Disclaimer: Nope, don't own it.
The Blast
It only took one look at Koga's face for Kagome to understand that something was wrong. Very wrong. There was also the fact that he didn't grab her hands and didn't make a passionate declaration of his undying love for her. In any other circumstances, she would have felt relieved, but right now, it only made an icy feeling spread in her chest.
"What happened?" was the first thing she asked when she was close enough to talk to him. For once, she was the one who took his hand in hers, just to show some support.
Koga shuddered, which was more than unusual, and he simply squeezed her hand lightly, before his fingers became limp.
"They're all dead," he finally answered. His voice was thick, he seemed unwilling to let the words leave his mouth. It took a second for Kagome to understand what he was talking about.
"Your tribe?" she questioned, slowly, her voice filled with disbelief. The Wolves were considered a gang by most people, but to Koga and to most demons, they really were a tribe. They refused to comply with modern society's new rules, which sometimes made things a lot more complicated for them. Kagome had been part of a team which had made a report on them, a couple of years back, gaining them a bit of popularity among the public. That had been how her and Koga had met. And now his tribe had been…
"The men," he replied, nodding numbly. "There were rumors, about ways to gain power. I refused to go, but most of the warriors left. Women, children and elders are still around but all of them are…" He stopped, visibly unable to keep going. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, all under Kagome's attentive look. "The only warriors left are Ginta, Hakkaku, and me," he concluded, his voice a low rumble that vaguely reminded her of Inuyasha.
She could have slapped herself for that last thought. Now certainly was not the moment, and she had just left the guy, dammit! Sure, he looked very good, and he was interesting, arousing her curiosity a bit more every moment she spent with him, but, but… But not now.
"Do you have any idea of…?"
"We found the bodies," Koga said. "That's why I called you. Figured it would be better if you took a couple of pictures or whatever it is you'd want to do."
She gave him a surprised look. Letting go of his hand, she tilted her head to the side, slightly confused. "I'm not part of the police, Koga. They're the ones you should have called." Realization hit her and she looked at the warehouse behind him with horror. "Wait, you mean the bodies are still in here?"
"Oh come on," he scoffed, rolling his eyes, "human police? What are they gonna do? They'll probably just think they'll be safer without my Wolves around. And demons don't cooperate for that stuff. If you die, you're weak. But that stuff in here… It's sick. Even for a demon."
Kagome shivered. She wasn't sure she wanted to see that. She had a strong stomach and she had seen her fair share of violent crimes, during her years as a journalist, but demon murders tended to be… graphic, to say the least. Not that human ones couldn't be. She remembered quite vividly a human killer who had tried to disguise his crimes that way.
"I'll follow you," she said bravely, despite the disgust she could already feel building inside of her. "I'm guessing you already picked up the scent."
"Yeah. Leaded no where. It's like it just vanished," Koga mumbled as he opened the door.
Kagome walked inside, immediately noticing the smell of blood. Her senses were far from being as sharp as those of a demon, but in such a quantity, it would have been impossible not to. She covered her mouth and nose with her hand, looking for the body. She almost felt relieved when she noticed how… clean they were.
It looked like they had been dismembered with a big, extremely sharp blade. Examining the bodies, she quickly understood that such a blade was… well, a physical impossibility. Which, indeed, screamed 'demon murderer'. She looked back to Koga who was observing her expectantly.
"I'll call Shippo. You don't mind if—?"
"Sure," he nodded. "Bring the kitsune into it. It's not like my day can get any worse."
She gave him an apologetic look before dialing her friend. Koga and Shippo were not friends, to say the least. They had all met and became acquaintances during the same report. It was Shippo's very first job, he was fresh out of college, and, well, being a demon, he hadn't expected to get a job so quickly. Demons weren't exactly discriminated against, they just tended to stick to their own, while humans did the same. Everybody minded their own business and, with the exception of the few half-demons out there, who were caught in the middle of an uncomfortable status quo, everything was just fine that way.
It was more complicated for Shippo, though. He had lost his parents at a very young age and had been raised mostly by humans. Kagome knew for a fact that it hadn't been a pleasant experience, but she also knew he despised most demons for their cruelty. He had constantly butted head with Koga, probably partly because of her, which had been highly unpleasant. Two males fighting for her. Great. Not that Shippo saw her as anything like that, but the fight for dominance was only natural between two powerful demons. Adding a woman in the mix just made things slightly rougher.
