InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Parallel Dimensional Fairytale ❯ Blood and Bile ( Chapter 12 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

A Parallel Dimensional Fairytale
Chapter 10

Blood and Bile
Disclaimer: I don't own the series Inuyasha
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Living a life during which pain had been a rather common experience Inuyasha had later, when he learned of it, wondered about masochism. If one spends roughly one hundred and fifty years telling himself there were pains he could ignore and pains he couldn't ignore yet, the idea that there might be people enjoying it was... hard to grasp.

But, when his consciousnessleft his counterpart's wrecked body and the pain finally stopped he thought that this might just be it, the reason why one would voluntarily submit themselves to harm. The bliss he felt when the feeling that his flesh was being carved from his bones with several wooden teaspoons ceased was probably more orgasmic than any actual climax he'd ever - well maybe not ever... no, definitely not ever, but it sure had been a long time - had. Because the strange drug that madman of a factory owner had injected into him had inflicted a kind of pain that he couldn't even dare hope to be able to ignore one day. He had a feeling that day would have to be the day he went completely insane.



'I need a drink,' he observed.

That whiny girl was still crying when he manifested in his usual form and hugged him some as soon as he was solid enough, which was OK though, Inuyasha was willing to admit, ‘cause for once he, too, was a little shaken.

That Sango chick was not to be seen and the lecher monk for once had the tact to stay back until Kagome had calmed down ... ish. She actually stopped crying to get hopping mad and, surprisingly, direct her anger towards someone who wasn't him. Miroku took her abuse with a sort of apologetic face and no migraine ridden goddesses popped up to smite her for all those distinctly voiced intense emotions. Inuyasha was torn between joining the yell fest, since what he could make out in between her shrieks was valid enough, and leaning back to enjoy the show.
Well, that Sango bitch had all but thrown them into the dimension head first, without such helpful information as the name of the factory, or the fact that said factory was heavily guarded, or that its owner was a sadistic nutcase... And yes, for once, Inuyasha was willing to admit that what they had thus been forced to do to their counterpart's lives had left them beyond repair, and that was wrong! But, oddly enough, Inuyasha just didn't feel particularly mad about it... he felt an almost serene calm... and why were his hands trembling like that? And were those rapidly growing black dots shoving into his vision?

'Aw crap,' he thought when his knees gave away. 'Don't tell me I'm in shock. How ridiculous.'

He still refused to believe it when he came to again, and so when Kagome, who wasn't yelling anymore but fussing about him and helping him stand, asked what had made him faint he only grunted something about exhaustion, although that was hardly less embarrassing, especially because she obviously didn't buy it. He still felt decidedly better though. And adequately pissed off, too. Luckily for him, Miroku then decided that it was time to present to them a, as he said, “more than sufficient overview on the circumstances you will encounter in pursuit of the next piece of the sacred jewel” and darkened the room while conjuring, once again, the hologram table.

Inuyasha rushed to sit down, glad for the distraction. And Kagome followed, hopefully postponing any further intrusivenesses until he'd come up with a better excuse. Miroku began elaborating: “This mission will be, in a way, one of the most difficult ones, at least from a moralistic point of view. Taking the shard from its owners might cause considerable harm to a lot of people, but you'll agree that in relation to the inevitability of a universal collapse that is a price one must be willing to pay. “Right, now about the specifics of the dimension. You surely are familiar with so called 'Fantasy novels', or rather, 'Gothic novels', and their usual cast? Like werewolves, vampires and whatnot?”

At their nods he continued, “Well, this dimension has all of these, and more. Technologically its societies are far beyond what scientists of your dimension could possibly imagine, but that is also partly because spiritual energy, magic, for lack of a better term, has been part of their development from the very beginning. The sociological and political system of the area you are going to travel is, well, patriarchal, parliamentary monarchism, with a strong executive arm. There'll be lots of police and civil militia around, patrolling the streets, especially at night.

“As I said, this dimension has Undead, and they have become quite a menace to the human population in recent years. Larger cities, such as the one where the shard will be found, thus have installed large protective ban circles around major parts of the city. These ban circles are usually based on a sacred object, such as a reliquary or any object that has been prayed to and worshiped over a period of time. In your target city, the ban circle is especially large and effective because it is based on the shard of the Shikon no Tama. You probably see where this is heading: As soon as you take the shard, the barrier will collapse and leave the city unprotected until a new object is found. “What you could attempt to do is persuade the city’s official magicians to replace the shard, a process during which the barrier can be maintained, but with the social status of your counterparts and our rather tight schedule that is superfluous as it will prove fruitless. Therefore SHE asks you to just 'go ahead and take it'. “Which leads me to the next point: Your counterparts and how you'll meet and recognize each other. Your counterpart, Kagome, is a... woman of negotiable affection if you catch my meaning.”

Kagome shook her head puzzledly.

“He means she's a whore,” Inuyasha was glad to explain.

Miroku nodded. “Indeed.”

“Oh.” Kagome shrugged. “OK,” which left Inuyasha a little disappointed. What with the way she'd always freak out as soon as a situation allowed a sexual interpretation you'd think she was concerned about modesty enough to at least blush at that.

“Your counterpart, Inuyasha, is a young man living in the rural area near the city.”

“A peasant?”

“Not quite. Anyway, the shard is situated in a chapel that is part of the council house in the city's center and is heavily guarded. It should still be possible to get in there unseen, if you put your minds to it.”

