Urrk... thanks to Shaid for pointing out that I had forgotten to change a couple of names... whoopsies...
Chapter 14
Miroku blinked as he turned a street corner and looked up to see the bookstore's front door mere metres in front of him. So, his sense of direction was still intact—or at least, he had enough control still to detect traces of the youkai he'd fought against with Inuyasha and Kagome earlier. In fact, the corpses were probably still somewhere around… if they were lucky, no hapless villager would be unlucky enough to stumble across one of them, and cleanup could remain unnecessary. After trudging through snow and ice for far too long, having to search for frozen bodies was not a concept he relished.
More disconcerting, however, was the fact that he could sense neither Inuyasha's youki nor the Shikon no tama anywhere nearby—or in fact, anywhere at all. He had attributed the lack of sensation earlier to tiredness, but now he was far too close to be able to miss it.
Obviously, a certain someone had not returned yet.
That odd bruise on his right hand twinged as he clenched his fist. For a moment he considered hitting something—a wall, perhaps—but after several frozen seconds he relaxed, letting out his breath in a long sigh. Anger wouldn't help now—he had to be calm.
Yes. Calm. Deep breaths, remember your training…He could see Mrs. Higurashi inside the shop, though she hadn't noticed him yet.
…But the shop was closed. The woman had her head in her hands, and the desk telephone was inches from her elbow. Miroku blinked.
She's… upset. No, worried.
Well, obviously, fool…
Uh oh.
Miroku tilted his head upwards and cursed silently at the heavens. He made sure to add a word or two for Inuyasha, and for half-youkai who didn't take responsibility for their actions and ran off with innocent shopkeepers' pretty daughters.
Then he focused his mind, let go of the last irritating tingles of anger, and pushed on the door to the shop. It was open, despite the closed sign, but he'd expected that.
Mrs. Higurashi stood up as he entered. She seemed outwardly calm… but Miroku very nearly had to step back outside the shop. Her gaze was cold as the ice he was standing in.
You're supposed to be a houshi, idiot, a monk… you've been trained to deal with angry people…
Why can't I calm down?
"Where is my daughter?" asked Mrs. Higurashi.
"She's with Inuyasha, at the moment, and…"
"I don't need to know that," said Mrs. Higurashi, her voice breaking slightly as emotion began to wear at her cold façade. "I want to know where she is, and then I don't care what sort of assurances you give me, I want her home right now."
Assurances? So that's what she expects of me… Miroku fought down the urge to laugh."I… had thought that they would come back here."
"As you can tell, Miroku, they haven't," said Mrs. Higurashi, her hands tightening into white-knuckled fists on the surface of the desk. Her voice was shaking but her eyes were level, boring into his and causing him to sweat despite the cold wind blowing at him through the still-open door.
He inclined his head as politely as he could, given the stiffness that was beginning to set in. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Higurashi. I returned for the purpose of retrieving some… more appropriate clothing, so that I might go out and look for them. If they haven't returned yet, the only explanation I can offer is they may have gotten lost." Well, it could be true…
The lie (if it could be called a lie—perhaps a stretching of the truth) served its purpose, however. Mrs. Higurashi still had every appearance of being perfectly livid—but the awful tension had drained from the room. "Lost? Aneston isn't that big. And Kagome knows her way around."
She's worried for them? Well, her daughter, yes, but… Inuyasha…
Miroku kept his eyes to the floor. "They… were headed past the outskirts of town, the last time I saw them."
Mrs. Higurashi watched him long moments. At the point when he was certain that he couldn't stand it any longer, he had to move or something was going to explode with great force—Mrs. Higurashi moved away from the desk in one swift motion and began to head for the door. "You can borrow a coat from that closet," she said, pointing towards the door in question. "You have a car, right?"
Miroku recovered himself enough to nod.
"All right," said Mrs. Higurashi. "Then why don't you go and get…"
The telephone rang.
There was a long silence as the sound of a second ring drilled through the air.
