"When you want to know how things really work, study them when they're coming apart." – William Gibson
Inuyasha gasped for air, coming to with a shock as wind and rain pelted him ruthlessly. He shouldn't have been shocked anymore, not really. Regaining consciousness in bizarre situations was his thing, apparently.
He attempted to scrub his hair away from his face, the wet strands blocking his view as he felt himself being tossed around haphazardly. By what was left to be determined. Squinting through the downpour, he was more than just shocked to find himself clutching onto Kagome, straddled across the bike he'd seen her with twice now. Words that he wanted to speak were lodged in his throat as he pulled away from her slightly, only to be jostled back into gripping her tightly as they took a corner sharper than would be legal.
Kagome must have realised he was finally awake, turning slightly to peer over her shoulder. The helmet she wore covered her face entirely, and she tilted her head -the smallest of gestures- the tinted black of her visor suddenly disappearing to show her beaming face through crystal clear glass.
"Nice to see you again, Inuyasha." Kagome's voice flowed through the speakers he couldn't see, horrendous weather far from hindering his ability to hear the sound he'd missed for so many years.
He knew he shouldn't have done it. He knew it was fucked up, but he couldn't help it.
He smiled.
It could have been minutes; it could have been hours. Time wasn't an issue to Inuyasha, not when he was wrapped around this girl as she whisked him away into the night. The wind was a minor inconvenience, the rain a blip on his radar. He only acknowledged its existence to curse it for washing away her scent so effectively.
"Hang on!" she shouted to him suddenly, hunkering down low onto the body of the bike as it lurched forward. Inuyasha felt a vibration underneath him, rattling through his frame uncomfortably. They began to ascend, and his heart jumped into his throat as gravity tried to pull him back down to earth. He swivelled his head as he followed the sounds his ears picked up first, only to stare stupidly at the wheels that were currently retracting snuggly into the vehicle's body. A fucking hoverbike. Nice.
As cool as it was, Inuyasha paled at the sudden turn Kagome took around a large building and squeezed her middle, hoping it wasn't too obvious how terrifying he found it all. The reflective glass to their left glinted as it showed off the city's flashing lights, almost charming Inuyasha as he saw it from a new perspective. He reached out, fingers stretching toward the windows and it dawned on him then. Their reflection wasn't there.
His eyes flitted around the space that should have shown a picture of them, only to be met with the neon billboards that took up the background. An enormous hologram emblazoned with "Yura Of The Hair" illuminated the dark sky, towering above the endless buildings as a woman dressed in little to nothing danced her way around the structures below her. He was sure it was supposed to be sexy, enticing anyone that would look her way.
But he didn't see her, not when he knew that he should have been seeing himself. He wasn't sure if it was the bike -if it was her- or if there was simply no explanation as to why they were fucking invisible. Still.
Not the strangest of things.
When they'd started travelling through an area he didn't recognise, Inuyasha began to question what the fuck he was doing. Technically, he was being kidnapped. Technically, he shouldn't be flying through the air on an invisible hoverbike with his Kidnapper.
He didn't know where they were going, but he knew that it didn't look good. The true nature of the trip and how he came to be with Kagome was still left to be determined. He knew he was an idiot; he just…needed to get away. Yeah, that was it. He needed respite from Miroku, from his job from his life, it was fine, it's fine, it's fine-
His spiralling halted as they began to descend slowly, Inuyasha perking up as he really started to take notice of his surroundings. They moved further into the darker parts of the city; greenery becoming sparse, a luxury that only some could afford to procure despite the government pushing its citizens to foster its growth. Balconies that were previously littered in vines and ferns that reminded them of a world long gone turned into more withered versions, not a lick of fauna in sight. Buildings looked stitched together haphazardly as they were built out of sync, yellowed and flickering lights highlighting it infrequently. Had AC always looked so…dilapidated?
Gliding smoothly onto the wet surface below them, Kagome carried on riding through the winding streets that seemed to become more and more narrow without pause. They moved into one of the seediest districts he'd ever had the displeasure of seeing, the people milling about a near-perfect personification of their neglected surroundings. The bike slowed to a stop in an alleyway, and they were surrounded by smooth, damp concrete.
