Wow….LONG time since an update…nervous laugh Well, sorry guys, is NOT one of my fortes, as you can see. Exams, homework…you know the drill pretty well. I've decided this time to try something new: BLOOPERS! (you'll be seeing that in the next chapters.)
Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing, and for your patience with my bad writing and my inconsistency in updating things.
THANK YOU!
…..
Enough excuses and hyperness, on with the story:
0o0o0o0o0o0
Ch. 7
"Deck the halls with bows of holly
Tralalalala, la la. La. la.
'Tis the season to be jolly
Tralalalala, lala. La—"
BAM!
Sesshomaru allowed himself to smirk into the pillow as his radio alarm clock gave one last beeping sputter before leaving this world, its body melting from his acidic claws. He gave a small groan, pulling his arm back into the comfort of the bed.
Stupid Christmas in July specials…
"C'mon, you big lug." He knew the voice anywhere. Usually it would have brought him the sheer joy of being with his mate, but at this moment in time he just wanted the nice, warm bed.
But then again, the nice warm body she had given him last night wasn't that bad either.
He pretended not to hear, making the pissed wind sorceress come over. Kagura rolled her eyes, whipped back the sheets, and then proceeded to spank his bare butt.
Sess grunted in surprise, but rolled over. A small smirk played at the silken robed sorceress's lips as she walked over and whispered in his ear "Get some underpants on, nudist."
A soft growl escaped his lips as he got up and pulled on some clothes, his feet trudging slightly as they lazily thumped the floor.
He slipped into some plain blue boxers as quickly as he could with only one arm, tassels of silver hair swaying as he moved about. A simple tank top soon followed, the usual feeling of slack on the left side as it slid over his head.
The dog demon turned towards his dresser, and a very queer sight would have met someone's eyes:
His left arm was just sitting on the dresser top. Then again, it DID have to recharge now and again…
A quick glance at the stump of what was left of his original left arm constantly reassured him of the loss that his younger brother had caused him. But then again, if he hadn't, he never would have been able to "integrate" with this new world so well.
He sighed as he stepped over to his arm, and gritted his teeth slightly as the probes stuck into their sockets with a loud snap. Why hadn't anyone figured out how to make that less painful?
He flexed the arm experimentally: perfect. Nearly as strong as his right arm, and as fluid as any natural arm could ever hope to be. The acidic blood natural to his body began flowing through it, and a slight flush of color appeared in the arm.
Such an interesting universe the world had become, he thought suddenly.
The scent of water vapor and soap wafted into his nose, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see steam coming from the bathroom. Kagura was always quick when it came to showers, at least compared to him. Not that either of them were more or less vain than the average person: it was all a matter of hair length.
His father took two hours to dry HIS hair, after all.
There was a loud honk outside from a pissed car driver, and his triangular ears caught the vaguest traces of cursing in the air.
Some people just never learned…
The dog demon cracked his neck, his silver hair flipping slightly, and walked over Kagura's dresser.
Typical…she had left a bra lying on top of it.
Or had he thrown it there last night? He couldn't be sure, but then again at this point it didn't really matter much.
He picked it up and tossed it into a hamper casually, and continued sifting through the miscellaneous (under)garments until he came to their planner, a small little blue book with a long claw mark on it.
If one were to open the book, one would have seen the slashes went right through Christmas day. He sighed. Even after being alive for over 1000 years, his anger still got the better of him…
He opened the book carefully, and opened it to the current date, and sighed.
There, scribbled in big letters, was a message from his father:
"Tell Kouga."
"Bah," Sesshomaru muttered, his golden eyes narrowing slightly. His father enjoyed these things no more than he did. Which was probably the reason it was HIS job, instead of his father's…
Bah. No point in ruining a perfectly good day. The Tetsaiga was in its holder hanging on the wall, hanging peacefully as it had been for the last ten years or so. The defender of man would not be needed today, Sesshomaru decided. It almost never was…most demon-related crime incidents were usually resolved peacefully.
The great Inu no Taisho made most of THAT happen…he was the most powerful demon in existence, in this or any time: anyone stupid enough to challenge him DESERVED to die…
He was the strongest demon of all time, except perhaps, Naraku; but that bastard had dissolved into dust with Inuyasha's Tetsaiga. He'd never come back.
