Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.
A/N: I don't think it's possible to find me in a worse mood right now. The guys on my Knowledge Bowl team have to got to be the biggest, most arrogant, freakin jerks ever. I was about to - quite literally - smack the five of them across the face. But it's over now...and I really don't want to go to school tomorrow. Just for you, I'll shut up about my problems...I apologize for the longer wait...but the update's longer, right? Enjoy!
Chapter 23 - Locked Down and Shut Out
Kagome heard her heart pounding in her ears when a few screams erupted through the darkness. She felt blind, not even able to see her own hand in front of her face. "What the hell's going on?" she called to no one in particular, hoping all the same that she would get some sort of intelligent answer. Even through all the noise, she could hear Inuyasha's shouted profanities from the backstage.
She figured that it wouldn't do any good just to stand there, so she attempted to make her was across the stage littered with band equipment, careful to pick her feet up as to not step on anything. "Nanami!" she shouted as she stumbled backstage, groping blindly for anything to hold on to. The first thing she found was a cold, brick wall; it stretched on for what seemed like forever. She put her back against it and sighed, allowing her eyesight to adjust to the distinct change; the outlines of a few people were vaguely recognizable, but they weren't anyone she knew. 'That's right...mom and the others are bound to be on the other side...' So she turned and started running in the opposite direction, banging her knee once on something with a sharp edge. 'Ah, dammit...Sango's clumsiness is catching up with me.'
Sango found herself...somewhere, she couldn't quite be sure of exactly where she was. After going through a random door in hopes of finding someone that could help them, she discovered that the power had gone out in the whole building. Which was pretty disturbing, considering the structure's size.
She find a light switch, and with it, a spark of hope lighted in her. It was crushed a moment later when she realized that it didn't work, flipping it numerous times before she was satisfied that the power had gone out. 'Why?' That was what she - or anyone else, for that matter - couldn't figure out. She felt goose bumps raise on her arms, the prickling sensation making her shiver. "Dammit..."
Thump.
"Who's there?" Sango called, whirling around on the ball of her feet and, once again, facing blackness. A voice inside her head told her to run back to the stage to find Kagome and the others, but her feet wouldn't cooperate. She sighed and pushed her bangs away from her face, trying to convince herself that it was just her imagination.
Thump.
Sango stiffened and felt her hands clenching into fists. She wasn't stupid; she was annoyed and nervous at the same time - maybe even scared. But she sure as hell wasn't about to let whoever was out there see that. "Kagome?" she whispered, taking a few steps in front of her, arms reached out in front of her to help detect any hindrances. "Miroku?" Her voice dropped to a whimper, to the point where she could barely even hear herself? "Tai? Rizu? Who is it?!"
Before she could say anything else, a large, cold hand was slapped over her mouth from behind. Hot breath tickled its way down her neck, and she lashed out, attempting to free herself from the grip, when something was pressed against the small of her back. 'A gun...'
"You move, wench," the voice said from behind, gravelly and low, "and I shoot."
Inuyasha stiffened as he heard Kea's worried musings from somewhere behind him. Everything had been going so well, and then...what had happened was unknown to any of them. He felt Shippou latch himself onto one of his legs, and Souta on the other. Miroku was standing next to him, appearing at least somewhat calm and composed.
Nanami ran out from behind one of the curtains, holding a lighted flashlight in one hand. "What happened?" she questioned, placing her hands firmly on her hips. "And what happened to Kagome and Sango? Did they suddenly decide they were going to disappear on me?" she raved, throwing her hands in the air and glaring pointedly at Inuyasha and Miroku. "Well?"
Miroku stepped forward and raised his palms, as if in a gesture of surrender. "Nanami, try to calm down; please. Clearly, there has been some sort of...incident, and right now we need to figure out how to get the power back on. It was already a screaming mob before this happened. As for Kagome and Sango, I'm sure they're just fine, maybe searching for someone to help us out." He gave her a reassuring smile, and thought he saw her shoulders sag a second later. A small sigh escaped her lips.
