InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Slayer of Nightmares ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter Two

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That Lorne had started up a new bar surprised no one who knew him.

Spike stepped through the doorway, let his eyes adjust for a moment, then scanned the interior out of habit. He wasn't exactly popular in demon circles; while Lorne enforced a 'no fighting' rule not everyone respected it. He'd been greeted with a punch before when entering this place.

Lorne was leaning on the bar, apparently talking shop with his bartender. The bartender was tall, skinny, pony-tailed, and model handsome. He had an Asian cast to his features, but absolutely no accent except for the usual Southern California one.

The bartender looked up, saw Spike, grinned, and Lorne turned around.

"Spikey-baby!"

Spike winced internally at the endearment, a little, but didn't let it touch his face. He liked Lorne; the demon was good people. The bartender he barely knew -- he tried to remember the guy's name, but could only come up with a nickname: Sailor. And he had no idea why people called the guy that.

"Hey, Lorne."

Without being asked, the bartender poured him a glass of blood and bourbon and set it on the counter. Spike sipped it with appreciation. "Thanks, man."

The bartender nodded, flashed Spike a smile, and then padded on down to serve a couple of demons at the other end of the bar.

"Haven't seen you in months," Lorne said, conversationally. "What's up with you?"

"Not much. Took out a couple of bugs of some sort -- didn't recognize the species -- last week. They were using people to feed their young." Spike sipped his drink. "Found a new Slayer; she's cool."

"Ick." Lorne shuddered, in reaction to the bugs.

"How's business?" Spike swirled his drink around in the glass.

"Sailor could use some help, if you want a job," Lorne offered. It was far from the first time he'd suggested Spike work here.

"Already too busy, sorry." Spike shrugged. It was an honest answer -- he was spending a good bit of his time hunting bad guys. "Hey, listen, I'm helping out the Slayer I mentioned. She's freelance -- didn't even know what she was until I told her, though she seems to have figured out the general idea of being a slayer all on her own. Wondering if you could look at a photograph for me and tell me if you've ever seen the guy around."

"A Slayer?" Lorne teased. "Not the Slayer?"

Spike scowled, and Lorne shook his head. Somberly, he said, "I can't believe she hasn't returned your letter, Spike. You ought to go pay her a visit."

"Fuck that. She's got my cel phone number if she wants to call. It was in the letter." Spike said, short and angry. He'd finally gotten up the nerve to write Buffy a letter after they'd barely survived the disaster that had been the fight with the Senior Partners -- she hadn't even sent him a postcard in response.

Lorne said, sympathetically, "She's not returning Angel's calls either, for what it's worth. I'm not sure if she's pissed at both of you or in trouble."

"There hasn't been the slightest rumor of any apocalypse bigger than the usual." Spike said. He was betting on pissed for Buffy's reason for not replying to his letter. And he'd come to the conclusion that, as much as he loved Buffy, he wasn't going to be her dog anymore. So if she didn't have the common courtesy to pick a phone up and call him or send him a letter in response he wasn't going to go crawling back to her. "At any rate, Kagome's a unique one, that's for sure -- she was killing demons before Wil cast that spell on the Potentials. And she's a witch."

"Man. Sounds like trouble." Lorne, demon, said with some concern.

"Oh, yeah," Spike said, with appreciation. Girl and trouble was not necessarily a bad thing, in Spike's mind. "She's great. And no, I don't think she'll be trouble. She can take care of herself, that's for sure, but she's not blindly homicidal. And she's got some smarts and experience already with dealing with the weird stuff."

"So she's hunting someone?" Lorne asked.

"Not like you're thinking. She's trying to find a friend. Here," Spike showed Lorne the photograph. "Ever see him before?"

"Cute." Lorne said, regarding the man in the photo. "I can see why she wants to find him. But no, I haven't ..."

Sailor, peering over Lorne's shoulder, said unexpectedly, and in a voice of complete surprise, "Inuyasha."

Score! Spike thought, cheerfully. "That's what she said his name was. Do you know him?"

"Hai -- yes, we go way back. He's a hanyou, half-demon. I doubt he'd ever come in a place like this without a reason; he hasn't ever gotten along with full demons. It's not so bad as it used to be for hanyou, but Inuyasha's been burned a lot in his life and lately life's been meaner than usual to him." Sailor tilted his head sideways. "Who's looking for him? I don't think he has any friends."

"You know him personally?"

A shadow crossed the man's perfect features. "Mmm ... yes, though not well -- not anymore. He kinda keeps to himself, pushes anyone away who gets near him. He has his reasons, I guess."

