WARNING: THIS FIC CONTAINS SCENES OF VIOLENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, GRAPHIC LANGUAGE, CHILD ABUSE
AND DEATH OF A FAMILY MEMBER. PLEASE BE AWARE AND CAUTIOUS. THANK YOU.
Three. Pervert Patrolling
In the dim, neon lights of the club, scantily clad women danced on poles, laps and other things while drunkards watched and fondled them. Among these drunk men, surprisingly, was a young police officer, small, rat-tail ponytail at the base of his neck, right hand gloved. He was still in uniform, his cruiser parked just outside. While the rest of the gentlemen in the area were uneasy and kept their distance, the girls of the club were all quite friendly with him like they all knew him very well. He was, after all, a usual customer.
"So," a woman with fire-truck red hair and chocolate brown eyes began, leaning into him where he sat, "Are you off duty, Officer Miroku?"
He shook his head with a smile. "Unfortunately, no. Pulling a double shift, today. I'm lucky to have an extra moment to spend with you lovely ladies."
As if on cue, his radio went off, urging him to take care of a disturbance in the area. The women groaned with disappointment, latching on to him. "Do you really have to go? Stay with us a while!"
"Yeah, the rest of them behave better when you're around!"
Miroku laughed, getting on his feet and heading towards the door. "I'll be back soon, girls. But duty calls!" He clearly had an enlarged ego when around the women, or perhaps that was just who he was in general? The young officer headed out the door and into his police cruiser, flipping on his lights and speeding off in the direction of the call. He knew the area well, not only because the Feudal District was his usual patrolling area, but because he was very well acquainted with some of the people in this specific area.
Just ahead, Miroku could see another set of lights flashing in the near distance and a small group of people standing along the side of the road, one a woman, a man in cuffs sitting alongside the curb, and two other officers. He parked his cruiser just behind the other and joined the group. "So, what's going on here?"
"We got a call about a violent dispute from one of the residents, but this woman is refusing to cooperate with us," the older officer explained, hands on his belt.
The small woman, just as scantily clad as the women in the club Miroku had just come from, pointed directly at the older officer. "He's accusing me of being a prostitute! Why should I tell him anything when he's being so damn disrespectful of me? He could learn something from you, Officer Miroku!"
B-but you are a prostitute, he thought. The other officers gave him a look of surprise.
"You know this woman?" the younger of them asked, suddenly questionable of Miroku's supposed social affairs.
Miroku nodded a little hesitantly. "Yeah, she's a family friend. And she's no prostitute, so I think it would be in your best interest to stop being so accusatory." Success, he could tell they had bought his lie. He rested his own hands on his belt, looking casual. "Now, what was this violent dispute about, Miss? I take it you're the one who called?"
She nodded. "'Course I am! This motherfucker over here," she pointed to the man in cuffs on the curb, to which he replied: "She's a lying whore!" and she responded with a middle finger as she continued to explain, "attacked me! Put his hands on me and tried to force his nasty ass on me! Lock him up and throw away the key! Pigs like him shouldn't be on the streets. It ain't sanitary."
Officer Miroku looked her over. "Are you hurt?"
The woman looked around her body before finding a dark bruise on her left arm, displaying it for the three policemen. "Right here. The bastard got me pretty good, looks like."
"Have you two questioned them both yet?" Miroku asked after having observed the bruise on her arm. The other officers nodded.
"I see. I'm sorry, Shima, but I'm gonna question you again, since I'm here. Kinda part of my job, regardless," he shrugged with a smile. He was a lot less standoffish than most other officers around this District.
She didn't seem too put off by what he had to say, though it was obvious she preferred him over the other two, anyways. While they went over things again, the other policemen spoke with one of the residents who had made the 9-1-1 call, who backed up the woman's story. He was arrested on charges of sexual assault, easily. Miroku sent the other officers away with the fiend in the back of the cruiser while he stayed behind with the woman.
"You are a godsend, Officer Miroku. These streets would be terrifying without you around," she praised him, her eyes flirty. It was clear she was more than just fond of him.
He laughed nervously, getting back into his own cruiser. "I'm just trying to do my job. Now, I know you remember what we talked about last time I saw you! When are you gonna get off the streets and let me make a wife out of you, eh?"
"Wish it were that easy, Officer!"
"You're a smart girl, Shima," he smiled genuinely, leaning out of the window, "The only kind of men you're gonna find in your line of work are all the wrong ones. You deserve better than that. So go put an application in at the grocery store like I said. I'll put in a good word for you, kay?"
Miroku watched as she became flustered. "Yeah? You really think I'm smart?"
He nodded. "Of course I do! Now promise you'll put in that application." He pointed at her with a stern look that was obviously more for show. He was absolutely terrible at being serious.
"I promise."
*** III ***
"So," Kagome started, "You think I'm ready to take on all the bad guys on my own?" She jumped around enthusiastically, jabbing her elbow into the air and throwing some punches. Inuyasha raised a brow at her behavior, she completely unaware of how unthreatening she appeared.
He rolled his eyes, "No, definitely not."
She suddenly stepped in front of him, forcing him to stop without warning, and he almost fell right into her. "You're gonna keep training me then, right? You can't send me away defenseless, ya know!"
