SATURDAY
Inuyasha had never been so bored in his life. He'd thought sitting around at the shrine while Kagome was at school was bad. If that was the seventh circle of hell, this was something like the nineteenth.
The bus ride to the mall had been interesting enough, even if the smell burned Inuyasha's sensitive nose. Kagome's world was strange, but it was a marvel what those weak humans had accomplished in five hundred years. The mall itself was bigger than most lords' castles, but open to everyone!
"This way," Kagome had grabbed his hand and towed him up the moving staircase. Her excitement was contagious, and Inuyasha found himself curious. What could make the simple act of buying clothing so fun?
Nothing, it turned out.
"Don't you have enough?" Inuyasha groused. He scratched at an ear under his baseball cap. "You'd think an hour and a half would be enough to find anything, if you could just decide what you want."
Kagome had one arm full of clothing while the other poked through a rack of dress shirts. She didn't even look at him to answer. "I just want to make sure we have something of every style. You know, just in case."
Please, if there are any demons left in Kagome's world, Inuyasha prayed, let them all attack me right now.
Inuyasha glanced enviously at the store entrance, from which the exotic smells of the food court drifted. Kagome looked totally engrossed in her shirts. Maybe she wouldn't notice this time if he just meandered away…
He made it a few steps before another smell, equally enticing, grabbed him from the opposite direction. He knew this strange scent. Cooked sugar and a cold winter day. Meat and flowers. Isn't that…
"Okay, I think this is your size, but you need to try it on." With a slow blink, Inuyasha pulled his focus from his nose to his eyes, which looked at Kagome speaking beside him. She handed him a hanger with a white garment and a pair of pants. "While you're at it you may as well try on the jeans."
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow and shrugged. He started to untie the first knot of his hakama. "I guess you do things differently in your world, Kagome. I thought you hated it when-"
"Not here!" Kagome screeched, grabbing Inuyasha's arms and pulling them away before they could do any more damage. "In the changing room! That's where you change! In the changing room!" She glanced around furtively. No one seemed to be paying them any attention.
She dragged him through the store until they arrived at the room with "Men's Changing Room" stenciled on the wall.
"Here. Go into one of the stalls, change into those, and come out when you're done." Her face was red as a tomato. "Let me know if anything doesn't fit."
Inuyasha scoffed, but obeyed. Kagome sat down on an available bench and put her face in her hands. Boy does he have a lot to learn here…
A short time later Inuyasha's discomfited voice came from the changing room. "Uh, Kagome, this definitely doesn't fit."
"What? The shirt or the pants?"
"The...pants."
"Do they not reach your... are they long enough?"
"No, they're really long, but they're way too tight."
Kagome paused. She forced her face and voice straight before answering, "They might be supposed to be like that. Come out and let me see."
Inuyasha stepped out of the changing room, clearly feeling awkward in the tight jeans. They fit- oh, they definitely fit. Or maybe that was just him. The white shirt was entirely unbuttoned, revealing his muscular chest that was, for a nice change, not covered in blood. The pants were also unbuttoned, revealing the peeking fabric of his loincloth, though it looked like he'd figured out how the zipper worked.
Inuyasha looked at Kagome's open mouth and turned around, blushing. This new angle revealed a different but equally pleasant view. Wearing those loose hakama all the time is such a waste, Kagome thought perforce. He fiddled with the cuffs of the shirt, pushing them up to his elbows. He looked at himself in the mirror. "Your world's clothing is weird. What's the point of having clothing that doesn't cover your chest?"
"Well-" Kagome squeaked. She cleared her throat and spoke again at a more normal register. "Well that's because you're supposed to button the buttons. Here, I'll show you."
She walked over to Inuyasha and took the shirt in hands. "Like this." She buttoned one button over his stomach, and then another, before her hands slowed.
They were very close, she suddenly realized. She was looking down at his shirt as she buttoned, but also at his bare chest. Was it weird that she was dressing him? It definitely felt weird. The current between them was charged with meaning.
Her hands were still on his shirt. Kagome looked up. Inuyasha was looking down at her, and now their faces were close. Very close. Kagome's gaze went, almost involuntarily, to Inuyasha's lips before glancing back up at his eyes. He was still looking at her, focused. His pupils were very large.
In a slow, entranced motion, Inuyasha's arms rose, his hands approaching her face. Kagome found herself straightening up, shrinking the distance between their faces…
"Hey, is that Kagome?"
Quick as a snake, Kagome shoved Inuyasha backwards into the changing room booth and slammed the door closed. She whirled around, cheeks burning. Yuka and Ayumi stood several yards outside the changing room. Ignoring the stumbling sounds and the "hey!" coming from Inuyasha's stall, she zipped out to stand by her friends before they could come any closer.
"What are you doing here!" Kagome squeaked, breathless.
Yuka smirked. Ayumi tried to hold back her giggles for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.
"We thought you'd be here," Yuka grinned. She too tried, and failed, to hold back laughter at Kagome's flabbergasted expression. "We've literally been in the mall for four hours, hoping we'd run into you on your d~a~t~e."
"So," Yuka snickered, "where's your boy? Or were you sitting in the men's changing room to spy on strangers?"
Had they not seen Inuyasha when they'd been standing together? When the two of them almost...did something. Kiss? Whatever that strange moment was leading to. Kagome shook her head almost involuntarily, to shake away the memory.
"Um, no, I'm not— it's, um—" Kagome stuttered.
"Hey, Kagome, look at this!" Ayumi interrupted. She fished something out of her shopping bag and shoved it in Kagome's face. Kagome pulled away from at the furry brown thing before she blinked it into a large stuffed mouse.
"Isn't it cute?" Ayumi cooed. "It's going to be Yuka's new best friend."
Kagome laughed. "You're mean!"
Yuka was glaring at Ayumi. "Real funny," she grumbled. Yuka had had a debilitating fear of rodents for as long as Kagome had known her. They'd put a hamster toy on her pillow during a sleepover in elementary school and she'd cried.
Ayumi hugged the stuffed mouse close. "No, I'm not being mean! This is part of her therapy." She gave the toy a kiss on its head. "Besides, it's too cute not to love!"
Yuka wasn't looking very loving. Her eyes kept darting to the mouse, and she rubbed the flesh between her right thumb and forefinger, her nervous tic. Eventually she snapped at Ayumi, "Can't you put that thing away? Don't we have more important stuff to do, like meet Kagome's boyfriend before she can steal him away again?"
"He's not my—" Kagome began, as Ayumi turned to look at her sparkling eyes.
"Don't worry, we're not going to steal your man, Kagome. I just want a look!" Ayumi clapped a hand on Kagome's back. She dashed past Kagome and skipped to a stop in front of the changing stall door.