Kagome had even had to go on a date with Koga to save Shippo from a duel with him — long story. Since then, Koga and her were basically friends. She knew he'd gladly take more if she offered, but their current situation wasn't a problem for him either. She was more of a fun pastime than a genuine interest for the wolf.
"Hey Shippo? Yeah, it's Kagome. Listen, I have a big, big favor to ask of you…"
The few days following the murder of most of Koga's group were awful. Kagome, him and his two most faithful warriors all tried to look for informations, but were met with absolutely nothing. No one had heard, nor seen anything, which, in Kagome's experience, was simply impossible. However, they couldn't find anything. Anywhere. They hadn't even been able to find out where the wolves had gotten their informations from in the first place.
When Sango called her, late, Kagome had pretty much forgotten everything about her first investigation. It took her a few moments to understand what exactly her friend was talking about when she informed her that 'Naraku would be at an auction tomorrow night'.
"What? Oh. Oooh. Right. Is it a private one?"
"It is, but I can take you with me. That way, Miroku would stop bugging me about going together."
Kagome giggled.
"Funny, I thought Miroku was precisely not the type to leave us alone if there were two of us."
"Gosh, Kags," Sango protested, only making her laugh a bit more, "you're unbelievable. Oh, and I asked mom and dad for infos on Koga's situation, but they have nothing."
Kagome sighed loudly. It felt wrong how right Koga had been when he had said humans wouldn't care about the massacre. Made her feel almost ashamed for her species, even though she knew most demons didn't want humans to meddle in typical demon problems.
"It's crazy that no demons are hired in the police forces. Their nose or hearing would be super useful. Not to mention their strength and their various powers…"
"I don't know, Kags. I don't think people would feel safe and I'm not even sure their senses are receivable in court."
"People being morons doesn't excuse the government not taking action," Kagome mumbled, clearly irritated. There was an embarrassed silence, which annoyed her, but she knew Sango's opinions were slightly different from hers. It probably couldn't be helped, though, given the education she had received — her family came from a long line of demon slayers, back when it was still a thing. Sango wasn't racist, though, actually understanding demons much better than most people. She simply wasn't sure how much coexistence was possible between the species.
"So, I'm picking you up tomorrow?" Sango asked.
"Yeah, sure," Kagome answered, guessing her friend wanted to change the subject. This was how their conversations on the subject usually ended. "When? Oh, wait. What am I going to wear?"
It was Sango's turn to giggle. "It's going to be okay, Kagome. Formal. Not the dress you were wearing at the inauguration, though, but I guess a skirt would do it."
"Well, what will you be wearing?" Kagome asked, already standing in front of her closet and frantically rummaging through it.
"A black suit, I guess," Sango answered, and Kagome could practically hear her shrug through the phone.
"Oh, and you're going to try and make me believe that you want Miroku to leave you alone?" Kagome teased. "Honey, do you have any idea how gorgeous you look in a suit?"
"I told you, Kags. I like Miroku, but there's no way I'll start any form of relationship with him if I think he'll cheat on me, which I do. And if it takes me looking dashing in a suit for him to change his ways, that's fine by me."
"That makes me feel weirdly proud of you, you know. Don't take his shit. Still have no idea what I'll be wearing though."
Sango smiled and shook her head.
"Alright, I get it. Want me to come by and help you before we go?"
"I thought you'd never offer!"
Inuyasha's phone was ringing, and it was getting fucking annoying. It was close to midnight, which wasn't really late for him, and he was painting. He had worked on his sketches of Kagome earlier, but everything he did without her felt terribly unsatisfactory.
Or maybe being without her was what felt unsatisfactory, but he couldn't allow himself to dwell on that thought. He knew what he was getting himself into when he had asked her if he could paint her, didn't he? He knew it was just meant to get her out of his system, to indulge his dumb interest in her before moving on.
He wasn't completely sure it was working, though, but it was all her fault. If it hadn't been for those beautiful, bright, sparkly blue eyes, and if she didn't smile at him the way she did, and if her voice hadn't been so soft, and if she hadn't shown any interest in him, then he would have been fine.
Fuck, who was he kidding?
He grabbed the phone in an angry movement. He had been working on another piece, since apparently he couldn't get anything done, but even that wasn't going so well. He felt like he was wasting his evening, and that really angered him. Not to mention, that freaking phone ringing was seriously getting on his nerves.
When he read the name of the caller, his grip on the phone tightened. Luckily, he wasn't strong enough right now to crush it. The thought got him glancing over at the moon. He kept track of the next new moon, of course, but seeing it shrinking in the sky seemed to stress him out even more.