"Sorry...I'm just on edge, y'know? I'll go see if there's anyone who can explain what's going on." Nanami spun, and the only other thing they heard from her was the thump of her tennis shoes on the stage floor.
Inuyasha ran a clawed hand through his near white hair, scanning the stage's area expectantly; Kagome was somewhere near, he knew, but Sango wasn't to be found. He scowled and turned his attention towards Miroku who was staring out from behind the curtain - people were trying to leave, he realized, but the doors weren't opening. He frowned bitterly as Taiko and Rizumu approached cautiously, both appearing as appalled as anyone was.
"Do you know where Sango went?" Miroku asked instantaneously, checking once more to make sure that she wasn't behind them. "Nanami is unable to find her...and, well, Kagome is still around here. But no one's seen Sango since the lights went out," he explained, a spark of worry masked in his tone. His already minute hopes deflated when Rizumu shook his head. "You haven't any idea?"
"The last time I saw Sango," Taiko started, scratching the back of his head wearily, "was when she ran into me trying to get somewhere else, but she didn't tell me where. Hasn't anyone else seen her?" He knit his brows together and frowned, dark brown wisps of hair falling in his eyes. "Damn...well, she has to be somewhere around here, doesn't she?"
Everyone, even Sango's parents, shook their heads when asked of her whereabouts. Inuyasha growled, his eyes wildly scanning the stage; in an effort not to lose hope, he goes off in search of Kagome to see if she could be of any help. 'This better not be for nothing...'
Kagome slid to the floor, her heartbeat going fast and refusing to slow down. Why had she left the stage in the first place? Why didn't she just try and find the group? But, being stubborn as usual, she had to go off on her own. It didn't help any that at the moment she felt so damn afraid of the dark.
After a short time, she had given up on trying to figure out what had happened and went to search for Sango instead. After quarter of an hour of mindless wandering and constantly running into various objects, she gave up, and now found herself on the floor. She blinked, vaguely seeing the outline of...something...another door, it looked like-
-and then the lights came back on, without any sort of warning. Kagome jumped from her position and the floor and threw a hand over her eyes, overwhelmed by the sudden existence of fluorescent lighting in the room. When she finally realized what had actually occurred, she jumped to her feet, throwing a punch into the air. 'The power's back on, now all we need to do is get this concert rolling...'
One of the many doors that led into the hallway Kagome had found burst open, and there stood a fuming Inuyasha. His shoulders sagged when he saw her, expression softening, and yet he didn't say anything. After a minute or two of uncomfortable silence, Kagome cleared her throat and clapped her hands together. "Where is everyone?" she asked, for lack of anything else to say. "They still on stage?"
Inuyasha, instead of replying, took a few steps forward until he was standing right in front of Kagome. "You haven't seen Sango?" he queried, eyes narrowing the tiniest bit. "Not since the power went out?"
Kagome shook her head quizzically, biting her lip for anxiety as to what was about to come. "Haven't you? What about Tai, or Rizu-?"
"Dammit," Inuyasha muttered, whirling around and scratching the back of his head. "No. No one has. Now that everything's lit up again, I 'spose they'll be looking for her...Hell, what's up with you two and always wandering away? Do you always get lost when you're by yourself?"
Kagome steeled herself and glared at his back. "What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded through clenched teeth; her expression foretold a murder soon to be committed. "How can you say that? Maybe she went to find someone...or...or maybe she was looking for something - It doesn't matter. How dare you assume we can be so careless?!" she ranted, hands clenched so tightly her knuckles turned white. Her cheeks were flushed of their own accord, and if Kagome noticed, she refused to acknowledge it.
Inuyasha turned around, once again facing her, and cupped his chin in her hand. Her mouth snapped shut instantaneously. "Right now," he started, refusing to look away from her liquid brown eyes; he felt a spark, somewhere, and attempted to ignore it. Somehow, he figured that she looked better when she was angry like that. "We need to focus on Sango...after what's happened, I ain't about to take anything lightly." His eyes softened, and he released her chin, his gaze lingering down on her for a few more instants, and then he turned away. "Come on. We should hurry."
