Disclaimer; I don't own Inu Yasha

What Kirara saw.

The man had been thrown against the wall right across their door from where he had slumped down onto the floor. But what truly surprised Eri was that nobody else was in sight! Even if his attacker had ran to one of their neighbors apartments, she still would have been able to see him.

Suddenly her dad's hand grab her shoulders and pull her back. "Where is he? Where did he go?" he said, spinning his head fast as he looked down both sides of the hallway before he stared at the lifeless man in front of them. "It is impossible… Did you see who did this?"

"No" Eri said, mildly surprised she wasn't as scared as she thought she would be, "Is he dead?" she asked.

Her dad stepped past her and got down on his knees beside the ugly man to check his pulse, "No, he seems to be fine and breathing, he is probably just unconscious. But who in the world could have done this?"

"I don't know", her mother suddenly said from behind her. "But we should call the police immediately."

"Right," her dad answered quickly, "Everybody inside!" and signalized for them to move.

Eri took a step backwards when she, to her great horror, felt something glide across her legs and she quickly stared down to see…

"Kirara!"

Her sudden outburst immediately got both her parents attention. The strange feline was stroking her fur against her bare legs like an ordinary cat would do and she instantly knew why she was there, it simply couldn't be a coincidence.

"Meeew," the tiny feline looked up at her with her big red eyes.

"Eri, did you bring Kagome's cat with you again?" her mother said. "You know animals aren't allowed her."

"I…I…," she stuttered while trying to come up with something to say. The cat had come to protect her but there was no way she was going to tell her parents that! "No I didn't, it must have followed me when I left Kagome, or she must have hidden in my school sack again. I will give her back to Kagome tomorrow," she said and picked up the little creature.

"Alright," her mother said and pushed Eri back inside again closely followed by her dad. "Let us call the police so they can come and get this man away from us."

The three of them, four counting Kirara in her arms, had just stepped inside the entrance when a sudden movement behind them made they turn around. Groaning in pain, the thug stumbled fast back up on his legs again and shot them a quick look before he sprinted down the hallway.

"Hey, you stop at once!" Eri heard her dad shouted after him but didn't followed, Kirara however twisted around in her arms, jumped down to the floor and rushed after him.

"Kirara, wait!" Eri said but the cat was already halfway down the hallway hot on his heels. She was about to run after her when she was stopped by both her parents.

"Stop there, do not follow," her dad said stern. "I will call the police, forget the cat, it will probably turn up again later somewhere, but for now we will all be staying indoors and that is final!"

Eri knew she couldn't argue against her father and Kirara was probably far better to watch out for herself than she was, so therefore she hurried back to her room to pick up her cellphone to call Kagome.

A little earlier, after she had left the grieving couple, Kirara had hurried back to the forest behind the shrine where she transformed. Well-hidden between the trees, she took off into the air, flew over the city and managed to land unseen on the very same construction site where she had rescued Eri not long ago and dashed out on the street. Running down the pavement between and under human legs at great speed, she furiously looked around to see if she could remember which of the stone buildings the girl was living in, and finally there it was. The only problem was how to get inside.

She was very close when she suddenly caught sight of Eri who hurried inside and locked the door behind her. Kirara stopped in front of the main door and stared at it, wondering if there was some way for her to open the door when an ugly looking man with a smug grin suddenly walked up from the sidewalk and opened it. Not hesitating for moment, she slipped inside while the door barely was ajar and ran for the stairs, upwards and upwards until she had reached the right floor. The floor was deserted with no one in sight, Kirara was about to jog over and scratch at the door when a sudden noise took her by surprise.

"PLING"

The nekomata jumped and stared wildly around herself, and there, right beside her, two strange doors opened and out from a seemingly empty room in the wall, the same man that had let her in, walked out. He looked suspiciously around himself before he started walking down the corridor. Full of suspicion herself, Kirara followed right behind, keeping so close to his feet that if he should turn around he wouldn't see her. She was far from surprised when the pig-eyed man stopped in front of Eri's door and started tampering with something before he ever so quietly opened it. He took a last stolen look around, probably to ensure himself that he was alone before he slipped inside, without never having noticed the feline looking creature who followed him in when he closed the door.

Inside, Kirara began walking around, pretending she was the family pet so she could have a better look at the human. The man stood still, listening at the voices coming from the kitchen and ignored her completely. He then pulled something heavy out from his pocket and Kirara immediately recognized what Kagome had explained to her was a gun. From the miko's pictures and future-history lessons with the fox kit, she had told how the big and clumsy boom sticks one day would evolve to something much smaller and far more dangerous weapons. She had come just in time.

The man began to speak, making his intentions clear for all who listened. Kirara knew Kagome wanted her to stay out of sight, especially from adults as it could put Kagome and her family in a difficult position, but it was not going to be easy this time. He took a few steps further into the corridor and she let him turn around a corner before she transformed and went after him, silent as a predator. The floor was hard, and if she hadn't been able to pull in her claws, she would have made a terrible noise, but since that was not the case, she was able to sneak up right behind him. So sure was the man on himself that he didn't look behind once just in case, not even when he stopped to talk. Kirara stopped simultaneously and rose her huge body slowly to stand on her hind legs behind him. The corridor was so small and narrow now that she had to crane her neck to avoid hitting the ceiling.

