and Sesshoumaru looked at her oddly when her tense body sagged in his grip.

He let go of her and studied her in silence. Kikyo rubbed her bruised throat and still kept her eyes averted from him.

Sesshoumaru finally turned and walked away, disappearing into the darkness. His last words however, hung around after he disappeared.

"…We leave at sunrise…"

After his figure disappeared into the darkness of the mansion, Kikyo turned back to look out the window.

'Be strong Rin… We are coming for you…' with those last thoughts, she too turned and left into the darkness, going back to her room to have a sleepless night.

……OOO……

Kikyo waited outside the front door to the manor. It was nearing sunrise but all the she could focus on was the darkness that still hung around at five thirty in the morning. She had fallen asleep last night. But had woken up not more than an hour later, sweating and panting. She couldn't remember the nightmare she had had, but she knew it had something to with Rin. She had sat up in bed and cried in silence till she finally got up to have a cold shower and get dressed.

Just as the first rays of sunlight cut through the foggy darkness, the door behind her opened. She turned around to see Sesshoumaru looking up at the rising sun. He was dressed in all white. White pants, a white long sleeved t-shirt, and on top, an expensive white leather coat that hung up to below the middle of his shin and white boots. The white turned a hued gold as the sun washed him in its light.

Kikyo felt a little uncomfortable wearing only black jeans and a black tank top with a red overcoat on top. She resembled something very close to the night and the darkness that it brought, while he looked like the light and hope of a new day. Her hair held back in a pony tail, with a little left free on either side, she felt jealous of his golden white hair that hung behind him perfectly.

Without so much as a word to her or even a 'Good Morning', he walked past her and headed toward the side of the manor where the entrance to the underground garage was.

Scowling at his blatant show of ignoring her, she silently followed behind him, thinking of ways to mess his hair up.

Kikyo had been in the under ground garage many times before. Her own car was parked somewhere with the mass of others. On her first visit to the underground car park, noticing the different vehicles parked about, she had learnt that the males of the Taisho family were all speed freaks. And papa and Inuyasha had their cars in their favorite colors too. All of Inuyasha's cars were a deep red, while his father's were all a dark blue. There were the cars that were for official use, like going to office and formal dinner parties, and they were usually black.

Looking past Inuyasha's red Ferrari, Kikyo saw Sesshoumaru walk further back into the car park. Kikyo's eyes widened when she realized the direction he was walking in. She had noticed that a part of the garage was sealed off with giant pull down gates. She had asked one of the drivers what was in there, and had watched nervously with when he went off into dreamland, his mouth watering at what he was thinking about. Kikyo had sweat-dropped and ignored the sealed structure after that. And now, Sesshoumaru was heading right towards it.

She quickly followed behind him.

She watched in silence as he punched in a code with demon speed, making it impossible to know what even the first digit was. Having punched in the code, he stepped back as the middle and biggest of the seven gates opened up.

Ceiling lights automatically switched on, revealing to Kikyo… a sea of white. She shouldn't really have been surprised. The elder son had a color too and it was pure shiny white. And again, not very surprising, he too was apparently a speed freak. But as little as she knew about cars, she noticed something different with all the cars that were inside.

It seemed that they were all designed for extreme speed, but all of them had the luxurious look and a refined elegance to them. They were what you could call the perfect half breeds. They were sport cars, but had the looks of car meant for style and luxury; perfectly built for both speed and good looks. Though she recognized many familiar models, they were all different and seemed unique of them. It was then that she realized that all of them were completely custom built. Each must have cost a fortune… not that the Taisho's couldn't afford it, but she rightly assumed that only Sesshoumaru would spend that much to get cars made the way he wanted.

Sesshoumaru headed straight for the middle row of vehicles and stopped at a simply beautiful Lamborghini Murcielago. He opened the door to the driver's side, and then looked at Kikyo impassively, wondering if the woman planned on getting in or just standing there all day.

Noticing his blank stare, Kikyo recomposed herself and walked to the only other seat in the car. She couldn't help but brush her fingers over the surface of the car before she looked over at Sesshoumaru as he got in. She soon followed his actions and seated herself in the rich caramel brown leather seat.

Sesshoumaru turned on the ignition and the car hummed to life, its engine purring softly, happy to have its' master once again.

Kikyo sat with wide eyes when Sesshoumaru slowly pulled the car of the garage and drove it down the dirt road towards the main gate of the manor. He was driving unbelievably slowly! She was sure that she must have passed out at sometime and this was just some freaky dream. She had on more than on occasion seen the way in which the males of the Taisho family drove their sport cars. She even once had the misfortune of sitting next to Inuyasha when they were driving back from the mall in his Ferrari when an Aston Martin cut across their path.

That had easily set off the gruff hanyou. Screaming obscenities at the other driver, Inuyasha drove like a madman or mad half-demon to put it more correctly. Kikyo wasn't afraid to admit that she too would sometimes unleash the horse power in her own car, but she had wondered whether it was demon horses under the hood of Inuyasha's Ferrari. The red car had run circles around the Aston Martin, and Kikyo realized that Inuyasha was actually a good driver, if not an excellent one. She accredited part of the reason for him being such a good driver, to his demon instincts. She had enjoyed it, a lot.