Kagome ran up towards her. Wait, don't, I'm not ready for this! Yuka followed behind her, snickering. The stall door was ajar. Ayumi gave it a curious look and knocked on the open door.
The stall swung open. The red hakama and haori lay discarded on the floor, with the white hanjuban thrown on top of them.
Other than that, the stall was empty.
The smell of blood was getting stronger.
It wasn't difficult to jump to the top of the changing room walls. The gap between the thin walls and the ceiling gave Inuyasha a good vantage point from which to pinpoint the source of the smell. There.
As he leaped towards the food court, Inuyasha considered the possibilities. No smell of shit or bile, so not a lethal gut wound. Human, female, young adult. That the smell of blood was getting stronger meant she was still bleeding, but it wasn't as strong as a dangerous, life-threatening cut to a vital artery. And Kagome says her world is so safe.
Landing at the back of the food court, Inuyasha sniffed again. There, it was definitely coming from that hallway. Inuyasha bounded past the two doors- definitely bathroom doors, judging by the smell— and turned the corner to the small, dead-end of the hallway.
The girl was sitting, collapsed or forced onto the floor, her head oozing blood from a cut on her scalp. The man was holding her wrists in tight fists above her head, looming over her. She looked to be about the same age as Kagome, even wearing the same style of clothing. The colors were different, but Inuyasha recognized the style of knotted fabric that Kagome described as a sailor uniform. (It looked nothing like the clothing worn by any sailors he'd seen, not that anyone was asking.)
The man was an average human. He was large, fat but not hideously so. He was hissing something down at the girl.
"—are you? Well? Say something you little cunt. Maybe now you know how to treat a paying customer with respect."
"Make up your mind you fat sack of shit, do you want me to be quiet or say something?" The girl snarled back. Her voice was surprisingly strong for someone in her position. Despite the fading tears in her voice and the occasional hitch in her speech, she spoke powerfully. "Are you that pathetic? Good job, so strong, managed to hit a teenage girl—"
The man drew back a fist and Inuyasha lunged. He grabbed the outstretched arm and yanked him off the girl.
The man faced him, enraged. "Who the f—"
Inuyasha reached up with the other arm to slam the man's meaty head into the wall. It made a solid wham and the man staggered to the floor, conscious but stunned. The girl gasped and flinched back.
Inuyasha turned back to the girl. She was still bleeding, but head wounds did that. She stared up with an expression of fear and forced aloofness. Inuyasha began, "Hey, are you—"
The man had recovered, and stood. "You little—" he managed to roar out before Inuyasha calmly socked him in the jaw. He collapsed to the floor, and Inuyasha kicked him in the solar plexus for good measure. Annoying. He missed his sword, left hidden in the Higurashi house. He would never deign to use Tetsusaiga on human filth like this, but the sight of the giant fang might have convinced him to buzz off.
"Not a friend of yours, I guess," he said to the girl. Her face was white.
"Not exactly," she choked out. There was a moment of silence. Crap, now what? The whole recovery and dealing with people business was Kagome and Miroku's job. Inuyasha punched things.
The girl reached up a hand and Inuyasha lifted her to her shaking feet. "Um," she began. "By any chance, do you have a cell phone?"
Whatever the hell that was. "No," Inuyasha said. "But I know someone who does."
"Well, he was here," Kagome said. No use denying that.
"We've been standing outside the changing room this whole time," Yuka sputtered. "Where could he have gone?" She stared suspiciously at the scarlet garments that Kagome gathered off the floor. "Kagome, please tell me your boyfriend is not that asshole historical cosplayer."
"I thought he was a gang member," Ayumi murmured.
"I'm pretty sure I never said that," Kagome said, but her heart was sinking. Had Inuyasha and Yuka met? And had he already made a bad impression? "What do you mean, historical cosplayer?"
Yuka scowled. "Some dick I ran into at school a while ago. Forget it."
Ayumi gasped theatrically and leaned onto Yuka's arm. "What's this?" she giggled. "Did Yuka have drama with a boy?"
"Not hardly," Yuka growled. "Unless you consider 'drama' some asshole telling me I smell." She turned to Kagome. "Just tell me- does your boyfriend have long white hair and yellow eyes?"
"He's not my boyfriend," Kagome began, heart sinking further. She was interrupted by a shrill ringing from Yuka's purse. The girl's scowl deepened.
"Hold on a minute," she muttered, fishing through her purse as she walked out of earshot.
"Since when has Yuka had a cellphone?" Kagome asked Ayumi.
Ayumi pursed her lips. "For a few months. Her dad wanted to be able to get in touch at all times."
Kagome winced. "I bet Yuka just loves that. Is her dad still...you know?"
"Yep," Ayumi sighed. Kagome sighed too.
Yuka slapped her phone shut and stuffed it in her purse. "I've got to go," she said tonelessly after walking back. "I'll see you in school tomorrow."
"I'll walk you home," Ayumi volunteered. Yuka nodded.
"Say hi to your boyfriend for me, Kagome!" Ayumi called back. Kagome waved goodbye with a wry smile.
Now, to find my wayward hanyo, Kagome thought after her friends had left. Besides the fact that she didn't want to unleash him on an innocent shopping mall, he was wearing stolen clothing.
She wondered if she'd be able to sense him. With no other demons around, his youki should stand out. Kagome couldn't sense demons as well as she could jewel shards, which each screamed out to her like little blazing suns, even from miles away. But she'd been getting better. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply.
Nothing. And then...there.
Kagome walked in the direction of the food court. To her surprise, she saw Inuyasha walking in her direction, a girl about her own age following him, her face bloody.
"Oh my gosh!" she gasped, running to them. "What happened?"
"This woman needs a…" Inuyasha began, and looked at the girl.
"Cellphone," she finished. Despite her puffy eyes, her voice didn't quaver.
"Oh, um, I'm afraid I don't have a cell phone. But there are payphones by the store entrance," Kagome said, gesturing. "Here, is there anything I can do for your head?" She rifled through her purse for anything she could use to staunch the bleeding.
The girl stiffened. "I'm fine, thank you. But I do not have any money."
"Here, I can give you some." Kagome grabbed her wallet, grateful for some way to help the bloody stranger.
Kagome led her to the payphones and handed the girl a few hundred yen. The girl took the coins and bowed deeply, first to Inuyasha and then to Kagome.
"Thank you," she said. "I am very grateful to both of you for your assistance."
Kagome bowed back. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"No. Thank you."
After a beat, Kagome recognized the dismissal. "Alright then!" she said. "We'll just get going then." She bowed again, and the two of them made for the store they'd come from.
The girl waited until the two were out of earshot before she began to dial. Staring at the boy with the white hair and the baseball cap, she waited a little longer than she would have normally, on a hunch. Eventually, she made her call.
"This is Hiro," the voice on the line said.