A hologram flared up, the blueprint of a building. “The main entrances are guarded, windows and the supply door for the kitchens are not -" several parts of the drawing, the ones that symbolized windows and one that symbolized a door lit up red. “All in all, security inside the city wall is rather lax, they feel safe inside their barrier. Once you've gotten inside the building, there should be no one bothering you. Now, the chapel is on the third basement floor, the staircase is right here.“ Another door flared up. “Up to there, things should run smoothly. The stairs leading down are automatic, though, and as soon as they're in use after the building is officially closed, an alarm goes off in the security guard’s booth. So make sure you don't touch it on the way down, it should be possible.”

The blueprint changed. “This is the third basement floor. The chapel itself-” an area of four rooms lit up “- is guarded, there's only one man but he's not what you should worry about, it's the alarm button he sits right next to. Get him down before he hits it or you'll only have four minutes before the place is crowded with police and militia forces.”

The blueprint disappeared to be replaced by a detailed map of a city. “The council house lies in the center of the city, right here,” one of the buildings on the map changed color. ”You, Kagome, should be taking over your counterpart's mind when she's around this area, “ in the northwest of the city two intersecting streets and the area surrounding them flared up. <<Not sure if I interpreted this correctly. 2 streets cross and the streets in one of the angles light up?>>

“You'll be somewhere outside the city of course, Inuyasha, someplace west of it if I am not mistaken, but I presume that you'll find your way easily enough; the land is flat and the city is huge. The guards that watch the gates should let you through without a fuss once you've passed the barrier. The barrier works in such a way that it detects and repels people with malicious intent, so make sure you're not thinking anything wicked while you're passing.” Miroku chuckled, lecherously. “Seriously, though. The barrier does not go by your thoughts but by your heart. The Undead tend to have in their hearts the urge to still their hunger on human flesh or blood, a bit of a narcissistic superiority complex and a sadistic streak, too. The barrier detects all. So, even if they really make an effort to feel 'good' feelings while passing the barrier they're repelled. The same goes for humans, by the way. The barrier does not discriminate species. There are, of course, exceptions. For example if one matter, urge or feeling were to out weigh the bloodlust. But since the only reason an Undead would want to enter the city is to feed on humans, the barrier is, all in all, rather effective. However,, it only checks those passing through, not those already inside. So it does not actually prevent murder or criminality in general, even though its creators claim that.” Miroku shrugged. “But then again, those things are only human.

“As a place of meeting I suggest this small square here -” the hologram zoomed in on the area that was marked as likely for Kagome's counterpart's location and indeed, the two larger roads met in a square. “There's quite a high chance that you, Kagome, will already be in that square or close to it, since that square is not referred to as 'The Cleft' without a reason.

“Now, your counterpart looks like this -” and the map disappeared to be replaced by the slowly turning 3D picture of a woman dressed in a strange, broad collared, black dress held together in the front by a single button on her belly button. Auburn hair was piled onto her head and she'd donned quite a lot of the stuff women used to tint their cheeks red. Inuyasha was at a loss for words. Miroku gave a lecherous chuckle.

“Whooh,” Kagome said at last, after seconds of silence, and she voiced Inuyasha's feelings with that, too. “She's actually wearing that? Right.” A few seconds passed during which the hologram shifted from one foot to the other, briefly displaying a dark patch on her crotch that might have been underwear and might just not.

“Nevermind. What's he gonna look like?” Kagome asked then.

The woman kept on turning.

“Well?” Inuyasha urged. If this counterpart was going to be a wimp like all the previous ones... Finally, Miroku tore his eyes from the 3D pin up and another image flared up. Inuyasha thought he heard a strangled gasp from Kagome but really didn't know what she was so surprised about. At least this guy was tall, very tall if the scale of this image was the same as the one before. His face was a little girlish but that didn't mean anything. Inuyasha himself was the disgruntled owner of a baby face and could quite easily lift a van. Well, and with his shirt gaping open like that it was quite plain to see that his counterpart was kind of muscular. But he was also still human.

“Coulda been worse,” Inuyasha admitted.

Kagome shot him a look that he failed to interpret and then hastily turned away. Right.

The image faded and Miroku conjured the map again. “You'll probably enter through the west gate of the city wall, or one of the other gates close to that one.” Several spots in the city wall, a line that ran in a quasi circle through the whole area of the city lit up in the west.“No matter where you enter really, you'll hit Gate Street, a main road that follows the arc of the city wall, soon enough. There you'll most certainly meet someone you can ask for the way to 'Cleft Square'. They'll think you're a young lad looking for a good time and show you, I'm sure.” The image died and the room lit up again. Miroku leaned back in his chair. “That's it, I think. Any questions?”

“Yes, well, if I'm not in that... square, how do I find the way?” Kagome asked.

Miroku shrugged. “Best not ask someone of your counterpart's profession, lest you accidentally ask someone your counterpart knows and arouse suspicion. Just walk until you hit either Glory Road or Kidney Way, those are the streets crossing at said square, there should be street signs, and follow the general drift of the 'clients, or if you are really lost, ask one of them.'. You'll both arrive in the dimension at dusk, so there should be some people around the city.”

“How long do you think it'll take me to get into the city? Just so she knows when to take action on her own, you know, if I can't enter or get killed on the way.”

