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: Since quite a hand full of people who reviewed asked me to update, I decided to get 5th Night started. Hope you guys enjoy this and I know DeathNoteMaker/Shi Kami the Murderous Prodigy had been looking forward to this.
And the outfit I had Kagome wear can be found at www(.)immoralfashion(.)com(.)au and under Rave-Punk clothes. After clicking on the "Shirts/Tops" category, scroll down and search for "Sexy Lace-up Shirt". With that shirt, I used the entire outfit for Kagome to wear but with small changes on my part. For the site, just delete the parenthesis and the URL address should work.
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5th Night:
Dead Man's Remedy Part 1
From the inside of a small photo studio within the school grounds, a young brunette girl was flipping through her portfolio/album of photos she had taken during her school year. A majority of the grayscale, as well as digital photos were of the same beautiful boy with long dark hair and could easily be mistaken for a girl at first glance.
The photos of the boy could be seen of him winning first place in a mock trek meet, serenely painting something for art class, and even giving helpful pointers to the Drama club on their acting. There were even a couple where he purposely posed for the shots when the girl got enough courage to ask if he could be her model for her photos. Including a couple of funny ones where he let his hair down and gave feminine poses, making him look like a true girl and others where he was a mess from helping the art club paint a mural on one of the walls of the indoor playground of a local children's hospital.
And lastly, he most favorites were where he was decked out in full Hakama and Haori for Archery Club, looking so serious and poised to shoot an arrow at his target.
In all the photos, the boy was grinning or smiling so radiantly. And in her digital photos, she could see how his deep blue eyes brighten with the light of the sun and/or the flash of her camera.
Despite her friends saying that she was borderline stalking, even though they were now different when it came to this particular boy they were fan club members of, Yamazaki Riho didn't see herself that way. She was much too shy at the beginning when she first laid eyes on the boy who was part of her class for only a few weeks before he transferred to the senior class. And even then, he was still polite enough to drop by his old class to say hello.
It wasn't just this boy's physical beauty she fell in love with and wanted to immortalize in her photos but his inner radiance and his kindness more than anything else.
As Riho came across the last photo she took of the beautiful boy she grew to like. This last photo was of him sitting in against the wall, resting his eyes after was through practicing his archery.
The grayscale photo was her best one of him, Riho believed, but with his absences from school recently she started to grow worried about him.
Allowing her fingers to skim over the smooth surface of the photo, Riho's chestnut brown eyes grew sad, softly saying the name of the boy in her photos, "Kagome-kun…"
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Hours later, school was already dismissed as the sun was setting, signally for the all after school clubs to head home. In the photography studio, Riho was staying behind cleaning her camera that she used for yearbook photos when two of her classmates – one of them being her fellow club members of Kagome's fan club – came in almost taking her by surprise.
The Vice President of the fan club, Mikako laughed excitedly, "Riho, did you hear?" When Riho looked at her curiously, she continued, lifting a magazine, "Shunichi did it! He passed the semi-final round of the film contest!"
Mikako was a girl Riho's age with short black hair and chocolate brown eyes. One side of her short hair was held back by a pair of white hair pins that were crisscrossed.
At this Riho smiled, "Shunichi, congratulations!"
While Shunichi, a dark haired boy with dark green eyes, sheepishly scratched the back of his head he looked to her, slightly blushing, "And what about you? Your portrait, 'Eternal Serenity in Mid-Spring' made it to the final round of the district's High School Photography Contest."
"Ah, I was just lucky." Riho remembered that photo.
It was one of the photos she manage to take of Kagome-kun after gathering enough courage to ask him if he could be the model for her photos she was taking before the High School Photography Contest started three weeks ago.
And after he smiled, he agreed saying that he was at her disposal for however many photos she needed. And on their day off from school, after about fifteen good photos, he asked if they could take a break so that he could pick up his cat, Luna. In agreement with him while also offering to buy lunch on her, Riho followed him to the local vet where his cat Luna was being held.
Kagome-kun's cat was very adorable with obsidian black fur was very silky smooth with a patch of white on her chest that was in the shape of a crescent and white paws. And her eyes, oh her eyes were a beautiful sapphire blue. What surprised Riho about Luna was that even though she was the size of a kitten, Kagome-kun said that she was almost a year old now.
After they picked Luna up and they got something to eat, they went to the park to relax a little. While Riho was admiring the gardens they were sitting near, she noticed Kagome-kun had fallen asleep, laying down under a Japanese maple with Luna on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. And when a Dragon Swallowtail landed on his cheek, Riho saw this as a good photo opportunity. And once she was able to get just the right angle, she knew that this photo would be the one she would enter in the contest.
