An ordinary-looking cardboard box sat in the middle of Miroku's kitchen table. He, along with Kagome and Shippo, sat eyeing the box in tense silence. None of the trio wanted to be the first to reach out, open the flaps, and discover the secrets within. While it didn't look like it contained grand revelations or dangers of the past, Kikyo had made it clear to handle the box and its contents with secrecy and care. It was faded and worn from years of use and the remnants of tape clung stubbornly around the edges. Despite its appearance, it held information that had the potential to change Kagome's life on a scale comparable to finding her grandfather's journals.
Miroku was the first to speak up. "Kagome, do you not think that Inuyasha should be here for this?"
She tensed and clenched her fists. "Yeah but, he can't leave the shrine, and after yesterday..." After yesterday morning, the morning she broke what should have been good news, their relationship had become strained. Their argument had been...
"What the fuck do you mean, you think he's innocent? Where the hell is that coming from?" Inuyasha gritted his teeth and slammed his fist against the kitchen table.
Kagome glanced at the door, waiting to see if anyone would come to investigate the argument, but they remained alone. "Would you calm down? Are you seriously questioning me after what I showed you yesterday?"
His fist was clenched much too tightly and she worried his claws would pierce his skin. He wouldn't relax, wouldn't consider the possibility for even a second. "I was there, I fucking saw him. Of all the people to question me about this…"
She heard the hurt in his tone. It went straight to her heart, her chest tightening painfully. But she knew she was right and he had to accept it. She leaned forward and reached her hands across the table to cover his fist. He didn't pull back and she hoped it was a good sign. "Please, just think about what I'm saying. You know what I can do with my power and you know I wouldn't ever take this lightly. It's why I wanted to test it on you, so I could be sure."
For a second, his eyes met hers and he looked like he might accept it or at the very least, consider it. Then he yanked his hand out of hers and stood, his chair falling and clattering against the floor. "I can't talk about this with you right now."
"Inuyasha, please-"
"No," he said, the harsh tone causing her to flinch and sit back in her chair. "Just, leave me the fuck alone for a while."
Then he was gone, leaving Kagome sitting at the table, head in her hands, crying. That was how her mother found her a few minutes later, Inuyasha's chair still knocked over, a few dots of his blood drying on the table where his fist had slammed down.
Kagome shook her head. "He needs to be able to trust me about Koga."
Shippo and Miroku exchanged a look. Opinions were still mixed amongst them over the legitimacy of Kagome's claims though Inuyasha was the only one who outright refused to believe her. Sango was absent from today's discussion so that she could spar with Inuyasha, letting him vent some frustrations and clear his head. He needed to be able to consider the possibility that Kagome was right.
"So, like, is Koga on our side now?" Shippo asked. "I mean, if he's innocent and we know Inuyasha is innocent, then…"
"I wouldn't go that far, at least not yet. Neither him or Inuyasha want to believe that the other is innocent." She'd given Koga her phone number that day in the garage and they'd exchanged a few texts, mostly just feeling one another out. So far, all she had really determined was that he had a lot of misplaced anger that was mostly directed at Inuyasha.
"They'll need to figure things out soon because we may have more problems." Miroku sighed and leaned forward. "I wanted Inuyasha to hear this but I suppose you can tell him later. I think the Onigumo I work for and the one Inuyasha worked for is the same person."
"How is that even possible?" Kagome asked.
"I'm not sure. Perhaps he is a hanyo and is just exceedingly talented at hiding it. I'm sure Shippo isn't the only kitsune making illegal yoki concealing charms." Miroku shot him a look but Shippo just shrugged.
"The yoki and scent ones are only illegal in public and sometimes people forget to change charms. It's all about plausible deniability," Shippo said, smirking in a very Inuyasha-esque manner.
Miroku rolled his eyes and continued, "The old Onigumo doesn't have a record of his death; he just drops out of existence shortly after Toga's death. Similarly, my boss doesn't have a record of his birth and just kind of started existing about 20 years ago."
Kagome gasped. "Do you think it's all connected?"
"I'm hoping we'll be able to answer that question today," Miroku said, his finger tapping more insistently against the old cardboard.
