You guys are the best! Thank you so much for all the reviews and since I didn't think thanking you was enough, I updated early!
Despite the fact that last night I almost got hit by a car biking so I panicked and then squeezed the brakes which to my luck were the brakes for the front tire which threw me across the road (while the car was approaching) so after doing a superman across the pavement I realized that my strapless (why me?) top fell down so I might have flashed the guy as I rolled to stand up to be no longer on the road so I wouldn't get run over.
And now my entire left side of my body is cut up. Please, no pity... Anyhoo, just be happy I updated.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha
Chapter Six: Connection
Kouga was the first to snap.
A shudder, a grasping breath and he fell upon his knees, not looking away from the cold room ahead of him.
Yuri Wadena. Yuri Wadena the…
"Shit."
He tore away from his thoughts and looked towards Inuyasha who held Kagome securely in his arms as he carried her into the room. Kagome…the woman who had to show him all this. Bitch.
Inuyasha turned around in the doorway, blocking Kouga's view from the room and facing him, looking directly in his eyes. "I want you to get out of here and go home. Call backup for me but other than that, I don't want you here or anywhere near this case."
Kouga shook his head, standing up. "No chief, I have-"
"Forget it Matsuno," Inuyasha said harshly, using his last name. "You are not coming in here. I'm not doing this as a boss but as a-"
"Friend?" Kouga laughed. "Right. Inuyasha, I'm an officer. I'm trained to get through this. I can do this."
For a long moment, they just stared at each other, neither of the two men giving in. Finally, Inuyasha looked away, his face hard. "Fine, do what you want."
Kouga nodded, knowing that he was walking on a very fine line with no net underneath. He swallowed hard and closed his eyes, taking a step towards the building before opening them and continuing on. Inuyasha merely stepped out of the way once he made it to the doorframe and Kouga looked down.
"You wanted to see it," Inuyasha's voice called from right behind him. "So look at it."
His jaw tight, Kouga looked around the room in shock. What he had seen through the doorframe was enough but this…
Chains hung from the ceiling and were bolted to the walls. Whips and other objects were hung up and scattered across the room. Dirty mattresses that had been used so many times only God could know lay limply on the sides and a large array of facemasks hung on the far wall, framed and prized.
What was worse was the blood.
And the stench of it.
Ranging from droplets to puddles of dried and black blood were scattered and mixed among the room, giving the already dirty and musty look even more foreboding.
Inuyasha was now beside him, not saying anything, the girl still in his arms. For some reason, he just didn't want to let go of her. She was knocked unconscious and her porcelain face was twisted bitterly but Kouga ignored all of it.
The gasp Miroku made and the gagging reflex Sango sounded when she entered. None of it mattered.
It was funny, this feeling. The feeling that you've been lied to, cheated on. It wasn't a new feeling but it certainly was hurtful. Sweet and innocent Yuri Wadena...or was it deceiving and seducing Yuri the dominatrix?
Kouga didn't know and he had the funny feeling that he never wanted to. Ever.
He just couldn't believe that Yuri, his Yuri… No, not anymore.
Once upon a time they had been lovers. Strong lovers who cared for each other more than the world would ever know. But then suddenly, she started drifting from him. It wasn't until last month that she had broken it off but the pain of it was still there, hurting. He had loved Yuri and to think…he had never really loved the real her.
Was this even the real her?
Was this Yuri Wadena, the woman he had once loved? His ex-lover?
Chief had been right, all he wanted to do was go home and drink his sorrows away.
Damn her. Damn her to Hell.
How did she find it?
And now he knows; now he sees.
Hate her. Hate her to death.
But that doesn't matter, I can still win.
She can still die.
Bitch.
Kill her. Kill her to understand.
Bye, bye Princess.
Bye, bye.
Wake up.
Go away.
Wake up.
Leave me alone.
Wake up.
Screw you.
He's starting to worry.
Kagome frowned deeply within her mind, an unconscious thought of what she was doing. She was vaguely aware of being in the air and the warmth against her. Then again, she was also aware of the bone-chilling darkness that curled around her mind.
Death…and it was coming.
You need him.
'Who do I need?' Kagome begged to scream but it was nothing more than a lost echo in her mind.
He can help you.
'Care to explain how? What exactly can he help me with?'
Everything…
Well, that was specific.
'Who are you?' Kagome called again to the voice in her head of her imaginary friend. 'Who is he? Why am I in the middle of this? Why am I even talking to a figment of my imagination?'
After everything, do you still really believe I'm what the others say? Do you think I'm just an illness that will vanish? I can go Kagome, I can leave you alone but the voices will never die. Never…
'Help me,' Kagome pleaded.
I can't. He can… Trust yourself. Wake up Kagome, wake up.