Kagome snorted. “Always assuming the worst, aren't you?”

“Yeah, that's called being realistic. One of us has to be, don't you think?”

“Being optimistic is not being unrealistic. It's being willing to see that everything's not lost right from the start. And that there is always something that can be done to help things along.”

“An hour, maybe more, I should think,” Miroku cut saving Inuyasha from an embarrassing lack of response to that. Damn the woman.

“But with the territory outside you never know. It could just as easily take you half the night. Just stay where you are, Kagome. Should something fatal happen, we'll take you out of the dimension again. Of course, that would be very unfortunate; you know why. Anything else?”


Kagome shook her head. “No. I mean I don't have a clue about the directions to the council house anymore, with how briefly you showed that map, but I guess he does anyway, so it's OK,” she nodded towards Inuyasha.

“Sure,” he agreed, a bit stupefied.

“Excellent!” Miroku eagerly let the rings on his staff jingle. “Now who wants to go in first?”

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Takin g over his counterpart's mind was strange, as usual, but at least this one was sitting down through the process. Inuyasha glanced around as soon as his eyes worked. The room he was in strangely reminded him of his... apartment, for lack of a better term, back in Berlin. It was rather small and untidy, and a thick black curtain blocked out any light from the outside. The furniture was strange, and not as futuristic looking, by far, as he'd expected from a world of unimaginable technological standard. Then again, neither were the clothes he was wearing, nor those of Kagome's counterpart. He wasn't all that sure about cultural history but they had a kind of baroquish feel to it, unlike the vampire stories he knew, that, in accordance to Bram Stoker, took place during the Victorian era. But he'd be damned before he started giving a shit about fashion.

There was only a small lamp spreading gloomy light but Inuyasha could see very clearly, so at least this counterpart had acceptable night vision; handy since they would have to sneak around a city by nighttime. The sense of smell was lacking, of course, but probably still good for a human. His hearing was ridiculous but – he bent and jumped – at least his counterpart was flexible and fit.This was a body he could actually work with.

He searched the room and the bedroom and bathroom to the left, the whole apartment it seemed, for a weapon or something to use as such but came up with nothing. In the end he kicked off two of the heavy wooded posts of his counterpart's large four poster bed and stuffed them into the conveniently large inside pockets of the dark, billowing coat he found lying on the floor beside the bed.

Feeling slightly reassured, he left the room through the other door and stepped out into a dark, short corridor that ended in a staircase leading upwards. As soon as he stepped on the first step, it began slowly moving upwards, carrying him past several corridors until he jumped off the step and in front of another door. He entered a larger, just as dimly lit room that was probably the foyer of the apartment house his counterpart lived in. There were four people, all around his counterpart's age, one sitting behind a counter and talking to another, another pair lounging in armchairs that were grouped around a coffee table. Everyone looked at him when he closed the door behind himself and he nodded a greeting, assuming they were acquaintances of his counterpart. He headed to the two winged entrance door but the guy standing at the counter called out to him.

“Oi, Nathael, what're you up to? Have you forgotten about our party tonight?”

Inuyasha whacked his brain for something noncommittal to say. “I'll just go out for a while, y'know, I'll be back in time,of course,” he drawled in the end.

“Whatever. See ya,” the guy turned back to his pal behind the counter. Just as well. Inuyasha stepped out of the door.

The sight outside was curious. When that bouzu had talked about 'rural' areas Inuyasha had imagined just that; fields, farms, and perhaps even a forest. But, obviously all rural meant in this dimension was that the houses didn't stand as close as inside the cities. Not a tree to be seen. To his left he could make out a bulky shadow before the horizon overhung with clouds lit from beneath. That would have to be the actual city. The street leading there was, as far as he could see, broad, straight and even, but also looked as if it wasn't actually in frequent use.

Suddenly something shot past him, a carriage of some kind probably, but it was reduced to another shadow with two flickering orange eyes of light within seconds. It was probably not that bad an idea to keep off the street, Inuyasha observed.

The run to the city was uneventful, surprisingly enough, and if it hadn't been for the occasional sheen behind the tightly shut iron shutters brimming with strange runes Inuyasha would have thought that every house he passed was deserted. But it figured that people would stay inside after sunset, if they really had trouble with the Undead around here, and if it was true that those couldn't stand sunlight.

The carriage to pass him was the only one he met on the way, which made him wonder. With a city as large as the one ahead, you'd think the streets leading there would be stuffed with cars. Was that, too, because of the undead problems? Mayb – well, not that it mattered.

So little distraction did his way offer that his thoughts kept trailing off, towards that stupid, overly sensitive girl who thought she knew it all, had him figured out. All that crap about him having no self respect, ridiculous! He was still alive, after all, wasn't he? And dying had more often than not, by far, been the easier way to go... aw, wait, crap, he was dead... well, but that wasn't the damn point, anyway. He did respect himself, of course he did, exactly as much as he deserved... which wasn't all that much, granted... come to think of it he was a wreck. Had he really choked on his own vomit back there? It had sounded kinda funny at first, cool almost, since a lot of cool people seemed to have kicked the bucket that way, but if you left that out and just faced the facts it was actually a very... pitiful way to go...

