Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Darkling Winter ❯ Kaffeeklatsch...Or Not ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of Sengoku Otogizoushi - InuYasha nor the Dark Hunter series. Inuyasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko, Shogakukan, Viz Media, ShoPro Entertainment, and Shounen; while the Dark Hunter series belongs to Sherrilyn Kenyon. No profit or monies of any kind are made from this fan-created crossover.
Warnings: AR for Inuyasha (Kagome never returns after three years); Set three years before Talon's book; mature content; mature language.

The first thing Talon noticed when he woke up was that he wasn't in his bed. Nor was he at Kagome's. In fact, he had no clue as to why he was asleep. Well, he had an idea as there was only one reason he would ever sleep.

He sat up, finally realizing that the floor beneath him was too cold to be comfortable while awake. And he was glad to note that he was still fully clothed, a sign that the events of the last night he remembered couldn't have been that great. As his eyes focused more, a hazy feeling still occupied his mind though, he recognized the bare room he was in. It was an empty business, one that he had been meaning to take Kagome to in order to fill in some blanks with Nick present, and it was a good place to see if the Spathi would be lured to it.

Yet his plans had been ruined soon after night fell. What had been just rumors about a Spathi being sent after her became very real. As he had been getting ready to leave and head off to Cafe du Monde to torment and tease her more, her little Spathi tailer decided to pay a visit. Whether or not he knew Talon had been there mattered very little to a Daimon of such caliber; they were capable of taking down entire groups of Dark Hunters before being killed.

And had Kagome been at her apartment when he decided to kick in her door, he was sure it would have gotten more violent and bloody than it had.

He was certain the warrior had meant to make it seem as if someone had broken into her apartment in the hopes of having her be blinded by her emotions enough to take her down quickly. Obviously, the Spathi didn't know his prey very well. Then again, it wasn't as if he had to given his skills.

As it went, his presence had been enough to cause the warrior to pause. Almost as if he was sizing up the threat before finding him to be of little threat. Too important to let him leave, too unimportant to enjoy the kill. He had attacked, Talon had pulled out his srad. Blood had been drawn, though he played it safe. Becoming injured would do cause so many more problems aside from falling unconscious. In that case, he would have been killed without knowing it, and then Kagome would have been killed that night. And even though he had played it safe, quite a few things in her loft had been broken.

Walls, dressers, pictures, cupboards, clothing... He'd rather not explain that last one to her ever. Even though it wasn't entirely his fault; he couldn't be bothered to look where he was tossing Spathi and slashing in the middle of a fight. Nor did he think he could pause the fight to ask their would-be killer to be careful so as to not break anything.

Yeah, that would have gone over really well.

It had been one well placed door to the face that had caused the Spathi to retreat. He wished he could call such a Daimon an inkblot, but after that scuffle, it would be too insulting. To him or to the Daimon, he wasn't entirely sure yet.

And he had grimaced as he took in all the destruction in her home, all the broken things and torn clothes... The smashed and kicked-in doors. He had called Nick as he drove away, towards Cafe du Monde. It would be a few nights before he would let Kagome return to her loft, as it needed to be cleaned and put back together. Nick would be gathering what was salvageable before they were to meet up. And it worked perfectly; he now had a very good reason to keep Kagome nearby and under his watchful eye. Though he still didn't know if telling her the reason why she couldn't return to her place would be good or not.

He had picked her up, and taken what he could of her anger and confusion. Her wit and fit body were a dangerous combination, one that had attracted him from day one. That had been part of the reason he had driven through the streets at the speeds he had, all in order to feel her so dependent on him to keep her safe and on the bike. She was far more independent and stubborn than many other women, and it showed in so many ways.

Yet, he remembered that he had only slowed down when he came closer to the place he wanted to take her. Something about the surrounding area had been nagging at him, something he should have paid more attention to than the feeling of her small hands around his waist and her breasts against his back. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but it had come back to bite him in the ass. Though it had been what he had wanted at the time, for the Spathi to have been lured out there, it was not in such a way.

And that was as far as his memory went. He had reached for his srad when he noticed the threat, yet he hadn't expected for him to go after Kagome so obviously. It had been her who had been thrown from the bike directly, he had been knocked off by accident. He remembered hearing his bike skid across the street and Kagome whispering out something in her own language, but those were the only two things he remembered.

A soft groan to his right caught his attention. He quickly focused on the unconscious form of Kagome, glad to see that she was still alive. Though her death would take a good deal of stress and questions off his mind, he much preferred her alive. He leaned over to see her condition, taking note of the dried blood on her legs and head. Her shirt was dirty and ripped in a few places. In fact, she was dirty all over. Such is what happened with being thrown from a moving car and onto the road.