"Yeah?"
"I've been calling for half an hour, Inuyasha," his publicist's stern voice said. He could tell there was a hint of annoyance there, and for that impassive bastard, that meant a lot. Despite himself, Inuyasha tensed. He couldn't believe that even now, after all this time, even while knowing perfectly that he would never be anything but a disappointment to that man, part of him still felt bad about it.
"I was painting," he still answered, burying that emotion deep inside of him like he always had. "Not my fault if you can't remember my schedule." His voice was more bitter than he'd meant for it to be. It wasn't like he wanted the guy to remember it, or to show any interest in his life.
Not anymore, at least.
"I guess you're right," Sesshomaru's still emotionless voice said. "I will be in town tomorrow for the auction. You will be there too." As always, Sesshomaru didn't ask. He gave orders. Inuyasha took a deep breath. He hated going to auctions. He hated being in public.
"Fuck no, I'll…"
"Inuyasha. I demand your presence. We will be meeting with Totosai, and he has insisted on you being there." There was a silence. "I can't fathom why he'd want that either."
"I'll be there," was Inuyasha's response, muttered with a deep voice, before he hung up on Sesshomaru. It was always like this. He knew he should have been grateful to Sesshomaru for taking him in right after his mother's death, but there was no way he could forgive or forget what had happened since then. There hadn't been a day that had gone by without him feeling how much Sesshomaru despised him. Sure, he wouldn't let him die on the streets, but that hadn't stop him from calling him their 'father's mistake', or a 'human disgrace'.
The worst part had probably been when he had called him an animal. You didn't get a much worst insult for a demon, at least for someone who was supposed to be a high-ranking one. Low-level demons were animalistic, but powerful ones had much more control on their instincts. The main difference between demons and humans, apart from eventually their appearance and their power, was indeed their connection to their instincts, as opposed to humans connection to emotions.
Demons' contact to their emotions was far less powerful, just like most humans didn't really have much instinct left. That sometimes made it very hard for the two species to understand each other. Demons were bad with empathy, humans were bad with honesty, or pretty much just listening to themselves.
Inuyasha was in the middle of all that, and it was a pretty shitty situation. He was mostly human, or rather, human most of the time, but his demon side was never completely gone. The thing was, thought, that he had understood that being human was bad. Being human got him hurt. Because he would never be really human. And then there was his demon side, of course, which was downright terrible most of the time, at least according to his human side.
There just never seemed to be a correct middle ground. Maybe it was because of how he had been raised, thinking that being half human was a disgrace to his entire family. No doubt that, had he been raised by humans, they would have told him the opposite.
He hated people. He hated the society he lived in, which seemed to close its doors to people to him. He hated Sesshomaru. He hated people who had made him thought he was okay, before rejecting him once they knew.
He looked at Kagome's sketches.
This was why he couldn't let himself get any closer to her.
He just needed to remember that.
"Yeah, I think that should be alright," Sango finally said, critically looking Kagome up and down.
Kagome shot her friend a dark glance. She hadn't been able to see herself since Sango had arrived, and her friend had basically played doll with her ever since. She was bitterly regretting not knowing her when she was still in high school, because she was sure she would have made her look amazing for prom.
"C'mon, look at yourself," Sango urged her, the excitement in her voice betraying her when she had tried to sound almost bored just before. Kagome couldn't help but giggle. It was always fun to do that stuff with Sango. It made her feel like a teenager all over again.
God, she talked like an old woman. It wasn't like those years were actually that far behind, but they certainly felt like it.
Finally seeing herself in the mirror, she couldn't help but smile. She always thought she looked childish, no matter what she was wearing. She did, sometimes, manage to look vaguely sexy, in her opinion, but there was nothing she could do about her face's round form which always reminded her somewhat of a baby, but Sango had done a great job in making her look like… Well, like an adult.
Maybe it had something to do with the high heels she was wearing, too. 'Not more than two inches or you'll fall, but just enough to change your silhouette,' Sango had said with a decisive tone. Kagome hadn't argued that she would probably fall anyway, but boy, had she thought it. Coupled with the black shoes, she was wearing a skirt that circled her knees and thighs, but with a slight split coming up a little higher. For her top, Sango had gone for an elegant white shirt which she thought nicely complimented her friend's figure. It wasn't skin-tight, but the natural creases caused by her breasts still made it pretty much impossible for someone to ignore.
Revealing, but looking like one wasn't actively trying to reveal anything.