Miroku blinked, having been stopped dead in the middle of fetching the coat, and watched as Mrs. Higurashi paused and turned around again. Within seconds the telephone was pressed to her ear.
"Hello?"
:00:00:
"Hi, mom?" Kagome was puzzled at the impatience in her mother's tone of voice. "Are you…"
"Kagome!" The reply was so loud that Kagome had to hold the telephone away from her ear. Across the room, Inuyasha's ears flattened against his head. "Where on earth are you? I've been worried sick!"
"I'm in Glennesville, mum… we got lost on the way back into town."
"Glennesville? But that's miles away!"
"We were… quite badly lost," said Kagome.
Inuyasha scowled and glared at his hands. Blasted bird youkai… should've killed it straightaway. How could I have dropped her like that?
His eyes widened as Kagome continued to speak to her mother over the telephone. …Since when do I care what happens to her, anyway?
He had no answer for himself. She's not… she's not Kikyou…but that shouldn't matter anyway, right? Not as if there's anything holding me to her anyway…
That particular thought made him feel as though his chest had been hollowed out, so he resumed glaring at his hands and wondering what on earth he could possibly do about Mrs. Higurashi.
The house in which they were to spend the night was small (or 'cozy,' as Kagome had brightly exclaimed upon entry), and seemed to consist of a short entry hall, a living room, a kitchen, and a washroom. Perhaps there was a door hidden somewhere leading to a second floor, or basement, or perhaps just another corridor, but the two visitors had yet to see a sign of it. Though that could be attributed to the fact that Kagome had been sent towards the telephone within seconds of arrival, before either of them even had a chance to dry off, let alone look around…
"Yes, Inuyasha's here with me," said Kagome. She frowned. "No, he hasn't been… Mum! No, I told you…"
She placed one hand over the earpiece, as if trying to hide the conversation—not that it would have done any good.
Inuyasha could still hear every word that was spoken, on both parts. He sighed, staring past his hands. No, I didn't hurt her… unless you count dropping her out of the sky as hurting. His gaze unfocused further. Not to mention kidnapping her in the first place…and whatever it was that made her cry, earlier… and…
I'm an idiot.
"Is everything all right?" He turned around quickly at the whispered voice of the young mother, to find her watching Kagome nervously. "There seems to be some trouble…"
"Mrs. Higurashi is angry," Inuyasha whispered back. Because of me…
"Oh, dear," said the redheaded woman, sighing. "Perhaps I'd better speak to her afterwards…"
Kagome, glancing backwards, felt another surge of irritation… So he can be polite. Just not to me, eh?
"You're sure you're all right?" said the somewhat tinny voice at the other end of the line.
"Yes, mum, I'm perfectly fine. Inuyasha had a bit of a bad fall, though…"
Inuyasha, who was in the midst of a reply to the young mother, looked over sharply at the mention of his name and scowled. Kagome repressed a small rush of triumph as her mother, who seemingly had gotten over any anger, began to make small exclamations of concern.
"So, you're both from Aneston?" the woman said softly.
"Ah… sort of," replied Inuyasha, still watching Kagome. "'S where we both were before we came here, anyway…"
She nodded, then twisted her hands together fretfully. "Oh… perhaps I should speak to Mrs. Higurashi…" she said softly.
"I'll be coming home tomorrow, for sure, okay?" said Kagome. "Yes… yes, in the morning…. I don't know… no, I'm not sure…"
She turned around, putting one hand over the mouthpiece of the telephone, and addressed the young mother. "Umm… you wouldn't happen to have a car, would you?"
Inuyasha's ears twitched at the faint sound of yelling coming from behind Kagome's hand. The woman beside him shook her head apologetically, and Kagome put the phone back to her ear, wincing suddenly.
"Kagome you should know better than to just ask like that… it's very impolite, dear!" said Mrs. Higurashi, once the hand was removed. Kagome smiled wanly, and sighed.