"Where can we find him?"

"Who's looking for him?" Sailor repeated. "I actually do care about the idiot; I don't want him tangling with a Slayer or something."

"Well -- actually, funny you say that," Spike sighed and added truthfully, "It is a Slayer, but she's freelance and she says she's an old friend of his. Something about time travel five hundred years into the past ... anyway, I don't think she wants to slay him."

Sailor froze. Then, suddenly, a positively devilish light touched his brown eyes. "Oh, dear. No way. No way." He chuckled, sounding vastly amused. "Oh, this should be good. I never knew exactly what year she was from, and I never expected to see her on this side of the ocean, but -- by any chance -- would this Slayer's name be Kagome?"

"Yeah, that's it. You know her?" Spike said, surprised.

More chortles from the man. "Hell, yeah. Oh, Inuyasha needs her. Mmm. Kagome's was a Potential? That's just perfect. It must be fate."

"Where can we find him?"

"I can track him down easily enough. I'll convince him to come here -- if I say I need help he may come; he's kind of an asshole, but one of his few redeeming qualities is that he will help a friend in need out. Grudgingly, but he'll do it." Sailor grinned. "We go way back; I think he hasn't completely disowned me. And hell, I can't wait to see Kagome myself!"

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Kagome was more than surprised when Spike showed up at her apartment very early the following morning, before the sun was up. He was grinning broadly, looking quite proud of himself.

"Did you ..." she breathed out. She stepped out her apartment door, letting it click shut behind her. "Did you find him?"

"I think so. There's a demon bar run by a friend of mine. His bartender claims to know Inuyasha." Spike lit a cigarette and took a deep drag on it. Kagome wondered what it said about his personality that he smoked; while vampires couldn't get lung cancer, there was the more immediate threat of being flammable and holding a burning stick of tobacco.

"I've heard that before," Kagome said, warily, about Inuyasha. She didn't want to get her hopes up too high -- she'd done so before and it hurt too much when they were dashed. "It's usually a trap to lure me somewhere secluded so the demon can make a snack of me."

"Sailor knew your name, Chibi." Spike said, with a pleased grin on his face. He was proud of himself, it looked like. "I didn't tell him that bit. He guessed it was you looking for Inuyasha. I think we've got a hit, girl."

Oh. She threw her arms around the vampire's neck and hugged him, eliciting a startled grunt from him. He smelled of smoke and leather and a faint undertone of booze. "Thank you, then!"

He returned the hug, somewhat awkwardly, cigarette waving in the air somewhere near her ear, and she let go after a moment. "So anyway," Spike said, eyes dancing with amusement, "We figured we'd surprise your friend. Sailor's going to get him to come to the bar tonight. Do you want to surprise him?"

"Do I ever! Oh, kami-sama, thank you! Spike, you've done in one day what I haven't been able to do in years!"

"It's all in knowing who to ask," Spike shrugged, nonchalantly. "For future reference, if you ever need to find someone, ask at Lorne's bar. Lorne usually knows everybody, and if he doesn't his staff often does. He hires them largely for their social skills."

"I'll keep that in mind!" She hugged him again, impulsively. "You are my hero!"

"Heh. That's me, hero to damsels everywhere." Spike said. He glanced at the sky, which was quickly growing light. "Listen, I've got to get going, get home before the sun comes up. I gave Lorne and Sailor your cel phone number -- they'll call you to confirm it's all set up later."

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Twelve very anxious hours later, Kagome stepped into the demon bar, a little wary, butterflies churning in her stomach. Inuyasha. After all these years, she was sure she'd finally found him. Sailor had called to tell her Inuyasha was coming -- she'd tried to find out more about the man, but he'd been a bit evasive, simply saying the Inuyasha went way back. She'd heard amusement in that voice, like the man knew something she didn't, but had no clue what that was about.

The bar itself was surprisingly upscale -- she'd visited a number of less respectable establishments in the last few years, but had never been here. It looked new, and most of the demons inside (and a few humans) appeared to be well off.

A slim, dark-haired man peered out from the kitchen behind the bar, saw her, smiled. and disappeared again. That was odd, she thought -- she could have sworn the man looked familiar, though she couldn't begin to place his face.

The bar itself was being tended by a tall, green-skinned demon with horns. She tensed a bit, recognizing one of the more violent species of demon, but the man merely waved with a waggle of his fingers. Then he pointed at a table in a dark corner of the room. Apparently, Spike had told him to expect her.