He sighed once more. This was too much thinking for the morning, and the shower water had just stopped, signaling the end of Kagura's shower. The cold water would most definitely clear his head for the day to come.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
This sucked. This royally sucked.
Shippo grunted half in frustration and half in boredom as he waited for Kouga to dress.
Stupid Sesshomaru…putting jobs he didn't want to do himself on HIM…
For the umpteenth time an exasperated sigh escaped his lips, his green eyes looking with utter boredom towards the bathroom door. His bright green shirt was slightly rumpled from lack of folding correctly, and his pants, once a kaki color, had been dyed blue according to his personal preference.
A preference which no one else seemed to understand.
His hair was in a low pony-tail, bushing out in all directions nearly as much as his fox tail (now concealed in his pants) usually did. He blew a light raspberry at the situation.
Why wasn't Ayame doing this?
"Kouga, are you sure you don't need help in there?" The kitsune called. How hard was it to zip up a pair of jeans?
"I can take care of myself, kid!" the answer came out ragged through the bathroom door. "I'm older than you are, after—"
RIP!
Shippo sighed again. "Do you need ANOTHER pair?"
The wolf demon didn't reply, but instead the door opened slightly, and his right arm snaked out.
Another grunt of boredom, and the fox demon tossed another pair of jeans from the pile next to him (which was now very low) to the outstretched hand.
As soon as he had caught it, Kouga's hand snatched it inside quickly, and more grunts and sounds of exertion started coming from within.
A heavy thumping coming down the hallway heralded the arrival of Inu no Taisho as he walked towards the source of the noise. The great dog demon's eyes glinted with merriment as he snorted good-naturedly in amusement.
"Adapting?"
Shippo didn't even look up as he spoke, the same bored expression never leaving his complexion. "Nope."
Kouga's voice came muffled from within. "Urg! (pant, pant, pant) Argh! Oh, come on! Stop being so tight!"
"Help him with his…clothing issues, and then I will do the job I asked of my son."
"(Pant, pant) Arbvf! Bah…Uhn…Agh…"
Inu no Taisho's nose wrinkled slightly. "It would be best if I did it, I think."
The fox demon did not perk up as one would have expected, but a slight smile came to his face. "Thanks. I was started to get tired of the noises coming out of there…"
"Uhn…urf…uhn…ARRGGHH!"
"It sounds like he's in heat…" Then, with a smirk, "Bet Ayame would enjoy it…"
"Ayame is not meant to have him, if the prophecy is true, Shippo. You know that."
The fox demon blinked, then turned his gaze towards Inu no Taisho with a puzzled expression. "Then why give her the beads of subjugation?"
"We need SOME way of keeping him in check, at least until the time arrives." The dog demon suddenly smirked. "Besides, it's at least somewhat humorous."
Shippo rolled his eyes. "Of course…"
"What? I may be old, (eons old) but I still have a sense of humor…"
At this the fox demon almost outright laughed. "Whatever you say, my lord… Whatever you say."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Batou, what does 'I want to bang you' mean?"
If Batou had had normal eyes, he probably would have blinked a few times to try to gather what was going on, then promptly rolled them at the high-pitched voices. Nonetheless, his expression was quite quizzical, then turned to a stern frown.
"Tachikoma, get off the internet!"
A slight sigh, before a muffled "yes, sir," and a loud click reached his ears, signaling the end of the internet time.
Batou huffed, then returned to his work on his own tachikoma. --Ishkawa, what have you let the metal bugs into THIS time?--
--Why do you always blame me?--
--Why else do you think?--
There was no response over their connection except for an amused huff, and Batou's frown deepened slightly. A whole month. A frickin' whole month without any activity at all…this job was becoming insanely easy, but that's not what anyone wanted. He had actually resorted to working on an old car for something to do…
They wanted some action, and the fact that they knew they had to wait in order to get some was incredibly trying.
He growled under his breath, half at his situation and half at the fact that he had just accidentally snapped the wrench he was using in his anger. Forcing himself to calm down, he looked up at the approaching sound of Togusa's approaching footsteps.
"Any luck?"
"With what?"
Togusa smirked, tossing Batou a canned drink. "Finding something to do, of course."
"Very funny, Togusa. We're all roaring in laughter," he said sarcastically, reaching for another wrench.
"How can you be roaring and laughing at the same time?" one of the Tachikomas asked.