No! What did that little bitch think she was doing, anyway? Acting like he mattered to her, doing and saying those little things that made him feel cared for when it was obvious that he really was just a means to an end for her? An unpleasant but necessary tool she had no choice but to use to get her life back. The nerve of her, really. There he was, doing exactly what he was supposed to do, which seemed to be getting ripped apart on a daily basis to save her ass and get the shards, and she complained about it, the fucking nerve of her!

Only when his fist dented the iron entrance door of the house he'd come to seethe in front of and magic scorched his hand and panicked screams sounded from inside did Inuyasha realize what a state he'd worked himself into. And all because of that stupid girl. He shook his head, called an absentminded “Sorry,” and hurried off.
'Gods, I fucking need a drink,’ he thought, licking his burnt knuckles. It just couldn't be healthy to feel that much after years of carefully nourished apathy. He would not let her get to him anymore he decided then. How long had he been standing there, anyway?

Even in the outskirts of the city, no one was about, actually, the first people he saw were the two men dressed in a red uniform that stood besides an arched gateway in a tall wall that was probably the city wall. He approached them with what he hoped as an air of innocent insecurity and they bought it.

All in all it couldn't have taken him more than forty minutes to get inside the barrier give, or take the few minutes he'd spent standing in front of that house. Still, he felt a little drained, and dead thirsty, more so than his counterpart's physique had led him to assume he'd feel after such an easy jog.

Well, at least Kagome wouldn't have to wait very long. What with her counterpart working in that business, Inuyasha couldn't help but be a tad worried about her, out of professional interest, certainly. But still, a woman that'd do more or less anything for money had a strange allure for all sorts of creeps, he knew out of first hand experience. After all, throwing said creeps out and patrolling the streets for them had been his job a couple of years ago.

Still following the road straight on he did indeed soon hit another broad one, lined with houses and shops in succession and a dark paved sidewalk. The difference between life inside and outside the barrier was quite obvious. The shutters on the houses were open, people were about and strolling down the road, occasionally throwing glances into the brightly lit showcases of the shops. Inuyasha turned left since the brothel quarter lay in the northeast of the city, and hurried on. He waited until he met a likely looking guy to ask for directions and the man, cheeks red with busted capillaries, grinningly explained the way and sent him of with a slap on the back. So much for that; Miroku had been right.

Entering the streets where red light seemed to be first choice, he felt strangely at home. Well, he had worked in the business for quite some time, until he'd been kicked out, allegedly for nicking too much booze from the bar. He'd really been kinda sad to go at the time, for all he felt wronged by the accusation since he surely could not be expected to deal with those loads of freaks on a sober mind.

The homey feeling lost itself after a few paces though, because between the cheap, plastic appeal of late seventies whoredom, where heroin seemed to be lurking behind every corner, and the voluptuous glamour of the ladies standing in the doorways and occasionally calling out to him lay, well, quite literally, a whole dimension. And the dresses theywore, it was strange, maybe it was in fashion because of the imminent danger of vampire attacks but they all seemed to designed to draw attention to the neck.
In the square, the stream of people flocked into a loose crowd where for every pair that left, a new woman and a new desperate man<<?>> seemed to appear. Still, spotting Kagome was easy enough; she stood huddled in a doorway and was the only woman in the square not beckoning anyone to her. When he was close enough to smell her he was confused for a second, but then, under layers of perfume, yesterday's sex and some indistinguishable heaviness, yup, there it was, female sweat of that unique spice and, for some reason, sunlight.

He was about to call out to her when suddenly another woman pushed herself in front of him. “Hey there, fella,” she rasped, “forget that one. She's being picky tonight. Says she's waiting for someone. She'd probably even flip off a handsome one like you - “ but he shoved her aside.
“No thanks, I've made my pick,” he joked, and Kagome looked up.

“Inuyasha?”

“Yeah. Let's go somewhere quiet, alright?” and he was pleased to see her blush under the crackling layers of paint on her face. She was a prude; he knew it. All it took was a little innuendo to tickle it out of her- damn. He was not letting her get to him anymore, that should probably include the urge to tease her.

They left on Glory Road and took another turn into a tiny street that was more of a gap between two houses.

“Alright,” Kagome started as soon as they were sufficiently hidden in the shadows and out of hearing range. “People in this city are so paranoid, it's not funny. Did you see all those signs and posters on the walls?”

Actually, he hadn't. But, well, that dress of her counterpart was designed to distract.

“They were all about how to recognize vampires and werewolves, and what to do if you encountered one. But if people actually listened to that stuff, they'd have to call the guards every time they met someone hairy or someone tired looking with very fair skin -”

Either because they were stuffed rather closely together or because of the old joke that if you're told not to think about polar bears you can't think of anything else for days, not letting Kagome get to him was getting increasingly hard to do. What did her counterpart think she was doing, wearing a dress like that? His mouth felt so dry. And that black choker? It made the kittenishly fast pulsating of the artery under her almost translucent skin all the more obvious. Hypnotizing, really. Through the thunder in his ears and the sound of his own rapid breathing her voice sounded muffled.

“I mean, if I took all that seriously, I'd have to call the guards this instant. You look as if you haven't slept in a year and are a white as a bed sheet...” she cocked her head and reached out a hand to his face. “Are you alright, Inuyasha?”

Inuyasha was far from all right. He was rigid with shock. It couldn't be, right? He'd passed the barrier without trouble, hadn't he? It had to be something else!