The boy looked her up and down, an awkward grimace on his face. She had her tiny fists brought up to her chest, her eyes pressing him for an answer. The pink ribbon holding her hair in a half-ponytail made her look especially young and innocent, and it was hard to believe someone so absolutely feminine would be so dead set on learning how to fight, let alone spend time with someone like him. He gave an irritated sigh, looking away from her. "Guess I don't have a choice, do I?"
Kagome jumped up and clapped her hands, "Yay! So, we'll meet tomorrow? Same place same time?" They continued to walk back towards her home which was only a few blocks away by now. She skipped along merrily, hands playing with her hair as they went.
"Sure, but I can't Saturday. Got other shit to do."
"That's alright. I need to spend more time with Kaede and Sota, anyways. We really need each other..." She trailed off, some heart-breaking memories resurfacing.
Inuyasha showed signs of curiosity, his eyes looking at her waiting for her to explain as he fidgeting with the junk in his pockets. "They your siblings?"
Kagome nodded. "Yeah. I'm the oldest..."
He could tell this wasn't a subject she wanted to continue talking about as her voice became quieter and her tone more melancholic. She wasn't looking at him, and he could see that she had fallen deep in thought. He couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking about, what sort of memories maybe had resurfaced and made her down.
They finally arrived back at the street corner, and they stood awkwardly as they tried to decide how to leave each other. Inuyasha kicked at the ground, hands still in his pockets as Kagome continued to nervously pull her fingers through her hair.
"So, you'll meet me here tomorrow, then?" Kagome began a little awkwardly. She suddenly noticed that the sun was setting and his face seemed so much softer in this lighting. There was definitely a kindness in his eyes that she was just now seeing. She couldn't help but notice how attractive he actually was.
Inuyasha leaned against the stop sign on one shoulder, giving her a slight nod and smirk. "Sure. Same time, right?"
She gave him a smile and a feminine wave. "Alright. I'll see you then, okay? Be safe, Inuyasha!" With that, she ran off towards home, her nerves suddenly making it hard for her to be around him any longer. It wasn't often she found herself attracted to someone.
"You, too, Kagome." By the time he could say it, she was already gone. He found himself smiling, watching her get up to the house and inside before he headed back to his own district.
*** III ***
She stared at the ceiling in the dark. It had been an hour since she laid down but she couldn't get it in her to fall asleep. For the first time in two years, Kagome was finally feeling some sort of attraction for someone else, and even before then, it didn't happen very often. But the two of them probably had next to nothing in common, anyways, and she was probably not even close to his type, regardless. Still, she couldn't stop thinking about how pretty his eyes looked then at the street corner. It was becoming worrisome.
"Go to sleep, Kagome," she said to herself out loud, growing frustrated.
Kagome went to throw a punch at him for the millionth time, but on the way she fell into him due to her own force. Inuyasha reached his hands out for her, catching her before she could fall to the ground, one hand under her belly and the other holding her elbow.
"You really gotta plant your feet better than that. Shoulder-length apart. Yeah, like that. You have to have a nice balance or else..."
It was like she could still feel his hands catching her, and she felt her face heat up and butterflies flutter in her stomach. "I barely know him!" she scolded herself, but she found herself going back to more memories of earlier that afternoon.
He was standing directly behind her, his chin just over her left shoulder and his hands on her fists, directing her punches as he explained. Despite all of the callouses on his palms and his nails filed to claws, his touch was incredibly gentle. Everything about his body movements was very aware of her presence and her frailty in comparison to himself. He was very aware of his body, and Kagome wondered if he realized how flustered he made her. She was having a very hard time concentration to what he was saying to her.
Inuyasha turned his face to look at her mid-sentence, and she noticed how long his eyelashes were. Why did boys always have such long eyelashes? Did he realize how absolutely close their faces were just now? Maybe she was the only one thinking like this.
"Why is this happening to me? Why can't I just have one day? ONE DAY?" She grumbled loudly, rolling over and burying herself in the blankets. How was she supposed to handle all that interaction with him tomorrow? Why did she have to be attracted to him? Why couldn't he be hideous or something? Kagome didn't have time to be getting stupid crushes on people. It wasn't even that she was falling for him specifically, just that he was rather good looking. It was all purely physical, and she didn't want anything to do with it right now. Especially not with someone from the Feudal District. If there was anything Kagome was certain of, it was that she wanted nothing to do with gangs ever.
*** III ***
The flame lit up the entire room from out of the blackness. He'd been playing with that lighter for the past five minutes, watching it illuminate and then blowing it out to drop him back into darkness. It was really a pain, not having electricity.
She really does look like her...
Inuyasha let his head fall back against the wall and he let out a heavy sigh. This was the work of a cruel fate...
*** III ***
"Let me go! Let me go!"
Miroku shot his head in the direction of the distressed voice. Whomever she was, she was being escorted through the halls, and from the sound of it, she was not cooperating. He waited for them to pass by the door so he could get a look, always interested to see another woman's face if he was given the chance, and it appeared he wasn't the only one as more head's shot towards the open door.