A swirl in her mind and the sudden blast of the five senses started within her. The reality of the world became clearer and before she knew it, her eyes were open though the view was fuzzy. Without even knowing it, she gave a final sardonic remark to her imaginary friend. She would never let the last word be anything but hers.
"And the last time I trusted myself, I found a dead body."
"What?" a masculine voice exclaimed.
Kagome was startled when she realized that she wasn't alone and the awareness of that was a shock. Not only that, but she was in the air, being carried by strong arms that held her tightly bridal style. When she gazed up to meet the eyes of her holder, she was unsurprised to see that it was Inuyasha and by the look in his eyes, she figured out that she wouldn't be put down soon. And his eyes…
Something was different about them. The burning heart of amber was clouded and small, almost non-existent since the pupil of his eyes were larger, wiser. That was only something that happened to her after she went too deep.
Sense of urgency…
Forcing her to look at him…
Eyes connect with his…
So intense…
Cold, disastrous…
Intertwining with his…
He could hear them, all of them…
The voices of the dead…
Inuyasha screamed…
Oh…
Shit.
"Miroku, I want you to meet Officer Nobutoshi and Officer Inada. Hiten and Manten, I want you to meet Mr. Tsujitani," Sango introduced, remaining formal unless she used the name herself.
"Please," Miroku said kindly, nodding towards the two backup officers, "just call me Miroku."
The one called Hiten Nobutoshi nodded, his long black braided hair jiggling slightly. "Where's chief?" he asked towards Sango.
"He's in the warehouse with the forensics team."
"Got it," Hiten said with a grim smile and nodded towards the two before heading up there with Manten. "Thanks San!" he called and gave a short salute, his back facing her.
"You're well respected here," Miroku said, breaking the silence between him and the investigator.
"Guess I am," she shrugged finally. "I've lived here all my life. I know every family and every secret they hold probably better than I know myself. It's actually confusing."
"I imagine so," Miroku agreed and looked up towards the warehouse that was now busy with life. "Is Kagome still with Inuyasha?"
Sango gave a short laugh. "Are you kidding me? He won't let her go. Ever since…Miroku, do you know exactly what happened? What happens to her when she goes 'too deep'?"
By the way Sango shifted her weight from foot-to-foot; he could tell that she was nervous. His only surprise was that she hadn't asked the question sooner. He winced slightly at the thought of her disbelief but realized whether she understood the 'logic' of the paranormal was up to her.
Hell, Kagome had the ability and still didn't believe.
"Not really, no," Miroku said solemnly. "What I know is what she tells me of her experiences, what she writes down on-," Miroku paused. They couldn't know about the stories, not yet. They had to understand first. "What she tells me basically, though I learned most of this stuff from my mother. There are different types of psychics: empaths, clairvoyants, mediums, telepaths, touch-telepaths, etc. The list goes on and on and there's no actual limit to the number of abilities. Some have a new power that no one has and some are stronger than others.
"Kagome, from what I know, is a one-of-a-kind medium. Mediums normally have the ability to see the dead, sometimes they can even go to what some call the 'grey time' which is in theory, the place in between what lies beyond, and very few can walk within the grey time. Kagome can do none of these because from what I can tell, she can only talk to them."
Almost absently she nodded her head. "And what happened back there…?"
"Kagome can also hear voices. These voices she hears are the voices of the no longer living who try to use her to their advantage."
Sango looked at him skeptically. "Uh, I didn't understand that."
"Which part?" Miroku asked.
"…The entire last part."
"Oh." Miroku sighed. "You know how we have haunted houses of spirits who just either can't let go or have something they need to fulfill? Well, these voices, of these spirits, seem to only be either heard or seen by mediums. Now, if a spirit is desperate enough, it can struggle against the…barrier –for use of a better term- and fight with the soul of the medium. Whichever soul is strongest obtains the body."
Sango shivered inadvertently. "So you mean the dead can…come back to life?"
Wincing, Miroku made a face. "In a matter of speaking, yes but the two souls could battle for the course of twenty years without any signs of changing. It's still a theory, one we can hardly explain well, but once we get our science up-to-date with the paranormal, it will be done in time."
"So that's why Kagome can't go in too deep," Sango mused out loud. "She could –in a matter of speaking- be killed."
"Yes-" Miroku was interrupted by a loud curse from the warehouse above and with a quick glance at the other; both Sango and Miroku sprinted up to the building. Darkness surrounded them once they entered with only a stream of light from the actual doorway that led outside. Then in a flash, the lights were on, blinding the two from the suddenness of it all.
Inuyasha stood in front of them, his face austere and shadowed from the poor lighting. "Sango, I want you to call Ayame and get her to find any information she can get on Yuri's properties."
"But we already tried. Nothing came up other than the small house she had."
"Dig deeper," Inuyasha argued. "And find out who owned this building because what I just saw there was enough to make me hate the colour red."