Sango thought she had done a good job. As for herself, she knew that she looked good in a suit. She had always had a rather boyish style, even though she had been forced to abandon it while she pursued her carrier. Men often felt threatened by a masculine woman (they also felt like a feminine woman couldn't get anything done, but that's another discussion). Now, without much to risk given how current status, she felt freer in her choices.
"I look good!" Kagome commented, her voice sounding both surprised and pleased. She spun around to look at herself from different angles. Sango shook her head at the words.
"You always look good, Kags. How bad did Hojo make you feel, if you can't seem to believe that?"
"Hojo treated me great," Kagome protested, rolling her eyes. "You know he would never be anything less than perfect. It's just that, well, my love-life has been lacking ever since we broke up. Not that I particularly regret what we had, I'd just… like it if something happened."
She did hope 'something' was happening with Inuyasha, but she didn't pipe a word about that to Sango. Her friend tended to get pretty territorial about that stuff, and the last thing she needed was Sango doing a complete background check on him and telling her what kind of porn he watched.
Yes, it had happened before, and while she didn't have anything against porn, some particularly disturbing video titles had definitely been something she'd held against one of the last men she had dated. She appreciated that Sango worried about her, and she knew she probably couldn't help it, given both what had happened with Kohaku and her family — her mom was quite likely to have done something like that to her before — but sometimes she just wanted to see people. Maybe learning weird stuff about them wouldn't matter if they were in a relationship.
"Yeah, Hojo's always perfect, isn't he? That was part of the problem, right?"
"Ugh, right. I feel terrible for criticizing him since we're still friends," Kagome grimaced, "but… you're right. I think Hojo's a great guy, and he's a friend I know I'll always be able to rely on, but he wasn't right for me."
"He's boring," Sango stated, grabbing her coat and handing Kagome her own. "There's nothing wrong with that. Last time I saw him he mentioned an Ayumi, though. Anyone you know?"
"Ayumi? Sure, she's the girl who works with him! Oooh, I knew she had a thing for him! I'm sure they'd be very happy together."
Sango chuckled quietly at her friend's enthusiasm. Actually, Hojo sounded a bit lukewarm about it. She was pretty sure he still had somewhat of a crush on Kagome, but at least now she would be able to give him advices without worrying about it. She certainly thought that Kagome and Hojo weren't right for each other, but had Kagome wanted to get back with him, she would have helped her without thinking twice about it.
"How far's the auction?" Kagome asked, oblivious to her friend's thoughts.
"It's a fifteen minutes drive, we'll be just fine. I'm parked downstairs."
Kagome froze. "Surely, you can't mean…"
"I mean my car, Kagome, don't worry. Although I don't remember you complaining about Kirara before…"
"I love Kirara as much as you do, Sango, but I'm never climbing on her with a skirt or a dress again. Ever, ever again."
"My poor baby," Sango sighed, shaking her head. "You're lucky she can't hear you."
"Sango, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but Kirara's a motorbike. She doesn't have feelings, and I'm not hurting them."
"Wow, I'm going to have to tell her you didn't mean any of that. I can't believe you're disregarding her that much when she's been such a good friend."
"You're unbelievable."
"Thank you!"
Sango and Kagome arrived while other people were starting to find a seat, causing Sango to smile. It was always a question of finding the right timing. She greeted several people, occasionally introducing them to Kagome, but her friend wasn't really focused on what was going on. Her eyes had effectively scanned the crowd the second she'd walked in, and the second she had found Naraku, she hadn't let him go.
She was subtle about it, naturally, she wasn't just blatantly staring, but that was still the only thing she cared for, for now. She knew that Sango couldn't just walk towards him, since they weren't really on good terms, but that she would still have to give him her salutations. When Sango finally made her move, Kagome simply followed her. She didn't pay much attention to her surroundings, and that was probably the reason why she didn't notice when she brushed against the back of tall man with long, black hair.
She didn't notice either the way he tensed and how he turned, confused by the scent he had just smelt. She didn't notice either the way his eyes saddened as they followed her, or how confused he seemed. She certainly didn't see the way the man next to him, about his size and with long, white hair, cleared his throat, glaring at him reprovingly.
Inuyasha looked away from Kagome and focused on the man who was facing him and his brother. Sesshomaru had called him Totosai, and the (very, very) old man was apparently a demon. At least, with demons, people didn't ask for the last name. Many of them were around at a time when people didn't have last names.