A blur of pink and black passed by with two men in uniform. He could see her hair was pulled back in a long ponytail, the sleeves of her black shirt rolled up to her elbows, riding gloves on her hands and a pink jean, studded vest accenting the pink eye-shadow over her eyes. The pants and boots she wore were made of a black leather, and she was definitely putting up a fight with the two officers, still ordering them to take their hands off of her. Miroku thought he heard something about them being incompetent and "lazy-fucks," too.
The others at the desks put their focus back on their work, some shaking their heads.
"It's Sango, again. When is she gonna give up?" a short, stout desk worker with dark circles and bags under his eyes stated, going back through his work. His name-plate read: Hachi, and his desk was covered with papers and almost every one of them had coffee stains on them.
Miroku sat on the edge of Hachi's desk, crumpling up some of his important papers as he did. "Give up what, Hachi?"
Hachi gave him a frustrated look, not even trying to hide his frown. "Her little brother went missing a few months ago. Leads went dry but she refuses to accept that it's a lost cause, now."
Miroku raised a brow. "Well, it's obvious where her dislike of policemen comes from. So, what does she keep doing to end up here?" He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something about that woman. He needed to help her. It was his job, after all, and if there was anything Miroku was devoted to, it was doing his job and going above and beyond expectations. He lived for the job. From the moment he was given a badge, Miroku was known around the station as an overachiever, and he prided himself in taking on the more difficult cases that came in.
"She's become something of a vigilante. Hunting down drug dealers and speeding through town on her motorcycle, mostly. I admire her determination but she can't just take the law into her own hands like that. She isn't just putting her own life in danger, but everyone around her, too. Guess I do feel bad for her, though. That brother of hers was all she had left. See, her parents were killed in gang violence when she was little. She's been taking care of him for the past year, now." Hachi sighed and took a big gulp of his coffee.
The officer looked back towards the door, still able to hear her screaming at the cops dragging her through the halls in the distance. "Has anyone tried working with her? The case isn't closed, is it? There still isn't a body, right?"
Hachi shook his head. "It's still open, but it's gone cold. I can tell you right now no one's investigating it right now, not with all this backup we've got."
Miroku stood to his feet and followed the direction of her angry cries before Hachi could ask him where he was going. He pulled around the corner where she was being presented to the police chief, and it was obvious he was trying to have a discussion with her that she was having no part in. The Chief had long, black, braided hair and wore a slick suit, his skin dark and his shoulders broad. When Miroku approached them, he seemed surprised to see him.
"Officer Miroku? You aren't around here very often—streets not offering you enough work?" he laughed, "Would you give me a minute, I'm got some other business I have to deal with."
"That's actually what I'm here to talk to you about, Chief Bankotsu. If it were okay with you, I'd like to work with Miss Sango. What is she being detained for?" She snapped her gaze directly at him, almost burning holes in his head. He looked young and stupid, let alone was in uniform, and she already knew she didn't want anything to do with him.
Chief Bankotsu chuckled. "I suppose. You do always seem to be very good with the ladies of this district. She was caught trespassing at the Edo Warehouse. If I leave her in your care, I trust she won't be in my office again?" He gave Miroku a knowing look before sitting at the edge of his desk, almost sitting on his nameplate.
Miroku nodded. "I certainly hope not."
"Then you have my permission."
Sango glared at everyone in the room. "I don't need any of you to work with me! I can find Kohaku on my own, you just mind your own goddamned business!" It was as if fire would come sparking out of her eyes at any moment. Miroku knew working with her wasn't going to be a walk in the park, but his curiosity and attraction was getting the better of him by now. He was looking forward to speaking one-on-one with this feisty vigilante, even if it meant she was going to give him hell.
The young officer led her out of the room. "So, your name is Sango, right? I'm Officer Miroku. Wanna tell me your story?"
"Cut the crap," she spat, "I've dealt with plenty of your kind before and I'm not here to waste my time. I have much more important things to do."
"Like find your brother, Kohaku? I wanna help you, if you'll let me." His tone was so genuine, but Sango wasn't about to let herself fall for it.
"I don't need your help," she grumbled, practically growling. "I don't need any pig's help, so the whole lot of you can stay away from me while I actually do something about what happened. You're all so incompetent!"
Her hatred runs deep, he almost laughed out loud from nerves. "I really hate to see a beautiful girl like you upset." She was giving him a look of complete shock and disgust, but he almost didn't seem to notice, "You should let me help you out. It's my job. I can't speak for the other officers, but I can tell you that I do my damnedest to serve. So, you should tell me what I can do to help you." He grinned, opening the door to let her outside of the station.
But she didn't give him an answer. Instead, she ran off as fast as she could, and he stood there baffled. "That could've gone better."
Author's Note: Okay, let's try this again! I tried uploading this earlier today and it didn't take, so I made some edits and I'm gonna try again! Hopefully it goes through this time!
Miroku has been introduced along with Police Chief Bankotsu and Hachi. Now, I can start to get the plot moving along, though there are still some characters to be introduced, next being Rin, of course. 3 And possibly someone else!
Constructive Criticism is always welcome! Thank you for reading!
~Lully