Inuyasha looked around in confusion. By any indication, they'd arrived at wherever it was she was taking him. But looking at the old, cracked concrete that lined the walls and the junk that littered the ground, he couldn't be so sure. Perhaps this was where she murdered him.
Before he could carry on with that thought, Kagome angled her head slightly towards the left, and a panel thrummed to life through the unassuming wall. With the flick of a hand, she cleared her visor, allowing the scanner to read her retinas and confirm her identification. The beam of its scanner blazed through the shadows of the alleyway they were hidden away in, highlighting every fault.
He'd be lying if he said he didn't jump when the ground below them started to move. He'd also be lying if he said he didn't hold onto Kagome for dear life, drawing the attention of his young Kidnapper. She laughed lightly, and he flushed slightly in embarrassment. It was only slightly. Slightly.
They were lowered into the ground by near-silent mechanisms, the darkness encroaching on him an odd comfort. If there was anywhere in the world, he could say he was comfortable; it was in the dark. But as his eyes struggled to adjust, Inuyasha felt the tell-tale pang of panic as he really, really thought about the situation he was in.
Here he was, being whisked away by some ninja, one that very well could have burnt his home and so many others to the ground that very evening. Bile rose in Inuyasha's throat without his consent, and he leaned away from Kagome on instinct, eyes darting around as he felt himself being closed off from the outside world.
Before he could think about bolting, the platform they were lowering on came to a halt, the ground that was now the ceiling covering the hatch once more. The blackness held for a second until floodlights burst to life, brightening everything around them obnoxiously.
The sounds of heavy machinery roared to life, and Kagome revved her engine, readying herself for whatever was to follow. He took her lead and braced himself, looking over her head into the endless tunnel. Wherever they were going had to be far, an underground system like this hidden away from view and completely-
They took off like a bullet and Inuyasha scrambled as inertia clung to him, making him feel like he was about to fly off the back of the bike at the speed Kagome was going. Clinging wasn't the right word for it; he was merging with her to stay put on the plush seat they shared. He squeezed his eyes shut as the pilot lights zipping past them began to blur into one, a visual representation that they were going too fucking fast. Before he could even think to pipe up and get her to slow the fuck down, they were decelerating, his weight slowly encroaching on hers.
Once they were travelling at what he would deem a normal speed, they reached a fork in the 'road'. Kagome took a sharp left, and they carried on, coming to a stop before a set of huge metal doors. Another round of identification and the doors opened smoothly, bike gliding through the archway and into the biggest vehicle bunker he could have ever fathomed.
Bikes and cars and trucks and things that would never have made it onto the streets or skies of Angel City lined the expanse of stone walls on either side, row after row causing his jaw to drop that little bit more. These weren't even military-grade. These were space grade.
As Kagome pulled her bike up alongside one of a similar breed, she nudged him to dismount so she could do the same. He swung his leg over, a little surprised at how dead it felt.
"What was…" he raised an arm pathetically towards the doors they'd come through, losing the words he wanted to ask as quickly as they appeared.
"Warp Tunnel."
"…a…Warp Tunnel? As in…" he looked back at the exit leading to what he knew now was a warp tunnel. A decommissioned, highly illegal Warp Tunnel.
"That's right. There's a few connected different parts of the city that we use to move around quickly. Fun, right?" she couldn't be serious. He looked at her, really looked at her then. She was serious.
Not two feet away stood the girl of his dreams. Scratch that, former girl of his dreams. The slick material of her outfit clung to her in all the right places, leaving little to the imagination. Considering he'd imagined what she looked like under her school uniform all those years ago, he was far from disappointed in her attire. It was the implication of it that irked him. She looked entirely different for him, yet somehow the same. Her eyes were what gave it away. This was Kagome now. Whoever that was because now, she was a stranger to him.
His heart thumped in anguish.
"So…" and here was the awkward part. Where was he supposed to go with this? Hey, why'd you kidnap me was hardly a usual conversation starter. He wasn't great at starting conversations under normal circumstances.
"I know you have a lot of questions…and I have some answers for you. If you follow me, I'll show you around and…explain some things. Sound good?" her mouth tweaked up in a poorly contained smile.
