As soon as the door opened, Inu Yasha stepped inside, with Kagome close behind him.
"There's nothing here," she muttered, staying close to her friend as he ventured inside.
"Then why lock the door?" he wondered, sniffing the air.
Then his eyes widened as he picked up a scent in the air, the scent of a demon inside the room. He didn't see any demon, but the scent got stronger as they neared the source and it was the same as what he'd caught outside the room. Kagome's eyes searched for the demon that Inu Yasha said he'd smelled and spotted a cage as they rounded a corner of the room. She gasped as her eyes saw the outline of something rather human-shaped inside it and she tugged on the sleeve of Inu Yasha's cloak. Kagome's gasp caught Inu Yasha's ears and he turned to look at her when he felt her tugging at his sleeve.
"Inu Yasha, look," she said quietly.
He followed her line of sight, spotting the cage and the shape that lay behind its bars on the floor. His eyes widened as he recognized the form as being a demon, the one he'd smelled, and gazed intently at it, slowly drawing closer.
The figure lay on its side, long silvery hair spread on the floor, bangs falling in the face, red lining over the eye-lids, pointed ears poking from beneath the hair. Unfortunately, the lower half of the face, from nose to mouth, covering cheeks and chin, was hidden by a muzzle. From what Inu Yasha could tell as he knelt beside the cage, the demon was a male, tall and powerfully built. Yet there was something strangely familiar about him, though the half-breed couldn't put his finger on it. Inu Yasha gazed at the unconscious demon and reached out a hand to touch him through the bars of the cage, but received a shock as his hand came in contact with the metal.
"Inu Yasha, come on!" Kagome whispered urgently as he pulled his hand back, "Someone's coming!"
Grabbing his wrist, she pulled him after her and ducked under a lab table just as a man in a white coat walked in. Exactly how they managed to get out, they couldn't tell, but somehow they got past the doctor and out of the room. They rushed out of the building into the parking lot where Mrs. Higurashi stood waiting for them, Souta and Gramps already in the car.
"Where have you two been?" she asked as they climbed in.
"Inu Yasha smelled something," Kagome said, rather exasperated, "and wanted to find out what it was."
By evening, heavy, dark, sinister clouds blocked out the sun and it wasn't long before it started raining cats and dogs, accompanied by thunder and lightning. As her mother prepared dinner, Kagome gazed out the window at the pouring rain. Inu Yasha was staring at the TV, but she could tell he wasn't paying any attention to it. He was lost in his own thoughts, pondering over what, she had no idea. It wasn't terribly often that Inu Yasha did any deep pondering, especially without looking annoyed or grouchy. Doubtless, he'd snap at her if Kagome said anything, but his expression was peaceful, so whatever he was mulling over wasn't bothering him, just arousing his curiosity. What had Inu Yasha so uncharacteristically deep in thought was the demon they'd found in the mental institution. There was just something about him, something familiar, but Inu Yasha couldn't place it. The red on his eyelids… it was kind of like Sesshomaru's, but surely it was some kind of demonic marking, so there really wasn't any connection... right?
Meanwhile, the demon had awoken not long after the doctor had arrived, but after Inu Yasha and Kagome had left, but their scent lingered and it roused his curiosity. He sat cross legged in his cage, concentrating on the two scents that had been left. They stood out because they were unrecognizable, new, and different from the scents of the doctors. One of them was female, a pure one, like some kind of priestess, but the other scent… that was a little more difficult. It was male and part of it smelled human, yet mingling with that was the scent of a demon, possibly a dog demon, it was hard to tell, certainly dirty… Not that he was one to complain, he hadn't bathed in days, a fact that bothered him. He liked being clean, enjoyed a nice soothing bath after a long day… another smell roused him from his reveries: rain. He looked out the window beside his containment to see that it was indeed raining, quite hard at that. A bright flash of lightning flared in the skies, striking not far off and all of a sudden everything went black.
There were shouts of surprise and panic, the sound of feet running through the building. People were colliding with each other and things, being unable to see in the sudden darkness. But being a demon, he could see better in the dark than humans, and his eyes swiftly adjusted to the change in light. He looked up to see that the lights had gone out; his eyes lowered and focused on the bars around him. He rose and cautiously touched one of the bars experimentally with a finger. Nothing. He grasped the bars with both hands and still nothing but the feel of the cool metal. He pulled against the bars and, with little effort, the door came free from its casing with a groan. This was his chance to escape, perhaps his only chance, and he was going to take it.
The demon stepped through the doorway of his prison and into the room, his eyes darting around for the closet where he knew they had put his clothing. He had seen them, on at least one occasion, rifling through a box that contained material that he knew was that of his clothes, he had even seen the number that marked it. Now he had to find where they kept it. Slowly, he made his through the room, looking for another door, and before long, found it. He turned the knob only to find it locked; no matter, he easily wrenched the doorknob from the door and pushed it open. Looking around, he could see that this was exactly where he wanted to be, as he took note of the other boxes in the closet. He scanned the numbers that marked each box, his eyes falling on those that marked the box containing his clothes. He removed the box from its place and opened it, indeed finding it to hold his articles of clothing. Quickly he dressed and was fastening his obi about his waist when he heard someone enter.
The demon drew back slightly, waiting in ambush for whoever had just entered; he sniffed the air, catching the scent of the doctor who had overseen most of the tests the demon had undergone. The demon had no intention of hurting him, but the collar around the demon's neck was becoming irksome. The doctor's eyes still had not completely adjusted to the lack of light and he gazed around, squinting into the dark. Suddenly there was a growl behind him and without warning a clawed hand was around his throat. He was lifted off the ground and slammed against the wall, glowing red eyes glaring at him from the darkness. The demon's hand was sufficiently tight enough to stop the doctor from calling for help, while still allowing him air.
"Remove the collar," the demon commanded in a deep growl.
Terrified for his life, the doctor could only stutter, unaware of course that this particular demon had no real desire to hurt him or any human and was quite reluctant to do so.
"Take it off!" the demon again commanded in another growl.
Wordlessly, the doctor nodded, and the demon's arm, which had been held straight, bent so the doctor could remove the collar. Once that was done, he slammed the doctor into the wall, this time knocking him out.
Gazing down at the unconscious doctor for a moment, the demon quickly located the scent of the human girl and the half-demon. By this time most of the building's occupants had returned to their rooms, few remained in the darkened halls, those that did being nurses and doctors. The demon made his way through the halls, tracking the scent of the girl and the half-breed. He moved silently through and stayed clear of those that were still wandering the halls, following the two scents out to the parking lot, but from there, he lost them. He turned his face up to gaze into the heavens, the rain still falling hard, soaking him as he stood trying to think. He couldn't stand here for long, people would eventually notice he was missing and come look for him, but he had no idea where he should go.