"Hello, it's Yazura. A client had a tantrum, and I need a pickup," the girl said. "Also, pass a message to the Madame for me."
"I'm sending a retrieval now. What's your message?"
"I met someone new here," Yazura told the phone. "He wore a beaded necklace, but no other jewelry. And he's definitely a demon."
Kagome sighed down at the receipt. Though she'd made an effort to only buy the cheapest options, getting Inuyasha an entire wardrobe was damn expensive. Two pairs of jeans, three shirts, dress pants and shirt, and dress shoes. Over twenty thousand yen was not a drop in the bucket for the Higurashis. More like half the bucket for the month.
"I'm telling you, I really don't need all this." Inuyasha, back in his usual scarlet uniform, lifted the three bags he was carrying. "I've been wearing the fire-rat robes since I was a pup and they've suited me just fine."
"I know, I can smell them. And you're not going to do so well if you show up to job interviews wearing them."
Inuyasha shrugged. "I'll figure something out."
The bus pulled up and they boarded. It was cramped and hot in the bus, with no seats free despite the late hour. Kagome could feel Inuyasha bristling at the close, jostling bodies. She rubbed his arm sympathetically and he sighed, looking down at her. Standing so close to each other, chests nearly touching, Kagome was reminded of what had happened- what had almost happened- in the changing room. What was it? Lust? Love?
I really don't have time for this. Kagome thought. She had to focus on her schoolwork, tutor some delinquent kid, prevent Inuyasha from accidentally destroying modern Tokyo, and figure out how to turn the well back on. She didn't need any more distractions.
But the swaying and turning of the bus pushed the two of them against each other, and Kagome wished they could stay like that for longer than the short ride home.
Eventually their stop came. Kagome led Inuyasha off the bus. They were only a block from Higurashi shrine. As the bus pulled away, a car with tinted windows pulled over and opened, spilling out four salarymen in suits and sunglasses. One of them circled around to Kagome.
"Excuse me miss, do you know how to get to Ginza from here?"
He'd placed himself so that Kagome's back was to the street, and Inuyasha. So she didn't see the dark car back up until it was right next to them, or when the doors opened suddenly, and the three suited men lunged at Inuyasha. With expert precision they pushed him into the open car.
Kagome whirled around at Inuyasha's "warg!" of surprise in time to see the doors shut and the car peal off with an angry squeal.
"What— Inuyasha!" Kagome ran a few paces toward the car, kicking past the dropped shopping bags. "Inuyasha!"
"Forgive us, miss, but your friend dangerous," said the last remaining suited man. "And my employer would like to speak to him."
"Please don't punch the windows."
Inuyasha turned and punched the window, ignoring the other people in the car. He slammed his fist at the glass with all his strength. It made a loud WHAM but, miraculously, didn't break. It didn't even crack.
"What the hell!" he snarled, punching it again. "Kagome!" he turned to glare at the other passengers, fangs bared. "Who the hell are you people?"
The woman sat across the car from him, in the center of a ring of plush seats while her goons sat around her. She was plump, lounging casually in a short red dress with her legs crossed. Her hair was a brilliant orange. Her eyes were covered by dark sunglasses. Inuyasha couldn't see her eyes to tell if she was a kitsune, but she didn't smell like a demon. Actually, Inuyasha realized, sniffing, she didn't smell like anything at all.
"You've got a lot of nerve, deviant," the woman said.
Inuyasha punched the window again. Looking closer, he realized the dark glass was inscribed with sutras, and ofudas plastered the interior of the car. Dammit. No wonder he couldn't break through.
"Impressive concentration of youki," the woman drawled with a faint accent. She was pointing a small device at him, and seemed to be reading from it. "Though surprisingly low amounts, considering its potency. A half breed then?" She glanced up at his expression. "Thought so."
"Who are you?" Inuyasha demanded again. "Let me out!"
"No, boy, who are you?" The woman snapped. She took off her glasses to reveal strangely lidded green eyes. A foreigner.
"I don't know how old you are, you could be anywhere from fifteen to fifty. But either age is an impressive amount to remain hidden from the Bureau." The woman snorted. "Pun not intended."
Her goons chuckled silently.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the fact that you're an unglamored demon walking around Tokyo in flagrante, with his youki swinging out to slap the nuts of any human with a hint of spiritual pressure," the woman growled. She leaned forward and her glared icily into Inuyasha's eyes. "You did me a favor, and I don't want to kill you. So I will choose to assume that you are merely unregistered by the Hidden Bureau, rather than intentionally violating its laws."
Inuyasha blinked angrily. "Hidden- what?"
The woman lifted a single, delicately sculpted blond eyebrow. "You've been caught, boy. You can stop playing dumb."
"I'm not playing dumb!" Inuyasha snapped. "Are you saying there are other demons in this era?"
The woman paused. Slowly, she said, "Excuse me?"
Inuyasha didn't want to spill his life story to someone who had just kidnapped him, but demons meant demon magic. Maybe there was someone who could fix the well... or send the two of them back in time by some other means if they couldn't.
"I am from the past, the Sengoku era," Inuyasha decided on. "So I don't know this time's stupid customs, or whatever you're talking about. I need to find someone who can send me back."
The woman stared at him, blinking, for long seconds before she leaned back, and exhaled.
"Time travel. Sure. Well, I've seen weirder." She bared her teeth in an icy smile. "In that case, you shouldn't have any problem with getting registered."
One of the goons raised an eyebrow. "You're buying this, Madame?"
"Of course not," Madame replied with a sniff. "But priority number one is getting him registered, and then the truth."
Inuyasha bared his teeth back, not smiling. "It is the truth."
"Prove it. Get registered with the Hidden Bureau."
"Fine, I will!" Inuyasha snapped. "...What does it mean to get registered?"
Madame sighed. "Alright. Let's pretend I believe you about this 'from the past' nonsense. I guess if you're claiming to be from the Sengoku era, you wouldn't have been around when the Hidden Bureau was created."
"When the Black Ships came in the nineteenth century, Japan started to trade ideas as well as material goods with the west. It produced a renaissance of demon slaying, of sorts. The humans developed strategies and weapons that were...very effective. Much more...methodical." The woman pronounced the word with distaste.
"When we started dying out, we realized our only chance of survival was to hide or flee. The Hidden Bureau arose from those who stayed. It protects demons, from humans as well as each other. Any who live in the human world are required to hide their youki and demonic traits, and are registered on a list." She smiled nastily again. "That way, if a half-eaten human child shows up with spider-demon poison on the corpse, we know who to punish."
"Oh, and if you refuse to be registered, we'll kill you."
Inuyasha tensed up. He hadn't understood what she'd meant by 'Black Ships' and 'nineteenth century,' but violence and threats were his first language. Not that he could be killed by a puny human wo- "Wait, we started dying? You're not a demon!"