"Sorry, mum. I forgot."
"Perhaps I could drive over with Miroku…" said Mrs. Higurashi thoughtfully. "He has a car, after all…"
"What about the shop?"
An impatient tisking noise sounded over the telephone line. "Oh, never mind the shop. I closed it hours ago, and it won't vanish if both of us leave it for more than a minute. Souta and Grandpa can mind it for once in their lives. Speaking of which…" Mrs. Higurashi's voice assumed a more serious tone. "What happened earlier today? I heard you collapse."
Kagome frowned. "What? I didn't…" A sudden rush of memory interrupted her—the disembodied voices, the strange man with red eyes… "Umm… I slipped."
"Kagome—" said her mother in a warning tone of voice.
"I was trying to get past one of the bookshelves, and I… I fell," said Kagome. The lie was harder to tell than she'd expected. Her throat was aching. Have I ever had to lie to her before?
Well, aside from keeping certain things about Inuyasha from her… she doesn't know yet that he's a hanyou, after all…
She frowned. In fact, if she remembered correctly, she'd never had anything to lie about… until Inuyasha came, that is. Yet another problem to attribute to him, she thought wryly.
"Kagome, I'd like to get some straight answers out of someone for once, and I thought that you'd be the best candidate," said Mrs. Higurashi, and Kagome twitched, realizing guiltily that she hadn't been paying attention. "Inuyasha's there too, isn't he? Would I be able to speak to him?"
Kagome turned around to ask him, to find that his eyes had widened already. His ears—youkai ears—were flattened against his head, and she suddenly realized that he had probably heard every single word of the conversation. She flushed in sudden anger.
"I'll talk to her," said Inuyasha quickly, noticing her abrupt change of mood. He stepped forwards to take the telephone.
He fumbled with the device for a few seconds, at first holding it upside-down to the side of his head, then twisting it so that the correct end was facing his ear. Unfortunately, this left a little bit too much space between his mouth and the proper end…
"HELLO!" he said, a bit too loudly. Kagome winced.
At least he could hear properly, though. Kagome watched him as he listened—at first, he tried to retain some semblance of aloofness, but within the space of a minute his ears were pressed so tightly against his scalp that he could probably have passed for a normal human, and he seemed to be trying to shrink into his clothes.
It'll be hard for him to intimidate me properly after this, she thought, trying to dredge some humour out of their predicament. Though… I suppose it's nearly impossible by now anyway.
I mean, I can't really be scared of someone after I've had to hold their hair back for them while they…
"I… I will." Inuyasha listened for a moment longer before he looked up from the telephone. "She wants to know where we are right now," he said. Even his voice sounded small and defeated.
"The eastern end of Glennesville," said the woman.
"Eastern end of Glenne-ville," Inuyasha recited into the mouthpiece.
"3 Dawn Avenue…"
"Three Dawn Ah…"
Kagome lightly took the telephone out of his grip and nodded at the woman to continue. "Number three Dawn Avenue, mum. One of Souta's friends lives here…"
Inuyasha blinked.
The woman tilted her head to one side. "Uh… well, the family name is Akakitsune…"
"The, ah, Akakitsune family." Kagome smiled apologetically at the woman, cupping her hand over the mouthpiece. "She wants to speak with you."
"All right," said Mrs. Akakitsune, who'd remained in the doorway the whole time.
Kagome caught hold of Inuyasha's arm as he moved away. "What happened?" she asked.
He shrugged uncomfortably. "She wants to know what's happening. I couldn't tell her over that tele-thingamajig…"
"Well, then, you'll just have to once we get home, Inuyasha," said Kagome sternly. His demeanour gave her new hope—perhaps he would finally tell them? True, he looked more guilty than eager, but… She had to fight down small pangs of worry. It'll be better for everyone if he tells us, she reassured herself. Once we know what's happening, we can actually do something to help…
She glanced over at Inuyasha again. And he'd probably feel better after telling someone.
