InuYasha Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Not Your Normal 9 to 5 ❯ A deal with the Devil ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3: A Deal with the Devil

 

“What business do you have with me?” the man named Kalin asked the two strangers that had just stepped into the clearing he used for practice. They were a strange pair, one wore the pelt of a baboon, and the other wore normal attire. He had just finished his morning exercise; the power of flight was almost his to master, but he still hadn't gotten off the ground for more then a few seconds. He didn't need company right now.

“At ease, friend. We only come in search of a great teacher to guide us in our new fledgling powers,” the man in the pelt said. This caught Kalin's interest right away. What power could they mean?

 

“Explain your self,” was the only thing he said in reply, trying to mask his interest. The man smiled at him.

 

“I and the boy here have been trying for years to become stronger. Much as we have heard you have done your entire life. That is why we have come to you, to seek your guidance and wisdom. In the past several years, we have taken our first steps, achieving a bit of levitation, but mastery still eludes us. We were hoping you would be able to guide us?”

 

Kalin couldn't believe his ears. These two had achieved in years what he couldn't after a lifetime? Impossible.

“Prove yourself, lest I think you are a fraud,” he bit out angrily.

 

The man in the baboon skin nodded and removed the head piece, handing it to the boy. Kalin quickly studied the stranger's features; he had long dark hair and a face that looked of nobility. His eyes, however, showed cruelness that Kalin could not pick up on behind the mask. He quickly forgot about these observations when the man rose in the air, hovering five feet from the ground. This level of control of power couldn't be possible, not after only a few years of study! Kalin himself had been training in the art since he was a boy, and his attempts at levitation lasted mere seconds. He then noticed the strain on the man's face. The sweat was starting to bead down his forehead and his face took on a grimace. He started swaying in the air until suddenly he dropped to the ground hard, going instantly to his knees. He looked up at Kalin and spoke.

 

“As you can see, that little bit is enough to weaken me. Surely you can help us with your knowledge?”

 

Kalin's face must have betrayed his feelings and the man's next statement tore at his heart.

“You have mastered this ability, have you not? We were told you were the greatest man alive who knew how to control his own body. Please tell us the truth, Master.”

 

The last phrase tore even more. Master. He wasn't a master of anything. He should have been able to do the things he had envisioned. To become stronger, faster, able to fly, able to channel his energy into forms of defense and attack, yet in a few short years these two had done what he couldn't after a lifetime of training. A tear rolled down his face as he realized he may never see his dream flourish.

 

“What you seek I cannot grant you. You are farther advanced than I,” he said, trying to keep his emotions in check before he embarrassed himself in front of these strangers. Kalin turned his back but not quickly enough, as the man saw the look of anguish come across his face. The man nodded slowly as he stood up. He spoke once more. “I have not been entirely honest with you, Master. When we started out on this journey, we couldn't even grasp the basics of what we were trying to do. We spent so much time bickering between ourselves and others out there that we never got off the ground once. It wasn't until we found these that we were able to levitate.” As he finished speaking he held out his hand. Kalin was well versed in ancient lore and he knew what the shiny pink pieces of crystal were. Fragments of the legendary Shikon Jewel. He was snapped out of his wonderment by the man once more.

 

“We found these along our travels and it boosted our power greatly, but still not enough to do more then what we did. That's why we sought you out. We gazed upon you before you took notice of us this morning and your powers equal our own without aid of the jewel. We thought that maybe if we gave you the jewel fragments, you might be able to show us how to use our own powers more efficiently.”

 

Kalin bowed his head in thought. He was close. So close he could taste victory. And after seeing these two men accomplish the same tasks he knew he had no other choice. Perhaps taking the shards he could also teach himself how to further his ability without them. But would it be right?

 

“I can see this decision weighs heavily on you. Perhaps the people that directed us to you were right after all. I didn't want to believe them when they said you were just a crazy hermit with unfathomable goals and ideas. I wanted to believe so badly but, perhaps they were right. Come along my young friend, let us seek out another.” He took back the mask from the shorter companion and started walking back towards the forest.

 

“Wait!”

 

The shout froze both in their tracks as they turned back around to Kalin. He still had his head bowed but his fists were clenched and he shook. He looked up as he spoke. “If you will allow me control of your shards I will attempt to teach myself the ways you seek and then pass them on to you. Together we can find answers.”

