Mocha Latte
-Kitty
Chapter 16: Push and pull
It was like the transition of breaking through the surface of water and entering the medium of air. Stepping through the doors, he felt the spell ripple through him, assessing him, before letting him pass through, releasing him slowly like droplets tumbling off his skin. Cautiously, he glanced around, searching first for threats, then simply for direction on where to take the frightened ghost now clinging to his hand. The interior was as nondescript as the exterior, a generically decorated foyer leading to an elevator, and a sign, and very little of anything else. There was something strangely desolate about the space, urging him to step through it and seek out his destination with expedience. Stepping forward, he squinted at the printed lettering.
'Shikon Guardians Private Detectives, Floor 2.'
Faintly visible and shimmering in his eyes, more print below it.
'Nonhumans, Floor 3.'
Snorting slightly to himself, he squared his shoulders, pressed the call button for the elevator, and glanced down at his unexpected new charge. The young frail figure stared up at him, anxiety written into the small face. He tried to soothe the fear he saw in her eyes, though succeeding only in a small half smile before the elevator doors opened. The jittery metal cage clearly needed to be serviced and it clanged and banged loudly before its doors opened on the third floor. Blinking, the pair of them stepped out.
"Welcome to Shikon Guardians! How can I help you?"
Inuyasha glanced up and around, surprised by the hustle and bustle of the office space, bizarrely casual and disinterested in the half demon and ghost that had just entered. The receptionist stared at him expectantly, clearly waiting for him to answer.
At a loss for what he should say, his lips landed on the only thing he wanted at that moment.
"Kagome," he said, "I need to see Kagome."
The receptionist frowned, giving him a skeptical look.
"Do you have an appointment?"
"Uh… not exactly."
The woman peered at him through thick lensed glasses, her eyes sharp as she stared him up and down. Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end as his senses picked up on the low buzzing energy guarding the building. Curious eyes behind the receptionist's desk glanced up from their cubicles and he felt his nerves begin to fray down to a dangerous level.
"Look pup," she said, evidently seeing straight through the concealment of the beads, "You can't just barge in here and demand to see our top agent."
Her tone was clearly annoyed and she turned around to dig around the shelves behind her. "Fill out a form and you'll be assigned a representative in one or two days."
His lips came together in a tight line, not liking the way she spoke to him. Huffing, he raised his voice to protest.
"Listen, lady. I just need her for a minute," he insisted, "Just tell her I'm here."
The woman's face changed entirely in response. Standing, she carefully removed her glasses to glare at him unencumbered.
"I don't know who you think you are, young man," she said stonily, "We have a procedure to follow here. If you're going to cause trouble, I'll have you removed permanently."
Just then, the elevator behind him dinged, bringing the tail end of a heated argument to his ears.
"I swear, Kagome, this is the last time I'm letting you interfere with special requests! The guy was our top investor! You can't just tell off the most powerful demon in our hemisphere just because you felt sorry for his half bro-!"
The man stepping up behind him came to an abrupt stop, eyes wide as he stared at Inuyasha. Inuyasha returned the stare with a suspicious look of his own, having clearly heard Kagome's name and debating the wisdom of interrogating this newcomer for her whereabouts. Meanwhile, the stranger's cell phone clattered to the ground as he gaped at Inuyasha, his jaw hanging down wide enough for Inuyasha to see the man's uvula. Behind him, Inuyasha heard the receptionist, and apparently the office gatekeeper, complain to the man about him.
"Ah, Miroku, just in time. This person's demanding to see Kagome, without an appointment. You need to tell that girl to stop involving herself in trouble unnecessarily."
"Believe me, Mary," Miroku said, pinching the bridge of his nose, "If that were possible, I would have done it already."
With a beleaguered sigh and a groan, Miroku bent down to retrieve the abused phone, raising an eyebrow at the shivering ghost now clinging to the half demon's arm with both hands. On the line, Inuyasha could vaguely make out Kagome's voice asking Miroku what was going on.
"Please report my office, immediately," Miroku said simply, his voice relaying the weariness of a man returning from war. He shoved the little device into his sleeve and crouched down to bring himself to the ghost's height.
"Hello, little lady," he said. His voice was gentle and kind, but the way he completely ignored Inuyasha immediately rubbed him the wrong way and his ears flattened in response.
"My name is Miroku," he said, offering a hand, "I'm one of the guardians here. Have you come to us for help, little one?"
The man smiled kindly to the little ghost, patiently, until the trembling figure gave a small, tentative nod. Inuyasha continued to glare, narrow eyed, at this so-called guardian, silently simmering as he debated his next course of action.
"Excellent," he said, "Why don't we all step into my office."
With a groan and a pop or two from creaky joints, the man stood stiffly and led the way. Inuyasha trailed behind reluctantly, only following as it permitted him to enter deeper into the office space, where he could discreetly use his nose to sniff out the elusive wench.