But here she was, sitting in one of the fastest machines in the world, surely the only one of its kind, and going as slow as a snail. Kikyo wondered whether there was something wrong with Sesshoumaru. He had been all powerful last night, but now he seemed to be as mellow as a kitty.

She sighed when they finally reached the front gate. Sesshoumaru stopped the car half way through and stared out at the sun that was still rising.

'This is going to be a slow day,' Kikyo thought. 'Rin might be under who knows what danger, and here we are, not even out of the manor's front gates yet.'

Sesshoumaru pulled out a silver framed shade and put it on.

Now Kikyo watched impassively as he turned to look at her. She had to admit, he looked damn hot like that. She put on her own cooling glasses and waited for them to crawl to where ever they were going.

A small bird landed on the road in front of them. Kikyo noticed Sesshoumaru watch it with interest. She couldn't help the yawn that escaped her.

The bird looked at the white car…

It chirped…

Sesshoumaru silently smirked…

The bird flapped its wings…

The roof of the car slid back…

The bird turned towards the rising sun…

Sesshoumaru placed his hand over the gear shift…

The Bird flew away…………

The white car roared!

Tires squealed with glee!

And the white car blurred out of the spot it was parked at!

Kikyo's scream got caught in her throat, as Sesshoumaru unleashed the power of the car. She could hear the engine singing, and with the corner of her eyes saw Sesshoumaru change gears like a child would go through candy drops.

Kikyo crushed the leather of her seat, as the car zipped through the road, leaving every other machine to see nothing but a disappearing mass of white. Sesshoumaru smoothly cut this way and that, overtaking cars in ways that were just impossible. But the car obeyed his every command.

Once they hit a long stretch of straight road, Kikyo received the opportunity to breathe. She realized then that Sesshoumaru was the super speed freak of the family. 'No doubts about that.'

She relaxed a little in the seat, and since there weren't any cars in the lane they were speeding along in, she looked to the right and watched the ocean that spread outwards. It was the only thing that wasn't passing by in a blur, so watching it helped her stomach settle down. Kikyo was really glad that she hadn't eaten anything that morning.

Composing herself for the second time within a ten minute gap, she looked back at the driver of the car. His long hair was flowing behind him like a white flag. She wondered whether it didn't hurt him to have his long, long hair whipping about behind him like that.

"Where are we going?" Kikyo finally managed to speak out.

Shifting into another gear, Sesshoumaru turned his head to look at her. 'So much for trying to ignore her.' He mentally cursed.

"Watch the road!" she screamed at him. 'He's worse than Inuyasha!'

She noticed the ends of his eyebrow disappear under the frame of his shades, narrowing his eyes.

Sesshoumaru shifted into another gear with his eyes still on her. He enjoyed the look of panic on her face, and the fear coming off her in waves. Payback was sweet. 'Try to kill me will you! Hm! See how you like this!'

"We are going to meet and old acquaintance of mine." Sesshoumaru looked back at the road only after answering her question.

Kikyo heaved a sigh of relief. 'Thank the gods.'

They drove in silence till they were well within the city limits. Sesshoumaru brought his car to a stop in front of a giant clothes wear gallery.

"Coming?" Sesshoumaru asked with an irritated look, when the woman kept sitting in her seat.

Kikyo once again trailed behind him as they entered the multistoried building. She sensed demons among the humans inside the shop. She frowned when she saw several of the employees, especially the demon ones, first narrow their eyes, then widen them in recognition, before backing away clumsily in complete fear of the InuYoukai in white.

"Stay here." Sesshoumaru said before, climbing a set of open stairs to what looked like a office on the second floor that overlooked the entire ground floor. The terrified employees turned their nervous looks towards her when Sesshoumaru let himself into the office.

Kikyo was about to sit in one of the cushioned chairs when she felt several aura's spike.

BOOM!

Kikyo twisted around in an instant to see a giant whole in one of the walls of the office, and what looked like a well built man, a demon for sure, with black glasses, go crashing into a display of boots.

THOOM!

Kikyo looked up to see another man flying out through the other side of the office.

CRASH!

The front of the of the office shattered as a short looking man crashed through it, flying over Kikyo and crashing against the wall of the building on the other side, before landing in a heap on the ground, having crashed into a display of children's swimwear.

Several screams and shouts were heard all at once as the customers ran outside the building. Some of the employees looked about nervously but otherwise remained frozen on the spot.

Still in a bit of shock herself, she noticed that the short man/demon was wearing an expensive looking suit.

'Must be the owner.' Kikyo thought.

Her eyes once again looked up to see Sesshoumaru standing in the whole in the wall. His face was calm and expressionless.

The first man to be thrown out, who she now guessed was part of security, recovered and sailed into the air, heading towards Sesshoumaru with a snarl.

Sesshoumaru didn't bother even looking at the approaching insect. He simply caught him by the throat, slammed into the fractured wall behind him, before tossing him to the side where the second guard was attempting to stand.

