AN:

Thank you to my reviewers and readers! You guys make me so happy and inspire me to keep working on this story. This chapter is a little different, but put your detective skills to good use.

Enjoy!

At your discretion:

This chapter contains graphic violence, character death, and language.

So, I know some people dislike reading material with this kind of subject matter.

Chapter Six

Frenzy

It was past time to leave, Sango was aggitated to say the very least. Her hands were clammy beneath her gloves, which rested on restless knees. Shippo had fallen asleep, curled upon her old sofa, wrapped in a quilt.

The snow was starting to fall again, leaving little opportunity to see. The dusk was approaching early, due to the emptying of the clouds that rolled in from the bay. She could have strangled that man for being so late.

At some point, she'd packed her belongings in the car, hoping that her neighbor would be kind enough to drop her off at the station. It was about fifteen minutes of a drive, then another ten for the ticket line.

If she didn't leave now, there would be no chance of escaping the woes of this rugged landscape in exchange for the bright neons and crowds of Tokyo. Her friend was probably beside herself with anxiety.

Ayame had never been a patient woman, and she doubted that she would start being understanding now. Closing her weary eyes, she lolled her head back on the cushions, attempting to make time slow down.

Her conscience made it impossible to relax, giving her a break from the stress that had eaten her from the core. Biting her lip, she reached for her keys and purse from the small end table next to her.

If she hurried, she could probably pick InuYasha up on her way, and just pay for the parking. Quietly, she flipped off the lights and the television, before scooping Shippo's dead weight into her arms, blanket and all.

She manuvered his belongings off the coat rack, shutting the door awkwardly with her foot and free fingers. The cold grasped her, making her shiver as she rushed to the car. She made sure Shippo was comfortable as possible, trying not to wake him.

Giving the ignition a few hard cranks, it started with a jerk, sputtering as she peeled away from her spot. The creaky old wipers dragged across the ice, barely scraping away enough to see.

Her body was hot, anxiously fluttering while she tried to focus on her driving. It only took a handful of minutes to get to Kaede-baba's, but those minutes were precious.

"Come on!" The woman muttered beneath her breath, waiting for a logging truck to move out of her way. There was one red light that stood between her and the small road that lead through the township.

Her heart raced with adrenaline, bounding her feet against the floor. If she missed the train, it was't the end of the world, per say, just a disappointing setback. She'd rather sleep on the train than sit and stare at the back of heads.

When the light finally decided to change, she crept along the gravel and shell paved road. It was so buried beneath the snow, she could barely move. With a sigh, she looked in her mirror at the sleeping boy and pulled off to the side.

Kaede-baba's was a couple of houses down, making her decide to just park her car where it was. Hell, no one was going to ask her to move in this sleepy hollow. Shutting the door as quietly as possible, Sango crushed the snow pack beneath her feet, struggling to an awkward run.

She had almost made it to the house when she heard a gunshot. Her nerves instaneously frazzled, skin ablaze with a willing fervor.

"InuYasha." She gasped, heart flailing in a furious panic.

She had to get to the house.

Sango went blind to her surroundings, her muscles tensing beneath the restraints of her clothing. The coat she wore was haphazardly lost, leaving her reddening skin to the will of the air. As cold as it was, it did nothing to quell the heat radiating from her pores.

Her lungs felt as though they would collapse as she tripped, face first into the snow. It pricked her face like needles, stifling her efforts to be daft and heroic.

Her legs were shaking so profusely she could barely register the movement they made, as she slipped across the icy porch. The impact cut her jeans, slicing open her knee. Steam kissed the wintry atmosphere as she grabbed to the railing.

She hoisted herself up, grabbing to the handle of the kitchen door that didn't want to open for her. Her gloves flew to the ground, leaving the frigid handle to scorch her fingers, jerking it open violently.

Loud crashes of furniture echoed throughout the inn, making her breathing almost cease. Her foot had almost made it in the door when she saw InuYasha, panting and covered in blood. His eyes were wild, filled with an inexplicable amount of confusion, rage, and everything in between.

Another man's voice grunted, rasping in pain. He began to yell, loud and deep as InuYasha caught sight of Sango. His long arms flailed grabbing to anything he could balance himself with. He skidded across the floor, taking out one of the kitchen chairs.