Madame grinned widely. She removed a ring from her finger, and Inuyasha was forced back a step at the sudden fog of youki that filled the car. Her canines pointed into fangs, and her green eyes were now ruby-red.
"I told you, boy. We're hidden."
At first, the man tried to convince Kagome that Inuyasha was part of the yakuza.
"You may not know this, but that person you were with is actually involved in some serious criminal dealings," he said. "It is very dangerous for you to be around him, and for your safety…"
For a moment, Kagome was struck speechless by the utter garbage the man was spewing. Inuyasha in the mafia? It was so ludicrous that for a fraction of a second she actually believed it.
"That is bullshit!" Kagome screamed. "Where are you taking him?" Her rage triggered something, and she felt the pink glow of her power building in her hand.
The man glanced down at her hand and blanched. He took several hasty steps back. "W-w-wait, forgive me Priestess! We thought you were human! He- He's unregistered, and we thought he was a rogue demon, so—"
"What the heck? Unregistered where?"
The suited man swallowed visibly. "At the Hidden Bureau's demon registry, I see now it must have been a technical error, uh, I'm sure the Madame will clear it right up, Priestess!"
As the man babbled, Kagome narrowed her eyes. Hidden Bureau? Rogue demon? Did that mean there was such a thing as non-rogue demons?
Looked like she owed Inuyasha an apology. There were demons in modern Tokyo. Their efforts to fix the well had just taken a great leap forward.
"Then where is he now?" Kagome interrupted the suit's babbling. She was growing more concerned by the fact Inuyasha hadn't punched his way out of the car by now. I guess these really are demons we're dealing with.
"He's, uh, being interviewed by my boss, because we thought—"
"Yes, yes, you thought he was a rogue demon. When are they bringing him back?"
"Uh, actually, if this was just a mistake he should have been returned by now." The man eyed Kagome's pink, glowing hand nervously. "Are...are you certain he's registered, Priestess?"
Kagome didn't answer, just narrowed her eyes at the suit until he took another step back. She gathered up the shopping bags that had fallen during Inuyasha's kidnapping. She sat down at the bus stop bench, and then turned to look at man.
"Don't you leave," she commanded, pointing a glowing finger. To her surprise, a string of pink energy shot out and wrapped itself around the man's neck. Is he a demon? Kagome couldn't sense any demonic presence, but her powers didn't work on humans. The man made a sad gurgling whimper.
"Because if Inuyasha is not returned to me unharmed, you'd better tell your 'employer' that there will be hell to pay."
As the demon squeaked and promised that he was sure everything would be resolved peacefully, Priestess, Kagome noticed a familiar dark car coming up the road. It pulled up to the sidewalk. A chauffeur circled around and opened the sidewalk door. Inuyasha stepped out, looking dazed.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome gasped, running to him and grabbing his arms. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"
"Keh! As if. I'm fine. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, they didn't touch me." Kagome let out a sigh of relief. "That was so scary, how they just grabbed you like that! And when you didn't bust right out…" She turned to glare at the demon man, glowing pink collar around his neck, who was trying to edge toward the car without her noticing. With a flick of her finger, Kagome dissolved the leash. The demon man dived into the car like a bat out of hell- or a demon bat back into hell, she supposed.
"Hey, you don't need to worry about me. It's my job to protect you," Inuyasha said. But his glance back at the car was apprehensive.
"We'll see you tomorrow, kid." A female voice emanated from within the car. "And if you're thinking of escape, save yourself- and us- the trouble and don't."
Someone from inside the car pulled the door shut and it pulled away, absorbed into the traffic. As they walked home, Inuyasha told Kagome everything that had happened in the car.
"Then she put this on me," he explained, holding up a wrist to reveal a simple band made of braided twine. "It's like these damn beads, I can't get it off. She said it's a tracker, and they'll use it to find me and register me tomorrow. And get 'fitted for a glamour,' whatever that means."
"Huh," Kagome said, examining the bracelet. She could feel a strange spiritual pressure emanating from it. She grabbed the twine in her fingers with both hands and pulled. With a little resistance, the braid snapped.
"What! How did you— I can uproot a tree, but I couldn't break that!"
Kagome smirked. "Must be my feminine charm." She tied the bracelet around his wrist. "But it might be useful for them to believe it's still on you, for now."
Inuyasha nodded. "She said as a registered demon I'll have access to all their public records- they might have something about the well, Kagome!"
Kagome sighed. "That's what I was thinking." More research. Great. She really was happy about this new development, but she had enough school work without adding any more... extracurriculars. "I guess we can start looking tomorrow."
Inuyasha nodded, smiling. "Finally! I can't wait to leave this stupid era and go home."
"Hey, my era's not stupid! Or at least no more stupid than yours." Kagome elbowed him playfully in the side. He grinned at her, taking the abuse with a snort. "But if this Hidden Bureau's records are anything like the human government, finding the information we need won't be easy."
Inuyasha's smile faded. "But we'll find it."
"That's right. We'll find it."
SUNDAY
By the time the demons came the next day, Inuyasha was prepared. He sat in a leafy tree, Tetsusaiga belted at his waist, watching the entrance of the shrine. When a group of three came just after dawn, two of them smelling like nothing at all, Inuyasha jumped down to block their path.
They looked like normal humans, and one of them even smelled it. The real human took a startled step backwards when Inuyasha landed in front of them.
"Ah, you must be our demon, then," said a demon carrying a large briefcase. His glamour turned him into an achingly average-looking salaryman. He held out his hand. "I'm Seichiro. Pleasure to meet you."
Inuyasha stared at the hand. Seichiro pulled it back.
"...Right. Well then, let's get started, shall we? Can you take us somewhere we won't be interrupted?"
Inuyasha took the group to a secluded area near the Higurashi storage sheds, where they wouldn't easily be seen by worshipers, but were visible from Kagome's window.
"Okay, first you'll need to fill out some basic information." Seichiro handed Inuyasha a packet of forms.
"What the hell is this?" Inuyasha asked, squinting at the tiny script. "It barely looks like Japanese. How'd the scribe write it so small?" It must have been the same one who'd written Kagome's spellbooks.
The two demons shared a look. The other one was a stout woman with a short haircut. "You're still sticking with that whole 'from the past' story?" She asked sarcastically. She explained to the other two. "That's this yahoo's excuse for why he's unregistered. Time travel."
"I'm right here, you know," Inuyasha growled. "And it's the truth!"
"...Whatever." Seichiro handed Inuyasha a pen. "Just fill it out."
Seichiro began assembling some machine out of his briefcase as Inuyasha tried to fill out the questions.