On its own accord, his hand gripped hers and he pulled her wrist to his face. He could feel the lively heat of her skin and the blood gushing right underneath it. The hair on her arm suddenly rose in goose bumps and ever so softly tickled the skin of his lips as it swayed in the quickened rhythm her heart set. He felt a chuckle rise in his throat. She was turned on by this, the little minx, barely a drop of fear in her scent, but confusion and hesitant arousal. This'd be a fun one-

“Inuyasha? What are you doing?”

Her trembling voice splashed over him like a bucket of ice cold water. What was he- No! He dropped her wrist and stumbled sidewards. It couldn't be, why hadn't that bouzu told them?

“What's the matter with you?” she asked and reached that cursed hand out again. He needed to get away from her this instant!

“Wait here, I'll be back,” he choked out, biting his tongue when his fangs suddenly elongated. “Don't ask, just stay.”

On instinct he jumped up and didn't even wonder when he stayed afloat, just urged himself upwards, over the roofs and away from her voice calling his name in angry confusion.

He came to rest on a roof some streets further, or rather, crashed into it, since landing was a bit difficult when you hadn't known you could fly seconds before. He caught a tile that was threatening to fall and tried to think reasonably through the haze of hunger and lust in his head. How was this possible? How could Miroku not have told them his counterpart was a fucking vampire?! What should he do now? He'd have to get that bloodlust under control before he could return to Kagome; that much was clear. The sound of laughter flew up to his perch on the roof and the instinct roared up again. He reasoned the only solution; he'd have to drink someone else's blood, still the hunger, then he could face Kagome again. Or could he? How long would it last, anyway? What if the urge returned while they were down in the cellar of that council house and there'd be no-one around except her?

That Miroku sure was in for some murder as soon as they were out of this dimension.

Would he be able to control it, maybe? Rush through weakly lit alleys with her; watch perspiration create a wet sheen on the fair skin of her neck... Inuyasha swallowed as saliva gathered in his mouth. Fat chance of that happening, his eyes crossed from the mental picture alone. With her running around in that dress, it was already hard enough to pretend some of his less supernatural and more male urges didn't exist. How was he supposed to cope with these monstrous ones?

But going and killing some unlucky passerby to feed on the blood would mean reducing himself to the animal he'd always suspected was hidden somewhere inside him. No, the one he knew was hidden somewhere inside him, hadn't it shown its ugly face back then? The one he'd been running from for a good part of his adolescent life...

A faint scream ripped him back just before he fell down the cliff in his mind he usually was very careful to stay clear of. Where'd that come from? Could it have been Kagome? Leaving her and telling her to stay put was asking for trouble with her tendency to do the exact opposite of anything he told her to he realized. He ran and jumped across the roofs. The scream had come from the direction of the street where he'd left her.

And indeed, true to her trouble magnet nature, she'd somehow managed to get some creep to spot her in the shadows and try to go a round for free. Although the poor sod was probably already regretting his decision with the way she kept ramming her elbow into his stomach and biting the hand he'd clasped over her mouth. Not that Inuyasha felt particularly sorry for him. He jumped from the roof above and landed silently behind the man. His hand went out before he really knew what he was doing, just like before, and gripped th eman’s neck. Inuyasha broke it with a flick of his wrist.

Kagome tumbled to the ground when her attacker suddenly let go of her and scrambled away a bit before turning.

A chorus of a thousand voices howled and screeched in his head for him to go ahead and still the craving; her questioning voice failed to break through. He jumped up, the corpse dangling from his hand, and landed on another roof, where he proved to himself all over again that if there was one thing he was lacking, it was self restraint. He would have killed himself right on the spot, but the split second of calm afterwards was heavenly, better perhaps than the moment when his mind shut down after he'd drunk a sufficient amount of booze, and lasted just long enough for him to realize that if he was a monstrous beast anyway, he could at least try and not be a cowardly one.

He made sure to wipe his mouth carefully before he jumped down to Kagome again. She looked up when he crouched down at a safe distance.

“Is your counterpart... “ she began hesitantly.

“Yes, how cunningly observed. I'm a vampire,” Inuyasha spat out when all that self hatred inside him found the next best outlet.

“Oh my god! Why didn't Miroku tell us? Is he mad? Who knows what could have happened?”

He knew. He'd been so close, so close to - “I fucking took care of it, quit worrying. You're safe for the moment,” he hissed.

“But if you'd been recognized, you could have been killed! There are patrols all over the city, it says on the posters. Who knows what they'd do to a vampire who's gotten past their barrier?”

The turmoil soothed for a second, then flared up with twice the force. There she was again, pretending she cared about him when all she was really concerned about was the Shikon shard. But he shouldn't let her get to him anymore. He wouldn't let her get to him anymore. He wouldn't. With an effort he could almost feel physically, he shoved his emotions down until the thought of continuing to live was just disgusting, not impossible.

“It's late enough now; let's go find that council house.”

“Inuyasha?” that cursed hand of hers descended towards his shoulder. He beat it away.

“Don't fucking touch me! I hate it, I told you – come on now, I know where to go.”

And he marched off, so briskly that she only caught up with him several streets later, way beyond the red light district. He felt her eyes on him even though he could absolutely not face her and he didn't dare imagine what she thought of him now. Thankfully, she stayed silent through the whole march; she didn't even say a word when he dropped his coat on her shoulders saying her dress was drawing to much attention. Which was true. Everyone they passed ogled her as if they'd never seen a square centimeter of female flesh before.