When the office door clicked shut, Inuyasha began to feel the beginnings of claustrophobia coil around his chest and start to squeeze. Miroku sank into the chair at his desk with an exhausted sigh, the cushions deflating a chorus of hisses. Reaching into a drawer, he pulled out a little string of beads, not unlike the ones sitting around Inuyasha's neck, and held it out to the ghost.
"Here," he said kindly, "This should make you feel more comfortable."
The beads clacked brightly against each other as the slender figure reached out a tentative hand to accept them. Almost instantly, the wounds across her face vanished, her soiled clothing transformed. And as her appearance cleaned and brightened, the tension around her fragile shoulders seemed to ease. The little girl heaved a sigh of relief before glancing around herself.
The office space was cluttered with hastily stacked papers and binders, artifacts radiating power leaning against file cabinets filled to bursting. The waste basket was overflowing with crumpled papers and wrappers of hastily consumed lunches. Though Inuyasha had grown used to chaos in Kagome's apartment, this was clutter of a different kind, and he only drew anxiety from it.
Thankfully, Kagome responded to her summons quickly and appeared at the door only a few minutes later. The rush of relief that flooded through him was startling and he physically caught himself as he swayed, suppressing a sigh as tension dissipated from his shoulders.
But Kagome only had eyes for the neediest one in the room, immediately rushing to crouch in front of the little girl still hovering at his side.
"Kagome," Miroku started, only to be completely ignored.
"Hi there," Kagome said gently to the little presence, her voice soft and soothing. Her face frowned in concern as she took in the little ghost, no doubt seeing right through the charmed beads.
"What happened, sweetie?" She asked softly, lifting a hand to delicately brush back the messy bangs, "Did you come here all by yourself?"
The girl hesitated, her demeanor slowly changing from fearful to simply shy, and shook her head before looking up at Inuyasha. He felt a blush heat up his cheeks as Kagome followed the ghost's gaze to land on his, her eyes brightening with understanding and a warm, wide smile appearing on her face.
Turning back to the ghost, she asked, "That's my friend Inuyasha. Did he help you come inside?"
The child clutching his arm turned to partially hide her face behind it. A pause, then she nodded.
Kagome giggled, glancing up at him again with a warm smile. A sensation entirely new was seeded in him, below his chest, and burned and squirmed in his stomach as his heart fluttered from the look she gave him.
"Well, that's very nice of him," she said softly, "did you say thank you?"
"Thank you." The voice was small and shy, hardly more than a whisper but it somehow drew out an instinctive tenderness inside him that surprised him. Shifting uncomfortably, but allowing the ghost to maintain possession of his arm, he could only muster a gruff, self conscious grunt.
"Kagome," a firm voice beyond them sounded. Inuyasha glanced up warily at the man seated at the desk. "I need to talk to you about-."
"Why don't you both come with me," Kagome said brightly, "let's get you all cleaned up to go back to your mom, hmm?"
"Kagome!" This time, Miroku's tone could not be ignored and Inuyasha instinctively tensed, his fist tight and ready for action. He nearly jumped out of his skin to feel a soft touch on his hand as Kagome sighed, standing up to turn to her irritated colleague.
"Later, Miroku," she said dismissively, clearly unconcerned by whatever was causing such deep furrows in the man's brow. "Let me take care of this first, then you can yell at me all you want."
…
The day was dizzying and bewildering and Inuyasha walked dazed behind her, blinking as he slowly processed everything he'd seen, staring at her bouncing gate as she gradually led him back home. When she turned to him, eyes glittering, he felt something strange and unfamiliar squeeze his insides and despite the words he'd use to describe it, burning, aching, disquieting, he found the sensation an altogether positive experience.
"I'm proud of you," she said, her baffling smile wide and beaming, "I'm really proud of you today."
Now he felt a pressure, small but insistent, at his chest. It wasn't the pressure of pain, or anger, or fear, but firm and unyielding nonetheless. And its source was internal, rising up from within him and expanding outward, though not straining like an overstretched balloon. More, he felt supported, reinforced, like he was slowly regaining the space he'd always been meant to occupy, rediscovering an innate altruism that was encouraged and strengthened by the recognition of his efforts. At first, the pressure overwhelmed him, shook his breath and trembled his heart. But with Kagome's steady, bouncy steps beside him, her warm hand holding his, his body gradually adopted her rhythm, step by step, and he found himself facing the road ahead with straight, squared shoulders, his eyes wide open, the barest hint of a beaming smile curving the corners of his lips.
A/N: sigh… so, i'm not very satisfied with this chapter but I figured I may as well post it anyway. Feels like a lot of exposition to lay a bit of groundwork for future chapters… sorry if it's a little boring :P
Hope everyone's doing ok throughout all this chaos. Not sure when the next update will be, but hopefully soon, this story helps me stay sane sometimes :P