Still, as far as he was concerned, that dude seemed completely useless. He wasn't just old, he was fuckin' senile, and he couldn't focus for more than a few seconds. He had even called Inuyasha by his mother's name at first. Sure, his hair was pretty similar to hers, but he still didn't look feminine at all! Seriously, thinking Sesshomaru was a woman would have made sense, but he was very manly, thank you very much.
"You wanted to talk to Inuyasha," Sesshomaru repeated for the fourth time, completely unperturbed by how the other demon either ignored him or didn't seem to hear him.
"Right, right," Totosai said, and it might have looked like this was going somewhere, but he had already said it once, and then had proceeded to babble about their father for way too long. Inuyasha was getting tired of that. He had never even met the guy. He just knew that apparently, he cared too little to make sure he wouldn't have a son who'd suffer from being half-human. Not that he would ever say something like that to Sesshomaru, not again. His brother had a tendency to forget his body was basically human.
"Do you still have Toga's sword, Inuyasha?"
This time, Inuyasha almost jumped, and his eyes widened when he looked at the old man. The guy's giant eyeballs were still quite disturbing to look at, but his tiny pupils were focused on him.
"Tetsusaiga," he answered. "I do. Would you know anything about…"
"The sword is useless," Sesshomaru interrupted him. "I can't hold it, and in this human's hands, it's just a rusty piece of metal."
Something glinted in Totosai's eyes, and the man grinned.
"Just because you cannot use it, does not mean the sword is useless, Lord Sesshomaru. Your father wanted it that way. He did his best so that Inuyasha would have as peaceful a life as he could manage."
Inuyasha scrutinized the man before him, paying a lot more attention to him than he had since the beginning of the conversation, but that didn't help him in any way.
"Hm," Sesshomaru said.
Inuyasha glanced at him. There were some things he had kept secret from his brother, some things he didn't want him to know, and he suddenly feared that this conversation had divulged more than he wanted to reveal. Sesshomaru, however, was looking at the entrance, a light frown on his usually calm face.
"What is it?" Inuyasha asked, looking in the same direction but without noticing anything strange or worth noting.
"Nothing that you could smell, certainly," Sesshomaru answered calmly, paying no attention to the way his brother clenched his fist and gritted his teeth at those words. "The auction is about to start. We should find ourselves seats. Are you finished, Totosai?"
Totosai examined Inuyasha for a few seconds, before nodding. He wasn't sure he liked the boy quite yet. Maybe he had waited more to contact him than Toga would have wanted him to, but he just hadn't paid any attention to the time, forgetting about the 'part human' nature of the kid. He felt like just a few moments had passed, and yet his dear friend had passed away nearly thirty years ago.
He sighed as people around him walked into the room. He would have liked to run away now, but Sesshomaru wasn't going to let him off the hook just yet.
"So, Totosai. Have you considered that sword project I talked to you about?"
He would need all his talents to get him out of here. Alive, if possible.
Inuyasha followed the two men wordlessly. His eyes searched for Kagome, and he relaxed slightly when he found her, immediately cursing himself for that. He barely knew the girl, what was wrong with him? He then noticed the man she was talking to. Tall, with a tan skin, and his hair up in a short ponytail, which revealed his pointy ears.
Demon. He sniffed. His nose was not as good as Sesshomaru's, granted, particularly in this form, but he still noticed the smell of wolf, and had to hold back the growl that instantly built in his chest, as an instinctive reaction.
The guy was a full demon.
Inuyasha angrily pushed his hands in his pockets. This evening fucking sucked.
Of course, nothing had gone as planned. Kagome thought she should try to get used to that, since that seemed to be the way things worked since the beginning of this investigation. She hadn't expected it to be easy, she never did, but this time, it felt like everything that could possibly go wrong had decided to do just that.
It had looked as if things were okay, since as soon as Naraku had noticed them, he had worked towards them with a smile. He had first greeted Sango, his voice dripping with sugar, and once again, when he directed his attentions towards Kagome, the young journalist felt herself disgusted. This time, though, she did her best to dissect his attitude. She had no intention of asking him questions that could make him suspicious. It was way too early for that.
She didn't have much time, though. She had just started to think that really, the way he looked at her was weird, when Koga seemingly came out of nowhere, glaring at Naraku.
"Listen, I dunno who the fuck you are…"
Naraku's face completely changed as he looked Koga up and down before slowly smirking in a way Kagome would almost have described as 'knowingly'.