A small head, topped with masses of red hair, appeared in the doorway. "Do you want to see where you're sleeping tonight?" said the little boy.
"Well, we're not sure yet whether we are sleeping here," said Kagome, glancing over to where his mother was still speaking on the telephone.
For a brief moment the boy looked crestfallen… but within seconds he was smiling happily once more.
"Come on anyway!" he said cheerfully, removing himself from sight. Kagome grasped Inuyasha's arm again and followed quickly.
The short hallway, as it turned out, was not the only corridor in the small house. The door which Kagome had assumed led to a washroom instead opened into a second hall, complete with three more doors. The boy led the two guests to the opposite end of the new room and opened the door there, revealing a bedroom.
"That's the spare bedroom!" he said, grinning at them both.
Kagome frowned in. "Umm… so we'd both be in there?"
"Yeah," said the boy. He pointed in. "See? Two beds."
Inuyasha scanned the room, flushing darker with each passing second. Opting not to speak, he settled for a mumbled "keh" and a dour look.
Kagome laughed lightly, reaching up to rub the back of her head. "Well… uh… need the beds be quite so… close together?"
The boy turned around to peer into the room. "Oh! Umm… well… you could just push them apart, couldn't you?"
"Ah… Kagome?"
She turned around to see the boy's mother standing at the entrance to the second corridor. "Yes?"
"Your mother is coming down from Aneston with someone named Miroku. Is that alright?" the woman asked anxiously.
"Yes, of course," said Kagome, nodding.
"That bouzu's taking us back?" Inuyasha frowned. "How the—how would he do that?"
"In his car, of course," said Kagome—then paused, blinking, as she recalled the events that had transpired the last time Inuyasha had ridden in a car.
Before she could turn and ask him about his thoughts on the matter, he was already striding forwards, away from her. She twisted her head to look into the room, only to find him shoving one of the cots aside violently, so that it slid sideways into the wall with a crash.
It seemed that he hadn't been expecting the sudden noise any more than the rest of them, as he stood staring at it with his mouth half open. The boy removed his hands from his ears in order to scold him.
"Stupid! The beds are on wheels! You can't push them like that!"
"Shut up," said Inuyasha thickly, discomfited. Nothing was working… why was it that with every move he made, he just looked like more of an idiot? The kid had put his finger on it… I'm stupid, he thought bitterly. I'm just a common fool… it was my own fault that Kikyou shot me, it's probably my fault she's dead, too… I wouldn't be surprised if Kagome hates me by now.
The room was too small, there was no reason for it to be this small. How on earth did that kid expect anyone to sleep in here? He couldn't even breathe…
Kagome was on the verge of reprimanding him for being so rude to their hosts when the young woman stepped forward again. "One… one thing," she said, turning to Inuyasha. "Um… I noticed that you're a hanyou…"
He tensed immediately, a low growl forcing its way through his throat. Noticing his own instinctive reaction, he smirked, showing fangs. "And I noticed that you're a youkai."
"Yes," said the woman, causing Kagome to gasp.
He was… so Inuyasha was right? She wasn't sure what surprised her more, the fact that the family were youkai or the fact that she didn't really mind that fact. But… she seems so harmless…
"Well… I was wondering where you're from. There aren't very many hanyou around," said Mrs. Akakitsune. She paused thoughtfully. "In fact, you're the first I've seen."
"So then how'd you know what I am?" asked Inuyasha, slightly nervously. He had always wondered how most youkai seemed to know his true identity without being told…
"Your youki," said the woman. "It's… different." Suddenly she drew herself up, looking straight at him. "Well? Where are you from? Aneston too?"
Inuyasha stared at the ground. "No."
"Then where?" asked the little boy, who had been watching the exchange with curiosity. So that was why the stranger's aura seemed so weird…
"…I don't know," Inuyasha mumbled at last, turning his face away.