"What are you talking about?"
"It just shows that you're that good at taking pictures, Riho! You don't have to be so modest about it." At Shunichi's and Mikako's praise, Riho smiled, embarrassed at the compliments before she continued to put her camera back together before she headed home.
When Riho didn't seem to be paying much attention, a sign that something was unknowingly bothering her, Shunichi and Mikako looked at each other before Mikako tried again, "Say, Riho… why don't we start shooting for Shunichi's next project this weekend. Maybe we can even find some photo opportunities for another contest that's coming up in the School Festival."
Riho looked to her two friends before looking down to the camera in her hands, "Although shooting for Shunichi's next project sounds like a plan… I doubt I'll find anything good to take photos of… not without Kagome-kun there…"
Shunichi looked to the brunette girl worriedly before mentioning, "I heard from the seniors that he missed school again today…" Despite his feelings for Riho, he stood back since it was obvious that she liked the beautiful boy was in her class for a short while before it transferred to the senior class.
Riho nodded, "It's been a whole week since we heard from him. And the seniors are getting a little worried too. Some of them are even saying that he might be preparing to move to Kyoto to be closer to his brother…"
Although, Riho believed these were only rumors she heard, there wasn't any doubt that Kagome moving may be the case since he may want to be there for his younger brother. She understood that family always came first.
After a short pause and wanted to lighten the mood, Mikako suggested, "I know! Riho, why not get a new model for your photos?"
"I… can't do that…" Riho muttered softly, showing just how bad she was feeling in her worry for Kagome. "There's no one else but Kagome-kun…"
Almost hesitantly, Shunichi spoke, "I went with the Captain of the Archery club to Higurashi's apartment yesterday." The girls turned to him before he continued, "Higurashi's landlady told us that he hadn't been there all this week."
As Mikako was about to ask more of what was said and the beautiful boy's address, she gasped in shock when she saw a girl fall passed the window of their room. Her gasp made Shunichi and Riho turn to the window in time to see the same thing. And at hearing a crash and a scream, the three of them headed to the window with Mikako opening it and looking out before grimacing and looking away.
Shunichi looked out and saw the body of a brunette girl before hastily turning to Riho and telling her not to look.
Down below, as students looked on in shock while others yelled out to get a teacher, the hand of the girl who committed suicide loosened its grip and allowed a glass bottle of red and white pills to roll away from her body slightly.
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Almost across town, at Shido's office, the lavender haired vampire was holding up a glass medicine vile full of red and white pills at eye-level before asking, "Drugs?"
Leaning back on his desk with her arms cross, Yayoi answered, "Right. It's the latest fad among the female high school students. The stuff was supposedly sold as a Chinese herbal remedy around Chinatown. It's said that a large dosage can knock you out cold."
Almost snorting at this, Shido spoke, "Why depend on these little things, when I can present the same taste of ecstasy, personally?"
At this, Guni came out of hiding from behind Shido's hair before floating next to him with her arms crossed. With a raised brow, she looked at him as she pointed out, "With how you worded that, you make it sound so… lecherous…"
Shido just smirked boyishly with a shrug, "I prefer calling it 'Thrillingly expressive'."
"Uh-huh…"
After Guni's halfhearted reply, Yayoi turned to them, glancing over her shoulder and spoke seriously, "If you want thrills, answer this. Why do you think the NOS went through the trouble of analyzing the drugs?"
"It's Breed-related…?" Shido asked but already knew the answer, even after Yayoi confirmed it, saying the test came back positive while adding, "These little pills are like a run-away rollercoaster bound for hell."
Still floating beside Shido, Guni switched her position to that a lotus with her arms crossed, pondering as she voiced, "I get it. The drug basically creates soulless shells that are vulnerable do any body-snatchers." When she came to a realization, her brows furrowed as she exclaimed, "Whoa, wait a second! What if the town's crawling with these space cases, already?"
Despite the obvious truth, Shido sighed, "Then it'd be an outbreak of the walking dead."
Yayoi gave a reassurance, "The manufacturers of the drug have already been shut down. But we don't have the faintest idea of how many pills are locally in circulation."
Bringing herself into a lotus position again, pointing out as she floated off, "And with how many Breeds are out there, it's like putting up a neon sign saying 'Free Human Hosts' for all of them to see."