"You are the leader of the Wolf tribe," he said, lightly bowing his head. "I've heard about what happened. What a tragedy."
There was nothing insulting in his words, but his tone was full of mockery, and Kagome barely had the time to jump in before Koga went directly for the man's throat. He, however, froze when she appeared in front of him. It looked like he hadn't noticed her before, and given how easily he usually spotted her scent, it must have meant his anger truly was clouding his judgement. She eyed Naraku quickly. What…?
"Kagome," Koga grunted. "What are you doing with this fucker?"
She quickly turned back towards him. His eyes were flaming with rage, and it was possibly the first time that she actually felt afraid of Koga. Instead of taking a step back, though, she carefully put her hand on his arm.
"This man is the owner of an art gallery here. He also sells painting. Koga, why…"
"I will see you inside," Naraku said, his voice like silk.
"Wait," she protested, "could you…"
But Naraku was gone, disappearing into the crowd. Kagome cursed under her breath. Sango glanced at her and opened her mouth to offer to find him, but Koga was quicker.
"Move, Kagome. I'm going to find him and crush…"
"Certainly not, Koga!" Kagome hissed. "What did you think you were doing? What has that guy even done to you? And how did you even get in here?"
Koga stared at her for a second before rolling his eyes. Humans and their nose, seriously…
"It's his smell. I know it is. Well, it's not exactly his smell, but close enough. He's the one who murdered my tribe. Also, I just jumped in the building. There was no one watching."
"Didn't you say you couldn't find the scent anywhere?" Kagome asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.
"It reappeared tonight," the wolf demon shrugged. "Now move, Kagome."
"I'm not going to let you do anything. What do you think is going to happen to you if you murder a human in front of so many witnesses?"
"You think I care? I have to avenge…"
"You have to protect the rest of your tribe, Koga." At that, he fell silent, and Kagome took a deep breath. If she could stop him from self-destructing, she would consider she had not wasted her night. "Sango, was Naraku out of town?"
"No," the woman answered, shaking her head. "I haven't heard of that. I mean it could be, but…"
"Koga, didn't you say the murderer was a demon? Isn't Naraku human?"
Koga stopped to think for a second. "That guy's weird," he finally said. "I think he's human, but if he was a demon, he would have the same scent as that fuckin'…"
"But it can't be him," Kagome interrupted him as firmly as she could, despite starting to seriously reconsider the entire situation. "If he's human, it can't be him." Probably. "Listen, Sango and I have to go, and I don't think it's a good idea for you to come in. I'll call you tomorrow, alright?"
He grumbled something, and left without another word. Kagome sighed loudly. She moved her hand to run it through her hair, but Sango stopped her. She had taken care of said hair, and Kagome was not going to ruin her efforts now.
"You know interesting people," she commented, looking in Koga's direction.
"Tell me about it. Koga's a great guy, but he's got his temper."
"Yeah, you mentioned that once or twice." Sango chuckled at the dark look Kagome shot her. "Let's get in, Kags."
The two women walked into the room. Many people were already sitting, but they managed to find two seats next to each other. Sango received another few surprised salutations. She never came to that sort of things, usually sending someone to do it for her. Since she was coming tonight, she had freed her employee. She didn't know what Kagome was looking for exactly, but she trusted her to do it on her own.
Kagome wasn't too sure what she was looking for either. She couldn't find Naraku, no matter how attentively she looked at the crowd. She did, however, notice Inuyasha, and that surprised her. She had to resist the urge to immediately check herself in a mirror. She had no idea he would be there tonight. Had he not seen her either? Or maybe he'd seen her with Koga and had decided not to join… She couldn't blame him for that, really.
The auction turned out to be pretty boring for her. Sango had gone in her working mode and couldn't be distracted — not that Kagome would actually try. Or maybe she would, if this went on for much longer.
Onigumo's paintings were announced and Kagome immediately snapped back to attention, with the help of Sango's sharp elbow hitting her ribs.
There were three of them, two of which were already known from the public. They were bought by a young man with an arrogant smile, who Sango identified as Kao, a flower demon with a bad reputation, and the other by a woman who called herself 'princess Abi', another demon. Kagome wrote their names down. She mentally kicked herself for not having looked more attentively at the buyers for Onigumo's art. The deaths mostly concerned humans, so she hadn't paid much attention to the demons, but if they bought these more often because they were less frightened by the supposed curse, she definitely should have.