For all the blood and dirt, she had no visible injuries. Obviously, he had been conscious enough to take on her injuries. Though they may have killed her, they couldn't kill him.

He brushed some of her hair away from her face, making sure she was in no pain. Even covered in dirt and blood, she still had something about her that drew him in like nothing else. It was some power or some aura, something definitely not western. Her dark lashes fell on scratched and dirty cheeks, and her lips were barely parted.

"Finally awake, are we?" Nick's voice had him pulling back from her to glare at the temporary squire. He had the worst timing, especially when he wasn't wanted. "Hey now, that's no way to look at the person who saved your ass and hers." Nick looked over at the woman next to him, "Though I don't mind saving her."

Talon stood and headed over towards Nick, effectively blocking his view of Kagome. The way Nick was looking at her was not appreciated in the slightest, and had Kagome been awake and coherent, he had no doubts that she would have given him a piece of her mind. And then turned on him to let him know she didn't appreciate that he did nothing to stop his "friend" or his own looks he would have been giving her. "You're forgetting your own life expectancy in this job. What took so long?"

Nick shrugged, leaving to the other room where they could sit and chat. Talon followed at a sedate pace, eyeing the room they were leaving and only leaving when he was assured there was no way for anyone to go missing in it. The squire sat down, his laid-back manner showing in his slouch. There weren't enough words to describe how much Talon disliked the man at times.

"You and that Daimon tore apart her place. She's going to be so pissed when she finds out. I did salvage what I could from it," he pointed over to a tacky yellow backpack that seemed to be full of clothing and the long bow Talon had found the day before. "And there's a crew already cleaning it up. That's what took so long. She's doing a number on you if you couldn't take down that one. Hell, a halogen light was enough to scare him off."

That information nagged at something from earlier. Something was not adding up entirely. Spathi could take down a handful of Dark Hunters, they were courageous and brave warriors. They were in a different class for a reason, one that caused even Dark Hunters to have some healthy fear and respect of them. A door to the face and a halogen light would not stop one, especially not twice in one night. Though it would affect them, it shouldn't have been to such a degree.

Could it be that an Apathi had managed to fool so many into thinking he was a Spathi? Well, it certainly wasn't unheard of. And if it turned out to be the case, it made dealing with the entire situation easier. Apathi were much easier to deal with than Spathi.

Talon crossed his arms, one eye on Kagome's still unconscious form. All these new revelations floating in his mind, he needed some more time to think it over. And either the coming dawn or the coming evening, as he had no clue what time it was, would provide him with a chance to figure things out. Hopefully Kagome would wake up soon, allowing him to have someone directly involved in this to help him put the pieces together. "They're not looking into things. Apathi, not Spathi."

Nick locked his fingers together behind his head and tilted back in the chair, "Wouldn't be the first time. Why her, though. It's what I can't figure out."

"I told you before -- it's her soul. It's too large and full of too much power. That, and she's been killing off so many Daimons. They're desperate to have her killed."

Nick grinned, "Oh, I know. I'm asking an entirely different question. It's not everyday I see you immediately go over and pick up a woman and carry her inside anywhere despite you being close to passing out. I didn't know someone like you had to work so hard to get a woman in your arms."

One look from Talon and his deep eyes was enough to make the squire quit leaning back in his chair and wipe the grin off his face.

The first thing Kagome noticed when she woke up was that the wall was black. It took quite a few seconds for it to register in her mind that it was, in fact, a black wall and that nothing was wrong with her eyes. Though she wasn't entirely convinced, given that everything surrounding her was black. The bedsheets, every wall, the ceiling... All in black. She had to pull her hands out from under the sheets to look at her skin just to make sure something hadn't happened to her eyesight.

Were anyone to ask, she would feel justified in replying that it wasn't everyday she woke up in an entirely black room.

Or in such a large bed. It made her wonder what sort of twisted western fairytale she had woken up to. Though it couldn't be worse than the twist her actual life had taken, with Dark Hunters and Daimons and Spathi trying to kill her and Talon...

With a gasp, she brought her hands up to her head, checking for the wound she knew she had to have after being tackled off a moving motorcycle. She ran her hands through her hair and across her head more than once, each time more frantic than the last when she found nothing. Now, she knew her hama no reiryoku sped up the natural healing process in her body but there was no way it could work so fast with such a wound. After the fifth time of looking, she moved her hands down to check her ribs, running her fingers across each bone she could feel. And when she didn't wince or grimace from a cracked, bruised or broken rib that she also knew she had to have, she had to force the fear back.

It was completely irrational to feel fear over finding no injuries. Even though the blackness that she was surrounded by gave off the impression of being dead, she was certain the afterlife wouldn't have beds. Because, after all, one would be dead and there would be no reason to sleep or any other reason to have a bed. Dead was dead, not a room painted black. If this was some sort of sick joke being played on her by Talon, whoever the Spathi after her was, or anyone else, she was not amused nor laughing.