Taking notice of the familiar black cat that was resting on the couch and that the office was one occupant short, Yayoi changed the subject, asking, "By the way, where's Kagome-chan?"
"The vampiric missing link didn't show up again today either. She left Luna here with us since she didn't want to leave her alone at her old apartment. But also thanks to her, I'm stuck doing the damned chores." Although, that last part was said roughly, Guni didn't mean it since she had an understanding why Kagome was pretty much avoiding the office.
The only times they heard about her was when she left messages asking how Luna was settling at Shido's office or if she had enough cat food to last her for however long she may be gone.
Although Yayoi was curious as to why Guni called Kagome "a vampiring Missing-link", she turned to Shido and asked, "Do you think she's all right? She hasn't been in for a feeding in a while."
Turning his eyes to his desk in thought, Shido replied, "She may be going through the 'Marriage Blues'… probably…"
"Marriage Blues?" Yayoi asked with a raised brow.
"Although she readily accepted the exchange of vows of eternity without regrets with the chance that it allowed her to always look after her brother and accepting the changes she'd have to go through, I believe the weight of those changes are starting to take their toll on her mind, as well as her soul." Shido explained before sighing, mentally adding how her miko energy altered her vampiric traits somehow.
From the kitchenette, Guni called out, "Well, her impulsiveness is very much like yours but that seemed to have grown thanks to you. Without so much as a thought, you made her into one of you!" as she was lifting the hot coffee, Guni admittedly muttered almost guiltily, "Okay, I did panic and said some things that may have pushed you to do it…" after a few more choice words from almost getting splattered by hot coffee, Guni pointed out last, "You long-standing rule had always been 'never mess with humans or 'get involved with them, unless there's a Breed involved'. So why the change now?"
Accepting the coffee from Guni, Yayoi looked at Shido, slightly worried for the girl she grew fond of, "Can you hold up your end of the bargain?"
Without worries, Shido gave a chuckle before answering without hesitance, "By all means." And he truly meant it. At the beginning after he had changed Kagome, he would admit that he enjoyed her staying with him. And it was during her stay that he started to take notice that her own vampiric traits and such were different from the average vampire.
He had a feeling that her powers as a miko had something to do with those changes…
After Yayoi halfheartedly scoffed, Shido explained why he wasn't completely worried, "I just believe in her, that's all. Kagome's a tough young woman – body, mind, and soul." His attention turned to the window behind him as he turned his chair to look at the red-orange and yellow sky of dusk, "I know that she'll be able to accept it all and adapt to it… and even endure the endless nightly dreams…"
The blue haired NOS woman's eyes softened, seeing how much faith Shido had in Kagome. She could tell the young teenager made quite the impact on his life, despite that it started out with Shido being there for her when he felt responsible for not saving her mother and grandfather sooner.
Remembering what Guni had called Kagome earlier, she looked between the two as she heard Luna shift in her sleep, "By the way, what did Guni mean when she called Kagome 'a vampiric missing link'?"
Both vampire and pixie blinked in unison before looking at each other, realizing that they never told Yayoi about Kagome's changes before. As they turned their attention back to the older woman, Shido explained, "Somehow… Kagome's miko energy altered her when she was changed into a vampire."
"How so…? She still has to drink blood and is immortal, right?"
"Yeah, she has traits and habits that are normal for vampires." Guni confirmed before explaining, "But there are some habits that she still retains as a human and not because she's a newborn vampire getting use to what being a vampire entails."
At Yayoi's silence, Shido explained, "Kagome's still able to eat normal human food but she still has to drink blood to sustain her. She's also able to walk into the sunlight without trouble, although she won't go out on a cloudless day – just to be on the safe side – and still has to wear shades since her eyes have light sensitivity. She's also still about to use her miko powers while not bringing harm to herself."
When Yayoi's eyes widened in surprise at this, Shido added, "Despite this and the allowance to continue living like a human and going to school during the day, she doesn't want to take the chance of her having her blood-hunger sneaking up in her and somehow exposing herself."
"So she's trying to isolate her self from the world she grew up knowing…" Yayoi concluded. She found it a shock that Kagome's powers altered her to the point where she could easily mingle with humans and continue with her life, but she could understand her need to isolate herself from humans to keep from exposing herself should her vampire instincts surface and she exposes herself.
Shido then smiled softly, "Like I had said, I believe in her. If she was able to adapt in this line of work when she was human, I have confidence that she can adapt her self to this life…"
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Unknown to the occupants at Shido's office, Kagome was standing on an elevated rest-stop that overlooked the harbor and had a view of the sunset and the calmer part of the city. No longer dawned in her school uniform, she now wore all black with a style that went along the lines of a mellow punk-rave look.
