Chapter 12: Central

Inuyame could tell just from the train station that this city must be huge. The whole place was alive with people walking around and trying to find their rides. Inuyame looked to Edwin and William, wondering where the people who were supposed to pick them up were.

"Huh. That's weird. They should be here…" Edwin trailed off as he looked around the station for the familiar faces of 'uncle' Roy and 'aunt' Riza.

"Are they here?" William asked and tugged on Edwin's sleeve.

"Nope. They must have forgot." He grumbled then sighed. "Alright, I guess we'll just have to walk to their house…" He stopped as he realized everyone was looking at her funny as they walked by. Then he remembered. "Ahem. Inuyame you need to cover your ears. Here." He said and handed her a bandana. She quickly tied it over them. "As I was saying, we just need to stick close together. I know how to get there from previous visits. Follow me." He said and led the way while the other two trailed closely behind him.

It was getting late and dark outside, making Inuyame nervous. She was worried about what May had told her about kidnappings. Without the two behind him noticing, Edwin slipped his hands into his pockets and pulled them back out covered in white gloves with alchemist's circles on the top. He had to be prepared for anything as they moved through the shadowy alleyways towards their destination.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kovu coughed nervously. "Umm, no, my name is Kovu. I'm Koga's son." He said quietly. Koya coughed loudly. "Oh, and this is my sister, Koya." He said.

Kagome stood there, too stunned to speak. When she regained her composure she held her hand out. "Nice to meet you two." She said and shook their hands. "But, what are you doing on my doorstep so late at night? Not to mention the fact that my husband would not be too happy to find you here." She whispered forcefully.

Kovu nodded. "I know. Unfortunately, after I say what I have to, you probably won't want us here either. It's about your daughter…" He trailed off and was interrupted by Kagome as she stood up straight, her full attention on Kovu.

"What about my daughter?" She said in a voice laced with fear and menace at the same time.

Kovu took a step back and looked at the ground. "Well, she's sort of, not…here, anymore." He said quietly.

"What do you mean by not here? She's…dead?" The word came out as an unbelieving whisper.

"No no, well, maybe. But I don't think so. See, she fell down this well and-" he was interrupted yet again.

"Well? What well?" Kagome asked, confused. Her family's well had been torn down and sealed up so no demons could get through, and her, Inuyasha and the rest of the gang had torn down the well on this side.

"I'm not sure but there's this well in the forest next to the park and she fell down into it, but when I jumped in to check it out she wasn't there." He said and scratched his head, confused.

"She's gone?!" Kagome said accidentally a little too loud. The three froze as footsteps could be heard coming towards the door.

"Hey what's going on out he-" Inuyasha stopped as he saw the three of them. His voice was no longer sleepy and his eyes were full of anger when he said "What's he doing here?"

Kagome turned around and put her hands on Inuyasha's chest. "Now calm down, this isn't Koga, this is Kovu, his son, and Koya, his daughter."

Inuyasha wiped her hands away. "They're still related to him and that's all that I needed to know." He said as he cracked his knuckles and started walking towards Kovu.

Koya pushed her brother back and stepped in front of him. "You'll have to go through me first." She growled.

"Not a problem." Inuyasha growled and raised his hand, about to hit her.

"Inuyasha-!" Kagome yelled and paused, both of them knowing what she was about to say next.

Inuyasha stopped and let his hand fall to his side, balled into a fist. He sighed and crossed his arms across his chest, feeling the beads around his neck. "Fine. But why are they here?" He asked gruffly.

Kagome set her hand on his shoulder and stepped around him. "This boy says our daughter has disappeared down a well." She said meaningfully.

All the color drained from Inuyasha's face and his arms fell to his sides. "She what?" He asked incredulously. He shook his head and pushed Koya out of the way and grabbed Kovu's shirt. "Where is she? What have you done with Inuyame?!" He yelled and slammed him into the wall.

Kovu narrowed his eyes in defiance but shook with fear at the same time. "I haven't done anything with her. She came to meet me and something I said upset her. She ran from me and was not watching where she was going and fell down a well. When I jumped in after her, she wasn't inside it." He spat out, choking.

Inuyasha let him go and Kovu fell to the floor. Koya helped him up. "Kagome." Inuyasha said and looked at her.

Kagome nodded and ran quickly up to their room, returning with her bow and arrows and his sword. She handed the latter to Inuyasha and looked to Kovu. "Show us." She said, her voice prompting no argument.

Kovu quickly led them to the well that Inuyame had fallen into. Inuyasha wasted no time in jumping inside and falling to the bottom.