And they should feel lucky that she didn't know how to make kotodama no nenju.

She slid out of the large bed despite the softness of the sheets which made her reluctant to leave and get some answers. Her bare feet touched the cold floor, making her both shiver and wonder what happened to her flats. She had a feeling she would never see them again because they were either forgotten on the street or destroyed. The first option was nicer to think about. Out from under the sheets now where she could more easily look herself over for injuries. She found none though she knew she had to have them from the dried blood and the dirt that covered her.

The little pieces of the street and blood were the only reminders of what happened that night. She was sure she would be having painful remembrances of being thrown from a bike for a very long while. Yet that was as far as she could remember, feeling the cold concrete smack against her body. She had no clue as to what happened to Talon or whatever had knocked her down. But she was determined to get some answers.

It took her a moment to figure out where the room's exit was as her eyes had issues trying to adjust to so much black. They adjusted just in time for her to nearly walk into Talon. That would have been more than embarrassing, more so since she was sure he had enough muscle on his body to bruise her nose. It was an injury she never wanted, especially not after the last events she could remember.

She looked him over, seeing nothing out of place from his usual look. It was entirely unfair: there he was, not a scratch on his clothes and looking clean and refreshed; and then there was her, wearing torn clothes and covered in dirt and blood. She decided that he had to enjoy seeing her in various states of disarray, or perhaps that was just the affect he had on her. His two braids still glistened with water, letting her know he had just tossed her in bed before cleaning up.

Taking two steps back, she crossed her arms to hide the tears in her blouse and glared up at him. "Oh, so you can remove my shoes but you can't be bothered to wipe off some blood or give me a shirt? Glad to know chivalry has yet to die."

She swore an amused look stole across his face as his eyes glanced down at her ruined blouse. It had been one of her favorites, too. "Trust me, it crossed my mind. There's a bathroom to the right, and your ugly backpack is in it. There are clothes in it, or rather, there should be. Your bow's fine too, though a quiver and arrows couldn't be...found."

Kagome narrowed her eyes in thought. The way he said certain things and she didn't remember him having anything that belonged to her when he picked her up had her mind churning with all the possibilities. "Why do you have some of my--... Hey! My backpack is not ugly! Yellow's a very in color! And at least it is a color, unlike all the black here! It's like someone doesn't know how to decorate. And where are we anyway?"

"My place."

That sucked all her fire out of her and had her wishing she could take back some of her words. "Oh," was all she could get out. And it even sounded lame. "Oops," she whispered to herself, and she was certain Talon heard it. She had been raised to be a better woman than she was acting, and Mama definitely hadn't raised her to insult someone's home no matter what the circumstances were. She bowed, "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for." She rose and quickly crossed her arms again, "I'm sure all the...black... helps with your condition." When he looked at her as if he didn't know what she was talking about, she laughed, "You know, since you're a vampire..."

"I'm not a vampire, Kagome," he said the words without passion. "My fangs are used for far better things."

She nodded in agreement, "Yes. Ravishing young women before sucking their blood." With a smile and a pat to his arm, she slipped past him. "I do have a question though... Why am I without injury?"

He turned to face her, "It's a gift I have. You would have died otherwise."

She took a step back in shock, unbelieving that someone she had teased and brought much grief onto would do such an act. Given his lack of a soul, she was sure he wouldn't have died from her injuries, though it was the thought behind it. He had gone out of his way more than once, and directly now, in order to make sure she lived. He could have just let her die, and she was sure it would have saved him quite a bit of trouble. Not even she had such powers as to heal someone as well as he did or as quickly. She felt beyond grateful, and the knowledge subdued her. That one act changed so many things, especially the way in which she viewed him.

"Thank you," she bowed much lower this time, her voice soft and grateful. She was sure that if he couldn't tell it from her voice, he could see it in her unusually wet eyes. "I am in your debt."

She turned and headed to his bathroom before he could say something that ruined the mood. Knowing him, he wouldn't have been able to pass up the opportunity.

Talon had to hold back a smirk when, after a good hour, he heard Kagome's angry yell. When he had dragged in Kagome's backpack early that night after taking her inside, he had snooped in it to see just what Nick had managed to salvage. There was really only one set of clothes that would be seen without any digging, another, more appropriate, set rested at the very bottom. He had a feeling that Nick had thrown it in there just for fun, though he had to admit he was curious as to why she owned such clothes and what she'd look like wearing them.

Seeing her in that orange tank-top or even just the short-shorts would be well worth her temper. It honestly wasn't his fault she had an amazing pair of legs and owned some questionable clothing. It was asking for this kind of situation. And though he may dislike some of the brighter colors out there, orange on a woman like Kagome would be more attractive than black.