"Oh come on, Inuyasha!" said Kagome impatiently. "We're not all out to get you! You can tell us a simple thing like…" She noticed the flush of embarrassment that was rapidly deepening on his cheeks, and stopped abruptly.
He… really doesn't know? How can he not?
"You're not from around here at all, are you," said the woman. The look in her eyes had changed, becoming less unsure. The little boy was nervous now, glancing between his parent and the two strangers.
Inuyasha shook his head.
"Who are your parents?"
He looked up suddenly. "And why the hell should I tell you?" he said, lifting one hand so that his claws were readily visible—a slightly more threatening rendition of the traditional shaken fist. Kagome lunged sideways, catching his arm and pulling it down.
"Stop that!" she hissed.
"Sorry," he muttered, pulling away from her and turning away. Kagome stared at him.
Did he just… apologize?
"Oh," said the woman, nervous once again. "Did I… I haven't offended anyone, have I?"
Kagome smiled, trying to look reassuring… or at least unoffended. "No, no, don't worry… we're the ones who should be indebted to you. Otherwise we'd still be stuck out there."
She very nearly blushed herself as she remembered Miroku saying something very similar, just a couple of days ago. That's right… our situation is pretty similar right now, isn't it? She glanced over at Inuyasha. Why is it that you seem to need help so often?
"Oh, well, what else could I have done?" The woman smiled back. "I couldn't leave you two all alone the snow…"
Inuyasha had stopped listening and was sitting on the bed. Kagome first realized that something was amiss upon noticing the slightly glazed look in his eyes. That fall…
"…I mean, I'd like to think that someone else would do the same thing, in my place," said Mrs. Akakitsune.
"Eh heh… I wouldn't worry about that," said Kagome, trying to hide a sudden stab of worry.
Suddenly Mrs. Akakitsune started. "Oh! I nearly forgot… you're both still soaking wet!" she said. "I would lend you clothing, but… you're about to leave…" She chewed on her lip uncertainly. "Well… you can use the washroom, if you like… I'll go make hot chocolate!"
She said this last firmly, as if expecting an argument, and turned to walk out the door. The little boy glanced at them uncertainly before following his mother.
Kagome blinked, surprised at the sudden half-emptying of the room, before she moved across the bed towards Inuyasha.
"Are you okay?" she asked softly. He had closed his eyes, and allowed her to brush his silver fringe aside without complaint.
"Yeah…" his voice was faint. "Just… tired…"
Kagome frowned. Tired? Well, that's new… he's usually so energetic…
Then again, he just recovered from being shot half to death, only to fall a few hundred feet out of the sky and then carry me on his back all the way over here…
"You're not… hurting anywhere?"
He opened one eye slightly to glare at her. "No."
She sighed and sat back. "Why don't you lie down then? You might be able to sleep a bit before my mum gets here…"
Too lethargic even to bother with token complaints, he barely had time to nod before his already-fuzzy vision faded to grey. Kagome shifted back, startled at his swift compliance.
At least this means he'll stay still long enough for my mum to get here… Kagome tried, and failed, to repress yet another twinge of concern. He's worried me enough already, darn it! The jerk…he can't even bother to be polite to me and yet still expects me to take care of him all the time…
She sighed, looking down at him. No… that isn't fair. It's not as if he ever actually asked anything from us…
Oh, I'm so confused!
Deciding that she must be tired as well, and not wanting to fall asleep, she moved quietly out of the room. I wonder if Mrs. Akakitsune meant it about the hot chocolate…
:00:00:
It was dark on the outskirts of the city, almost impossibly so. The sky was a deep, oppressive black, weighed down by thickly polluted clouds. It pressed upon everything beneath it, as if trying to crush the man-made landscape into the equally polluted ground. The sun long since having set, the only source of light was from intermittent streetlamps; and by now, the small Taijiya excursion had long since left such things behind.