While keeping her breasts strapped down out of habit, her shirt appeared to look like a normal black, button-up blouse with a folded collar but the span of her shoulders were exposed with cloth corded laces crisscrossing over them, keeping the shirt together before the cloth of the shirt started to close with the laces woven more tightly down the arms from mid-humorous to her wrists. What was left of the laces hung loosely from her wrists, passed her knees with charms of red hearts with bat wings dangling from each lace. And as a final touch to the shirt, on her back was a white rustic imprint of detailed pair of wings with one bat wing and one angel wing.
With the shirt, she wore leather pants with silver zippers that closed the pockets and almost acted like a second skin. And at her feet were a pair of one and a half inch boots that reached up to below her knees with five straps and buckles following up; four strapped over each of her legs and one over the same area the ankle was.
Adorning no makeup and with her hair tied back in a twisted looped ring held by a single hair band and the ends of her hair set in a natural curve, making them almost look spiky as wisps of stray stands framed her face with her bangs.
As the gentle early evening breeze tousled with her hair, bat-winged heart charms, and the matching earrings she wore, Kagome was lost in thought. Just the same as it was the passed week since she left school early because she grew worried about suddenly feeding off someone in her class and exposing herself.
She knew that her miko powers altered her vampire traits somehow, allowing her to continue walking during daylight hours and even able to consume human food and use her miko powers without harming her self… but the vampiric instincts to feed were still there, sometimes nagging at her to feed off of the closest person sitting or standing next to her.
It was because of those instincts that she hadn't returned to school for about a week. Plus… with this, it also had Kagome thinking long and hard about what she should really do. She knew that she could talk to Shido about this if she had turned out like a normal vampire, but with her changes, she had to go about and work the problems on her own.
Thus, even after skipping her last feeding, Kagome wandered the city lost in thought while coming up with solutions on how to go about her new life while calling in to tell Shido that she was alright and to check up on Luna…
With one last sigh as the sun disappeared over the horizon and sky started to grow dark, Kagome stepped away from the railing and continued on with her wandering and sorting out what she needed to sort… and also think of how she should tell Souta and her Uncle and Aunt about what's happened to her so far…
Her cell phone then rang, alerting her that she received a text message. Wondering who it could be from, Kagome brought it out of her pocket and flipped it open before clicking on the view option. After she read the message, her brows furrowed at the sad news she received.
'Sounds like I'll have to attend a funeral soon…'
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Two days later, as rain continued to pour, Kagome made her way to where the funeral of her friend and Vice president of the drama club was being held.
'Her name was Suzuhara Naomi… she was aspiring to be an actress that was just as good as Inoue Mao…' Kagome thought, remembering a lively girl who had big dreams of becoming a movie star. Despite that Kagome was only an onlooker for the drama club at times and often offered to help out; it was always fun to help Naomi get into her part for an oncoming play or audition for a local Star Search.
Kagome knew that if she wasn't already in the Archery Club, she would've chosen to become a member of the Drama Club, if only to help Naomi get her dream part.
As she entered the gate and headed to the family headstone where Naomi's ashes would be put to rest, Kagome noticed that the only ones that were present so far were people dressed in black, who she guessed were Namoi's family, and Naomi's parents. She spotted no teens in her school's uniform so she came to believe that she arrived earlier than them.
Continuing her way to where Naomi's parents stood, Kagome stopped in front of them, speaking softly while not minding that she was getting soaked in the rain as the pair before her stood under an umbrella, "Mr. and Mrs. Suzuhara?" At their nod, she smiled softly before giving them a respectful bow, "My name is Higurashi Kagome. I knew your daughter from Drama Club and often helped her with her acting."
Both parents smiled in recognition, knowing that the 'boy' before them was the one their daughter always spoke highly of. Their daughter wasn't exaggerating when she said that Higurashi-kun was beautiful with the features of a male model. Mr. and Mrs. Suzuhara always knew that their daughter was fond of this boy and often heard from said daughter that if she wasn't so determined to make her dream of being an actress come true, then she would've surely fell for Higurashi-kun.
Mrs. Suzuhara sniffled, holding on the urn that held her daughter's ashes, before speaking, "It's pleasure to finally meet you in person, Higurashi-san. Our daughter, Naomi-chan always talked about you… saying that you were her best friend and always helped and supported her in acting."