He walked over to his bathroom just in time to hear her shout out, "What happened to my other clothes?"

"Collateral damage," he said through the door.

It opened just enough for her to stick her head out, though he could easily tell she was wrapped in only a towel. One of his towels. She looked up at him, her eyes too doe-like for it to be healthy for him, "What? It doesn't make sense..."

It was an explanation he didn't really want to tell her. Though he had to, especially since she was to stay with him in the meantime. He was quickly finding out that there was no good way to explain what happened to her, and definitely not when she looked like she did. A little white lie never hurt anyone, either. "The Spathi tore apart your place. Nearly everything was damaged."

Her eyes widened in shock for only a brief moment, then they narrowed in thought. Though he had to note that they didn't contain as much anger as he feared. Perhaps saving her life earned him some brownie points. He would keep that in mind for any future events that may or may not happen. "What you're really saying is that you and him got into a fight and my loft was in the way, ne?"

"It happens from time to time."

"I'm sure," was her dry reply. She sighed and shook her head, taking the news far better than he thought she would. She mumbled something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like, "It would figure that those clothes are not ruined..."

"Your loft is being taken care of, though it'll take a few days."

"And I'm staying with you in the meantime. How fortunate for me to have so few clothes," she leaned against the door, forgetting she was wearing only a towel in her exasperation. He wasn't going to point it out to her anytime soon. "And what of the Spathi? Obviously you didn't kill him then."

He reluctantly pulled his eyes up from her legs to meet her eyes, a knowing glint shining through, "Still alive. I don't think it's a Spathi, though, but an Apathi. Spathi are on a different level that your would-be killer is at."

"Spathi.. Apathi," he could tell she was still unused to saying either word. "Haven't we been over this before? Don't throw new words at me, your language is confusing enough without it."

He smirked causing a glimmer of lust to appear in her gaze momentarily, "And here I thought you were smart enough to not be slow." Had she a shoe nearby, he was certain she would have thrown it at him given the way she was looking at him. "Apathi are wanna-be Spathi. It's hard to tell the difference."

"And here I thought you knew enough about Daimonns to tell the difference sooner," she teased, judging from the smile on her face. He had a feeling he brought out the worst in her, though he loved how he could banter with her.

Yet her lip and lack of decent clothing and wet hair were putting less than decent thoughts in his head.

He leaned in closer, his hand gripping the doorknob. She straightened and audibly gulped at his nearness. So he wasn't the only one having thoughts that were not conducive to the situation. The scent of his soap was coming from her, something he had never experienced before. It was...undeniably appealing. It drew him closer to her, leaning in far more than he had first intended. What had started out as somewhat harmless teasing was now becoming something very real. And her cute accent was not helping at all.

She looked up, her eyes and parted lips saying more about what was going through her mind than anything she could actually say. Had it not been for the towel wrapped around her and her wet ringlets of dark hair falling around her shoulders, she would have been the most seductive picture of innocence. Or perhaps it added to it more than he cared to admit. And the smell of him coming from her was too addicting.

He paused mere inches from her lips, her eyes already closing. She had breathed out a name, one he was almost certain had been his. Maybe Nick was right; she really was taking over his mind if she had to do absolutely nothing in order to get him to kiss her.

Against his better judgment, he pulled back and tried his hardest not to breath in the smell coming from her. He was certain his voice was deeper than normal and that he wasn't imagining the look of disappointment in her countenance, "Get dressed. We have a few things to talk about."

Kaffeeklatsch: lit. an informal social gathering for coffee and conversation
Inkblot: a derogatory term for Daimons used by Dark Hunters
Hama no reiryoku: lit. Purifying Spirit Power
Kotodama no nenju: Subjugation necklace; lit. Spirit Command Rosary
"ne?": impossible to translate, it's a word that means many things, but used at the end of a sentence in question form can mean, "No?", "Yes?", "Isn't it?", "Right?", "Correct?", and others along that line.


yusukekuramasgirl: I am sorry about the cliffhanger. I end chapters where it seems natural to end them, and it just happens that sometimes it is at a cliffhanger. And I'm sorry for making you wait so long for this chapter, not my intention. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for the review!

Ryukotsusei: I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter! I was hoping her irritation was fun to read and that it also seemed natural. I really don't want her to seem too OOC even given the circumstances. I hope this chapter was just as good, and thanks for the review!

Flame of the Miko: Yes, that was entirely an accident on my part. It's all fixed now and I have my fingers crossed that it never happens again. I'm glad this crossover has you curious and I hope you do go out and buy it! Thank you so much for the review!

Eluwei: I'm glad you're finding this interesting and enjoyable! I hope this chapter is just as good and lived up to what you were expecting. Thank you for the review!