Kagome nodded, releasing the remnants of her held breath in a low whistle and following hastily after Inuyasha. She flexed her fingers and sighed when her knuckles cracked, rolling her neck around a few times and closing her eyes. 'Where did you go, Sango?'
She was afraid to search for an answer.
'It's time to wake up...'
Sango groaned and attempted to sit up; she laid back down, however, when a potent wave of nausea coursed through her head and into her stomach. She swore under her breath and opened her eyes to at least - or so she hoped - get a glimpse of her surroundings.
What appeared to be like metal walls were standing on all four sides, with only one door. She realized with a pang that there was a sort of number pad serving as a lock. The floor was some sort of carpet, and she found herself sprawled out rather uncomfortably on it. There was one, single dim light in the ceiling, which she looked into until she saw spots. 'Does it have to be so cold in here?' she questioned herself inadvertently and wrapped her arms around her shoulders.
The last thing she remembered was having something heavy slammed across her head - and she only realized just now that a rivulet of blood was trickling steadily down her face. Sango recoiled when she touched it, amazed by the jolt it sent through her skull. "Ugh...dammit," she muttered quietly, and once again attempted to stand. She came to her feet rather precariously and gritted her teeth, her feet unsteadily taking her towards the door; which, she believed, would serve as her only exit from wherever she was.
She observed the number pad for a few minutes, squinting carefully; the only thing she saw was numbers and a small screen. So she pushed a few of the buttons, and after entering eight digits, there was a beep. "Password invalid," an electronic voice said, "Alerting the front desk immediately. Correct password must be entered in thirty..."
"Oh, hell..." Sango muttered, and felt a growing ball of anxiety form in her chest. She swore frantically multiple times, and began typing in as many numbers as her fingers would allow. None of the sequences she entered shut off the system. She groaned when there was five seconds left and sunk against the wall, her eyes closed as she waited for the time to run out.
"Five...four...three...two...-"
-and the door creaked open, making Sango flinch. She turned her eyes down and found herself staring at a pair of two-inch magenta heels and a crisp black business skirt. Sango hesitantly glanced up, only to meet a woman's piercing glare. Her eyes were blood red, and she held her dark brown - nearly black - hair in a bun near the crown of her head. She smirked, her painted red lips parting slightly. Sango was given a quick once-over before the woman squatted down so they were eye-level.
Sango realized as the woman spoke that her whole suit was black. She carried a dangerous air about her; the tone of her voice was sleek and throaty - and Sango found every one of her 'perfect' attributes irritating and, plainly speaking, repulsive.
"-my name is Kagura Yatsuhara. And you have no idea where you are, do you?" The woman dubbed Kagura frowned then, her eyes flashing briefly in bored annoyance. "Are you even listening to me?" she demanded crossly, raising a hand to brush her fingers across Sango's cheek. The tip of her index and middle finger presented a few drops of blood. "No matter; that wound must be tended to. We don't want you fainting on us, especially now. Follow me." She stood up briskly and punched something into the number pad - the continuous beeping noise it had been making stopped instantaneously.
Sango stood cautiously, knowing full well that she could be walking straight into a trap. 'Kagura...does she work for Naraku?' she wondered, biting her lower lip subconsciously. The prospect was fairly frightening; but she stiffened her back and kept her gaze straight, because the last thing she wanted to do was show anyone that she was afraid. 'Those sick bastards won't be able to faze me...not tonight, or ever.'
She followed Kagura down a stark white hall; fluorescent lights hung from the ceiling, and Sango's shoes thumped softly on the shining tiled floor. She searched for any means of escape, but was unable to find any doors or windows of the sort. 'What kind of place is this?!' The only thing her mind came up with was a blank.
It wasn't too long after when kagura stopped before a large mahogany door. There was a number pad and a speaker next to it, much like the one Sango had seen in the confinement room. She felt her heartbeat quicken as Kagura punched in eight digits, and the speaker began to crackle. Sango took a step backwards and only now realized that they had come to the end of the hallway. 'Damn...where do I go now?' she wondered frantically, subconsciously biting her lower lip. 'What happened at the concert anyway? Hell, Kagome, where am I?'