Taking a deep breath, Kagome leaned forward and pulled open the flaps carefully. Reaching in, the first thing she found was a black binder, worn with age and stuffed with papers. Shippo and Miroku followed suit, each grabbing something, both now holding similar binders. A quick inspection of the rest of the contents revealed two more binders, a few folders, and a photo album.
Figuring more eyes would make less work, they each opened a binder and started reading. The shuffle of turning pages and a few sharp intakes of breath were all that was heard for the next few minutes. Kagome barely felt the silent tears that began to stream down her face, her body going numb as she read. Every page turn took more effort than the last, each piece of flimsy paper holding the weight of a life, snuffed out. What she was reading and seeing would haunt her for a very long time after today. She looked up, a hand that she didn't remember raising covering her mouth, to see Shippo slowly shaking his head and Miroku squeezing the edges of his binder hard enough to bend them.
"Please tell me you're not reading what I'm reading," Kagome said, her voice small and shaky. It was a useless plea, fury and sadness mixed and displayed clearly on her friends' faces. They were seeing exactly what she was seeing and that only made it so much worse.
"How long has this been going on?" Shippo asked, flipping rapidly through the other two binders, almost tearing them apart with his claws. "These go all the way back to the early 1900s. No wonder there aren't any strong spiritualists left."
Miroku was scowling at his binder. "You need to show this to Inuyasha, now." He looked up at Kagome, his expression turning grim. "You are in greater danger than we could have ever imagined. If the proof were not in my hand, I wouldn't believe it."
Kagome picked up the photo album, compelled by morbid curiosity. She opened it and immediately had to choke back a sob. Staring back at her from one page were cheery photos of people and their families and displayed on the adjacent page were grisly crime scene photos of those same people...and sometimes their families. Names and dates were written carefully on slips of paper above each photo. Page after page, young and old, individuals and entire families lost in the blink of an eye. From outright murder to suspicious circumstances to accidents that probably weren't accidents; the horrible reality shook her down to her bones. Occasionally she came across a smiling photo of someone who was only 'missing' instead of murdered; those weren't any easier to look at.
She needed to go, now. The photo album fell from her trembling hands. Her only thought was to get to Inuyasha, get to where she would feel safe, protected, their fight be damned. She tried to speak, her throat closing up as she struggled to breathe. "I have to..have to…" She couldn't hear over the roaring in her ears, her vision swimming. A hand on her shoulder slowed her spiral; she'd never even seen Miroku move.
"Take a breath, Kagome. We'll get everything back in the box while you gather your thoughts." Miroku's warm voice broke through and started to bring her back. He gently squeezed her shoulder. "Then you take all of this and talk to Inuyasha. He needs to know the danger you're in, that you could both be in."
Kagome could only nod. Standing on shaky legs, she excused herself and made her way to the bathroom. She closed and locked the door behind her, still in a daze. Seeing her pale reflection in the mirror, cheeks streaked by tears, shocked her; she couldn't even recall crying. How was she supposed to process this? The slow but steady elimination of anyone with spiritual powers had been going on for over a hundred years and nobody knew it was happening. How was it not national news? How was there not article after article about those poor families? How had the police not noticed something so...so damn widespread?
And how did Kikyo know about it? If this was why she'd sealed Kagome then there were probably others out there, similarly sealed and missing a part of themselves they didn't know existed. And surely Kikyo wasn't the only person to ever stumble on the pattern of murders. Others-researchers, police officers, detectives, internet sleuths-had to have noticed. It didn't make sense, unless...The only logical conclusion was that they had and had quickly been silenced. They were probably in the other binders.
Was this...was this why Inuyasha's father was murdered? Was his picture somewhere in that photo album? His police report shoved in a binder? His name crossed off of some madman's hitlist?
Would she end up the same way? Was she already on someone's list? Was Inuyasha?
She had to see him, talk to him, right now. She struggled to pull her phone out and find his contact information. With shaking hands, she put the phone to her ear.
"Please answer, please answer, please answer, please ans-"
"Kagome? Hey, what's wrong?"
