Disclaimer: I do not own NightWalker: Midnight Detective or Inuyasha. They, as well as the characters, belong to their rightful creators and their distributors. The only things I own are the slight changes that I make within the story.
AN: From the reviews I've received so far, I'd like to point out something from the last chapter about Kagome getting possessed yet tries her best to regain control of her body.
First of all, I remember from the Inuyasha series that Kagome is usually put under some mind control for a certain period of time by the demon Menomaru, The Kuro Miko Tsubaki, and Hakudoshi when he was a baby. But through those, Kagome somehow struggles to get back what she can of her mind to at least warn or save Inuyasha. But all of this is just mind possession, not body possession like the Night Breeds.
Plus, Kagome being possessed like that and by a night breed is a first for her so she probably wouldn't know what to do because another entity entirely is within her body. And it will be foreign to her.
Anyways, hope you guys enjoy this next chapter.
2nd Night:
Stardom's Stipulations Part 1
On the stage of a theatre, the sound of something or someone eating raw flesh could be heard. Once finishing, a female voice echoed slightly within the empty theatre, apologizing to her victim who was her manager, "I can't help it. I have to keep shining on the stage. Wouldn't it be your problem too, if my popularity were to fade?"
The woman was Theatre actress; Tsukimura Yukie… and she had made a packed with a night breed to eat the hearts of humans while in return she would continue to shine on the stage. Despite that she hated having to eat the hearts of innocent people, especially those who she worked close with but she agreed to do anything to gain stardom and continue to have her name light up on stage.
The spotlights then turned on suddenly, shining on her as a woman with short light brown hair walked down the steps of the empty audience. "So it was true, after all." Her voice carried out.
Tsukimura couldn't see her as she tried to block out the light in her eyes with a bloodied hand.
"Who's there?" She demanded.
The shorthaired woman stopped in her tracks, ignoring the actress' question, and spoke, "I'd been hearing quite a bit of rumors… about Tsukimura Yukie selling her soul to the Devil, and that she became a demon feeds off of other people to gain her stardom. Tell me, Tsukimmura-san, how many women had fallen victim so far?"
The second woman was named Asahina Yoko, an understudy of Tsukimura… or an apprentice of sorts.
The lights on the set started to flash in different colors as the demonic energy of the Night breed began to increase within the dark brunette before she was suspended in mid-air and made her way toward Yoko with an animalistic cry. Once she landed some feet away, she began to control her hair like tentacles and wrapped them around the shorthaired woman's neck.
Yoko didn't even struggle but just stood there, composed with her arms crossed.
With a face that seemed to reflect sympathy, Tsukimura spoke, "Poor thing, I would have spared you if you hadn't found out. I'm sorry, Yoko." Her expression then changed as she started to squeeze at Yoko's neck.
Again Yoko wasn't fazed with her smile still there as she giggled, "Can I interest you in a little deal with me, Devil-san?"
Tsukimura faltered a bit, not knowing if she heard her apprentice right. 'She doesn't me to…'
"If you promise me the same luster you granted to Tsukimura, you can have it all!" The actress' hair retracted from Yoko's neck as she claimed, "Take all of my unspoiled soul!"
"Don't do it, Yoko! Do you know what you're asking? This isn't something that anyone should be burdened with!" Tsukimura not only felt that Yoko had enough talent without a devil's help but Tsukimura herself didn't want lose the luster and grandness the devil gave to her. Not to mention, she didn't want Yoko to suffer like she did in killing innocent people.
"Stay out of this!" Yoko ordered, feeling smug and confident that she could control the Night breed better than Tsukimura as she continued, "C'mon, Devil-san, why don't you dump that tired old soul and possess me, instead? And make me the greatest actress the whole world will recognize!"
"Stop! Don't do it, Yoko!" Tsukimura pleaded as the night breed's energy crackled and released her body, hovering over her.
The Night Breed's appearance looked like that of a female with pale white skin and long thick light teal hair and her eyes were a blood red.
Yoko laughed out loud before speaking as the Night Breed looked down on her, "AMAZING! You're the devil?"
"It won't work! What could a woman like her do for you? Have you forgotten how I've always satisfied your desires?" This couldn't be happening. If the Night Breed abandoned Tsukimura for Yoko, the actress' future was finished- her entire career up in flames! When Yoko offered herself freely, Tsukimura begged the Nightbreed not to leave her.
The spotlights centered on Yoko as the Night Breed made its way to the shorthaired woman with Tsukimura crying out in anguish.
Once the Night Breed had become one with Yoko, the shorthaired woman started to feel the radiance and confidence that she was sure Tsukimura felt. "I did it! I really did it! I've finally gained the brilliance of a star!" She then started to laugh in a boastful way.