She suddenly remembered when Kagome told her about confronting Naraku when she found her father's guitar missing; when she was nearly forced to agree to one of his sadistic deals, but turned him down despite unknown consequences; and when the four of them did acquiesce and come to terms with his ludicrous contract. She shuddered, knowing she was out of time when a voice cut through the crackling static.
"The door's unlocked, Kagura. Send her in," the voice said, no doubt a male. But Sango could tell that it wasn't Naraku. The difference was slight, but there nonetheless. She spun around and steeled herself to run - and made it two steps before Kagura caught hold of her arm and yanked her back. "I wouldn't try that again if I were you," she whispered, a smirk crawling onto her face. "Onigumo wouldn't approve at all."
Miroku threw open yet another door, and finding nothing but a mere storage closet, slammed it shut. He cursed aloud and closed the space between him and the hallway door - which was the one he had come through - in a matter of three paces. He opened it and ambled through another, shorter hallway before coming to a set of double doors; a sign reading 'BACKSTAGE' was above it.
On the other side, he came to meet with Kagome, Inuyasha, and Shippou, whom was constantly scrambling along the floor. "Sango's mother and father left, along with Kohaku. Mom will be leaving with Souta soon: they said that when we find Sango, we need to call them. They seemed pretty apprehensive," Kagome reported hastily while she twiddled with her fingers. "But we haven't seen heads or tails of her...where do you think she went?"
Inuyasha watched as Kagome bit her lip and spun around so her back was to them. "What if we don't find her?" she asked quietly, yet stern at the same time. "Dammit!" she swore, and stamped one of her feet on the floor. Shippou stopped his running around and watched her curiously. "I mean...hell, you know what I mean. What do we do now? The whole building's been practically searched top to bottom...Nanami and a few others are still on the few top floors. I don't think Sango's even here!"
Her voice, increasing in intensity with each word, made Inuyasha's ears shrink back. He saw Miroku's gaze drop, and even Shippou clamped his mouth shut. Kagome continued on, clasping her hands behind her back and pacing the floor. "We should go to the Yokoshima building..it's the only other place I can think to look. The concert's off - Nanami will have to make an announcement. It'll be rescheduled for some other time." She paused in mid-step and turned her eyes down. "Tai, Rizu, and anyone else will have to stay here, in case anything happens; though God only knows what's going to happen. It's only to be us four...that is, Shippou, if you want to come along."
Shippou nodded enthusiastically, once again bouncing across the floor. "You don't even have to ask, Kagome. I wanna help find Sango too!" He jumped onto one of Kagome's shoulders, his face set in decisiveness. "What're we waiting for? Let's get going now!"
Kagome nodded brusquely and turned her gaze towards Inuyasha and a clearly anxious Miroku. Inuyasha nodded as well. "You don't even have to ask," he commented breezily. To his displeasure, it seemed that Kagome had relapsed. Unlike before everything with Naraku started occurring, she had been so cool, casual, and utterly confident in what she did. Neither her nor Sango were arrogant in any way, and they were always strong-willed with high self-esteem in themselves. That was back when they hated each other, the only exception being Miroku. A dry laugh was brought past Inuyasha's lips when he recalled what would happen - weeks before - if they even spoke to each other. Kagome had threatened once to break his arm, and he didn't doubt it for a second; her words were anything but an empty threat.
As Kagome started towards one of the stage exits with Shippou on her shoulder, Miroku followed; and after a few moments of contemplation, Inuyasha started after them. No matter how much he tried to deny it, he hated seeing Kagome in such a downing mood, and so he promised himself that he would do anything to get her fiery temper to return.