"It's an expression, Tachikoma. Don't worry about it."
"Okie dokie artichokie!" The metal bug made a sort of awkward salute to him, the thuds of the robot and his comrades walking out of the garage dissipating.
--Ishkawa!--
--It wasn't me!--
Togusa shook his head somehow both sadly and in annoyance. "It's a good thing those bugs grow on ya…"
Batou scoffed. "You can say that again."
He looked up at the ceiling as if appealing to the heavens. He hoped desperately that there would be some action soon, otherwise everyone was going to go crazy…
0o0o0o0o0o0
"You want me to WHAT?"
"Race me."
Kouga couldn't believe his ears.
Inu no Taisho just smiled.
The wind was blowing slightly over the rooftops of the city, the sunset in the distance growing dimmer by the minute.
The great dog demon's eyes opened, golden eyes glinting in the dusked light. "You have questions, I have answers. But just telling them to you is rather bland, wouldn't you agree?"
Kouga blinked in confusion. Was this really the "great dog demon" who had been ranked so highly by Sesshomaru and the mutt? This cheeky entity?
Taisho smiled even wider, his face threatening to split from the Cheshire cat impersonation. "If you want the answers, I'll be more than happy to give them to you, but you'll need to catch me first."
And with that, he took off.
Kouga snorted. He didn't really have time to think about how abrupt it was for Taisho to just summon him to the top of a building and then challenge him to a race…after all, he hadn't even been told where the "end" of this race WAS, at any rate…
Taisho skipped across the buildings, hands behind his back, tuxedo and silver hair fluttering in the wind, almost daintily.
Kouga plowed along, jumping from building to building, his own hair back in his old high-rise ponytail. He wasn't wearing his furs, partly out of getting tired of Ayame's "sit" commands and also he was finally noticing people's stares at him.
For some reason, he was starting to hate being so unique…
He heard screams below from the few people who saw them jumping over the huge gaps between buildings. They soared above the people and unhorsed carriages…cars, they had been called…as they streaked from building top to building top. In front of him he could see the silhouette of Taisho getting closer.
Kouga knew deep down that he could probably catch up fairly easily if he used the jewel shards in his legs, but a new thought occurred to him.
Taisho is testing me.
If it was a test of strength he wanted, then so be it. Kouga's legs glowed for a moment, and his speed doubled, Taisho's rapidly approaching form seemingly unnoticing.
Almost got him…
Taisho abruptly turned around, a slightly arrogant smirk on his face as he soared over another street.
Pausing in midair, he waved warmly, then dropped like a rock, landing on a car going at insanely high speed. Kouga veered his course down towards the sidewalk, landing in a three point stance and cracking the sidewalk a little.
People around him, predictably, screamed, but he paid them no notice. He wanted answers, and he wanted them NOW.
He leapt onto a passing car, then hopped from car to car, trying to catch up with Taisho.
Taisho looked back at him, and waved warmly again.
That just got Kouga pissed.
He growled loudly, leaping from car to car and almost reached Taisho: until, that is, the dog demon leaped upwards, ricocheting off of a nearby building, launching off into the distance.
Another growl, this time more of a dull roar, escaped Kouga's lips. This stupid dog demon was just playing with him.
He too launched upwards, legs glowing again slightly. They were easily half of a kilometer up in the air, Taisho seemingly leaning back and relaxing on the wind.
"Peaceful up here, isn't it?" the demon called back. "Almost makes you feel like you're flying…"
Kouga growled. "I know that you're toying with me! Just get to the point, will you!"
Taisho seemingly sighed in disappointment, but he complied and pointed downwards at a building, then plunging downwards.
Kouga followed, obviously pissed at this whole ordeal.
Taisho landed lightly on the building, the same smile painted across his features.
Kouga landed with a thud that shook the whole building, cracking some of the tiles.
"You sure know how to make an entrance."
Kouga scoffed. "Enough of this! You give me the answers, or I'm gonna pound the answers out of you!"
Taisho laughed lightly. "Always so pushy…you remind me so much of Inuyasha…"
"I'm nothing like that half mutt! I could beat him right now if I wanted to…" the wolf demon shouted haughtily.
"If he wasn't dead, that is…" the dog demon muttered.
"What?"