"Get the hell out of here!" InuYasha barked, pushing himself back to his feet. He quivered, reaching into his pocket, throwing his wallet at her. Sango shook her head, parting her mouth to speak.

The man shook his head violently, shakily touching her chest. She grabbed his bleeding arm, and raised her eyes to his. It had only been a breath moment in passing, but she wanted to call emergency services.

Anything.

"What are you standing there for?" InuYasha yelled, panting and raw. "Get the fuck out of here, now! Get my fucking son out of here! I don't care where you go, just do it, dammit!"

His hands shoved her out the door, backwards off the porch.

She quivered, trying to make her body move. The man, which had evaded her sight earlier, made his way to InuYasha, shooting a voracious glare at her. His eyes were penetrating, cancerous and malignant.

InuYasha waved her off, "I said fucking move woman!"

This time she listened. She didn't know how many times she fell, or how long it had taken her to get to the car, but she held her breath until she slammed the door.

Her eyes were wet, melting with salt as she slammed on the gas, sending the car skidding backwards. She shot a glance back at Shippo, feeling her stomach churn like the raging sea. The tips of her fingers pressed the pain in her eyes as she ran the red light that stood in between her and her side of town.

The station had never appeared so quickly to her, as she grabbed the boy, forgetting her bag as she slapped a credit card down. Had she been a moment later, they wouldn't have made it at all.

The fleeting moment of composure was gone as she slid into her seat. She sat Shippo beside her, clutching to his hand as though he was made of iron. Her throat was tense, clenching with each breath.

Her mouth was dry, lips cracked, eyes smeared with mascara. All she could do was stare in disbelief. Her mouth parted to say something as the Shinkansen's conductor chimed about the departure.

She wanted to run back, see if InuYasha was alright. Shippo was still so groggy he hadn't the faintest idea of what was going on. Closing her eyes, she sank into her seat, moving the armrest between them.

The boy curled into her, finally looking up at her with a furrow in his brow. "Where's InuYasha?" He asked softly.

Sango rubbed her face as though it would come off. She forced a smile on her face and laid her head on his. "He'd had to do something at Kaede's. He'll be with us soon." She said, trying to soothe herself.

Every fiber of her being knew that the possibilty of him being dead was real. After the train had begun to clack, she knew there was nothing she could do. Shippo was the priority. Someone in that desolate town should have had some sense to call the authorities.

No matter if there were only three governing forces that compromised the whole area with less than stellar work. If they had been worth a damn, they never would have let Kagome go, she sighed.

God damn her if they lost InuYasha, too.

The woman's off-switch flipped, leaving her with a blank expression. The scenery that passed by did nothing to ease the oppressive weight that crumpled her. There was no oxygen in the compartment.

She was suffocating, looking out the window at the monolithic display of Akita.

Kaede-baba's lay in ruins. The neat household was nothing more than broken furniture, slivered and beaten by the men wrestling upon the floor. InuYasha was staggering, kicking the musclar man's stomach, knocking the breath out of him.

He didn't know how much more he could take. It had been years since the last time he had to defend himself like this. The combat had been raging for what felt like years. Each blow of steeled fists splattered against his skin, busting open a new vein to bleed out, stainging his pale hair.

The man about him had a new collection of scarring to add to the one above his lip. He had no idea why he was there intruding on the elderly couples home. Graciously, it had been InuYasha that had been at home.

How dare he come with a weapon to such a defensly pair. At some point, InuYasha had grabbed a broken sliver of one of the chairs and stabbed the man in the leg. It splinted off, leaving a portion stopping the bloodflow.

His lanky body was bruised, tired from the abrupt exertion. The purity of his adrenaline was gone, leaving his heart to battle with the fleeting oxygen and his blood loss.

Everything had begun to blur, hazy and hypnagogic. The duration of the day was wearing so thin as she fought with his legs to stand. His lungs tried to greedily take a deep breath, as he stumbled with his back against the table.

The dark headed man wasted no time in lunging after him. The table rocked as InuYasha was forced upon it. Hands dug into his neck, choking him with a ravenous force. He forced the boy to look into the frenzied wildness that his eyes harbored.