Name. Alright, that wasn't difficult. Date of Birth, (Gregorian.) Shit, he had no idea. And what was 'Gregorian?' He put down the name of the Emperor during his time. It was off by about 50 years, thanks to Kikyo, but he couldn't remember anything else. And he really didn't give a crap. Species. Dog? He wrote it down.
"You'll want to add in that you're a hanyo over there." The female demon pointed, looking over his shoulder.
"You'll want to mind your own business," Inuyasha muttered, and moved so that she couldn't see the paper. He continued filling it out, understanding most of it. (But what did they mean by blood type? Demonic? Red?)
After two pages of stupid questions, the form started over, asking the same thing about both his parents. Inuyasha threw the packet down.
"This is ridiculous! I'm done," he shouted. "Who actually cares about this stuff?"
Seichiro gathered up the papers and browsed through them. "The better our records, the safer we can keep the yokai community." He handed them back to Inuyasha. "You'll need to fill in at least one parent, or data on whoever raised you, if you don't know."
Inuyasha snatched the packet back, grumbling. He'd fill in what he could about his father. Not his mother. "There, I'm done. I'm not doing any more."
Seichiro looked through the papers again. "You left 'address' empty."
"You can address me however you like, but I am the son of a demon lord, so "Lord Inuyasha" if it means that much to ya."
The two demons shared another look, before Seichiro turned his eyes back to Inuyasha. "It means where you live," Seichiro said slowly.
Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Fine. Then write down this place. Higurashi shrine."
Both demons raised their eyebrows and turned to look at the human, a tall, young man in a suit. He shook his head.
"Impossible. Higurashi Shrine is totally unaffiliated with the Hidden Bureau. There hasn't been a priest with real power here in a hundred years."
Inuyasha smirked. He could sense this man's spiritual pressure. Kagome could obliterate this twerp in a second. "Well, there sure is now. And I live here with her."
The human raised a single, condescending eyebrow. "The Holy Registry tests all children of shrine families for power, and Higurashi has always been a dud. Just because your girlfriend is a good lay doesn't mean she can compare to a real priest."
Inuyasha stood up and approached the priest. He growled low in his throat and cracked his knuckles. "What the fuck did you say?"
"You heard me, demon."
The demon woman leaped in between Inuyasha and the man. "Back off, halfbreed," she hissed, shoving Inuyasha backwards.
Inuyasha drew Tetsusaiga. "Half-breed or not, I'll still kick your ass!" The human looked nervous at the sight of the giant fang, but the demon woman just sneered.
"Alright Rei, let's cool it down here," Seichiro said to the demoness.
"No, let's not," Rei said. She took a ring off her finger, and suddenly she didn't look human at all.
Brown fur covered her body, which had doubled in size, and fearsome tusks sprouted from her mouth. She smelled real now, too, and Inuyasha could sense her youki. A boar demon.
"I haven't gotten any real exercise in ages," Rei went on, "and this brat could use some humbling." Inuyasha could feel himself grinning. He missed this: tense nerves, rushing adrenaline. It had been a while since he'd gotten real exercise, too.
Rei rushed forward to punch Inuyasha in the stomach. She was faster than the average boar demon, but Inuyasha was faster. When she tried to follow up with another punch, Inuyasha slashed at her face with his claws. She roared with pain and jumped back.
"Iron reaver, soul stealer!" The force of Inuyasha's attack lifted the demon off her feet and sent her tumbling into a storage shed, shaking the building. Her clothing was ripped and bloody but Rei seemed unfazed. She got up onto all fours and charged.
'Alright, let's do it then," Inuyasha murmured. He lifted Tetsusaiga. "Wind S-!"
An arrow shot past Rei and then Inuyasha, landing in the dirt behind him. Rei let out an angry squeal as she turned to avoid it. The arrow's pink force field grazed the fang, transforming it into a rusty old katana.
"Hey, you almost hit me!" Inuyasha turned around to snap.
Kagome stood by the shed in her pajamas and slippers, quiver slung over her arm. She pulled another arrow back in her bow and aimed it at Rei. "Sorry about that, I'm out of practice. Who are these...people?"
"Sohei, calm down Rei," Seichiro ordered, standing up from his contraption. He approached Kagome carefully, staying out of the arrow's line of fire. "Please, we mean you no harm, Priestess."
"That's not how it looked to me." Kagome kept the bow drawn, glaring at the demoness.
"I apologize for my associate's behavior. She will be disciplined, I assure you. If you would just put down your weapon…"
"It's alright Kagome, she was pretty weak," Inuyasha said, sheathing Tetsusaiga. He jumped over to stand between her and Seichiro. With one last wary look at Rei, Kagome relaxed the drawn bow. Seichiro let out a sigh of relief.
"Alright, now comes the final and most important part of registration," Seichiro explained, with a few nervous looks in Kagome's direction. He pointed to his contraption. "This device will capture a sample of your DNA and youki. In the event that you're involved in a crime, this will help us resolve the issue and protect you from human investigation."
'And kill you if you were the culprit' went unsaid, but Inuyasha could feel the words hanging in the air.
"Doesn't that violate privacy rights?" asked Kagome. "He's not a criminal. Technically."
Seichiro looked at Kagome, startled. "You really aren't part of the Holy Registry, are you?"
"I never said I was."
"Well..." he sighed. "Such rights don't apply to demons. Now, sir, if you would just put your hand here..." Seichiro indicated a metal plate on his machine. Inuyasha set his hand on it.
"Ow goddamn it!" Inuyasha pulled his hand back sharply.
"Sorry, that was the blood sample. But the youki part won't hurt."
Inuyasha put his hand back down.
"OW damn sh—"
"Sorry, forgot about the tissue sample," Seichiro said as Inuyasha flapped his bleeding hand. "This part won't cause any pain, really."
Inuyasha glared at the demon. "It better not, or I damn sure will."
Inuyasha put his hand down on the metal plate. It didn't hurt this time, but it felt weird. Like his breath was being sucked out of his lungs, but with his entire body. It stopped, and suddenly his cells could breathe again.
"Alright, we're almost done." Seichiro began to disassemble his machine. "Sohei! Come remove his tracker."
The priest, who had been murmuring spells to hold back Rei until she calmed down, now sauntered over.
"Oh, Kagome already did that." Inuyasha held up the broken bracelet.
"What?! But only an A-rank priest-" Sohei began, but stopped at Inuyasha's smug smirk. He scowled. "Alright half-breed, if she's so great, why can't she put a glamour on you?"
"A what?" Kagome asked.
"An illusion to hide his eyes and ears from humans." Sohei's sneer and upturned nose added, You idiot. "Even the most incompetent of Holy Registrants would know that."
Kagome reached out to grab Inuyasha's arm before he strangled the little prick. "Don't," she murmured.
"You want a ring, bracelet, or necklace?" Seichiro asked. Inuyasha blinked at him.