Sango smelled the antiseptic before she could feel it's sting. She recoiled as the man sitting before her closed his case with a snap before he got up to leave. He was young, undoubtedly only a few years older than herself, and yet he served as a sort of physician for Onigumo. He had cleaned and dressed her head wound, though she would have preferred if he left it alone. Not a word had been spoken between them, and Sango was grateful for his lack of presence when the uncomfortable and somewhat self-conscious feeling lifted from her shoulders.
She examined the room she had been confined in with a grimace. A bed with a lavish forest green comforter sat in one of the corners, as if implying she would be there for a great while. The closet - provided for God knows what reason - was stocked with clothing of all kinds. Whether they fit her or not was a disturbing though. She shuddered. "Crazed bastards..." she muttered, careful not to raise her voice; she wouldn't have been at all surprised if the place was bugged and had secret video cameras hidden everywhere. There was a bathroom connected, which she had yet to look at. If she didn't know any better, she would say she was in some kind of fancy hotel.
"Ah, Sango, is it?" the man who could only be Onigumo greeted, drawling. "I must say, it's a pleasure to meet you, even under the circumstances."
Sango shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she took in what looked to be an office; a desk was placed against one of the sides walls, filing cabinets lined behind it. A door leading to another room was on the opposite wall. The carpet was black, and light gray wallpapers was pasted around the room's perimeter. A glowing chandelier hung from the ceiling, lighting mostly upon an oriental rug in the center of the room. Large windows lined one full wall.
"What the hell are you thinking?" Sango spat, very conscious of Kagura's hand tightly - almost painfully - gripping her shoulder. "Where am I, anyway?"
Onigumo raised a hand for silence, then explained; "Naraku doesn't trust your...group enough, so he's decided to put one of you in confinement until you can all meet together. After all, he doesn't want anything to be a hindrance to his plans. It was I who eliminated the power at the stadium your band was performing in. Need I go into more details?"
When Sango refused to speak, he stood from his chair and continued; standing directly under the chandelier, his long black hair was illuminated on the crown of his head. "You will be placed into confinement until the rest of you are trusted enough not to cause any disruptions: we could always find that friend of yours - Kagome, I believe to be her name - and hold her captive as well...-"
"No!" Sango exclaimed, lurching forward even as Kagura's nails dug deeper into her flesh. "No...leave Kagome alone. I'll stay. Leave her be..." she muttered, her hands clenching into fists. By doing this, she knew she was admitting defeat; she vaguely felt a sharp sting of pain, then a thin trail of blood rolling down her fingers, but she ignored it by gritting her teeth. "I'll stay as long as it takes..."
Sango stood up, drawing in a shaky breath and crossing her arms over her chest. She wouldn't deny the fact that she was frightened as hell and twice as hungry. She found herself hoping that if Kagome and the others would find her, it would be sometime soon.
She walked the perimeter of her room - looking once at the three bite-like cuts on her palm from her fingernails - and observed everything she could as she ambled on precariously. With a grunt, she collapsed onto the bed when she reached it, letting her damaged hand brush lazily across the velvet-like covering. It was then that her eyes began to brim with tears.
'Father...what's he going to think when he and mother don't find me at the concert hall?' she wondered, grinding the heels of her palms over her eyes. 'Ah...damn, what have I gotten myself into?' She puzzled over this as she stared at the wall across from her; the room was void of any windows. Her mind eventually trailed off, and she was no longer able to think coherently.
Five minutes later, and she was sleeping, the comforter pulled tightly over her head.
Kagome revved the van's engine as the back door closed. System of a Down's Hypnotize was blasting through the speakers. She turned around to make sure everyone was there...Shippou, out of all of them, looked the most nervous.
"Y-you have drove before...haven't you, Kagome?" he asked, his tail trembling.
Kagome smirked wryly and shifted the vehicle into 'reverse.' "Not a day in my life," she responded chirpily. The van began to back out of the parking lot behind the building. "You better find something to hold on to - who knows, I just might end up being a horrible driver." Poor Shippou blanched at the thought and latched onto his chair.