 

Both companions looked at each other in wonderment and then both dug their shards out of their skin. They walked to Kalin and dropped to their knees in respect, each holding their shards up to him. In total there were five. Kalin took the pink fragments and quickly slammed them into his chest. The piercing pain was minute as the shards entered his body. The pink glow slowly enveloped him. He could feel his power increasing. He also started to feel strange, like something was intruding into his mind. Unbeknownst to their host, the five shards in his chest changed slowly in color. They went from the dull pink to a dark inky black color. For a moment he felt alarmed but then the surge of power hit again.

 

“How do you feel Master Kalin?”

 

He looked down into the grinning faces of his `pupils.' “I feel stronger then ever. The best I have ever felt in my life! It occurs to me that I don't know your name. And I should know the names of the people I wish to teach.”

 

The man stood and spoke. “I am Naraku, this is Hakadoshi,” he motioned to the boy. “Perhaps when you get a bit more accustomed we can go on a little quest. I hear the village that gave us those falsities about you being a fake has a few more shards to help us out in our journey together.”

 

Kalin started. Those people had always shunned him because he chose a life of solitude, and he only visited the village for supplies once a month. They dare slander his name. This power felt so good, and the promise of more! For the briefest of moments this unspeakable rage caused a spark of doubt in his mind. But then Naraku clasped his shoulder in a friendly jester, and all doubt went away.

 

 

0-0-0-0-0-0

 

“I'm assuming this wasn't the way this was supposed to work?” Lennex yelled up to his new friends at the top of the well. A minute ago he, Inuyasha, and Kagome had leapt into what they called the Bone Eater's Well. Inuyasha had cradled them both to his body, one on either side when they jumped in. Only problem was that those two seemingly passed into the ground and disappeared, whereas he abruptly hit the ground hard. His already weakened body protested against the impact. His only saving grace was that his Sayjin bone structure was twice as strong as a human's. The pain, however, was just the same. He looked up to the three concerned faces looking down on him.

 

“I'm afraid not my friend,” Miroku said. “You should have passed along with them. For some reason this portal to your and Kagome's world rejected you.”

 

“Oh good,” Lennex muttered to himself, “I thought my days of being rejected were over. The little fox demon snickered while the two humans looked on in puzzlement. He winked up at the kid remembering that Shippo was a demon and his hearing was a lot better than a human's.

 

“So any idea how I get out of here?” he said loud enough for all to hear. Just then a bright blue light flashed from the bottom of the well and Inuyasha and Kagome appeared up through the ground.

 

“We seem to have lost something on the trip forward.” Inuyasha said wryly.

 

Kagome shook her head at the lame attempt at humor. She would have to monitor the things he and Souta watched while in the future. It was ironic to her, since the “violence” on television bared no comparison to what she'd seen here in the Feudal Era. Inuyasha grabbed both Kagome and Lennex and easily leapt out of the well, landing lightly on the grass. Lennex sat down, his body begging for rest. He hadn't felt this human since…well, since he was a human. It was more than a little humbling.

 

“So what do we do now?” Sango asked. The group looked at each other and then at Lennex. He stared at the skyline in thought, and then nodded to himself a couple times. He took out a card from one of his pockets and handed it up to Kagome.

“This is my personal Identification card. It has my number to Capsule Corporation on it. My access code is 22487-A. Dial that phone number on the back and punch in that code when prompted. It will take you to my boss, Bulma Briefs, and she may be able to figure something out. Time I reported in anyway. Just tell her what happened and give her the location of your shrine. Tell her to keep the initial team small when she comes. I guess the easiest way would be to have her also bring a recording device. That way, you can bring it back when you cross back over, and I can make a message for her. With my card and code she should believe everything, but I know Bulma. She will want confirmation it's really me.” The group from the past chewed over what he had just said. Most of the terms he was using were foreign to them, but Kagome nodded. She'd seen enough TV to understand the whole security codes thing. She scrawled down the code with one of her school pencils from her pack on the back of the card and looked at Inuyasha.

 

“I sure hope we don't burn out the well with all this back and forth travel.” Inuyasha snorted and looked back at the rest. “You guys go back to the village while we're gone. No sense in staying out here.” He said. Miroku nodded and offered Lennex his hand helping him back to his feet. Shippo hopped up on Lennex's shoulder to ride along back to the village. Lennex saw Kagome about to say something to the kit, most likely a “get-off-the-injured-guy” speech, and quickly intervened.