Mr. Suzuhara nodded in agreement, "Yes, she always had something good to say about her acting partner and supporter. Although… we wish that meeting you were under better circumstances… and that our daughter was still with us…"
When he had said this, his wife started to sob again, holding the urn closer to her chest as her husband did his best to comfort her by embracing her.
As Kagome watched them, she couldn't help but empathize with them, knowing what it's like to lose a loved one. She could tell these two truly loved their daughter.
After she gave a nod, Kagome mentioned, "Naomi-chan was a good girl. Just by her passion for acting, I always felt that she had a lot of potential to become the star she always dreamed of being. She always made acting fun and I always liked working with her and helping her get into her characters." Tiling her head forward slightly in humility before adding truthfully, "I will surely miss her… especially after having such a hard day and needed a few laughs from her giving a few gag skits."
Naomi's parents gave their own watery smiles through their loss before Mr. Suzuhara agreed, "That sounds like our Naomi all right. Before she started working to become an actor, she started out in wanting to become a comedian when she was little. She always did what she could to help put a smile on people's faces…"
After their moment of remembering Naomi through their happier memories, Kagome asked a question that had been nagging at her since she received that text on her phone two days before but treaded lightly since she was dealing with parents who just lost their only child, "if I may ask, Suzuhara-san… how had Naomi-chan die…?" At their wondering expressions, she added, "I hadn't been in school for about a week and two days ago, I received an email on my cell, telling all students from school when Naomi's funeral was and where it was being held… so I hadn't heard how she died…"
Naomi's parents looked at each other before the father spoke, "The police and the students who witness everything say that she committed suicide. Police also said that they had found some sort of medicine vile next to her body…" Looking up at Kagome, he added, "We don't know what the drug was… we didn't even know she was taking them. And we also didn't notice anything off that could've pushed herself to become suicidal."
Kagome nodded in agreement, "I never noticed anything either the week before. At least, nothing that seemed to have put pressure on her and caused her stress."
"Still…" Mrs. Suzuhara spoke, lifting one had from its place on the urn she held and reached to grasp Kagome's gently, "thank you for coming, Higurashi-san. I know Naomi-chan would've appreciated you coming, knowing that you never forgot her."
After a few more pleasant words and paying her respects one last time, Kagome bowed respectively to them again before taking her leave, nodding respectively Naomi's other family members as she made her way back to the cemetery's gate leaving the hollowed ground just before the students arrived to pay their respects for Suzuhara Naomi.
Coming to a pedestrian bridge set over ongoing traffic that lead to and from Kanagawa, Kagome rested her hands on the thick, strong railing and leaned against it with a sigh.
Although she did feel sad that someone as bright and cheerful as Naomi committed suicide and even resorted to drugs, Kagome couldn't help but feel a slight jealously toward her in being able to die.
When she was first turned into a vampire, with altered habits thanks to her miko powers, Kagome understood that it meant time stood still for her and she wouldn't be able to die but normal means like the plague or something. But it didn't help that she now understood how some of her demon friends from long ago felt when it came to their own immortality. Not to mention she was now started to understand how Kikyou probably must've felt when she was brought back from the dead by Urasue's magic and the clay body she made of the priestess' remains and soil from her grave.
"Never aging… never dying… the world continues to turn as you're left behind – frozen in time…" Kagome spoke softly, remembering the words Miroku recited once as he described Kikyo after seeing her, now understanding what the monk was trying to convey.
'Now… I'm no different from her…'
About an hour later, not too far from where Kagome was contemplating, Riho, along with Shunichi and Mikako were walking away from Naomi's funeral with their umbrellas open to keep them dry from the heavy rain.
Around them, they could hear some of the students talking about how Naomi was using drugs and that's what pushed her to commit suicide, despite that they never thought of her as being troubled or anything.
Ignoring what was being said around her as she continued to walk with Shunichi and Mikako, Riho noted, "Looks like Kagome-kun never showed up… even though I thought he and Naomi-san were friends."
On her left, Mikako spoke, "Shunichi and I went to his apartment yesterday to tell him about the service, but…"
"But he still wasn't there…" Shunichi finished, stopping in his tracks, catching the girls' attention before he continued to speak, "I know that you know that the guy lives alone… I mean, there's a chance that he could be involved in the drug business!"
"I don't believe that!" Riho argued, not able to see Kagome-kun doing something so horrible. Not when he was completely against illegal drugs.
"That's just ridiculous, Shunichi. How can you even think that?" Mikako agreed.