He wasn't sure if she was laughing at him or not. It hardly mattered anyway.
He followed her.
To say the place Kagome had brought him was huge would be an understatement, whatever it was. Inuyasha wasn't sure exactly how far underground they were, but the corridors spanned endlessly in a lateral fashion that he quickly lost track of. This bunker of sorts had to span a few miles in width at the very least. And to think, it was hidden under Angel City, the most surveyed place on earth.
They marched on, the pace that Kagome set carrying them briskly through the stark hallway. If she weren't so small, he might have a hard time keeping up with her. But the view he had of her ahead of him was worth any bit of lagging he may have been doing.
He nearly collided with her suddenly, stopping abruptly to look up into piercing blue eyes.
Fuck. He'd been caught. "Uh…."
"We're here," she turned again, leading him to a door that he was sure wasn't there before. She wasn't that distracting. Probably.
They entered the sliding doors that opened into a large foyer, glass walls jutting out in every direction leading to other areas he was sure were just as confusing to navigate. He looked up as he felt a cool breeze gloss over him, eyes widening at the vastness. The room that seemed to be the centre of it all was carved into the surrounding rock, and the ceiling made up of small caves and natural structures he'd only ever seen in pictures. Stalactite, he recalled whimsically. Wherever he was, it was beautiful; a word he'd very rarely used to describe anything.
A tap to his shoulder brought him back to reality.
"So, you're him," a statement, not a question.
"…him?"
"Buddy, you're like, my favourite mystery."
What the fuck was that supposed to mean? Inuyasha sneered at the little snot that materialised behind him, taking in the puff of orange hair that topped his stupid, punchable face.
"What?" Great. Excellent. He'd already managed to make himself look like a complete tool.
"Never in my life have I had such a hard time tracking someone. Never in this city, at least," his green eyes twinkled, unnerving mischief in them that Inuyasha was sure was a permanent feature.
"You've been spying on me?" as if that was the most absurd thing that had happened to him lately.
"Trying to," the asshole grinned a full-on toothy motherfucker of a grin that had Inuyasha's fists clenching in preparation.
His daydreaming of pummelling this kid into the ground was cut short by a giggle that had him short-circuiting. His ears flickered in delight at the sound, and he cursed their inability to just be cool. He glanced towards Kagome, forgetting the newcomer quickly.
"Come on. I have someone for you to meet."
Inuyasha was sure that his jaw would be sore for days to come with how often it had become unhinged lately. The disbelief he felt as he gawked at the images sprawled before him consumed him entirely. Because he couldn't believe his eyes.
Lit up and clear as day as they stayed afloat before him, photo after photo of himself stared back at him. He couldn't think. He couldn't speak.
Hundreds upon hundreds of images –all of him– living, working, just generally being were on display, giving himself an uncomfortable glimpse at his life from an unwanted point of view. The hair on the back of his neck stood. He felt his stomach turn, bile rising once again in his throat that he had to swallow back forcefully. He didn't want to give in to the visceral reaction his body was having to the realisation he was being stalked. He wanted answers.
He swivelled to glare at the unassuming woman sat behind the desk carved into the stone floor. The grey of her wiry hair stuck out in every direction from her tight bun, the ridiculous eye patch she wore covering the deep wrinkles that encased her eyes on one side of her face.
This entire time, they'd been watching him. Whoever they were.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Inuyasha." Her voice was gravelly, a rasp that was likely undetectable to most searing through his ears and drawing a wince. Damn it all if his ears weren't playing up.
"The pleasure isn't mine." He threw his arm towards the holograms that littered the space around him. "Care to explain?"
"I can offer you the answers you seek in exchange for something."
Of course; a catch.
"Mm. And what are you wanting from me exactly? The best route to take into the centre?" He pointed to an image of him standing near a metro window, clearly taken from the outside. "Or perhaps the best route into the labour district?" He pointed to a similar image. "Because as you can see lady, I'm hardly someone worth following or asking favours of. I'm just a fucking data analyst." As if his life wasn't sad enough, here it was, an open book for anyone to see.