"Bracelet," Kagome answered for him. Seichiro grabbed a simple silver band and tossed it to Inuyasha.
"What's this for?" He asked as he clasped it around his wrist.
"Hides your scent and youki," Siechiro explained distractedly. "Sohei, the glamour?"
With a sneer at Kagome, Sohei raised two fingers to form a spell. With some muttered words, spiritual power swirled from his fingertips around Inuyasha, focused on his new bracelet. The twirling blue energy felt like a thousand tiny ants crawling over Inuyasha's skin. Sudden pain enveloped his body, mild at first, but intensifying. It felt like millions of tiny stab wounds on his skin and organs. He jerked in startled pain. Get it off, get it off,
"Get it off!" Inuyasha shouted. He ripped off the bracelet. The pain and itching stopped. Inuyasha glared at the broken band, gasping, and then whirled on Sohei.
"Th-that wasn't me, I promise!" Sohei held up his hands and backed up.
"Inuyasha, wait." Seichiro said. "He really didn't do it. Some demons just don't take well to glamours." He tossed Inuyasha another bracelet from his bag, sighing. "You' still need to hide your demonic presence. As for the rest…wear a hat, I suppose. And colored contacts."
As Inuyasha fixed the bracelet on his wrist and Seichiro cleaned up, Rei slowly walked back to them. She had her disguising ring back on, but the front of her shirt was ripped and bloody. Inuyasha rested a hand on Tetsusaiga warningly.
"Hey. You're...stronger than me," she said to Inuyasha. She stared at him intensely, but not angrily
"Uh, yeah. So? You wanna fight again?"
She waved the offer away. "Yeah, but that's not what I was getting at. You like to fight? You good?"
"Uh...I guess."
"You want a job? Pays three thousand yen an hour."
Kagome jumped forward. "He'll take it!" And then, after a beat, "What kind of job?"
Rei took a business card from her pocket and handed it to Inuyasha. "Go there tomorrow night and ask for Abezawa. Tell 'em I sent you…" she grinned. "Or just beat 'em up."
Kagome took the card. It had English words printed in large, sleek letters, with a smaller address in Japanese and a phone number underneath.
"Night...Crimson? What is that?"
"Rei! Let's go, I'm already late enough," Sohei called. Rei rolled her eyes and growled.
"Just go there after nine tomorrow night. You'll find out."
It wasn't until after dinner that day, as Kagome finished the last of her weekend homework and Inuyasha fiddled with his new jewelry on Kagome's bed, that she remembered.
"Oh no!" Kagome gasped, dropping her pencil. Inuyasha jumped up, hand on his hilt.
"What is it?!"
"We forgot to ask them about accessing public records," Kagome moaned, dropping her head into her hands. "Did those people leave any way of contacting them, this morning?
Inuyasha slapped his forehead. "Dammit," he whispered. "No, they didn't. Nothing except..." he looked at the business card Rei had given him, now lying on Kagome's desk.
Kagome raised her eyebrows. "Well," she said. "If you weren't already planning to check that place out, I guess we don't have much of a choice now."
On Monday, Kagome could barely concentrate on her schoolwork. All she could think about was the Hidden Bureau. An entire government of demons, in modern Tokyo this whole time! And what the heck kind of job did they want Inuyasha for that paid three thousand an hour? That was more money than her mom made.
With a heavy sigh, Kagome forced her mind back to the blackboard. If she was going to tutor someone tonight, she'd need to understand the material.
After the final school bell rang, Kagome stretched gratefully. Why was she voluntarily staying in a chair for another two hours, again? So you can pass ninth grade? Oh right. That.
She got up and went to Yuka's desk, where Eri and Ayumi had already drifted.
"So! How about a celebratory visit to WacDonalds, in order to celebrate Kagome managing to stay in school for an entire week?" Yuka asked, slamming her hands down on her desk like gavels. "Since someone" she mock glared at Kagome, "was so rudely held back by a teacher for like, forever on Friday."
"I wish!" cried Kagome. "But that's actually what Hasegawa was talking to me about. I'm going to be staying late every day from now on, to tutor some dude for extra credit."
"Ugh, gross, that sucks," Eri winced sympathetically.
"I know." Kagome glanced at the clock. "I've got to be in room 9-C in two minutes, I'll see you later. I hope you think of me with every WacBite you take."
Eri pantomimed tearfully biting into a burger. Kagome laughed and left the room.
9-C was down the hall from her own classroom. Kagome noticed that the door was ajar; looked like her pupil was already there. She opened the door.
"Hello, Morika— Ow!"
A plastic container full of chalk and chalk dust had been held up in the door. It hit her square on the head when she opened it. The dust flew everywhere- in her nose, her mouth, her eyes. She immediately began coughing, so hard she could hardly breathe.
"Oh my g- shit, I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Fuck, hold on-"
There was a boy in the room. He jumped up from his chair when Kagome came in and got hit by the prank. Now he was hovering in front of her, hands waving uselessly.
"Did you—" Kagome began, but just inhaling to speak sucked up more chalk dust. She coughed wildly.
"Hold on—" the boy said, and raced out of the room. He returned seconds later with wet paper towels from a bathroom. "Here, try breathing through these."
Kagome put the towels over her mouth, still hacking up chalk dust. It was a few minutes before her lungs decided she'd been punished enough, and allowed her to get a sentence out.
"Are you," she gasped. "Are you the one who put that chalk up there?"
"Well yeah, but- I wasn't expecting anyone to come in! I mean, I'm meeting with my tutor now, but he always sees those things. And even when he doesn't, he doesn't practically hack up his lungs, like you did."
The boy froze and held his hands over his mouth in horror. "Oh shit," he whispered. "I completely forgot that Sugou was quitting. Are you my new tutor?"
Kagome wiped her eyes, which were streaming from the chalk dust. "Yes, I'm Kagome Higurashi. You're Natsuo Morikawa?"
"Yeah. Uh...nice to meet you."
"...Ditto."
They stood at the entrance of the room, Natsuo wringing his hands as Kagome wiped chalk from her face. She was mostly successful.
"Alright, we may as well get started," Kagome said, before the awkwardness could solidify any more and suffocate her. She plopped her bag on a desk and pulled out her notes. Natsuo pulled himself onto a desk and sat, swinging his legs. He looked younger than fifteen, despite his lip and eyebrow piercings. His hair was styled so that it was poofy on the top and front, but short on the sides, like a miniature pompadour. His uniform was unbuttoned, and Kagome could see what could have been a tattoo on his collarbone peeking out from beneath his shirt.
"I wasn't expecting a girl. All my other tutors have been guys," he said.
"Yeah, well, here I am. Do you have any notes?"