Miroku cleared his throat as the van pulled out into the street...right after Kagome drove the vehicle over a rather large bump. "Kagome, maybe you should let Inuyasha or me drive. It's dark, after all, and-"
"Not on your life, 'Roku. Whoops; no pun intended," Kagome added quickly; her eyes didn't once leave the busy road. "So as long as I don't get caught without a license, yippee freakin' skippy. It's not like nobody's never before. Like I said - hold on tight to something."
Inuyasha, though he didn't like her idea at all, wasn't about to argue any longer. She was adamant in her decision, and he highly doubted she would ever back down. "Just keep your eyes on the road, wench, and don't crash into anything," he grumbled as Shippou found his leg and attached all four limbs to it. "Shippou, get off my leg, dammit!"
Miroku sighed and leaned back, his fingers laced behind his head. "Hey, Kags, what's that?" he asked and pointed to something partially hidden behind the front row of seats. "It has your name on it." Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed the box type package and hefted it out; behind it, there was another one, except with Sango's name scrawled sloppily on the blue wrapping. They were larger than he had anticipated. "There's another one here, but it's got Sango's name instead."
Kagome swerved as she attempted to turn around in her seat, and when she realized the feat was only slightly dangerous, she decided to remain facing forward. "Really? Open it up, but leave Sango's be. I don't even know what they are." She resorted to watching through the rear-view mirror. "Well?" she asked impatiently after a few minutes, "what is it?" After another ten seconds with no result, she pulled off to the side of a nearly deserted back road and unbuckled her seatbelt. What she saw caught her off guard.
In the box, surrounded by layers of black tissue paper, lay a silver acoustic guitar. It's handle was layered with a white sheen - but was really caught her eye was her name engraved in gold intricate lettering on the rounded base just underneath the strings. "Damn..." Kagome whispered, feeling as if her head had just been immersed in freezing water. Nothing else was said for a minute or so, until: "We can figure this out later. We need to get a move on if we're going to find Sango." The discussion was clearly a thing to be puzzled over later when she slammed her foot roughly on the gas peddle, sending the van lurching forward.
"Uh, Kagome?" Shippou started as Miroku closed the box back up. "Does anyone else know that we took the van and left?"
Kagome averted her eyes from the window for a second to glance in the mirror. "Huh? Oh, no...I doubt it. They probably won't be too happy though, but we can't do anything about it now, can we? They'll learn to live with it," she answered casually, taking a hand off the steering wheel to wave it in the air. "As long as we don't damage anything, we'll be fine."
"As long as you don't damage anything," Inuyasha piped up, his face contorted in a cocky grin. "We'll be lucky if we only end up in the hospital. You sure there's insurance on this thing?"
"Shut your mouth, dog-boy," Kagome snapped bitterly, and practically jumped on the gas pedal to get past a yellow light. "I didn't see your hand go up when I asked for a volunteer driver. Besides, it's not like you have your license anyway." Silence sat heavily upon them, and when Kagome looked again at the mirror, she saw Inuyasha cracked his knuckles; and yet his sadistic smirk remained. "What's so damn funny?!"
"You're a helluva lot cuter when you're angry." Inuyasha enjoyed watched her expression change to that of pure shock, and then anger, a feral scowl playing at her lips. He felt Shippou cower behind his legs. Miroku merely watched, gleaning off as much entertainment as he could from the side show.
"I don't know whether to punch you or thank you," Kagome ground out. A second later, she put all of her weight on the brakes, the tires screeching to an instantaneous stop. "You're such a player, Inuyasha. Now get your ass out of this van before I personally kick it out: we're here." She didn't waste any time as she thrust open the driver's door and jumped out. She was freezing in the night's air, and when she glanced up at the large Yokoshima Records building, she felt a pit of despair grow in her chest. The building was completely dark, and as Miroku ran forward, she realized the doors were locked.
"Maybe this is going to be harder than I thought..."
A/N: I am so sorry! With Thanksgiving, and every other thing that's come up, I haven't had much time to write anything. I'm so burnt out right now...I'll have to hold out the update for my other story till tomorrow. Wonderful...Review, if you have a heart. I'd appreciate it, probably more than you know.