As Shunichi was about to argue again, Riho's surprised gasp stopped him and Mikako before looking to her. Following her line of vision, their eyes came to a stop at seeing the 'boy' they were just talking about, leaning against the railing looking lost in thought.
"Kagome-kun!" Fearing the worst, Riho started to make a dash for the bridge with Shunichi and Mikako following behind. As the came up to the bridge, climbing up the steps, Riho reached out, fearing that Kagome-kun was going to jump to his death, and grabbed his arm, calling his name.
At hearing someone call her name and feeling a feminine hand grasp her arm, Kagome was brought out of her thoughts before turning to whoever had interrupted her thoughts. At the sight of light brown hair pulled back in a familiar hairstyle, Kagome muttered questioningly, "Yamazaki-san…?" then blinking at the sudden appearance of two more behind her, "Shunichi-san… Mikako-san…"
All three students were heaving from the exertion of their running, more so with Riho since she pushed herself more than Shunichi and Mikako.
Once he was able to breathe properly, Shunichi demanded almost angrily, "Damn you, Higurashi! Where the hell have you been? We'd been worried out of our minds!" He held in his jealously toward the smaller but beautiful boy at seeing Riho still holding onto him as she continued to catch her breathe.
Shunichi had always liked Riho. Ever since he had seen how beautiful she could be, inside and out while on the big screen. He loved her since middle school! And then, the day he was about to confess to her, which was two weeks after Higurashi enrolled into their school, Riho becomes a part of Higurashi Kagome's fan club! And even started to take up photography again while only wanting Higurashi to be her model for her photos!
The only reason why Shunichi didn't say anything was because Riho liked Higurashi, maybe even fell for him. And since he wanted nothing more than for her to be happy, he kept his feelings to himself and continued to be friends with Riho while being tolerant about Higurashi when he was in the same room as him or heard a mention of him.
Despite Kagome could hear what Shinichi was saying, she couldn't help but stare as Riho continued to catch her breath. She understood that the girl was worried about her and Kagome felt bad that she worried the young brunette. Mikako was worried too, but not nearly as worried as Riho and Kagome felt that Shunichi didn't like her much, since he believed her to be a boy and Riho liked her.
But with her being a vampire now, she knew that they were now of two different worlds… and it was best to disappear from their lives.
With a lax upturn of her lips, Kagome asked, "Just now… did you guys think that I was going to jump?" After Riho lifted her brown eyes up to Kagome's face, confused but also speechless, same with Shunichi and Mikako, Kagome continued, "Everything's fine. I know I may be going through some things but nothing that will push me to becoming suicidal."
Coming out of her speechlessness, Mikako stepped up, asking, "Higurashi-kun, where had you been all this time? No one had seen you in almost over a week!"
Kagome gave a short pause as she looked to the short-haired girl before answering with her now tanzanite eyes dimming a bit, "I've just been wandering around town is all. I hadn't really gone anywhere special… and I left Luna in good hands." Giving a rueful chuckle, Kagome added, "Come to think of it… I can go anywhere I want now…"
Riho, Shunichi, and Mikako looked on in fear and anxiety as they watched Kagome jumped up and made a back flip before landing unnaturally light on the rail of the bridge and gave a surreal turn with her arms spread. As she stopped to look down at them, Kagome added, "Especially… with all the time that I have now…"
After Kagome swiftly took a seat on the railing, Riho and Mikako looked at her with awe, confusion, and a slight bit of fear while Shunichi had his fists clenching in anger while he was breathing with frustration, trying to control that anger.
Feeling his anger come off of him in waves, Kagome spoke, "Shunichi-san, what's the matter? You look as if something you've come to an obstacle that's in your way."
Taking deep breaths and now somewhat calm, Shunichi spoke with an even voice, "One of your classmates had passed away, Higurashi. She committed suicide by jumping off a building."
"… I know. Suzuhara Naomi was her name and she was in the drama club at school. I received a circulated text telling me the time and place of where the funeral was taking place." Kagome answered, her expression relaxed while showing that she was serious.
Shunichi gritted his teeth before demanding, "If you knew who she was and knew about the funeral, then why did you not come to the funeral? You were the only one in the school that didn't come!"
"But I did go… I met with Naomi's family and parents before any students began to arrive… to give my condolences them and my respect to Naomi-san. I'm shocked that you would peg me as someone so heartless."