The council house was right where it was supposed to be according to the plan, and getting inside unseen was beyond easy. Everything ran smoothly, but still required just enough of his attention to dull that trembling ache and the raging disgust. They exchanged a few words on the question of how to get down the stairs without touching them and in the end Inuyasha was forced to give in, yet again, and carry her down as he floated. But, although her neck still looked delicious any urges he felt were completely drained out by the sheer horror of what had happened earlier. The corridors downstairs lay in darkness except for one, the one leading to the chapel. They retreated into the room at the foot of the staircase and discussed the possibilities in whispers.
Inuyasha was beginning to feel kind of stupid facing away from her all the time but the thought of what her gaze might tell him about himself was terrifying. At last, when she suggested, “I could walk in there in this dress and try to distract him long enough for you to -” he whipped around.

But the anxiety of what might come made him forget he meant to declare her insane and his eyes came to rest on the wall behind her. There was something expectant about her sudden silence and it made him draw his eyes, ever so slowly, to her face. Where he was greeted with the very last expression he'd expected, a smile.

“It's alright,” she explained, with a serene certainty that made her look a lot older than her counterpart was. Inuyasha was about to ask what she was talking about but then thought better of it. Intrusive as she was, she'd probably guessed what he was about.

“It fucking is not, I -” he attempted.

She shook her head. “It's alright because you didn't want to.”

How ridiculous. What did she know?! About losing control like that, about waking and not knowing why one was plastered in blood, about hearing the muffled memory that was no conscious memory of his, a flashback of agonized screams, every time he tried to sleep. What did she fucking know?!

“You have no fucking idea what-”

“That's right, I don't. I didn't say I had, did I? I can not even begin to imagine what it's like to – but if you're feeling this horrible about it, it can't have been anything I'd want to imagine anyway. But that you're this broken up about it also means that you really, really didn't want to do it, . and if you're feeling as sorry for this as you seem to be, then that doesn't make the thing itself better, but it also doesn't make it something you have to hate yourself for. You could try to forgive yourself, somehow... I think.”

“What are you, a priest? There's nothing to forgive, don't tell me you feel sorry for that creep! He was trying to rape you, wasn't he?”

And, she looked hurt, which puzzled him even more than her strangely thoughtful ideas, but her expression lasted only for a second. Then she just looked angry. Inuyasha almost sighed in relief. That was something he could cope with, not all this strange talk and understanding. How was he supposed to not let her get to him if she was acting like that?

“Fine, be that way,” she snapped.

“I am.”

“Fine.”

“Yeah.”

“Now, about that guard, have you come up with something better yet?” she said in a voice that didn't even sound angry anymore. And still, Inuyasha felt more uncomfortable than before. As if she was observing him closely, in search of what, he didn't know.

“No, I mean I tried some of the- “ he was careful not to let his voice waver, “vampire stuff, like dissolving into fog and morphing with shadows or shifting shapes but nothing worked.”

“So are we gonna do it my way then?”

“No way, that's idiotic. He'll press the button as soon as someone's in sight, I'm sure.”

“Well, what then?”

They both lapsed into silence to think, but Inuyasha's thoughts wouldn't do as they were told. They kept contemplating her stupid and naive words. Forgiving himself the unforgivable, a complete loss of self restraint? The very idea...

“This is kinda dangerous too, but it might work,” Kagome interrupted his thoughts.

“Hn?”

“Well, as a vampire you're probably very fast, aren't you? And the corridor is not very long. And he won't expect anything to happen, right? Maybe you can just outrun his reaction. Knock him down before he presses the button. You think that'd work?”

He'd been so focused on the more supernatural aspects of vampirism that he'd forgotten about the almost natural physical superiority. As a hanyou, in his usual body, he probably could have the man unconscious before he'd even seen him; maybe this wretched vampire body was capable of something similar.

“It might. It's the best idea so far.”

“Then do it,” she urged impatiently.

“Alright, alright.”


In the end it seemed they needn't have worried. The man was busy reading a newspaper and didn't even look up before he was down. There was another barrier around the chapel itself but it didn't seem to regard their wanting to collect the shard as malicious intent. But those barriers were crap anyway, had to be, since they'd so completely failed to detect the savage beast inside him.

The altar standing at the back of the room was alight with a pinkish glow that seemed to intensify as Kagome drew nearer. The whole basis of that huge ban circle seemed to be a simple chalk drawing with the shard lying at its center. The smaller circle next to it, drawn around what looked like a tooth, probably was the one responsible for the barrier around the chapel. They stood in silence for a minute or so, and Inuyasha was sweating with discomfort at the how tense it was.

“Go ahead, take it. That guy won't be unconscious forever,” Inuyasha blurted out at last, just to say anything at all.

Kagome looked up to him with a frown. “There's something I want to try to maintain that circle before we destroy it completely,” she explained.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. “It's not like there's anything I can do to keep you from trying.”

She stuck out her tongue at him, but then she turned towards the altar again, her face slack with obvious concentration. She took the tooth out of the smaller circle, they both tensed, but nothing happened. Then she cradled it in her palms and closed her eyes. Minutes seemed to pass and Inuyasha grew restless. He took a look at the watchman and bound and gagged him with stripes of his clothing, just to be sure.Kagome hadn't moved when he returned. Suddenly she breathed out exasperatedly and opened her eyes.