She wasn't even aware of her whispered mantra until she heard the concern in his him opened the floodgates and she sank to the floor, sobbing. "Inu, I...I can't...just talk to me...I n-need to hear...p-please."
"Fuck. What happened?! Are you hurt? Where are you? What the fuck is going on?"
His heavy breathing was audible through the phone, his voice ringing with panic. She couldn't stop crying though, picture after picture flashing through her mind. "Not hurt," she managed to say. "J-just up...upset and needed to hear y-your voice."
"Are you still with Miroku and Shippo? I'm coming to get you, just stay there."
"No! Don't...just, I-I'm coming home soon, I promise. I need...I need to calm down enough to drive." She sniffed, trying to clear her airways. His voice was helping the panic to pass but it left room for a deep dread that was slowly settling in her chest. "The box, I shouldn't have gone through it without you. I really need to be near you right now."
"The box…Kikyo's box? Are you sure you don't want me to come to you?"
She nodded then remembered she was on the phone. "Yeah, I'm sure. It's too dangerous for you right now. I'm leaving here in a few minutes."
She heard him sigh and imagined he was scowling and running a hand over his face. She needed to see him, to feel him surrounding her with his strong arms. "Text me when you leave, ok?"
"I will. I'll see you soon." I love you she wanted to add but the first time she said it wouldn't be like this.
"Be careful, Kagome," he said before she hung up.
She picked herself up off the bathroom floor and did her best to calm her racing heart. Inuyasha would help her get through this and they would figure things out together. Once she was home she could start to sort through her thoughts with him by her side. Leaning over the sink, she splashed cold water on her face and cleaned herself up a bit before leaving the bathroom.
Miroku and Shippo were waiting outside by her car, the box already loaded into the back seat.
"Sango is on her way over here so I can fill her in," Miroku said, opening the driver's side door for Kagome. "I didn't want Inuyasha to overhear so I didn't tell her anything over the phone."
Shippo pulled her into a hug. "Be careful and call us when you get home."
"I will," she promised as she pulled away and climbed into her car. She gave her friends one last look before pulling her door closed. The drive to the shrine would be a long 30 minutes. She pulled out her phone and smiled sadly at the picture next to Inuyasha's contact info. After sending him a text to let him know she was leaving, she started her long drive home.
The box in the back seat weighed heavily on her mind and she had to constantly remind herself to pay attention to the road. Her eyes were drawn to the rearview mirror like she expected the box would rise up and attack her. She found herself turning to look at it when she stopped at red lights, earning a few angry honks when she grew too distracted. It was during one of these stops, still a few blocks from her shrine, that her day somehow managed to get worse.
Idling at a red light, her car died.
Sitting in the middle of traffic, staring at the terrible box, her fucking car died.
Inuyasha's voice was in her head, pointing out the damn check engine light, asking why she never got it looked at. It wasn't helping. She tried several times to restart her car but to no avail. Slamming her hands against the steering wheel, she fought down the panic burning in her chest. The car behind her honked, making her jump. They couldn't get past her without cutting into oncoming traffic. She needed to do something besides sit here.
She was reaching for her phone to call Inuyasha when someone tapped on her window. She whipped her head around and saw a man motioning for her to put her window down. Which she couldn't do because her car was fucking dead. She shook her head and started to open the door, the man stepping back so she could climb out.
"You alright, miss?" the man asked as a woman from another car joined them.
"Yeah, sorry," Kagome said. "My car died so I'm kinda stuck."
The man nodded knowingly and waved to someone in the car behind them. "We can at least get you out of the street," the man said. Another person joined them and the two men and one woman got behind her car and pushed while Kagome steered. They pushed her onto a nearby sidestreet and got the car against the curb so she wasn't blocking anybody. She thanked them for their help and waved as they jogged back to their vehicles so traffic could start moving again.
Now what? She was within walking distance of home so that was one problem solved. Inuyasha would start to worry so she had to call him. At some point, she needed to have her car towed. Should she just leave the box in the car? She could always have one of her friends swing by to grab it later since it was too heavy to carry all the way home.