 

“What's going on little guy, tired of riding with Miroku? I don't blame you, riding with that guy is dangerous, the way he flirts with all those girls. I wouldn't want to be close to him when Sango puts him inline.”

 

This must have satisfied Kagome because she smiled at him and didn't say anything. The kit however laughed, while Sango turned a lovely shade of pink. Miroku however picked that moment to be himself.

 

He quickly slid up behind Sango and spoke. “That is just because the lovely Sango is afraid that my interest in her will fade. I assure you and her that this could never happen; she is just too lovely to ever forget.” While the words were pretty and Sango's flush darkened a bit, it quickly disappeared as Miroku's hand slowly caressed her backside.

 

The slap echoed across the forest. Lennex shook his head along with the rest as Miroku rubbed his face where a nice Sango-sized handprint now showed. Inuyasha turned and headed for the well calling out to Kagome to hurry up. With a quick goodbye they both jumped into the well. Lennex walked beside Miroku, while Sango walked in front of them, arms folded and a very cross look on her face. Miroku hurried to catch up to Sango. It wasn't long before another slap echoed through the trees. Lennex and Shippo shared a knowing glance and Shippo summed up their thoughts in one simple phrase.

 

“What an idiot.”

 

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

 

Kagome sat at the top of the main stairs to the shrine. She had contacted this Bulma Briefs, apparently one of the most powerful women in Japan, about an hour ago and set up a time for her to check out the shrine. She snickered; it wasn't so much “setting up a time” as it was a command to stay put. Bulma was a bit startled that a young Tokyo girl had obtained her chief of security's access number, but as Lennex had said, just having the code made Bulma take the story seriously.

 

“How much longer do we have to wait for these people?” Inuyasha asked walking up behind her wearing the standard hat that Kagome made him wear to hide his ears.

 

“They said they would be here a little after twelve; give them some more time, Inuyasha, its only five after. Besides, when was the last time we spent some time together alone? You know; just to talk and all.”

 

Inuyasha's cheeks pinked a bit. He wasn't as dumb as his friends thought he was. He knew Kagome felt something for him; trouble was he didn't know anything about that kind of thing and usually tried for the gruff approach. But she was right about one thing - they hadn't really had a chance to talk about anything but jewel hunts. In the past they had some rather amazing talks. He had never opened himself to anyone like he did for Kagome; he felt he could talk to her about anything. He was about to reply to her little statement when an ill-timed silver car pulled up in front of the shrine steps. Two men got out of the back seat and went to the trunk as it popped open and started gathering various items. All of these things were new and confusing…he cautiously put his hand on the hilt of Tetsusaiga.

 

From the driver seat exited a woman who wore a simple outfit consisting of jeans and a worn t-shirt. The woman's hair was a startling aqua blue, but the shocking feature Inuyasha noticed was the woman's mouth. Whoever sat in the passenger seat was getting an earful about something. He had never heard a woman sound like…like him! He could imagine the score of remarks the similarities between the two of them would draw from Kagome, and silently thanked those above that Kagome couldn't hear her all the way down at the street level. The woman turned to the other two who had gotten all their gear gathered, and they started the ascent up the stairs.

 

The passenger finally opened the door and got out of the car. Even from the top of the shrine stairs, Inuyasha could tell the man was shorter than most, unless you counted the hair which swept upwards which added another foot to his stature. He wore khaki pants and a white undershirt with a blue button down shirt over it. He looked up at them and locked eyes with Inuyasha. Before Inuyasha realized it, he was growling low in his throat, hand now tightly clenching the hilt of his sword. He's seen that look before. It was the “I am everything and you are nothing” look. The look his damn half brother wore every time he saw him. Kagome looked at Inuyasha and nudged him with her elbow. He looked down at her questioning gaze, but shook his head. The other three had almost reached the top while the last was just starting up the stairs.

 

“Hello there, I'm assuming your Ms. Kagome Higurashi? My name is Bulma,” the woman with the blue hair said extending her hand to Kagome when they reached the top. It was almost unreal to Inuyasha. This Bulma sounded nice and sweet and kind, nothing like what she had sounded down at the car. Kagome shook the woman's hand and introduced her to Inuyasha. He took the woman's hand like he had seen Kagome do and Bulma introduced them to her staff, which looked a little winded from carrying all that stuff up the long flight of stairs. Bulma then motioned back down the stairs to the man taking his time coming up the stairs, hands in his pockets and a look of boredom now on his face.