Natsuo shook his head. "Nah, I usually just make copies of yours. Well, Sugou's. After you explain it to me." He hopped off the desk and went to the window. "Oh, look at that! Man, birds are weird."
"Hey, come on!" Kagome snapped, still irritated by the chalk in her throat and eyes. She slammed her palm down on the desk. "Can you sit down and focus please? The faster we get through this, the faster we can both leave. But if you're always going to be bouncing off the walls like this just let me know now, so you don't waste any more of my time!"
Natsuo, wide eyed, sat down at the desk in front of her. "Sorry."
Kagome huffed. "Alright, let's just get this over with."
She began to explain the day's lessons. The kid was a quick study, when he paid attention. Natsuo's attention bounced away from the material like repulsing magnets that Kagome, exhausted, kept pushing together. But when he focused, Kagome only had to explain something once.
"Wow, you're pretty smart!" she said. He'd solved a math problem with one explanation that she'd needed the whole class to understand.
He leaned back in his chair, smirking. "I know."
Kagome rolled her eyes. "And full of it, apparently."
Natsuo grinned. "One could even say…" he clicked his tongue and made finger guns at her. "Chalk full of it."
Kagome laughed. "No, but seriously. You don't need tutoring. Why are you here?"
Natsuo's smile faded, and he looked coldly out the window. "Let's just say...the school and I have an arrangement." He looked back at her, smiling again. "That, or our meeting was meant to be. We could chalk it up to fate."
Kagome snorted. "Don't try to pull that on me, your puns are powderless."
Natsuo patted her on the arm. "That was a good try."
By the time they covered everything, school had been out for a little over two hours. Kagome stretched gratefully. What she wouldn't give for a nice, three-day hike across Japan...
"Good work, Morikawa. It was nice to meet you. And I mean it this time."
Natsuo laughed. "I meant it the first time! And you can call me Natsuo, if you want."
"Oh! Um, alright," Kagome said. He was just a very friendly person, she guessed? "Then I'll see you tomorrow, Natsuo."
"Yeah. See you tomorrow, Higurashi."
Inuyasha was not lost. He had followed Mrs. Higurashi's instructions to the letter, he was sure of it. His only problem now was that he had no idea where he was or where he was supposed to go.
He knew he should've taken Kagome. But Mrs. Higurashi had taken one look at the address on the business card and frowned.
"That's not a good neighborhood," she said. "I really wouldn't be comfortable with Kagome going there at night."
Inuyasha wondered if Mrs. Higurashi knew exactly what they did when Kagome went through the well. But he was a guest at their house, and he could manage on his own, so he didn't argue the point. And he could manage on his own; it wasn't his fault the modern era was so stupidly big and loud and cramped that he couldn't see for crap.
The city was full of buildings that stretched up to the night sky, all blazing lights from their windows. They cast strange shadows on the dark street, where cars zoomed past and people walked with their heads down.
Inuyasha squinted at the instructions Mrs. Higurashi had written for him. He was certain he'd taken the right train (after some mixups), and the right transfer (after fewer mixups.) (He hated trains.) He was glad he'd left so early. "That way, you'll have time to explore the city," Mrs. Higurashi had said, which he was now realizing actually meant "so you'll have time to get lost." But he'd taken the last turn written on the paper, and he was out of directions.
Inuyasha growled, scraping his talons against the side of a building. None of the buildings on this block stood out. How did people find anything in this era? What a waste of four hours of his life. No— this whole damn week. He was trapped in time, wasting time.
With no other leads to follow, Inuyasha took a big sniff out of the air, hoping for a clue. What he got was a whole lot of nothing. Dammit.
As he walked down the street, hoping for something to stand out, a swish of dark fabric under a street light caught his eye. It was a sailor uniform, the same design as the one worn by the girl he'd rescued at the mall. If this place was as dangerous as Mrs. Higurashi had said, what the hell was a kid like that doing here at night?
The face of the girl in the uniform was unfamiliar. Next to her was a woman in short shorts and knee-high boots, her arm resting languidly over the girl's shoulder. As they walked closer, Inuyasha breathed in. The girl smelled normal- sweat and fabric and human female. But the woman…
...smelled like nothing at all.
Inuyasha smirked. Bingo.
"Hey, you," he began as the pair approached.
"I have a boyfriend," she woman said, breezing past. The girl under her arm giggled.
"That's not—" Inuyasha jumped in front of her. "Hey! I was going to ask you if you knew where Night Crimson is!"
The woman looked Inuyasha up and down contemptuously. "You a tourist or something?"
"A what? No."
"Then do you live under a rock? It's back there." The woman gestured up the street where she'd come from. "Front entrance is around the corner."
Inuyasha looked toward where she'd waved. Alright, a lead was a lead, no matter how vague.
"You know—" he began.
"I don't care," the woman drawled back. She pushed past him and walked on, whispering to her human companion. "Stupid tourists."
Inuyasha rolled his eyes. At least he knew where he was going, sort of.
He walked up the street. There was a sound pulsing in the air. He'd thought it was just ambient noise of the modern era, but as he approached the end of the street, Inuyasha realized it was coming from a building around the corner. It was a deep, booming beat, with a frenetic melody barely audible above it. Music?
The building it was coming from was dark red brick, except for the blazing red letters at its height. They were a swirling, jumping script in a language Inuyasha couldn't read. In the same bright red light underneath were the smaller Japanese words Night Crimson.
There was a line of people in front of the entrance. Was Inuyasha supposed to wait in line? Forget that, he'd wasted enough of his night already. He walked to the open doors.
A human man moved to block him. "Back of the line, kid."
"I'm here to see Abezawa. Rei sent me."
The guard raised his eyebrows. "Inoshishi did?" He pressed a button on some device and spoke into his shoulder. "Could I get someone down at the front entrance? There's some kid here who says he has a meeting with Abezawa. Says Inoshishi sent him."
"Hey, I've also got a meeting with Abezawa!" one of the men in line said.
"Yeah, Inoichi sent me too!"
As the guard shouted at the people in line, Inuyasha didn't wait. He pushed past the human, shoving him and his protests out of the way with ease. But before he could enter the door a slim woman wearing the same black uniform emerged out of the smoky building. She had no youki, but her fire red hair floated over pointed ears, and the pupils in her green eyes were vertical slits. She laughed when she saw Inuyasha.
"Nice cosplay, buddy. You're doing a great job at the whole 'not standing out' thing." She jerked her head towards the inside. "Follow me."
Inside, the building was dark, only dimly lit by a rainbow of colors. The lights on the ceiling and floor pulsed in time with the music. They made colorful beams through the smoke, though Inuyasha could smell no fire, so he didn't know where it was coming from. The whole building seemed to be a giant room filled with people. They danced and gyrated, filling the air with the scents of sweat and lust. The floor itself was broken up by raised and lowered areas, stages and pits. Some people drank and rested at tables near the walls.