Her course of action decided, she grabbed her keys and phone, locked the car, and started walking. She slipped her phone into the back pocket of her jeans, deciding against calling Inuyasha. She would only worry him more and he'd probably try to come and get her. It wasn't worth risking him leaving the shrine so she picked up her pace to save time. She put her keys in her front pocket and pulled her hands into her sweater sleeves against the chill of the early evening.
How was Inuyasha going to react when she told him about their discovery? He may never let her leave the shrine by herself, or at all, again. Everything she'd seen was horrible and terrifying and they still had more binders and a few folders to go through. What else would they find? Who else would they find? And who the hell was responsible?
That was maybe the worst of it. The attacks couldn't possibly be random, not with that many deaths and disappearances. There was a clear pattern targeting anyone with spiritual powers, sometimes going as far as to eliminate whole families. And there was another thing to worry about. Why go after entire families? Kikyo probably knew more since it was her research so she would need to sit with her to gather more information.
Kagome's head was beginning to hurt. She was so caught up in her thinking, she was barely watching where she was going, moving mostly on auto-pilot. Someone, or more likely some group, had to be responsible. The big question was who had that kind-
A hand clamped tightly over her mouth and a long arm wrapped around her body, trapping her arms and squeezing the air out of her. She was lifted off of her feet like she weighed nothing and spirited down a nearby alley before she could react. Her eyes widened belatedly and she started to struggle but a voice in her ear growled, "One wrong move, one sound, and I'll slit your fucking throat. Got it?" They came to a stop near the back of the dead-end alley and when she didn't do or say anything, he shook her. "Answer me, bitch," he snarled, his fingers digging into her cheek.
She jerked her head up and down a few times, her eyes burning with the beginnings of tears. A small whimper escaped her as the arm around her tightened, her ribs creaking in protest. She was going to die. This man, who was holding her like she was no stronger than a child, was going to do horrible things to her and then kill her, she was sure. Another photo, another page for the binder was all she would be. Her body was cold, her blood like ice in her veins.
Another man stepped into her line of vision, tall and muscular and scowling at her. He had dark hair and darker eyes that narrowed as he looked at her. "This the right bitch?" he asked the man still holding her. His voice was even and smooth, in complete contrast with the sharp angles of his face and the severe look he was giving her.
"Yep. Stupid whore's car broke down, lucky for us." The first man's breath puffed hotly against her ear when he spoke, making her skin crawl as he turned his attention back to her. "You've got a choice: answer our questions and die quickly or refuse to answer and suffer then die anyway. Either way, I'm gonna enjoy this." Pressed as she was to his chest, she could feel the rumble of the man's gravelly voice.
She debated briefly whether she should try to use her reiki. The goon holding her was strong but if he was human her power wouldn't do a thing. There wasn't any way to tell just by looking at them since the one in front of her didn't have any visible yokai traits and she couldn't see the other man. If they didn't have any yoki then her power would be useless. If they were after her for her supposed spiritual powers then revealing them may be a mistake. But what if that was her only chance?
Inuyasha. She called out for him in her mind, facing the real possibility that he may never hear her voice again. He'd never get to hold her, kiss her, hear her say she loved him. She could deal with her own death, she'd be too dead to care after all. But dammit, he didn't deserve to lose anyone else. She couldn't let him go through that again. Mama and Sota shouldn't have to sit through another funeral. And her friends...she had to find a way out of this.
As abruptly as she was grabbed, the man dropped her. Her left ankle twisted as her feet met the ground and she fell hard on her knees, wincing in pain as she hit. Her hands came down to catch herself and sharp debris and rocks scratched at her palms. Before she could recover, her head was yanked back violently by a hand tangled in her hair.
The warm breath was back against her ear and she shivered when she felt his rough lips moving against her lobe. "Remember, one wrong move and-" A finger was drawn roughly along her throat, the jagged nail leaving a burning trail on her skin. "Now be a good girl and put your hands behind your back." He bit her ear hard enough to hurt and she yelped, both men laughing at her misery.