The industrial section of town had been pushed as far to the fringe as possible. Sarushiro Tono, in all of his campaigning, had either forgotten it or deliberately pushed it out of sight, and the result was several miles worth of factories. The new corporations could not be bothered to spend valuable money on buying and renovating old buildings… most of the things were hollowed-out wrecks anyway, filled with nothing but dust, rotting timbers and obsolete machinery. Much cheaper, they reasoned, to just buy vacant land and build something shoddy there… no factory ever lasts long, anyway.
And none did.
How can it be getting darker? thought Sango, stroking Kirara gently as she leaned against the wall with Hiraikotsu beside her. Yuta was guarding the main entrance, just around the corner. If this keeps up I'll be as good as blind before too long…
And speaking of long…
Yuta made no noise to warn her of his approach. Only her years' worth of training kept her from jumping when he tapped her shoulder.
"They're late."
She nodded in agreement, and stood. They had been waiting outside for a ridiculous amount of time… it had to be hours, at least. It was difficult to keep from just running into the warehouse all by herself—the thick, dim air was laden with tension. Kirara transformed with a muted whumph, the light shed by her youkai body more than enough to illuminate the doors.
It looked even more forbidding in the light. Sango sighed. Light glittered off the edges of the peeling paint, contrasting it sharply with the dull surface of the rusted areas. The handle was worn down from use—either, in its heyday the place had seen a lot of people, or the deserted air it carried now was merely the façade she was beginning to suspect it o be.
Inside it was lighter that just beyond the doors—perhaps because there was less space for Kirara's light to dissipate into. She was mildly surprised by the fact that the door didn't creak; it hadn't creaked whilst admitting her father and the others, but this time she just… noticed it more.
Kirara immediately crouched low to the ground and began to trace some scent. Despite the tension, Sango couldn't help smiling; the cat youkai just kept proving her training over and over. Maybe she ought to find a way to reward her…
And then they were off. Still very quietly; just because they were now on a quasi-rescue mission didn't mean they had to give away their location. Kirara's flickering light sprayed across the plaster walls, leaving long, angular shadows trailing behind hairline cracks and deep wells of blackness wherever the hallway forked. Looking up, Sango could see the remnants of old ceiling lights, now battered and broken to the point that she doubted whether they could be used as scrap.
What was this place before it became abandoned? Obviously something happened here… time doesn't break things like that. Was it… attacked?
Kirara paused as she walked past another fork in the hallway, and Sango, absorbed once more in curious musings, nearly bumped into her. Reaching out to touch the cat youkai's gleaming fur, she looked around and into the fork.
"Did you find something, Kirara?"
The cat youkai looked up at her with large orange eyes. She glanced down, slightly puzzled, and then followed the youkai's gaze to a place behind her.
"What are you looking at?" She glanced behind herself again, unsure of the problem despite the rapid sinking sensation within her chest. "Is something…"
Absence. There should have been someone…
"Yuta," she whispered.
He was gone.
Oh, dear… She stood completely still, trying in vain to slow down the unprofessionally rapid beating of her heart. If this keeps up, someone'll probably hear it… especially if there are youkai here. Damn it, things like this are what I'm trained for!
They must have snuck up behind us… but we just came in! There's no way they could have just… unless they got one of Dad's team to talk… or… if it was a trap in the first place…
She blinked. If it is a trap, then… Negating all of her efforts in one fell swoop, her heart sped up again. Then Father is in danger!
From far, far away, down a corridor and somewhere to her left, there was a dull thud. She froze again, treacherous rabbit's heart pounding away, and stared down the corridor in question. Another thud sounded, followed by a clatter.
D-damn! Without hesitating for another second, she reached out to the thick ruff of fur around Kirara's neck and swung herself onto the youkai's back.
"The noises," she whispered into one pointed ear. The cat didn't even need that much instruction, apparently, for they were moving before Sango had finished enunciating the first syllable.