The short man crawled out of the mass of swimming trunks to come face to face with white boots.

"Sesshoumaru Sama… so what do you think of my shop?" The short man laughed nervously, before looking up at golden eyes.

Moments later he was struggling in the air with claws digging into his throat.

"It is not wise to play games with me." Sesshoumaru warned calmly.

"But Sesshoumaru Sama, I told you. I don't know anything about any kidnapping." The short man said as steadily as he could.

Moments later he was sailing through the air, upside down, before he crashed into another wall. 'Why did he have to come down from Japan? Oww… I think he broke my ribs…'

Kikyo stood in silence. She had seen Sesshoumaru's power last night, and what he was capable of when he was angry, not to mention how scary he was. She wisely decided not to interfere, feeling a little sorry for the short demon all the same.

Kikyo's eyes then widened when Sesshoumaru pulled out his sword from somewhere inside his coat. 'What the hell!'

She thought he had left his sword. 'Where did he hide it in his coat anyway? And how did he drive without taking it out. Must be some demon spell…'

She was driven out of her thoughts when she felt that very familiar power of the sword. Reliving last nights events, and the visions of the wall crumbling into dust and the earth being ripped apart, made the hairs on her neck stand on end. She wondered why, even though he used the sword, he didn't unleash the blast like wave that it seemed capable of releasing.

The short demon started sweating profusely.

Suddenly a few of the employees brought a bucket and a mop and cleaned the sweat around him, before disappearing again.

"Last chance." The short man started sweating even more at Sesshoumaru's two words, and the bucket and mop made another appearance.

"Y..y.y …you wouldn't kill me would you?"

Sesshoumaru smiled sardonically. The owner of the shop squeaked.

"Okay! Okay Sesshoumaru Sama. I'll tell you what I know."

Though the Taiyoukai lowered his sword, it still glowed a brilliant blue, daring she sweating demon to lie.

"I hear that a few demons in the fire-pit area, suddenly got a whole bunch load of cash and are buying a lot of expensive stuff. Maybe… maybe they had something to do with the kidnapping. I swear Sesshoumaru, that's all I know."

Sesshoumaru watched the man intently, before wordlessly turning around and walking away.

The last glare had made the man sweat again. The employees, who were cleaning up the sweat, quit!

Kikyo followed him out of the gallery and got back into the car. Sesshoumaru started the car, put the A/C on and sat silently, thinking.

"What is the 'fire-pit area'?" Kikyo's question brought him out of his thoughts.

"A place where lowlifes have made home." His voice was monotonous, apparently he was still half thinking about something.

"You mean like gangs and stuff?"

Sesshoumaru put his shades on and nodded. "Demon gangs."

"If you never came to America, how do you know all these things and how do you know to drive about in this city?"

"I did research last night and went through newspaper clippings. As for your second question, I studied something called a city map."

"Oh.." Kikyo felt a little foolish for not having thought of that, but in all fairness, it was pretty weird; to memorize a map, in less than a few hours.

"So are we going to this 'fire-pit area'?"

Sesshoumaru accelerated. "It's the only lead we have so far."

Kikyo slumped back in her seat.

"She'll be alright won't she?" she asked after remaining silent for a while.

"I don't know…" he replied, his tone held back a little. 'But I hope she is…'

And the car sped off towards the dreaded and feared, Fire-Pit Area…

OoOoOoOoOo

At a branch of the Tenseiga Corp. in America…

The man with the raven hair was once again staring at the little girl inside the cylindrical structure. She looked a perfect human, in every single way. The inside of her body was complicatedly built. But as human as she may have looked, she was still a machine… and a perfect android. Her empty almost soulless looking eyes had no story to tell; she was not human.

(ha ha ha ha hhaha ha ha ah ah ha ha)

The man started laughing maniacally for no reason at all. He was the evil bad guy, so he was allowed to do that.

After his perfected evil laughter died out, he reached into one of the pockets of his white pocket and pulled out a small black book, titled '101 Ways to be a Successful Villain – by Orachimaru and Kabuto.'

"Hmm… let's see… check, check and … 'untimely evil laughter…' check!" The man ticked off in the book, before replacing it carefully in his coat pocket.

"Well my pet, we are getting closer to our objective." His low tone rumbled in the dark atmosphere.

He then scratched his head. "… of-course I still don't exactly know what our objective is… but I can feel it. We are definitely getting closer to achieving it."

He was just about to turn around to leave when he thought he saw a small flicker in Kanna's eyes. He squinted his eyes, and looked harder. But when nothing happened, he turned around and walked away, thinking he had just imagined things.

Once Kanna was left alone again, the android's eyes sparkled……

"Ah – Ha!" Suddenly the raven haired man poked his head back into the room…

He looked at the android suspiciously, but when nothing happened, he frowned, shrugged and then left, this time for real…

A rat that was watching intently, ran towards the cylinder, and picked up a pocky that had fallen out of the man's coat.

The rat screeched and ran away, when the lifeless android submersed in the liquid… tilted her head down and blinked at it…………