XoXoXoXoXoXoXoX
The next day, Kagome was sitting on the couch with her cat, Luna in her lap as Shido sat in his desk chair and Guni stood on Shido's desk. The three were watching the news about the suicide of an actress.
"I'm here at the condominium where, just last night, Ms. Tsukimura had plunged herself to her death." A reporter announced, standing in front of a crowd who had bouquets of flowers in their arms and such while seeming to be in mourning. "Since the tragedy made the news, many of her fans have gathered at the scene and their profound sorrow is prevalent."
Kagome was silent for a while before she sighed. Petting Luna in the head, she spoke, "Such a shame. And Souta's girlfriend, Hitomi was a quite a fan of Tsukimura-san. Wonder what caused her to commit suicide…"
Guni turned to Shido as he spoke, "All beautiful people are very fragile. The more beautiful their demise, the more legends are spun."
Kagome snorted, "That's stupid. Things and events that are believed to be great inspire legends. A suicide of an actress with great acting skills is something that's as common as a high school student dying of drug abuse. It's also naïve to think that there's such a thing as a beautiful death."
"True, true. Not to mention, when you're dead… that's it." Guni agreed with a smile.
"And the truth remains sealed in the dark… isn't that right?" Yayoi said as she entered the office.
"So you know about Tsukimura Yukie's leaping suicide." Shido stated as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk.
"Know? I was just at the scene not too long ago, witnessing every grisly detail." Yayoi said before turning to the TV as reporters started showing commemorations of Tsukimura's career.
Shido then chuckled, asking, "Did you learn any age-defying makeup tips from the great one?"
"I was on an assignment!" Yayoi then rested her hands on her hips, "Keep joking like that, and I'll thrust a cross in your chest!"
Like with every threat, Shido made a witty comeback in the form of an innuendo, "Rather than being thrusted, I prefer doing the thrusting myself."
Kagome smirked, "And just what do you plan to thrust? The mattress? Or the bottom of your coffin?" Guni and Yayoi almost snorted in laughter before Kagome added, "Too bad you'll probably be doing either alone." All three females then started to laugh as Shido frowned at them, pride obviously hurt.
Hell, even Kagome's cat looked like it was laughing at him!
Between her bits of laughter, Guni spoke before calming down, "Oh damn, that was a good one!"
Once Yayoi calmed down, she spoke as she made her way to Shido's desk, "With joking aside… I'll get down to the serious matters now."
"Of course, Yayoi-san." Kagome said with a smile once she was finished laughing.
Pushing aside his hurt pride of being outwitted by Kagome yet again, Shido spoke, "Since the NOS is involved… this case is in connection with the Night Breeds."
"Last night, the dismembered body of Tsukimura's manager was also discovered. And on the very same stage she was scheduled to appear on, no less."
"So… since his death was from a Night Breed incident… the discovery of his body was confidential from the public?" Kagome had usually wondered about how certain unnatural deaths never made it on the news. And with this, she guessed so that the innocent masses wouldn't go into a panic.
"That's right. There were also bite marks on his body."
"Cannibalism?" Shido asked, making Kagome frown at the probability of that being true.
"There were also bits of his flesh found in Tsukimura's stomach."
"So Tsukimura-san was possessed by a Night Breed… but why commit suicide?" Kagome asked, feeling like something doesn't add up.
"That's what I want to know." Shido frowned. "A Breed goes through the trouble of capturing a human body… and then abandons it without taking possession? It's inconceivable."
Guni then floated to Shido's shoulder to sit. "Unlike humans, Night Breeds don't commit suicide."
"Is it possible…" The others turned to Kagome as she suggested, "that Tsukimura-san was possessed by the Night Breed but it abandoned her after they found a new body to possess…?"
As Shido was about to answer to Kagome, the reporter in the TV spoke, "Here's what her grieving colleagues have to say."
They started to show a shorthaired brunette who looked like she was about to cry and looked like she had taken quite a loss as she spoke, "I've been working hard to become an actress just like Tsukimura-san. She had such a presence. I can't believe something like this could happen…" she then started to give what looked like a fake sob, making Kagome raise a brow, thinking, 'She's so not grieving over her Senpai.'
"Who's she?" Shido asked.
"Asahina Yoko. A newcomer who was Tsukimura's assistant till recently, if I'm not mistaken." Yayoi answered.
After Yoko vowed to do her best and work twice as hard for her late senpai, Kagome muttered, "I wonder how she'll react if someone told her that Tsukimura-san was possessed by a demonic being…"
Shido then muttered, "Understudy, huh?"