Riding Kirara, in fact, was nothing like riding a bicycle. There wasn't really anything Sango could compare it to. Perhaps it was similar to riding a horse; she'd never ridden one herself, the things were hideously expensive nowadays with all the recent crop failures, and she didn't care much for them anyway, but… there was a certain thrill to riding a living creature that just couldn't be captured on a machine. The fur was warm and soft beneath her hands; Kirara moved swiftly with lithe, leaping movements; and the fire played across every available surface, making the hallway around them seem alive as well.
The noises grew louder as she approached, resolving into the distinct sound of some sort of combat. She felt a sudden dizzying swoop of nausea at the sudden appearance of a red stain splashed across the wall to her right, a shock after the monotony of greyed plaster, green door, white plaster, black stairwell... "St-stop!" she gasped, sliding off Kirara before the momentum was fully gone, causing her to stumble forwards a couple of steps before turning to see what had occurred. At first the only thing in sight was the stain on the wall, but very slowly, Sango turned her eyes downward.
Mana was slumped against the wall, dark eyes still open and unseeing. A thin stream of blood ran from her mouth down to her chin, soaking into the front of her tight black uniform.
Sango swallowed hard. Gore was nothing new to her—in the line of work she'd chosen, it couldn't be—but this… this was… different. Less than an hour ago she had been joking with the very corpse that now lay before her. Sango stopped her eyes before she could look any farther.
She backed up slowly until she could feel Kirara's warm side against her. Quickly she had whirled and was climbing on. "Go," she said—hell with quiet. "We have to find Father."
Kirara went. Sango clung low to her back, wishing that she could somehow add more speed to their travel. In the narrow, twisting corridors the cat youkai could hardly get up to full speed, but Sango intended to get as close to as possible without losing control completely. The warehouse had an annoying layout, as well—endless reams of corridors, all twining round a central core—the machinery room.
There was a door up ahead; painted dark green just like all of the others, rusted and peeling, half off its hinges in this instance and dented inward as though from some terrific impact. Sango crouched as low to Kirara's back as was possible, and together, they shot through the door.
Red. Red, black, and hair. Sango nearly fell off Kirara. The room was dominated by an immense ogre-like monster, a beast with long, gnarled arms and slitted red eyes. It nearly took up the whole of the room. As she entered, it turned faintly glowing red eyes on her, one long, clawed arm pausing mid-swing.
And there was her father. Streaked with blood, not all of which could possibly be his own, holding his scythe-blade out in front of himself like a sword and not the staff it was intended to be. Sango would never have thought her eyes could possibly get wider as they traveled around the room, but… Hideki… even Yuta… the floor was strewn with debris, from the skylights far above and from the catwalks that climbed the walls in a series of ridges. Everything was cracked and broken.
"F-father?"
He was looking at her, gasping through his uniform's ornate mask. She could see the tiredness in his eyes, the hopelessness. This wasn't Naraku. He wouldn't have his vengeance; wouldn't achieve his dream. And now he was losing, to a giant, monstrous ogre with big fangs and—now that she could see it properly—a huge scar shaped like a spider stretched across its back.
"Another human," gurgled the monster, turning to face Sango with its long, animalistic face stretched into what might have passed for a grin. "You pitiful mortals never know when to stop coming, do you?"
Oh no, no… dad!
The creature blinked at her, a sort of amusement in its gaze now. "The fool's daughter, eh?"
Sango's father was sinking to the ground, his legs folding beneath him, his grasp on his weapon loosening slowly. The monster laughed, a horrible, ringing, garbled sound that bounced off the walls and seemed to shake Hideki's body out of its semi-sitting position near the wall.
"You're too late, brat. The old fool is giving up. I can sense nothing in his thoughts but resignation"
And then, without so much as giving her time in which to move, it was coming for her. Far too late, she reached around her back for Hiraikotsu—if she could get space in which to throw the weapon, she might be able to…
Time slowed to a crawl as the monster drew back its arm to strike. A scream rang through the air, one that Sango couldn't feel herself making. She closed her eyes. I'm… I'm going to die…
"What?"