Taisho sighed, and an amazing transformation took place across his features. The lines on his face seemingly deepened, eyes more set back and duller than they had been a moment ago. He had suddenly aged the human equivalent of 10 years.
"Kouga, Inuyasha and his friends have been dead for over 500 years…"
The wolf demon stood dumbfounded. He opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out but a slight squeak.
"Inuyasha used the ultimate attack of the Tetsaiga, which is why everything is the way it is now."
"Huh?"
"Naraku was attempting to suck everyone into a future where he ruled and could 'take care' of them easily, which is why you are here now. However, Inuyasha used the Tetsaiga to stop him, ripping open the portal to the afterlife…"
Realization dawned on Kouga's face. "Which is how you are alive now…"
"The ultimate technique of the Tetsaiga is unmatchable, and you cannot control whether it happens or not: it just DOES. Even the dragon twister would be not match for it, however it kills the wielder of the sword."
Kouga hung his head. So Inuyasha had gone out with a bang, huh? HE had been the one to kill Naraku, not Kouga. HE had gotten all the glory, the eternal legends of his name etched into time…
"What about Kagome?"
"Died with him. The combined might of a miko and the Tetsaiga was too much for Naraku, and he was banished in the netherworld for the rest of time."
"She's…dead…?"
"I'm afraid so…" Taisho said sadly.
"I…never go the chance…to…say…goodbye…" Kouga's fists clenched at that moment, his claws digging into his palms.
"What of the others? My pack? The demon slayer and that one monk?"
"The demon slayer and monk are also dead, though from old age. However, I do have something that I think will help cheer you up…"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Kouga was lead through the doors of the hotel once again, head hung low. He felt like such a little kid, but maturity wasn't one of the things that was high on his list at the moment.
Kagome…dead? It couldn't be!
He almost shuffled through the hallways as he was lead through the indoor expanses and mazes of the building. The wolf demon had condemned himself to be sad for as long as he was alive: what else was there to do when the sole love of your life is dead?
"Kouga, look up." Inu no Taisho commanded gently.
Seeing no reason to fight against him, he sluggishly raised his head, his unshining eyes absorbing the incoming surroundings.
"Hakkaku…Ginta?"
For the very first time in his life, Kouga could feel tears coming to his eyes. But not for any sorrow for Kagome or even the mutt (he never would have admitted it, but he did think of him almost as a brother rival). No, this wasn't for sadness in the least…
His two brother demons tackled him to the floor, laughing and crying all the way as they landed in a heap.
Kouga looked up at them, tears against his will spilling out on either side of his face. He looked up at the ceiling, and at that moment, he didn't see the ceiling of the hotel, or even the sky.
For that moment, however brief, he saw the stars, smiling down on him like his father and mother did so many years ago.
Maybe his father was smiling at him right now…
A slight smile carved out his features in that moment. No matter what the stars had in store for his life, he could enjoy this moment.
No matter how brief it was.
0o0o0o0o0
A man with no name was walking down the street. And he was not a happy man.
His left arm dysfunctional due to a recent street fight with a stronger cyborg, a long gash across his face, half of his hair missing, and other such injuries made it easy to determine that the man with no name had had a very hard life.
He stumbled down the dark alleyways of the city, a few dumpsters "jumping into his way" as he tried to innocently walk through.
The man with no name kept on stumbling, a small spurt of blood landing on the pavement next to his foot. Disregarding the pains in his left arm, he kept on walking, even when he bumped into another dumpster and he threatened to pass out from the pain.
Do you want power, lost soul?
"What?" The man with no name looked about frantically.
Or perhaps a new body to replace the pathetic broken one you now possess?
The man with no name nodded against his will. Yes, he wanted power and perfection more than anything else…but… "Who are you?"
There was a laugh in his head. Gentle, yet it still excited and scared him out more than anything else that he had ever heard.
You may call me…Sou'unga…
0o0o0o0o0o0o
Whoo! Man, I HATE school… stupid taking up time-ness… (Growls)
I promise to update as soon as possible, and my spring break is in only two weeks, so it might not be…(looks at calendar)…4 months this time…
I would like to personally thank everyone who reviews my story, and sadly I don't have time to reply to each of them now individually, but I will try to start using the "review reply" thingy that they installed while I was out of commission.
I'm still having a blast writing this story, so please review, any critiques accepted!
Dak