"You're obviously not looking closely," the woman rose from her chair, and her old bones creaked audibly in his ears. What the fuck was going on with him?
She stood before the plethora of images, drawing a few of them closer with a wave of her hand. A photo he hadn't noticed came front and centre, chilling his blood and sending that white-hot flush he wasn't too keen on through his system.
There, backlit and shining brightly amongst all the repetitive images of him going to work was Miroku. But it wasn't just that, it was Miroku dragging Inuyasha through the smoke and dust that surrounded them, clearly taken the night of the first bombing. Only, he wasn't looking at himself. It was a version of himself.
The Inuyasha he was looking at was a near mirror image, but the differences were stark and practically winded him in disconcertion. His eyes, blood-red with surreal blue pupils, were not unlike those of the dog shown through his screen during the attack at Taisho Corp. mere hours before. The slash of jagged purple streaks on his cheekbones had his hand raising to ghost over the area they would be. His fangs, longer than he was used to, were extended and sunk into his bottom lip, looking awkward in a mouth they didn't fit. His claws, exactly the same as he'd seen them when he woke up in his apartment with Miroku looked disjointed, the hand that wasn't being tugged by his friend twisting unnaturally as it appeared to grapple at nothing.
His friend.
Inuyasha's eyes narrowed on the still image of Miroku's face, his own twisting into a snarl as he stared at the fucker that he'd been calling his best friend.
"I know how you must be feeling Inuya-"
"You don't know a thing about me," he knew it was stupid, swimming in photographs of himself and refuting her claims. The look she gave him wasn't necessarily exasperated, but it was close enough to have him feeling petulant.
"Your name is Inuyasha Taisho, alias Inuyasha Takahashi. Age 24 and parentage left unknown, orphaned at six years old. You've been masquerading as a data analyst at Taisho Corp for a year and a half, placed by an unknown entity. You've been experiencing symptoms of schizophrenia since childhood, experimenting with antipsychotics to try and resolve the issu-"
"Stop."
"You aren't sick Inuyasha, far from it. If you'll allow me, my team and I will help you find out why you were at Taisho Corp. Perhaps even why you share the same name."
He was floored. The entire time…
He thought of the people that surrounded him every day, most of their faces blurring into the background. He thought of the layout of his workplace, the ease of access he'd been afforded, the nice apartment, the generous pay, the endless supply of everything and anything he wanted…
It dawned on him; Inuyasha wasn't just lucky, was he?
"Him?" he didn't have to point to the image of Miroku dragging him from the wreckage.
"He's your handler," so simple. So confusing.
"Handler?"
"Someone that…looks after agents like yourself," she didn't elaborate.
He was going to throw up.
The woman rounded her desk and perched herself on the chair she'd previously occupied. "There is more to this… situation than even we know. A wretched evil is preying on the people of this city, and we're here to try and fight it. Somehow, all roads we've found led to you, Inuyasha. We'll help you figure out what's been happening to you. It's vital that we figure out what's happening to you." The look in the one eye he could see was one he couldn't put a finger on.
"Let us help you."
This was it. The defining moment where the protagonist makes some life-changing decision that alters the course of their future forever-more. But this wasn't a movie or a book or some fantasy; this was real life -his real life- and the headache that was creeping up on him reminded him of that.
He turned to look at Kagome who had stood diligently and silently near the door since they entered this dreaded room. Their eyes met, and he was glad for the lack of obstruction this time around.
The blue of her eyes was so unnerving, the way they caught the lights in the room reminding him of what the night sky littered with stars would look like if he'd ever had a chance to see one. His breath caught in his throat and the pulsing in his veins quickened with the extended gaze they shared. Her eyes warmed. Her mouth twitched. She looked at him with an emotion he couldn't place; didn't want to place.
He just wanted to drown in it.
He turned to the older woman, drawing in a deep breath as he went against the screaming in his head telling him to run, to leave, to get the fuck out.
"Fine."
The ding of his Interface going off for what had to be the twentieth time rang through Inuyasha's head, causing him to grunt and smack his forehead in agitation. Kagome looked at him perplexed, before likely realising what had bothered him.