She opened her eyes to find herself staring into the panicked gaze of her father. Everything was happening far too slowly, and yet she still didn't understand. He was close suddenly, standing mere feet away, and still moving—no longer towards, her, though, but down… towards the floor again. His bladed staff was lying back in the middle of the room, where he'd been standing when Sango had come in moments earlier.
The monster was laughing again. "Idiot. He must have realized that I can still kill you…" It shook its claws free of her father's back, still laughing.
He's… he can't be dead!
Sango nearly bit through her lip. "You… you…"
"Monster?" Calm, cajoling… "I'm insulted, girl."
"Bastard!" Ripping Hiraikotsu off her back, she hurled it at the thing, but it had already stepped out of the ay, chuckling softly.
"You forget, mortal, I can still read your mind…"
But, it seemed, the monster had forgotten one crucial thing.
Kirara.
As if to make up for the seconds it had lost, time sped up once again. Sango was nearly bowled over backwards by an impact from behind, and then swept upwards atop a warm, furred back. She covered her head barely in time to avoid being cut by glass as she and the cat youkai burst through the skylights.
Out in the open air, she found her mind returning to itself once again. Taking a deep breath of the rapidly-moving night air, she tried desperately to control herself.
Father…dad…Mana, Yuta, Hideki… dead. All of them are dead… back there, with that… that…No. Have to think. What can I do? If they aren't dead (no, fool, they are… you saw Mana, didn't you? You saw the blood… no one survives that. Not even…) then maybe I should… No. Think. It was a trap. It had to have been. Why didn't we see it before? Why didn't we perform cross-checks? The operative was lying. Or the youkai was. Or both. Maybe the whole thing has been a set-up since the beginning… by Naraku, of course. But if that's the case, why would he only go after the mission…?
Unless he didn't.
Yet another stab of fear. Sango stroked Kirara's ear, turning the cat youkai back to the east, towards the rising towers of the Inner City.
There was a rising column of smoke.
:00:00:
Ah, finding a proper name for the Kitsune family was HARD! I didn't want to call them 'kitsune,' because that's so blatantly obvious and cliché (I think everyone involved in the entire genre knows what it means by now, or has named Shippou that in their AU)… so, I settled for 'Akakitsune,' which means 'red fox'. I was tempted to name the family (who are far too trusting for their own good, as seems to be a constant problem here) kitsunenibakasareru, meaning 'to be deceived by a fox'… but I didn't. Too long. (If there are any reeally strange typos in her name... something along the lines of sadhsajkjsd... that's because I used that bit of gibberish in order to keep track of where I needed a name. I couldn't just write her nameless...
Oh, and, specifically for the purpose of making the whole affair slightly less depressing, the 'OC's' that I brought in, Mana and Yuta? They're from another of Takahashi's series; the couple from Mermaid Saga who ate the flesh of the mermaid and gained eternal life. Yuta keeps dying, in that manga, and then coming back… and then dying again… and so on. Therefore, if I kill them here, it's not beyond the realm of imagination to think that they both came to life again and lived happily ever after…
Just not in this story, of course.
Sorry for extra-late update... I'm currently suffering from a slow death by schoolwork. Hopefully once all these infernal projects are turned in I'll be able to concentrate better...
Just as a side note, roughly four days have passed in Aneston-time since Inuyasha and Kagome met each other... much of that time with Inuyasha unconscious or otherwise inebriated. So... fluff aside, they still don't really know each other all that well...
Thanks to everyone who reviewed!
DarklessVasion: Umm...uh oh :nervous author laugh: Well... as I mentioned above, not all that much time has passed... :vaguely elusive gestures towards text:
SunshineandDaisys: Well, actually I do plan on inserting more parallels... they're fun to write, and fun to read :grin:
sublimetrickster, angicakesisinuyashaluvr, LukeShaehl, Animekitty07 ( ...o.O Were you just singing, or was that my first request for a lime?), MoonGuardian41.