Sango looked at him seriously.
"You think there was a lot of blood in there before? Well, look at the blood that was once there. It was covered Sango," Inuyasha said tiredly. "It was a bloodbath in there."
Kagome could've shot herself.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid…" she repeated over and over again, the word becoming weaker and frustrated as she spoke. "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid…"
He knew, dammit. He knew. He heard.
That was not supposed to happen, ever. Now what would he think of her? Would he just dump her? Would send her away to a padded white room, salute a goodbye and walk away without ever turning back?
Kagome shivered at the possibilities. Inuyasha… Even though he had doubted what she had the ability to do, she didn't really care. She didn't believe it either, but now after everything was said and done…
"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid…" Her imaginary friend was right. She couldn't keep pushing this to the back of her mind. She couldn't keep trying to make logical sense of what was when there was no logical sense to explain it yet. She was a…medium.
She could talk to the dead.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid…"
And now, she brought Inuyasha into it. He had heard the voices of the dead and it was all her fault. She went too deep –unknowing but still- and Inuyasha's respect for her was probably down the drain.
"Down, down, down to the bottom of the sea…" she sang slightly, recalling a song from a television show she had vaguely watched while flipping channels.
Hey, it wasn't her fault.
It had a catchy tune.
At least she wasn't saying 'stupid' repeatedly anymore.
She glanced around Inuyasha's truck -where he had firmly put her in with strict orders that if she left he would be forced to do…something (he hadn't thought that far within speech) - and looked for something interesting to quell her boredom. Seeing that nothing other than a wide-range of papers, business cards and napkins were in the compartments within the car, she checked under seats and side pockets in the door.
"Ah ha!" she cheered when she felt her hand run along something the felt like a book and was relieved. "I just hope he's not one of those sappy soap opera type guys in disguise."
Confusion swept over her when she found that it was not actually a reading book but a small black notebook, the date within the notebook starting at February 7th, seven years ago. She flipped through the pages, noting Inuyasha's all capital handwriting and brisk lines. All of the notes he kept had a newspaper article attached and all of them were about murders.
So far, all of the notes had been checked off, the murderer apparently caught and sentenced fairly but then, after searching through two years of his crime-solving life, he heart stopped and if she hadn't heard the voice of her imaginary friend, she doubted it would've ever started.
He can help you…
Because there, not checked off, was the name of Kikyo Hidaka, a woman murdered…a woman who's a main character in her first murder story.
"How well did you know Yuri Wadena?" Sango questioned, sitting at the opposite side of her guest at a long wooden table. "You two were dating previously, am I right?"
"We broke up a little less than two weeks ago, yes," her guest hissed through clenched teeth. "She had been acting strange."
"In what way?" Sango asked curiously. "You were her boyfriend after all, right Mr. Koyasu?"
"Will you stop making me admit that?" Mr. Koyasu yelled, standing up from his chair and glaring evilly towards Sango, who merely nodded her head and gestured for him to sit down.
"Alright then, let's move on to your relationship with Yuri. How long had you two dated?"
"Less than a month I believe."
"And when did she start acting strangely?"
"Around the week before she died."
"For an ex-lover you don't sound too sorry about it?" Sango asked, smirking. "Did she dump you?"
"Screw you," Mr. Koyasu hissed.
"Well then," Sango said in a slightly bored tone. "Let me read this report. Hmm, yes from what I see here you were very pissed that she broke it off with you. And you ran because she threatened to call the police? Right, Gatenmaru?"
He hissed and Gatenmaru's demonic red eyes flared for a moment. "I told you-"
"Oh, right…right I'm sorry," Sango said dismally and shrugged. "So she broke it off with you around…?"
"It was last week, when she started acting bitchy."
"I thought it was strangely, not bitchy," Sango said firmly and glared at him, her brown eyes hard. "You know, you are a very high suspect for her murder Gatenmaru."
"That's Mr. Koyasu to you, Ms. Houko."
"Got it, so did you murder Yuri? Did the anger of being rejected hurt you? Did your pride reduce to nothing but ashes after it all? Was the threat to call the police too much to bear? Did you murder Yuri Wadena?"
"No!" he yelled. "You have nothing on me!"
"You have no alibi for that night," Sango pointed out. "You have absolutely nothing therefore I do have something on you. Not only that but the fact that you're a drunk and have a previous history of violence… I'm sorry to say it doesn't look good Mr. Koyasu."
"Fine, look for a Tamara Ryan, I was with her. Oh, and for the record, I'm not sorry that that bitch is dead."
Next Chapter: Secrets- The result of Kagome's slamming left the truck rocking slightly and Inuyasha turned to shrug at Sango when he noticed that she too, was gone. What was with women?
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...That rhymed, oops.