“Alright, it won't work this way.” She looked at him in a very strange and calculating way. Then, in an even stranger voice, said, “I'd really rather that Miroku be my partner for these missions than someone as... “ she opened and closed her mouth several times, “as stupid as you!”

Inuyasha was at a serious loss for words. What had gotten into her all of a sudden? Maybe that tooth had made her go insane somehow? Why else would she go and say something like – wait... him, stupid?

“That's interesting, because if I look back at what's happened so far I'm kinda inclined to say you've been acting stupid all of the time!” he snapped.

She looked irritated for a second, but then she suddenly giggled, laughed.

“What's so-”

“I'm sorry, Inuyasha.” she explained in between chuckles. “You remember what Sango said about my ki? That it had to be triggered by intense emotions? I thought if we started a fight I'd be able to work some magic here, but that's just stupid. And you're not, by the way.”

Her laughter was magic in itself, had to be. Because Inuyasha couldn't help but laugh with her although there had been few times in his crap life when he'd felt as little like laughing as right then. That was why she sounded so strange. How stupid indeed.

As tense as the mood had been, it unloaded as abruptly and explosively. Why else would they erupt into such convulsions over something that was hardly worth a laugh?

“It's ri-diculous, really-” Kagome giggled. “We seem to be fighting all the time -”

“But the one time we need to, we can't,” Inuyasha finished.

“Oh, there it is! Laughter seems to work, too,” Kagome cried out suddenly, and indeed, as his chuckles slowed Inuyasha saw the same pink light erupt from her hands that tore apart the snake youkai, only this time there was something soft and... beautiful about it.

Kagome's ki seeped into the tooth until it was glowing more intensely than the altar with the shard, and Inuyasha understood what she was trying to do. She wanted to pour as much of her own holy powers into the artifact as possible, to create a basis for the barrier that was at least close to the power the shard gave it. 'Not bad,' he admitted. He actually wondered when she'd come up with that. In the split second after she took the shard and before she placed the tooth in its stead, Inuyasha thought he felt some kind of weight lift from the atmosphere, only to return with twice the force when the magical circle was complete again. But, that might just have been his imagination.

Kagome swayed a little when she turned to him and before Inuyasha knew what he was doing, he'd gripped her elbow to steady her, only to jerk his hand back when he realized.

“That might have been a bit too much of my energy,” Kagome slurred tiredly and then slumped against him. A bit unsure what to do with the now unconscious girl with the still offensively sleek neck, Inuyasha decided that fresh air might help and carried her up and out again unhindered, flying over some roofs until he found a large and not so steep one.

She came to after a while, a bit disoriented at first, but rapidly regaining her sharp mouth when he berated her about overexerting herself when she knew they needed her to get out of the dimension again, Her, in comparison to former outbursts, slight anger was enough to kick her remaining powers into gear and add the shard to the collection in her chest.

Inuyasha had the presence of mind to carry her down to the streets while she faded and attempted to get his counterpart's body outside of the barrier lest he... do things after Inuyasha's mind released what little control he had over the bestial bloodlust. He got well beyond the city wall when the last of his consciousness faded, much to his relief.

He gained existence in the interdimension to see Kagome unconscious again and strangely translucent, too. That soon-to-be-dead-a-second-time lecher of a supposed monk was hovering over her, way closer than was acceptable. Juust as Inuyasha leaped to do some killing he would not feel monstrous for, that cursed Sango bitch appeared and swept the monk out of his reach.

“Before you express your, I'll admit, momentarily<<why momentarily?>> fully justified anger, know that this time he acted on my orders.”

Inuyasha shrugged. “So it's you who's gonna suffer. I don't care. You fucking should have told me!”

Sango rolled her eyes. “As amusing as your threats are, we didn't tell you for a reason, and a valid one.”

“Can't wait to hear how you'll justify that,” Inuyasha pressed out between clenched teeth. The fucking nerve of that bitch! To claim there was a reason to be found in all of the universes that justified breaking up parts of his mind and memory he'd locked and nailed up completely for exactly twenty two years, eleven months and twenty six days. And to indirectly endanger Kagome's real life that she clung to so, by endangering her counterpart's life, Inuyasha saw that as the outrage it was even if the girl wasn't getting to him anymore.

“You wouldn't have been able to pass the barrier had you known you were a vampire,” Sango started.

“Exactly,” Miroku supplied from his perch close to the ceiling of the familiar living room Sango seemed to prefer. “Had you known you were a vampire, do you deny you would have tried to identify the expected bloodlust? And be it just to find a way to suppress it, you still would have been conscious of that desire, and perhaps the need to find Kagome as soon as possible, which was probably what allowed you through in the first place, would not have been the first thing on your mind and heart anymore. We couldn't risk that. And in the end, what difference would it have made if you had known?”

“A fucking big one,” Inuyasha assured fiercely, although the urge to kill both of them had abated to the very much normal urge to whack Miroku for being a lecher and stick his tongue out at Sango when she wasn't looking. Maybe they were right. Maybe. Probably. It wouldn't have made much of a difference at all, Inuyasha concluded at last, since the problem didn't really lie with the vampiric nature of his counterpart but with his very own monstrous abnormality. So, they were probably fucking right, those full themselves bastards.

Still, he'd rather chew off his own ears before he'd trust another word they said.