He was just about to take another step when she slammed her paw on his back, not hard enough to kill him but just enough to knock him out she hoped. The man screamed as he was brutally sent flying forward, his shirt tore up and even though she hadn't used her deadly claws she saw a huge gash forming on his back.

Crashing onto the floor a couple of meters in front of her, the man quickly came back to his senses, turned around, saw her and screamed again, but this time in utter terror. She clearly hadn't knocked him out as she had hoped for so he was therefor still a threat. Still standing on her hind legs, Kirara acted fast, dashed forward, chomped down on his legs and dragged the horrified man back into the corridor as he started to scream and beg for help. Eri and her parents had obviously seen the guy because their sudden outburst when half of his body fell into the room where they must had been standing. Fortunately, they hadn't seen her yet. If she just could get him outside and knock him out properly without being seen then everything would be all right. She knew Eri would recognize her, but she was sure the girl wouldn't say anything that would put Kagome in a difficult situation.

Kirara hurried backwards with the screaming man until her back forced the door open behind her, she rushed into the hallway and sent the man flying right into the wall on the other side with a sickening crack. The man slumped down without moving or speaking and Kirara transformed back, just in time to see Eri jump out, closely followed by her father. They were so busy with the unconscious man that none of them noticed Kirara until she walked up to Eri and stroked her soft body against the girl's legs. Just as she had though, the human girl had immediately covered for her, and this time Kirara hoped the human girl would let her look after her, seeing how close to danger she had come. After a bit of talking and some hasty decisions, they were about to walk inside and call someone they called police, probably some of the future law an order guards, when a sudden motion behind them made them turn around to see the bandit run away. Kirara hissed and jumped down from Eri's arms, if they didn't catch him they would probably never learn where they had taken the little boy so she immediately decided to follow after. She would try to find a way to get Kagome and Inu Yasha to come and look after Eri later instead.

The man stumbled outside and pushed past people as he half-ran down the street, earning him many curious looks while several people shouted after him, telling him to get to hospital when they saw the bleeding gash on his back. Kirara however went unnoticed by everyone all the way until they came to another tall building of grey-brownish stone. It was far taller than any buildings back home, but still considerable lower than many of the other buildings around. In contrast, the very tall and shiny neighboring building of glass made this one look ready for condemnation. This street wasn't as crowded as the other ones and the man took a sharp turn to hurry down an alley on the building's side where he stopped in front of a shaggy looking double door. He looked around himself and slipped inside, but this time she didn't manage to follow him in.

Kirara sat down before the doors and stared up the impossible tall structure, trying to think of what was best to do from there. Judging from the dilapidated surroundings, it didn't seem like a particular well used entrance where she could hope to be let in by someone random. There was a better-looking door at the front, but somehow she doubted that one would lead her to his hideout. And then again, what should she do when or if she found him, would he be alone, would there be more inside and what about the little human boy who couldn't even walk on his own? If she tried to rescue him, she would have to risk exposing herself to other people, and even if she managed to sneak the kid out and flew away with him, the thugs might get away when they realize they have lost their hostage and come back for revenge later.

It was getting darker, and from her spot in the allay she could see the streetlamps on the street turn on, how those could shine was still a mystery to her, but they probably served to make walking outside at night far safer, even though those who lived in this place most likely would prefer it dark.

Kirara stared up at the windows. All the ones on the first three floors where completely dark, and above those, only two or three windows were illuminated. She stood up again and began walking closer to the building, inspecting the doors and the wall carefully to see if there were any openings. And right enough, on the building's ground level there were several windows belonging to the basement and the very last of them on this side stood half open, more than enough for Kirara to slip past.

Even though the basement was almost completely dark, Kirara had no problem finding her way to the stairs. Her big red eyes, blessed with demonic sight, made her able to see as long as there were a faintest trace of light. She jumped up the unlit stair room silently while listening, nobody seemed to be at the first floor, neither on the second or third as she had predicted. At the fourth floor however, she lingered. She had seen light from here but didn't know if that also meant there would be people present. Kirara walked into a rundown corridor where the walls were crumbling in the dim light from the few lamps still attached to them. Four doors went down on each side of the corridor and the feline demon stopped outside the only one that emitted light from a crack in the door, listening. She stood there for a little while but no sounds could be heard whatsoever, she even checked out the other doors just to be sure before she continued upwards. The next floor turned out to be just as deserted as the last one and she went up to yet another floor. But on this level, there seemed to be people. The corridor had more light and outside some of the doors stood boxes with old rotting food. But most importantly, she heard a silent sigh behind one of the doors.

Kirara was about to go to the door and listen more when another one behind her opened with an agonizing creak.

I though it would be interesting seeing what happened from Kirara's point of view, she has plenty of thouhts and worries as well, even though she doesn't speak. It can be a challenge sometimes writing about a person who is mute while everybody else easily can express themselves. Please review and tell me what you think, and thank to you who already have done so^^