The bitter taste of disappointment filled her mouth. Disappointment with herself. Was that some form of unconscious racism? She knew that demons were far less susceptible than humans to, well, die, but she still felt awful for paying less attention to them. Even if she would from now on. Even if it wasn't harmful. She refused to think that way.
She brought her attention back to the auction, right in time to see the reveal of Onigumo's new painting. Her and Sango were too far to really see it correctly, but a whisper ran through the crowd. From what she could see, it represented a woman. A beautiful woman with pale skin, red eyes, black hair, holding a feather in her hand and, what was that around her?
Bodies.
Cut, bleeding bodies.
Kagome clasped a hand on her mouth. The scene was terribly familiar. It looked, actually, very similar to the massacre of the wolves.
Koga's words came back to her, and she just couldn't believe it.
The auction started, and she had the hardest time to pay attention to it, all her attention on the painting. As the prices were rising, a hand rose, and Sango gasped next to her. Curious, Kagome managed to turn towards the person. At first, she wasn't sure whether they were a man or a woman. They had long, white hair, porcelain skin, and one of the most beautiful face she had ever seen.
"That's Sesshomaru," Sango whispered. "Inuyasha's publicist, and powerful demon. He's unbelievably rich, but I don't think I've ever seen him get involved in an auction."
Kagome nodded and eyed Inuyasha. He seemed just as confused as Sango, but there was something else in his attitude, something that worried her. Maybe it was how clenched his jaw seemed to be, or the resentment on his face.
She wrote down Sesshomaru's name, as he easily won the auction and the auctioneer announced that 'The Lady of the Wind' was going to him, and as soon as it was over, she stood up to find Inuyasha.
"I'll be right back," she simply told Sango.
Inuyasha seemed eager to flee from the place, and Kagome had to thread her way through the crowd. She thought she'd lost him for a second, before noticing the balcony. She felt a smile on her lips and decided not to dwell on what it was that was provoking it. She pushed the door open, and walked towards Inuyasha, leaning on the balustrade right next to him.
Sango watched her up to that point and was hesitating on what she was supposed to do when a hand fell on her shoulder, making her jump. She turned swiftly, clenching her fist in case she'd need to punch someone, and was surprised when Miroku deftly caught her hand in his before gently running his thumb on her knuckles.
"Sango, I thought you wouldn't come!"
Uh-oh.
Inuyasha turned towards the person who had the nerve to come so close from him, a frown on his face, but was taken aback when he saw Kagome, of all people. As discreetly as possible, he took a deep breath. Once again, he wished he could have been a demon and smell her coming, and not only because of how wonderful her smell was.
"Hi," she said. "I didn't expect to see you here."
"They're selling my stuff," he mumbled. "'s not like I actually wanted to be here, though. That guy insisted."
"The man who bought the Onigumo painting?" Kagome asked, feeling vaguely dirty for trying to get informations that way. "Sango mentioned he was you publicist."
"Keh." Inuyasha looked absolutely disgusted at that moment. "Yeah. He is. Never saw him give a shit about paintings though."
"Did he say why he was interested, then?"
"Just went full 'nothing you'd be able to smell'." For the second time tonight.
"Huh." These words reminded her of Koga once more, and she thought she would really have to talk to him about all that. Seriously, not having demons in law enforcement was a big mistake, no matter what people said.
"Are you alright?" she then asked, tilting her head. "You look a bit… tense."
Inuyasha shrugged. He couldn't just tell her the truth. That would blow his 'cover', if you could call what he was living that.
"Just don't like the bastard. Wouldn't miss him if his painting turned out to be cursed."
Kagome pursed her lips and let her shoulder touch his. Focused on her thoughts, she didn't notice how he went completely still at the contact. He really regretted that they were both wearing a shirt that night. He would have loved to feel her skin against his.
What the fuck was he thinking?
"I don't wish it on anyone."
"He's a demon. I'm sure he could handle it."
"Even demons can be hurt."
Inuyasha looked at her, feeling a strange flame lighting in his chest. Something he usually destroyed methodically every time it appeared in his life, something that had made him go through the toughest times he had ever lived and left him utterly crushed.
Hope.
He had to ask another question, though. The answer could kill the hope, or make it rise higher, but he had to know. Letting it unanswered would mean that there was still a hope, and that was a mistake he was not willing to make a second time.
He licked his lips, choosing his words carefully, and imperceptibly moved his arm to get more contact with her. This time, Kagome noticed and did her best to hide her smile.
"Sure they can. But you wouldn't say it wouldn't be a loss?"