"Is he…worried?" The word sounded out of place in the predicament he'd found himself in. While it was precisely what Miroku was likely feeling at that moment, it was unlikely that it was genuine.
Fuck. This one was going to sting for a while.
The thought had him yanking at his suit jacket, fidgeting with his collar as he stomped his feet a little harder into the walkway. Yet another nondescript corridor, lined with nothing but the occasion nondescript door. They halted at the rusty frame of an entrance different from any of others he'd seen thus far.
"Worried is a word." He grumbled as he pulled his Interface up in front of him, silencing the call and effectively blocking Miroku's number from his contacts. There. Maybe now he could get some fucking peace.
The emerald eyes that met him when he entered the dingy little room promised otherwise.
"Ouch. You said this wouldn't hurt!" Inuyasha knew he sounded like a bitch, but anything to make the pricks job that little bit harder was worth it.
Wide, glaring eyes encompassed his vision, his nose brushing up against Inuyasha's as he got as close to him as he possibly could. "I know. This is just part of the fun."
"Fuck!" the chilling grin he glimpsed was the only warning Inuyasha got as a sharp pain seared through his ear, the sharp teeth of a clamp snapping together and biting into the sensitive flesh. "You brat! Why the fuck are you using all this outdated garbage anyway?!"
He barely fought the urge to rip the clamps off and hurl them at the orange-haired nightmare. Barely.
"Look, it's not my fault all you children are running 'round with all these fancy gadgets. I like things the way they were, not the way they are…if you catch my drift?"
"Not in the slightest," nothing this fucker said made any sense to him. Not one single fucking thing.
"Great. Now hold still! I need to access the chip of your Interface, and I can't have you squirming 'round and distracting me…oh man, I've wanted to do this for months…."
"Months?"
"Yep, months. Now hold still."
The jolt that followed was hard to describe. Inuyasha felt present, but he also felt elsewhere. There was a push at the back of his mind, something zeroing in on him that made him feel laid bare. He pinched his eyes shut, flashes of imagery and names and numbers racing through his mind that he couldn't keep up with.
"Ok, this is a mess. Holy shit man, they've got you hidden." The kid's voice rang through his head, a slight echo following as it bounced around his skull. He winced as the push became harder, stronger, deeper until there was a faint pop. Relief.
"There we go. Now, give me a minute while I get all the data we need out of this chip before I destroy it."
"Destroy it?" Inuyasha's voice sounded foreign, distant in his own mind.
"Destroy. You're going off the grid bud, just like the rest of us." So casual, so nonchalant. As if getting rid of your Interface and going rogue was an everyday occurrence in the modern world.
"But I've seen Kagome use hers."
"We don't use names here," he could hear the distaste that must have been present on his face, "and it's not the type of Interface you're used to."
"How many of you are there?" Inuyasha picked that question out of the giant hat of questions he had. It seemed like as good a place as any to start.
"We'll get to that. Hold still."
A flash of white seared through Inuyasha's mind and he doubled over in his seat at the onslaught. His eyes pinched shut harder, and his ears flattened to his head dramatically as he felt the snap of his Interface's power being eradicated from existence. He took a few shuddering breaths as his equilibrium was restored.
"Welcome to the team." The other man's voice was suddenly right in front of him, wholly different from the sound that was coming through his consciousness a moment ago. The clarity of it wasn't lost on him.
Inuyasha's eyes snapped open, surprised to find the gleaming smile that was being bestowed upon him. His eyes, so green and clear in the dim lighting of his little shop of horrors, shone with promise. What that promise was, Inuyasha was more than willing to find out.
He glanced down at the hand extended to him, taking note of all the little details he was sure he would never have seen before. The faint strawberry blonde hairs that sprouted from his skin, the deep-set creases that lined his knuckles, the glint of his blunt claws that caught the light just so…
He inhaled, the coppery twang in the air hitting the back of his throat so acutely he could practically taste it. The old monitors and wires hanging from every surface came to life around himthrough scent, and he marvelled at the sensation.
Gold met emerald once more, and Inuyasha reached for his hand, shaking it in a firm grasp.
For the first time in a long time, he felt like he could breathe again.
Fin