What Kagome said made Riho's heart hurt. She had no idea why but despite that Shunichi didn't outwardly show it and Kagome didn't pay any mind to it, Riho knew that Shunichi didn't like Kagome-kun at all. And seeing them fight… well, seeing Shunichi try fighting with Kagome-kun, it always hurt to seem them that way since she cared about them both.
'While Shinichi-kun is my friend, I love Kagome-kun… I don't want them fighting each other…'
Riho was brought out of her thoughts as Kagome continued speaking. The beautiful boy's next making her feel like the words coming from Kagome's lips sounded wrong,
"But in all honesty… I kind of envy Naomi-chan… of her being allowed the freedom of choice to die." Kagome heard Mikako gasp in shock and confusion before she continued, "although, it pains me that she's no longer alive… I'm happy that she no longer has to suffer in this world that can be horribly dark at times." Kagome then jumped down from her seat on the railing, moving to leave.
Coming out of her shock and voicing her confusion, Mikako spoke, stopping Kagome from leaving, "Higurashi-kun, how can you say that? Didn't you care at all about her?"
Kagome paused before turning to look at Mikako, her face set in such a serious expression that none of the three before her saw, and stated just as seriously, "I do care, Mikako-san… But what happened has already happened; no matter what I or anyone else tries to do, none of us can bring Naomi-san back from the dead. No one can stop death… just like you can't stop birth. This may sound harsh and cruel to you, but what I'm saying is the truth." Kagome's expression then softened as she added, "Again, I'm sad that Naomi-chan's life was cut short, but all I can hope for her now is that she finds peace in the afterlife… and may be reborn into a better and happier life."
As she was walking away, Riho called out to her trying to stop her from leaving. But Kagome didn't stop as she turned and smiled while congratulating, "Oh! That's right! Yamazaki-san and Shunichi-san, congrads on winning the contests you won! I wish you guys luck on making it big!"
Riho and her friends could do nothing as they watched Kagome disappear from their sights as 'he' continued to walk farther away.
Later on, as the three took shelter under a railroad bridge, Shunichi was cursing about how Kagome was acting while Mikako was almost crying. Unlike the two, Riho was confused but she stayed quiet.
What Kagome had wisely said before 'he' left had rang true. There was nothing anyone could do to bring their classmate back, there was no way anyone could stop death. No one could do anything but continue to move forward and hope that the dearly departed were able to be at rest.
"Damn it! That guy really pisses me off at times!" Shunichi cursed before reaching into his pocket and bringing out a glass vile of pills. After opening it, he allowed four to five pills to fill his hand and took those pills into his mouth and swallowed them.
He didn't want Riho to know that he was taking drugs but it couldn't be helped. He was so pissed and frazzled that he needed something to calm his nerves.
Riho and Mikako caught this and worriedly tried to stop him but after he swallowed the pills, Shunichi reassured as he twisted the lid back on the vile, "Don't worry, this is just a Chinese herbal remedy. It helps calm my nerves and clear my head up."
The two girls continued to look at him worriedly, wondering if the amount he took was the right amount he was supposed to take and not an overdose.
As another train loudly passed over them, Shunichi leaned farther against the cement stone wall behind him as he took a claming breath. Once he felt the drug take effect, Shunichi looked up and spoke, "Ne… there was something else that heard… about Higurashi?" The two girls turned to him before he continued, "The real reason why he never goes home to his apartment… is because he's hanging out at some older guy's place. Not as a friend but… someone a lot closer…"
Whether he was intentionally trying to make Riho hate Higurashi or not, Shunichi didn't completely know. All he knew was that he was pissed at the beautiful boy for not only taking the girl he liked but also being selfish and cruel earlier.
At hearing this, Mikako couldn't help the blush that instantly colored her cheeks. When Shunichi said that Higurashi-kun is hanging out with an older guy and as more than a friend, the picture of Higurashi-kun being ravished by an older guy – maybe a college student or even a businessman in his late twenties or early thirties – entered Mikako's mind and she had pull herself together to keep from having a nosebleed.
But unlike Mikako who was a hardcore Yaoi fan at times, Riho furrowed her brows slightly, asking, "And who did you hear this from? Who told you this?"
"All the guys are saying it. Even some of the girls…"
"And you believe those rumors? I know you never liked Kagome-kun, Shinichi-kun but still…" Riho started, appalled that one of her friends would think so lowly about Kagome-kun.
"Even if I never liked Kagome, what else am I supposed to believe when he hardly comes to school and even hardly sees his brother?" Shunichi could feel his self getting frazzled again and opened his medicine vile and popped two more pills into his mouth.