"There's could also be a chance that Tsukimura-san's death was murder rather than suicide." Shido then looked to Kagome as she continued, standing while stretching a bit, "It's not uncommon for an understudy to murder their senpai in order to take the spotlight from them because of the desire to not want to live in their predecessor's shadow and the urge to outshine them in everything they stood for. The night breed who possessed Tsukimura-san may have seen this and abandoned her…"
"My Kagome-chan, you know quite a bit about the human mind, don't you…" it was more of a statement from Yayoi than a question. Everything that Kagome pointed out sounded very plausible.
Kagome just smirked before pointing out, "Not really. It's just common knowledge for an understudy to try and outdo someone they see as their superior in something they live for. Much like how the son of a martial artist tries to succeed and outdo his father." Connecting her gaze with the older woman, Kagome suggested, "It could be best to keep the possibility of the actress' death really being a murder open… and watch carefully in how the understudy acts at the mention of being compared to her senpai."
XoXoXoXoXoXoXoX
Later that night, the sound of a piano playing carried throughout the dinning area of the restaurant Kagome was in with her co-workers and her manager of the club she worked at.
It was the third anniversary of the establishment and the manager wanted his most liked employees to done with him to celebrate the occasion. For her boss to take them to such a high-class restaurant was a surprise for Kagome, considering how much of a tightwad the middle-aged man was.
As everyone chatted while eating, Kagome looked around, taking in her surrounding out of habit. What caught her attention was a familiar shorthaired brunette she had seen on TV during the broadcast of Tsukimura's death.
The miko took a sip of her drink, staring at the woman and the man she was with, curiously while vaguely feeling a dark energy emitting from Yoko, she remembered her name was. They were too far for Kagome to hear anything from them but she probably guessed was something for the acting business and Yoko's role in the upcoming play.
After their orders arrived and the man Yoko was with started to dig in, the understudy of the deceased actress soon started to look a bit pale and before covering her mouth with a handkerchief, looking like she was about to lose the contents in her stomach. Kagome then saw her leave quickly.
The miko sensed the dark energy in the woman fluctuate as the understudy got sick. It seemed Kagome guessed right about the night breed abandoning Tsukimura and finding a new host. Paying for her part of the bill, Kagome excused herself saying that she had to get home since it was a school night.
Her manager accepted her excuse and lit her leave, saying he was giving her a few days off since he kept up with the testing days of her school.
Reassuring him, Kagome quickly but casually left. Once she had followed Yoko out the restaurant, the miko kept up when the understudy started to run. Most likely trying to run to a secluded area.
Kagome had managed to follow her into the suburbs of Yokohama without being detected. The shorthaired brunette then stopped, catching her breath while leaning against a wall under a streetlight. Kagome hid herself around the corner so she wouldn't be sighted.
She then heard a dog growl before hearing Yoko's erratic breathing calm. Looking around the corner, she saw a dog growling at Yoko before the said woman stood straight and turned to face the dog that was now barking. Yoko's hair then started to flow from the energy the Night Breed was releasing from her body as the older woman's shadow started to take the Night Breed's form, making it's way to the dog and killing it instantly but tearing it apart.
The miko kept her gasp from escaping her mouth as she witnessed the Night Breed possessed woman start to devour the dead canine's heart. Not able to watch such a scene anymore despite that she had seen plenty of gore to last her a couple of lifetime, Kagome moved away from the corner slowly and quietly so as not to alert the Night Breed before running off the get the next taxi to Shido's place.
XoXoXoXoXoXoXoX
A few days later, after Kagome informed Shido and Yayoi about what she had seen, the vampire and NOS woman decided to look in to it and came to a scene of, what they heard, another brutal slaughter of a dog. The policemen who were there said that it was the fifth dog that week.
Shido examined the corpse and found blue strands of hair around the dog's neck. When Yayoi saw what he had found, she spoke, "Come to think of it… hair was also found in the Tsukimura case."
"You don't say."
"Is the same Night Breed starting to attack again?" Yayoi asked as Shido started to stare at the hair in his hand.
"Yeah. But animal meat won't be good enough… especially when a Night Breed already had a taste of human blood." Shido answered before dropping the Night Breed's hair and standing up. "And with what Kagome had told us from what she had seen Asahina Yoko do earlier this week, it's obvious that the Night Breed went and possessed the understudy…"
This is a bit shorter than my other chapters and seems a bit rushed but I'm VERY sorry. I got stumped at how to continue it and since it stopped at such a good place that was a suspense-filled cliffhanger, I decided to stop here.
This update is dedicated to DeathNoteMaker, for giving me the proposition of updating one of her fics of my choice and sending me Chapter three of our Co-authored Vampire Game/Inuyasha fic, "St. Pheliosta's Other Princess" that I will post after updating this chapter.
Please review, they're most appreciated. Suggestions and Ideas welcome and it looks like I'll need them. And Flamers with their flames can hit the road (Just don't hit your ass on the way out).