Then Kagome, who'd grown more solid during the last minutes, came to her senses again. Convincing her of Sango and Miroku's more or less good intentions proved surprisingly more difficult than convincing Inuyasha. She yelled bloody murder at them and Sango flinched but didn't smite her, and she was only calmed when Inuyasha himself told her to get a grip.

“You mean, you're OK with that? What you went through?” she asked, baffled. Inuyasha felt uneasy under her familiar scrutiny. Why did she keep doing this, those things that made him feel so... important?

“Sure. T'was nothing,” he lied defensively.

Then she looked hurt again, for whatever fucking reasons, but she shut up all the same.

“Right, now that this is settled, shall we proceed?” Miroku asked while he sank down from the ceiling and onto the couch.

Kagome sat down on the armchair next to Sango theatrically; now what the hell was her problem? Inuyasha plopped himself down next to the bouzu, who babbled on immediately.

“In the next dimension you'll be sent to a part of a planet where most of the life takes place on the sea. Your counterpart, Kagome, is a human servant member of the crew of a wolf youkai pirate fleet raiding the northern seas. Your counterpart, Inuyasha, is a husky-hanyou that is part of the raiding crew of the ship. You'll recognize each other easily enough I should think, you're both living on the main ship of the fleet, but just to be sure, this is what you look like.”

Two holograms flared into life out of nothing as the light dimmed. One was a man who bore a great resemblance to Inuyasha himself, what with the triangular dog ears, the long white and gray streaked hair and the clearly of Asian heritage, which actually made him the first since that wimp in the school dimension, Inuyasha realized. The other hologram depicted a small but sturdy looking, pretty Inuit woman. Both were dressed in plain, practicable clothing. They turned a few times, then the lights went on again and the pictures disappeared.

“The shard is in the possession of the fleet's captain, a wolf youkai, of course. You'll recognize him by his missing eye and the large hat -”

Kagome and Inuyasha snorted at the same time. Miroku stifled a chuckle himself. “Yes, he's cliché like that, I'm afraid, but he's the only one missing an eye on the whole ship. It's not really that common among pirates to lose body parts like other people lose hair; they need them, you see. Anyway, he's getting old and has quite the alcohol habit; tricking him should be easy enough. You might want to keep an eye open for his eldest son, though. His name's Kouga. He's captain in training and first mate at the moment, and he's... eager. But I'm sure you'll do fine,” he finished enthusiastically. “Any questions?”

“Where does the captain keep the shard?” Kagome asked, still very obviously not looking in Inuyasha's direction, which annoyed him increasingly. What was that about?

“On himself, but he puts it down with his clothing when he goes to sleep. The safest way to get your hands on it should be to get him seriously drunk, so he won't wake up when you search his cabin.”

“And do our counterparts have any friends on the ship? People we might offend?” Inuyasha wanted to know, half because he didn't want to go through useless hours of righting-the-wrong again, and half because he hoped it'd make Kagome look at him again. Which it did.

“Your counterpart, his name is Han-hu, the pun is, I think, intended, is a bit of an outsider, and he hasn't been around very long, so it won't come as much of a surprise if he doesn't socialize. Your counterpart, Kagome, her name is Su-hine, is one of the only three humans aboard and they keep mainly to themselves. Save for your counterpart, there's the cook, whose name is something unpronounceable, which is why he's usually called Cook, even by his own wife, who is the other human, and is called Haruko. I shouldn't think any other member of the crew knows your counterpart's name. It shouldn't surprise you to be referred to as 'Human' or 'Servant' or something like. Wolf youkai are not above eating humans; the ones they keep around usually have some special skill. The cook can cook, which they can't. The cook's wife can sew, which they hate. Your counterpart is some sort of girl for all purposes, she's good with her hands, which they are, too, but feel that some tasks are just beneath them. She cleans where necessary, helps the cook and his wife, and with repairs on the ship that need a deft hand.”

Inuyasha snorted at that and he thought he saw Kagome blanche. So much for her 'conformity is key' crap. She was a total klutz. He'd love to see her 'deftly' repair any part of a ship. She wouldn't make her counterpart look too good.

“Anything else?” Miroku asked. “No? Well then, who wants to go first?”

OOO OO O OO OOO

Inuyasha came to in a body that was clinging to a plank floating in a rough, fucking ice cold sea. At first, he actually thought Miroku had failed to tell him his counterpart was lacking a lower body, but that part of him was just numb with cold. He desperately tried to peer through the wet hair plastered all over his face but all he saw were hills of salty water, the color of anthracite, flocked with white patches of foam. Then he spotted some boxes floating close by, and more pieces of wood. What the fuck?

Had that lecher failed to tell them that the ship they were supposed to live on had just sunk? And what did that mean for Kagome? In a bout of panic, Inuyasha tried to heave himself onto the plank to gain a better overview but he felt very weak and kept slipping. Still, he didn't give up until his forearms were spiky with splinters and he felt close to unconsciousness. Well, whatever was going on, if something didn't happen soon, his stay in this dimension would be a short one. It wouldn't be long till he froze to death. Suddenly a yell sounded over the howling wind and before he could twist to search for its source, a massive shadow fell over him. Then, accompanied by another yell, something hard hit his head and knocked his head into his life-plank. He felt his arms give from the shock and the below freezing cold water swallowed him up. 'I'm going to hate this dimension,' was his last thought before the water closed over him.