The gruff gentleman was mad. InuYasha squirmed, shifting all of his weight to knock the table down. His long leg fought with his jeans to wrap around the man's back. The dragging the rubber bottoms of his shoes, tore through the other man's shirt, cutting the soft spot of flesh that guarded his kidney.

The older man yelped, feeling InuYasha's stamp his feet against his spine. The impact on the floor was hefty, full of sound as they rolled. When one gained dominance, the other equalized them.

InuYasha had shut off the conscienceness that had made him curious, made him wonder why this devil had shown his face around here. He just had to get rid of him and protect his family. They sure as hell hadn't deserved any of this.

The other man had shot the Hojo kid when he came to see what was wrong. He didn't know if he was alive or not, and that weighed upon him to end this as quickly as possible.

InuYasha had temporarily freed himself long enough to move. He kicked the man's side, blotting his white shirt with a bloodied foot print. "Wha-t the hell do you want with them?" He breathed, scraping away his matted hair from his face.

The man lolled his head back and grinned as he caught the faint glimmer of his gun. "Hn, funny how someone as stupid as you hadn't figured that out." He seethed, grunting as he crawled in panic to the object that rested beneath the sofa.

InuYasha toppled over, hitting his head on the arm, fighting to get the weapon from his grasp. Every inch of him was electrified when the man snapped his hand like a whip. The muzzle was firmly pressed to InuYasha's slick forehead.

The man manuerved his body to a stand, never letting the hollow mouth leave his prey's flesh. InuYasha swallowed hard, as he was pinned upon his back on that musty old couch. The man above him gritted his teeth, blood caking, brown and dry, across his cheeks.

This was it.

Within that mellifluous moment, InuYasha closed his eyes. His heart was tearing at its cage though it could be freed. All of the efforts he had made to survive had submitted to his unknown man. The blood in his viens still curdled with heat, clotting the essence to sustain him.

The blood on his face itched beneath the intensity of the man's stare. His stubble cut against his skin, scraping his cheek as he leaned down, whispering in his ear. "I lost everything because of this family. I want them all dead. That girl of theirs was just like a secret in a keyhole."

His breath was heavy, sordid from the exhaustion.

InuYasha's alertness revived and involuntarily slung his elbow in the man's face, leaving the gun falling down his chest. He grabbed it, pointing it at the attacker.

"What the fuck did you do to Kagome?" InuYasha hissed, climbing over the couch to stand above the man, no hint of weakness in his voice. "She meant everything to these people. It may not be much of anything to you, but they're still looking for her."

The man scoffed, his white teeth wide in a Cheshire grin. "You know, you can't kill me. You have too much you want to ask me. I can see it in your eyes." He teased, mocking him with a sardonic apathy laden in his husky voice.

InuYasha knelt down, feet pinning the man's hands in place. "I sure as hell ain't going to let you live." He rasped, hair falling in a curtain around them. His breathing was steadier, fullier as he furrowed his brows at the man. "Where is Kagome?"

He asked again.

"None of you fucking pirates could ever be smart enough to figure out what's in front of you. Those people want her back so bad, but they don't know up from down. They knew what to do." He huffed, a grimace curling on his face.

InuYasha's thumb caressed the hammer of the gun, feeling the power it held. He licked his lips, "No, I want you to tell me where she's at."

"Baby, it doesn't work that way." He replied, his eyes darkening like the night. "You see, her father took everything from me. I just want what's mine. It's just about as bad as that Ito boy's misery. I don't want to go mad and die in the wilderness." He grinned, a frenzy of distress hitting his eyes.

InuYasha had tensed, both hands shaking against the smooth handle on the gun. "What about the Ito boy?" He asked, his features twitching involuntarily.

The man adjusted his face against the muzzle that dug into his skin. "How the grand can fall." He sighed jaggedly. "He got to close to something that he shouldn't be involved in, and look what it got him. It's about as sad when I lost my life."

"So, you took someone else's?" InuYasha asked, trying to keep his facade from faltering. He knew who he was. The bastard probably didn't know he was here, though. It was just like fate had weaved a crooked web, with all the pieces falling into the center.

Every inch of him was alive, confused by the riddling words that this man threaded through his ears. They sat in the shambles of a well put together life.

"Her father's dead." InuYasha finally wavered, feeling the man try to move.