Seeing no other options, she did as she was told and soon found both her wrists encased in an iron grip. Her eyes darted around looking for a way out. They were behind a couple of dumpsters, blocking the already limited view from the street. There was only a single door and no windows so their odds of being interrupted were low. The other man held a large knife, the blade gleaming even in the low light. He was looking her over, his mouth curled into a wicked smile.
"So," the man with the knife started, "why don't you tell us a little bit about the bitch that's been visiting you lately?"
The hand in her hair tightened and yanked, hard. She gasped in pain and felt the first traitorous tear escape down her cheek. "Talk, now!"
She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction. She wouldn't appear weak, not while she still had a chance. "I don't know who you're talking about," she managed to say, her voice not sounding like her own.
"Wrong answer."
The hand let go of her hair and was back over her mouth as the knife flashed downward. Her eyes widened then squeezed shut as a searing pain erupted along her right thigh, a horizontal line of fire. Her cry was muffled by the hard press of the palm against her lips. Panic was building in her gut as it became clear these two weren't going to go easy on her.
When she opened her eyes, the man with the knife was removing his shirt. Her body seized and she started to struggle. Tears were now flowing freely from her eyes, dripping onto the hand still pressed roughly to her mouth. She wouldn't let him-
The man shook her roughly again. "Calm the fuck down! Neither of us wants to touch a dog's whore. He just doesn't wanna get blood on his nice clean shirt." The man's disgusting words angered her and helped calm her rising panic.
The knife-wielder was wearing a black tank top under his shirt, the edge of a tattoo showing just under his collar bone. He approached her and dropped into a crouch. "Let's try this again. Tell us about the bitch."
"She's just a friend," she managed to say when goon number one removed his hand.
"Liar." He raised his hand to bring the knife down again and Kagome reacted.
She threw her weight backward and managed to get one leg out in front of her. She caught knife-man in his left knee with just enough force to knock him off balance, the knife coming down and just barely grazing her extended calf. It hurt but not nearly as bad as the throbbing in her thigh. It was a small success.
Unfortunately, retribution was swift and brutal. She was thrown to the ground on her side and curled into herself, back to her captor. He stepped over her and turned to deliver a hard kick to her stomach. The pain radiated out to her entire body and her attempted shout came out as nothing more than a wheeze. He delivered another kick, then another. When she tried to shield herself with her arms, he kicked a little higher, knocking the last of the air from her lungs. She thought she felt a rib or two crack as his boot impacted her the fourth time.
With each kick, she felt something deep in her trying to work its way free. Inuyasha's face twisted with grief and anger flashed in her mind and she felt something snap within her, pink light exploding from her chest. It surrounded her and her two attackers, almost blindingly bright, and they both jerked away from her. In that instant, she felt their yoki; she had a chance.
Fighting through the pain, she remembered what she did to Koga's arm and tried to replicate it, but more. She put as much power into it as she could even as the one in the tank top reached down and yanked her up by her right arm. His fingers dug into her muscle and her shoulder ached from the sudden jolt but she clenched her jaw and concentrated on her reiki.
Nothing happened.
The two men snarled at her. The one holding her grabbed her throat and squeezed just enough to cut off her airways. Black dots swam in her fading vision, the blood pounding in her ears turned up to a deafening roar. Desperate, she reached out and got a hand on her attacker's chest, right over his heart. Curling her fingers into his tank top with the last of her strength, she concentrated all her power up her arm and into her hand. The material burned away as the man began to scream, his hands releasing her throat and arm.
As she crumpled to the ground, she saw it: a spider tattoo directly under where her hand had been, over the man's heart. It pulsed and burned with her power crackling around it. She turned onto her back and heard the other man swear, his heavy footfalls echoed as he ran away down the alley. The screaming man fell next to her and she turned her head towards him to see a large patch of burned skin where his tattoo used to be. His eyes squeezed shut as his body convulsed once before he fell silent, presumably passed out...or dead.
She wasn't sure which option was worse.
She had to get out of there. Her whole body was throbbing and burning with pain but she couldn't risk the other man coming back. Rolling herself onto her side away from the unconscious man, she started testing her movements. Her body protested every motion but she pushed through the agony. She managed to get to her knees and paused to take a labored breath, her chest burning.