Inuyasha followed the woman through the ocean of bodies. She slipped with fluid grace between them, heading to a bar that spanned almost the entire wall of the room. Inuyasha followed more like a bulldozer as he shoved people aside.
"What is this place?" he shouted over the music. She waved her hand as if to say 'later, later.' Approaching the bar, she waved a hand at a bartender, who waved back. Inuyasha followed her as she went behind the bar, and then through a camouflaged door behind it.
When she shut the door, the music suddenly went quiet.
"Soundproof," the woman said with a grin, knocking on the door. "And thank god for that."
The hallway they'd entered was as different from the room they'd just left as day was from night. It was a brightly lit hallway with whitewashed walls, and simple wooden doors running along it.
"What was that?" Inuyasha asked.
"What was what?"
"That room we just left."
The guard woman looked at Inuyasha with a confused expression. "What do you mean? The club?" She shrugged. "It's a normal club, to most people. Most of our customers are human. Most of the staff, too."
She looked slyly back at Inuyasha as she led him up some stairs, like they were sharing a secret. "Of course, it's the only club in Tokyo that caters to our kind, so it isn't actually normal. But we try to provide the same services humans can get anywhere, and then some. But I guess you must have known that, since you came here. Or were you only coming because it's the HB's headquarters?"
She tapped her chin thoughtfully. She didn't seem to need any help from Inuyasha to continue on the conversation. "No, that can't be right, since you're meeting with Abezawa, who's head of club security. Not to mention, you should have come during normal office hours for any other business."
She stopped in front of a door, indistinguishable from the others except for the small plate that read, 'Director of Club Security' on it. She knocked twice and opened it. "Ms. Abezawa? There's a man here who says he has a meeting with you."
The woman behind the door was a thin, severe-looking person, her gray hair pulled into a short ponytail. She was sitting behind a desk, looking at some papers. She didn't look up to say "I don't have a meeting scheduled."
"He mentioned you by name, and said that Rei sent him."
That got her attention. Abezawa looked up from her papers, narrowing her eyes at Inuyasha. "And what did she tell you, exactly?"
"She said I could get a job that pays three thousand an hour. "
Abezawa barked out a laugh. "And that's it? You could be selling yourself into prostitution for all you know."
Inuyasha folded his arms. "Since she offered it to me because she seemed to think I could fight, I don't think so."
Abezawa raised her eyebrows. She seemed genuinely surprised. "Is that so? Inoshishi Rei thought you were strong?" Inuyasha nodded.
Abezawa let out a harrumph. "Inoshishi was offering you a position as a member of Night Crimson's security team— a bouncer. Among other things. Not that she has the authority to do that. Since Night Crimson serves...individuals... who are physically much stronger than humans, of course qualifications for the position requires significant strength. As it so happens, we do indeed have an opening, a fact Inoshishi must have known.
"Of course, you can only get the job if you're strong enough."
Inuyasha smirked. "I am strong enough."
"Hmph." Abezawa leaned back in her chair. "Prove it then." She gestured with a hand.
The guard woman suddenly lunged at Inuyasha, inch long claws aimed at his eyes. Inuyasha grabbed her arm before she could touch him and flung her to the floor in front of the desk. He reached for his sword- nothing. Dammit, I am taking Tetsusaiga with me next time, to hell with Kagome's complaints!
"Thank you, Kimiko," Abezawa said as the guard woman rose. Kimiko rubbed her shoulder, but she was smiling.
"Not bad!" she chirped.
"You're hired, then, if you want the job," Abezawa sighed. She looked back to her papers. "Kimiko, please take him to payroll and get him set up."
By the time Kagome got home, Inuyasha was gone. She shouldn't have been surprised. Inuyasha had been going stir crazy this past week, and the fight with the boar demon yesterday had only whetted his appetite.
"Welcome home," Sota said as she came in. And as she walked past him, "why do you smell like chalk?"
"Skip it," Kagome growled. "Where's Inuyasha?"
Sota shrugged. "He went out somewhere. Mom gave him train directions downtown. He left about fifteen minutes ago, I think."
"The train? Really? I can't believe he'd take it willingly."
Sota shrugged again. "I don't know how she convinced him, but you know mom."
Inuyasha wasn't home for dinner, and still hadn't arrived by the time she went to bed. Well, she thought. If anything's happened, I suppose we'll find out about it on the news tomorrow.
Kagome woke up shivering the next morning to the sound of birdsong, instead of the shrill shriek of her alarm clock. Her window was wide open. On the floor next to her bed, his head bowed to his chest, slept Inuyasha. She let out a sigh of relief. Home safe. As she knew he would be.
Kagome sat up slowly, not wanting to make any noise and wake him up. But as she rose and saw more of him than silver hair and the sheathed fang peeking out over his shoulders, she let out a small gasp.
Inuyasha's eyes shot open and he grabbed Tetsusaiga's hilt. "Mm," he grunted.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Kagome whispered, stepping out of bed to get a better look at him. "I just- what are you wearing?"
Gone were the red haori and hakama. Inuyasha was dressed in a slim outfit of unremarkable black pants and a black button-down, with a small red "NC" stitched over the breast. It reminded Kagome of giving a fluffy dog a bath. Without the poofy clothing, Inuyasha seemed to have shrunk three sizes. He looked more like a kid her age than a mythical creature of the ancient past. A black baseball cap lay discarded on the floor next to him.
"I went to that place last night," Inuyasha began.
"Night Crimson?"
"And they put me right to work. But I had to wear their clothing." He shrugged. "It's not so bad."
"What time did you come home?"
Inuyasha glanced out the window. "The sun was rising by the time I got back."
Kagome noticed the dark circles under Inuyasha's eyes. She remembered that this was someone who lived in a world without electric lights, who slept and rose with the sun.
"I'll ask you all about it when I get home," Kagome whispered, patting his shoulder. "Go back to sleep. Oh! But did you get information on where the Bureau's records are?"
Inuyasha grin was exhausted and triumphant. "They've got a records room that goes back hundreds of years. We can go there any time we want."
OMAKE:
"Here's your uniform." Kimiko looked Inuyasha over with an expert eye, and grabbed three uniforms in his size out of the store room cubbies. "You can keep them here and change when you arrive, or keep them at home, but don't let them get dirty except at work."
"You mean this is the only thing I have to wear for work?" Inuyasha asked, pawing through the black garments.
"Yep."
Inuyasha threw his head back and groaned. "You mean all that shopping we did was for nothing?"
"We? Who took you, your girlfriend?"
"Uh, yeah."
Kimiko shot Inuyasha a look as cool and dry as a winter wind. "Unless you weren't a whiny baby the whole time," she said, "she probably enjoyed it. And that's never a waste."