“That is my husband Vegeta. Like all men he's being a baby about doing something he doesn't want to do, like accompanying his wife on a fact finding mission to find one of our own. Like it would kill you to miss one little session and spend some time with me!” The last part she directed back down to the man voice growing louder and harder with each word. Inuyasha smirked. There was what he had heard at the car.

 

“Well,” Bulma motioned towards the shrine, “Why don't you show us this well of yours. Vegeta can catch up. If I hadn't seen time travel before I would have thought you were crazy.”

 

Kagome and Inuyasha both looked at the women like she had grown a second head. “You have gone back in time also?” Kagome asked.

 

Bulma shook her head no and laughed. “No, I haven't ever set foot in any kind of time device or portal or whatever. But we have had a visitor from the future before. I wish I could tell you more but it's really not something we like to talk about. The only reason I brought it up was because of the things you have told us.”

 

They reached the well house and the two technicians quickly started setting things up inside under Bulma's critical eye. Inuyasha and Kagome stood just outside the door. Bulma herself held up a scanning device and pointed it at the well.

“I am definitely picking up fluctuations in the well. Lots of time distortion.”

 

Kagome looked at the woman and said, “Excuse me, but you actually have a device that detects that kind of thing? You're really starting to make what I do not so special anymore.” She finished with a little laugh.

 

“Like I said, after my little visit from the future I knew time travel was possible. Therefore I was going to figure out how and invent the machine to do it myself. I am a genius after all. And to get to that point you have to take small steps like being able to sense the field that time itself generates.”

 

Kagome nodded her head slowly. She could tell the woman was deep in thought as she never once looked at Kagome during her little speech, constantly turning dials and pushing buttons on her handheld device. One of the technicians scrapped some dried substance off the well and put it in an analyzer. After a few moments he received the results and turned to Bulma.

 

“Ms. Briefs, we have found evidence that the XO-l2257 was indeed here. The chemical make-up is different now due to the explosion, but that isn't surprising considering the amount of energy that must have been released. We'll have to analyze further to get a better understanding.”

 

Bulma glanced at the readings the man had and nodded. They continued to monitor a few more devices and take readings.The terms they were using were beyond Inuyasha. Sometimes he really hated the `present.' That's when the smell hit him. It almost smelled like Lennex did after he had cleaned himself from the accident, but where Lennex had smelled a little different, he still smelled slightly human. This smell was neither human nor demon. He quickly turned and saw the short man of Bulma's approaching them. He grabbed his sword and crouched into a fighting stance. This smell was definitely something he had never smelled before. Vegeta stopped and rose and eyebrow at Inuyasha. He felt some type of energy in this boy spike. He smirked.

“Usually people don't carry around those archaic weapons anymore. Might you be a throwback from the past?”

 

Inuyasha growled. This bastard even talked down to him like his half-brother, Sesshomaru, all high and mighty and not a care in the world. The commotion however brought both Kagome and Bulma to them.

 

“I can't leave you alone for five minutes without you picking a fight can I?” Bulma yelled walking to Vegeta. Vegeta snorted and replied “I didn't start this one. The miscreant from the past did.” This caused Bulma to stop. Not so much of the accusation but because of Vegeta's observation. She should have seen that in the boy's clothing and weapon. He had to be from the past. Kagome however took his statement to heart.

 

“Inuyasha, did you really do that. These people are here to help out our new friend. You remember the one trapped in the past. Don't make me do you know what in front of these people.”

 

Inuyasha spared her a quick glance but quickly returned his eyes to the other man.

“He's not a demon or a human Kagome. He's something I've never smelled before…something foreign…he doesn't smell like he belongs!”

Kagome looked at the other couple and she saw a subtle change in them. Inuyasha's words had definitely hit something because Bulma had paled just a bit and Vegeta had taken a protective stance in front of her.

 

“What does he mean smell different?” Vegeta asked. Kagome shook her head. No help for it now.

 

“Inuyasha, take your hat off,” she said. This time he turned to look at Kagome and didn't look back right away.