She struggled over to a nearby wall and somehow pulled herself to her feet. Her body screamed at her but she ignored it and started to limp down the alley. Clearing her mind, she concentrated on taking another step, then another, and another until she reached the street. She could do this. She would get home; she would get to Inuyasha.
Kagome was late.
Inuyasha paced impatiently behind the house, waiting for her car to come up the driveway. He'd received her text over an hour before to let him know she was leaving and that the drive would take about half an hour. He'd been trying to call her for the last 20 minutes but her phone was going straight to voicemail. Where the hell was she?
Something was wrong. He had a sick feeling in his gut and he couldn't stop moving. The phone call earlier had spooked him and it took Kagome's mother several minutes to convince him to wait for her. He hadn't stopped worrying since, his instincts practically snarling at him to just fucking go! What if she was in trouble? What if she was hurt? What if...what if she was...? Fuck, he couldn't just stand around and wait.
Mama was sitting nearby, her hands twisting in her lap. Her gentle words of assurance rang hollower with every passing minute. The last time she spoke he was sure she was trying to reassure both him and herself. No, it wasn't alright. Something happened and Kagome needed him.
Just as he was about to say screw it and start scouring the city for his missing girlfriend, his senses were assaulted: blood, tears, whimpers, heavy breathing, Kagome. His heart seized and his yoki cried out as he bolted towards the front of the shrine. He found her slumped against the torii gate at the top of the steps. She looked so small, her body curled against the faded red wood. Her head lifted weakly when he shouted her name.
"Inuyasha," she said, barely loud enough for him to hear.
He was beside her in a second, surveying her injuries, hands hovering for fear of hurting her. The scent of her blood and terror overwhelmed his nose and he whimpered. Someone hurt her; someone hurt Kagome; someone attacked his Kagome. Someone needed to pay.
Someone needed to die.
"Who did this?" he choked out, taking in the gash on her thigh and the bruising on her neck. She was curled around her abdomen, arms wrapped protectively around herself, breath coming in ragged pants. She was smeared with dirt and grime, shirt and jeans torn and bloody. He placed a hand on her back and rubbed gently when she didn't flinch away.
Kagome lifted her head, her eyes barely held open. "C-call, Kikyo. May...be in...danger," she said between gasps of air.
"Fuck that. You need a hospital." Why couldn't she just worry about herself for once? Why didn't he-
"What happened?!" Mama's frantic voice came from behind him. "Kagome, who did this to you?" She knelt beside Inuyasha and reached towards her daughter. Her hands stopped in mid-air, probably worried she would touch an unseen injury.
"Please, call Kikyo," she said again. "They...they were asking about her."
Inuyasha swore and tried to suppress all the questions raging inside his head. Not wanting to waste any more time, Inuyasha pulled his phone out and did as Kagome requested. Her stubborn streak rivaled his and he figured the only way to get her help faster was to do as she asked. Kikyo answered quickly, much to his relief, and he gave a brief explanation of Kagome's current state and her request.
"You need to bring her here."
"Fuck no. She needs a doctor," he growled into the phone.
"First, I am a doctor and I won't ask all the invasive questions that the hospital will. Second, I can heal her with my reiki. And third, whoever attacked her will expect you to take her to a hospital. Trust me, please."
He looked at Kagome, holding a quick debate with himself. "Kagome, it's your choice. To the hospital or to Kikyo, which one?"
"To Kikyo," she said, looking relieved to have the option.
Back into the phone, he said, "We're coming, be ready."
He hung up and shoved his phone in his pocket. Looking over Kagome one more time, he scooped her up with a gentleness even he didn't know he possessed. He cradled her gently against his chest and she let out a hiss of pain but didn't protest his decision.
He looked at mama and said, "I'm taking her to get help. I'll text you the address so you can follow but I'm gonna run."
Mama nodded and leaned forward to kiss her daughter's forehead. "Be careful and take care of her. I'll be right behind you."
"I will," he said before bounding down the steps and towards Kikyo's home, following Kagome's whispered directions.