The words seemed to shock her, and she turned towards him, moving her arm away from his, apparently prepared to get angry at him, but she calmed down when her eyes met his. He didn't look like he thought it wouldn't be a loss, just because the man was a demon. She tried to relax, but she was still frowning when she answered.
"No, Inuyasha, I wouldn't say that. I don't know him, and just because he's a demon certainly isn't a reason for me to wish anything bad to him."
She expected an answer, but Inuyasha simply nodded, examining her. She felt her breath catch in her throat at how intense his stare was becoming. She felt exactly the way she'd felt at their painting session, except that this time, he wasn't painting her. He was just looking at her, with exactly the same interest. The thought was enough to make a weird, tickling sensation run under her skin. She could tell she was probably starting to blush, and Inuyasha still wasn't saying anything. The silence didn't feel uncomfortable nor awkward, not with how their eyes were locked together.
"Are you free later this week?" he finally asked.
The charm was lifted, and Kagome made the gesture of replacing a lock of hair, forgetting that Sango had tied them up earlier.
"I'm quite busy those days, but, erm, I should be free…" She mentally went through what she had planned, unable to remember anything correctly, and finally deciding to just invent something. "Friday night? For… another session, right?"
Inuyasha seemed to hesitate, and her eyes widened a bit when she noticed it. Was he going to offer…?
"Yeah," he answered. "Yeah, that'd be good."
There was a silence, and this one actually was awkward.
"Would you like to eat with me?" It wasn't much louder than a whisper, and Kagome nearly missed it. At first, she thought she'd misheard, but the way Inuyasha looked at her, expectantly, and then quickly got back to looking at his shoes made her decide she hadn't.
"I would love to," she said, probably a bit too happy about it.
Inuyasha's face lit up with a smile that made him look a lot, lot longer, and she wondered if that was the first time she saw him smile. Really smile, not just smirk.
"That's great. Is there anything you'd like?"
Kagome shrugged, smiling back.
"Nothing in particular, I'll trust you with that."
The words seemed to surprise Inuyasha, but he nodded quickly.
"I'll get going then. 'til Friday."
He almost ran away, and she had to ask herself if she really was that frightening. She sighed happily. She hadn't noticed she was almost holding her breath when he asked her.
Sango suddenly appeared next to her.
"You'll tell me all about it in the car, Kags, but if we stay here one more second, I will break Miroku's hand. Let's go."
Kagome hummed lightly and followed her, hopping around. Sango smiled at her friend's happiness. She wished she had had as nice an encounter as her, but unfortunately, her and Miroku had been interrupted by one of his older conquests, and the way he had tried to flirt with her while simultaneously having his arm wrapped around that woman's waist had been to much for her. Oh well, she had never expected this to be easy, and if nothing was to happen, then nothing would happen. She'd survive.
She always did.
There, hope you've enjoyed! Please let me know and leave a review if you did!
Dya.
(long answer to a review below)
Guest: I'm going to answer you because I've seen a lot of comments like that recently. I'm not sure you will see my answer, but this is the best I can do since I can't contact you. Authors have Koga 'going after Kagome' because he does, all the time, in the manga and the anime. He hugs her, he holds her hands, there's one time when he tells her 'I love children by the way, Kagome'. I personally consider the manga as being the only canon (it technically is), and Ayame doesn't even exist there, she's just filler. I happen to like her, so I tend to try to add her in my writing, but I still think her story with Koga in the anime is terrible (I have a problem with adults asking children to marry them, sorry not sorry).
The Wolf Elders do not exist. They're never mentioned. In the manga, we see other wolf tribes and there's no mention of them. We don't even see people who look old. We do see ghosts/spirits though, but they never say anything to Koga about Kagome (they probably don't care). Even if they did exist, this is an AU, and I haven't mentioned the rules in this universe. Kagome and Kikyo canonically look alike. They may appear different in the anime, but it's made very clear in the manga that they do, and it's stated over and over again by the characters. Hell, Inuyasha mistook Kikyo and Kagome at first, and he was supposed to be in love with Kikyo! It's pretty common in mangas/animes to say that two characters look the same while drawing them differently so that the readers won't get confused.
Mating also does not exist. A lot of authors use it as a trope, but it is never mentioned in the original material. Ever (except in one mistake in the english dub). And we don't know anything about the relationship between Toga, Izayoi and Sesshomaru's mother. You can headcanon whatever though, but authors may hold different views.
Your comment is, indeed, just your opinion. But apparently, you're blaming me for not conforming to your headcanons.