 

“Are you serious? You always tell me I need to keep it on when I'm here.”

 

Kagome glared at him for a moment. “Just trust me for once, would you?” she said. Inuyasha used his free hand to lift the cap off his head.

 

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at what he saw. Bulma however reacted just the way Kagome and her mother had the first time.

 

“How cute!” she squealed coming around from behind Vegeta. “You have little dog ears, there so adorable!”

 

Vegeta sighed with disgust. Leave it to Bulma to ruin a perfect opportunity to clean someone's clock.

 

“Why do you have dog ears anyways? Mutation? Experiments, what?” she asked staring at the two fuzzy white appendages on the top of Inuyasha's head.

 

“Keh, I'm half dog demon that's why.” He said trying to get out from under the woman's scrutiny. Every woman he'd met in Kagome's time did this; just one more reason to get done and get back, he thought to himself.

 

“That is why he can smell whatever it is he smells. His senses and strength are greatly amplified from a normal human's.” Kagome filled in hoping that her gut instinct was right. Earlier this woman had given information on time travel because they themselves had give up their own secret. She wasn't disappointed this time either.

 

“A demon? They really did exist in Earth's past? That's amazing. You are definitely going to have to tell me stories. And you're saying that he can smell that Vegeta is different? I never once thought to think if a Sayjin smelled different from a human.”

 

Vegeta started and looked appalled at Bulma. All these years trying to keep that little fact a secret and she just blurts it out. The other two stared at the woman as she contemplated this turn of information. Kagome looked at Inuyasha and he just shrugged his shoulders. This was definitely turning from a fight, something he knew how to handle, into something he had no clue how to deal with.

 

“Excuse me, but, what is a Sayjin?” Kagome asked.

 

“They are, or rather were an alien race that used to live in this galaxy. Vegeta here is one of the last survivors of their planet's fate. I'd like to tell you more but, I think for now we can just stick to the basics. I'm sure you feel the same way about your demon as I feel about my Sayjin.”

 

Kagome nodded. Until trust was truly earned, the basics worked for her. She took a minute to ponder this new development. Now she had to deal with aliens along with demons. Great. Something else dawned on her. Something Inuyasha had said. “Inuyasha, you said Lennex smelled like Vegeta here, does that mean Lennex is also an alien?”

 

Bulma nodded slowly. If this half demon, Inuyasha could smell whatever it was that made a Sayjin smell different from human then there was no sense in lying. “He is a Sayjin. But he wasn't born that way; he was actually transformed into one, although I'm not at liberty to say how.”

 

“And that's why he still has a trace of human scent?” Inuyasha said putting things together in his mind. He saw Kagome's gape of astonishment and quickly said, “what wench, I do have some brains and can figure things out.”

 

Kagome quickly turned away. The utter shock on her face that Inuyasha figured something like that out must have really shown. She felt bad about it for almost a full three seconds. Then she realized he had called her wench again. In front of strangers no less.

 

“Inuyasha, what have I told you about that word? You know I don't like it when you call me that.”

 

“Keh, woman I wouldn't call you a wench if you didn't act like one all the time.”

 

That was it. Everything about the last few days had been strange and lots of explanations so one more wouldn't hurt. “Inuyasha, SIT!”

 

The rosary around Inuyasha's neck glowed a pale pink as the half demon was pulled to the ground face first with a crashing force. Vegeta looked on with mild amusement, Bulma with wonderment. “What was that?” she asked.

 

“The short version is that it is a subduing spell wrapped around his rosary. Whenever he makes me mad or is about to do something really stupid or mean or just plain Inuyasha-like, I say the command word and voila instant Inuyasha floor mat. And the rosary is permanent; only I can remove it.”

 

Vegeta snickered a little. What kind of warrior would let themselves get trapped like that? His mirth was instantly replaced with anxiety as he saw the look in his wife's eyes.

 

“Where can I get myself one of these subduing things?” she asked Kagome. The two girls walked back to the well house quietly talking about men and ways to control them. Vegeta glanced down at Inuyasha, who was finally able to get off the ground.

“Is that as painful as it looked?” he asked.

 

Inuyasha glanced up at this `Sayjin' and then looked after Kagome and Bulma.

“I hope you never have to find out,” he said. Vegeta followed his gaze and nodded in agreement. Both males followed the girls to help with whatever they needed. No sense in tempting fate.