"Ha! They told you that he was dead." The man laughed snidely. "He's brought so much shame to this family, they had to run away to this shit stain of a town."

InuYasha shoved the gun closer to his forehead, he body pressing all of his weight forcefully upon him. "This is my fucking family you're fucking with now. Where is she?" He spat, saliva pressing pass his gritted teeth.

The man's tongue licked his cracked lips, tasting the iron that laced them. His mind had broken. It was just a matter of time before his rage set back in. "Why don't you go fuck yourself, cause I ain't telling you shit."

InuYasha clenched his jaw. He couldn't take it anymore. Closing his eyes, the pressure of his fingers clasped to the trigger.

The expulsion of air erupted into the room. Echoing in an ear-shattering bellow. Blood sprayed from the impact spot, feathering the walls and furniture with a red film. InuYasha had never killed a man before.

The lifeless body beneath him was still warm, eyes rolled back and open mouthed. He stood up slowly, dropping the gun across the floor. His hands weaved into his hair as he felt his skin line with gooseflesh.

The very core of his stomach pushed bile to his throat. It burned like he had swallowed acid. There was a silence that met him, focusing his attention on nothing in particular. He parted his mouth to make a sound, but nothing would come out.

His dark eyes scanned over the damage and debris. Teeth pressed down on his bloodied finger nails, chewing at the tips. What had he done?

What the hell had he done?

Sleep wouldn't come easy anymore. Maybe he should have just offed himself when Kikyo had died. None of this was happening. He wanted to scream, wanted to punch something. If he had gone through with it, it wouldn't have even mattered.

Kaede and Totosai's home and business was destroyed. A heavy, clammy hand wiped his face, and he faintly recalled the boy from earlier. With a sigh, he closed his eyes, walking past his first kill.

Kneeling down, he searched the pockets of the man's slacks. He found a paper-thin wallet and shoved it in his own pants pocket. Hobbling legs took him to the hallway, where his hands found the walls to stablize himself.

Outside of the front door, Hojo laid in a heap of snow. His blood melted the precipitation and stained the steps with a brown sludge. InuYasha turned him over to see his vacant face. He was cold, blue lipped.

It seemed like the man was cutting ties with all of the people that had seen him. In that moment, he collapsed upon his bottom. His long arms laid over his bent legs, relishing the cool air that cooled his skin.

The wallet fell from his pocket, and he picked it up sloppily. Parting an eye, he opened it and looked at the identification card. His blood froze. He pulled it close to his face, inspecting the address, the name.

Kanagawa Bankotsu

9-3-6 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku

Tokyo, 170-3293

Kanagawa had been the company that he had worked under for nearly ten years. His eyes furrowed, rubbing his thumb over the photo. He was gruff, smiling, genguinely happy in the photo.

It seemed like it depicted what was instead of what is.

If this man had taken Kagome, like all of the evidence pointed, she had to be in Tokyo, wouldn't she?

Slamming his head upon the wall, InuYasha finally let out a scream. It was feral, raw like his throat had been nothing but strips of meat. It was painful as his fist punched the floor, heaving out all of his oxygen.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." He muttered, trying his best to retain a shroud of humanity. "I have to get out of here." He said, trying to evade the pressure that held him fixed to that spot. He wanted to wash everything away.

There was no real way to ever explain what it had felt like to strike someone down. It was like it wrought madness in his rebuilt body. He had reformed from the terse nature of his life, and to what result?

This archaic rush of fury that bled out the very purity he had sewn?

How would he look Shippo in the eye again, let alone his parental figures. It didn't even occur to him that he would have to tell them to stay away from their home, for fear of anything else coming bump in the night.

Did this prove what kind of man he was? A murderer? If he had any strength left, he would have relented to the feeling that pressed beneath his eyes, trying their best to force out moisture.

In the end, he soothed himself by laying on his back in the tub. The water was red around him, swimming with the smell of death and infection. He couldn't move. The comatose dream was no more of a reality than the images he saw at night.

He cleaned himself up the best he could and redressed.

The bodies bloated in the house had to be removed. And, as he stood by the door, he looked towards the sea and its open arms.

He would bury Hojo, but that Bankotsu was going to be fed to the hungry mouthes that rested below the bay's rolling facade.

AN:

Turns out that Bankotsu wasn't the big baddy after all.