After swallowing the extra pills, Shunichi leaned against the wall again before continuing, "Still… seeing the way Higurashi acted just now… who wouldn't be suspicious about what's going on with him?"
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In another part of the city, Shido and Yayoi were chasing a Night Breed that took control a girl dress in a uniform that belonged to Kagome's school. As Shido gave chase to it after it evaded Yayoi's bullets, the Breed ran into oncoming traffic and got hit but a commercial truck.
When it saw that the body it took over was no longer useful, it abandoned the body before escaping to the sewers through a storm drain.
After the breed was gone, Shido checked the body to see if there was anything that could've caught the breed's attention to take control of the body. Like the bodies before, this one also had a vile of the so called Chinese herbal remedy that grew popular.
Not too long after, an ambulance and police were called to the scene by the driver of the truck and a crowd was gathered at the scene with Shido looking on among the small mass, dawning his shades, dark trench coat, and white scarf. In his peripheral vision, he caught sight of a familiar form dressed in black walking away from the small crowd, not really paying attention to what had just happened.
"Kagome…" Shido recognized the wings that were on the back of her shirt.
Gently pushing his way through the crowd and in the same direction Kagome went, Shido was able to catch up to her and rested a hand on her shoulder, saying her name to catch her attention.
At hearing the familiar voice after the soft gloved hand grasped her shoulder, Kagome turned to see Shido standing right behind her. A part of her wanted to run but another part of her felt horrible for avoiding him the past week.
"Shido…" Since after Kagome turned into a vampire and he was the one who changed her… with the exchange of Immortal vows, Kagome didn't see the point of adding an honorific to his name.
Although, Shido was silent, Kagome knew that he wanted to talk but not out in the open since the matter concerned their vampiric matters, especially when they orbited around her.
After a pause between them, Shido sighed before walking up next to her, resting the hand he had on her shoulder on the small of her back, the lavender haired vampire requested, "Walk with me…"
Knowing there was no other way around it and that she couldn't run away anymore, Kagome nodded and walked along side him.
As they made their way closer to the entrance of Yokohama's Chinatown, Shido led them into an alleyway where they could talk without anyone eavesdropping on their conversation.
Unknown to them, Riho was walking around the same block when she caught sight of Kagome-kun walking towards an alley with an older guy who looked to be in his twenties. At the sight, she couldn't help but remember what Shunichi had said not too long ago,
"I hear that Higurashi's been hanging out at some older guy's place… and not as a friend, but someone closer…"
In her want to make sure that Shunichi was wrong, Riho quickly made her way across the street and to the alley she saw Kagome-kun and the guy he was with and stopped at the corner of the alley so she wouldn't be seen. As she peeked around the corner, she could hear them talking.
"You really had me worried!" Shido said softly, not wanting Kagome to believe that he was angry with her, "Do you know how many days you've gone without your 'fix'?"
"I'm sorry… it wasn't my intention…" Kagome replied, feeling horrible for worrying her sire the way she did before continuing, "As for my fix… as unhealthy as it may sound, I'd rather not take another unless I really have to…"
Kagome hugged her self to keep herself from shaking as Shido gently advised, "Don't push yourself beyond your limits…"
Although she heard his advice, Kagome continued with profession, "But still, even though I'm able to eat normal food, drink my favorite sodas, juices, and teas, I keep hearing this voice in my head telling me – demanding me, 'I want it! Let me have it! Give me more!' It gets to the point where I can't trust myself around people. I… I've never felt this fear before…" after clenching her eyes shut, She opened them again to look Shido in the eye, "I'm scared!"
Seeing the fear and uncertainty in her eyes, Shido turned to her and wrapped his arms around her, embracing her and giving what comfort he could offer. As he held her, he could still smell her sweet and natural scent that didn't seem to fade after he had turned her and her hair retained the smell of her favorite mint and green tea shampoo that was almost mixed with her natural scent.
As Kagome returned the embrace, savoring Shido's slight warmth and nuzzling her face into his chest, she and Shido never noticed Riho's shocked gaze and blushing face.
Shaking her head in slight disbelief, Riho moved away from the corner she was hiding behind and quickly turned and ran away from the sight she just saw, not wanting to believe the 'confirmation' of Shunichi's words about Kagome having an older male lover.
XoXoXoXoXoXo
Wow, 8 complete pages! I know that Shi-chan had been looking forward to this chapter, and I hope she and others enjoy it. Part 2 of 5th Night will be out soon once I'm done or halfway done with 6th Night Part 1.