Mostly hidden in the shadows, Inuyasha was there.

She stopped, for a moment, just drinking in the sight. Three long years since she'd seen him last and he was alive, now, here, in the modern world. It was more than she'd ever dared dream of all those centuries ago.

Inuyasha was real as life in front of her, and damn but he looked good. As in the photograph, he wasn't wearing his haori nor did he have Tessaiga with him. Instead, he had on a heavy-metal band t-shirt that fit snugly, displaying the muscles she well remembered. His face, however, was exactly as it had always been -- he didn't look to have aged a day.

He was turned slightly away from her and she could see his hair was down well past his waist -- though there was a change there. He wore it in a thick pony-tail now, caught back with a silver clasp. It made him look a bit older and more mature. It's sexy, that way, she thought, with a grin.

After all these years he was still wearing the rosary. He hadn't managed to rid himself of it. It suited his current appearance well -- the claws and beads made him look just a little bit punk.

Grinning, she walked across the room, pulled out a chair, and simply sat down at the table. He looked up, surprised. She lifted an eyebrow, waiting for his reaction when he saw her and realized who she was. She knew her appearance had changed little -- she was taller, a bit curvier, and her hair was shorter. But really? Not so different.

But the response she expected just didn't come. No recognition lit in those eyes -- absolutely none at all. Instead, he said shortly, "Not interested. Go proposition someone else."

"Hey!" She protested, a bit stung. "Inuyasha ..."

"I said I'm not interested." His amber eyes flicked over her, flat and cold. She suddenly regretted the impulse that had led her to wear a low-cut t-shirt and skimpy shorts. It wasn't anything worse than her school uniform a few years before, but it had also been a deliberate choice -- sexy clothes, for a man she was perfectly willing to admit she found most attractive. Once upon a time, the interest had been mutual. Not that they'd ever been willing to acknowledge it.

Sometimes, at night, she wished she could give her fifteen-year-old-self a swift kick in the rump and tell her to kiss the jerk already, he's not going to bite you!

Well, maybe she'd get an unexpected second chance. And this time, things would be different.

Apparently, he'd taken the skimpy clothing entirely the wrong way and thought she was some slut (or worse) trying to pick him up. Well -- she was trying to imply a few things to him, but she was hardly a slut. Hell, she was still technically suitable for feeding to dragons. The only guy she'd ever even kissed was sitting in front of her right now.

By his expression, however, he didn't recognize her at all. Period. That hurt.

"Inuyasha ..." She said, trying to get him to look at her. C'mon, dog-boy. It's been five centuries but I can't believe I made that little of an impression on you.

" Keh. Go away. Not buying any. I'm just meeting a friend who said he needed some help." He made a dismissive gesture. The keh noise was so familiar it made her want to cry for joy. She'd found him! And he still wasn't looking at her with anything approaching dawning comprehension of who she was. He sat shortly, "I'm not looking for a date."

"Idiot." She snorted, anger starting to rise. "You haven't a foggy clue who I am, do you? I've been looking for you for years."

He said impatiently, "That's it, I'm out of here ... that damned fox can find me somewhere else." He stood up, grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair, and headed for the door.

"Wait!" She grabbed his sleeve as he started to walk past her chair. "Don't you wonder how I know your name?"

"The damn trickster's playing games and he told you," Inuyasha said, with confidence. He tried to pull free, and she transferred her grasp to his wrist. "This is some prank he's pulling on me. I am not amused. Bastard probably thinks I need a good lay or something."

Well, at least the clothes worked. Though the next time I see him, I think I'm wearing the most shapeless sweats I own. Bastard indeed.

"Wait a second. Hear me out, Inuyasha. This isn't what you think. I'm not propositioning you -- at least, not yet." She flashed him a teasing grin, expecting a blush, because that's what her Inuyasha would have done, had she been so bold years before. The difference between fifteen and twenty was a lot of confidence!

"Let go." His voice suddenly held flat menace. She'd heard hot rage from him before, plenty of times, but never that particular tone of cold, deadly threat. It startled her, and it had been in direct response to her attempt to flirt.

"No." She said, refusing to let go -- perhaps unwisely, but this was Inuyasha and she couldn't conceive of him hurting her. Deep down, he had to know who she was.

She never even saw the blow coming. The back of his hand smashed into the side of her head with stunning force. The chair she was sitting on started to tip over backwards -- what Spike called "Slayer reflexes" kicked in and despite the fact that he'd hit her hard enough to make her vision go black with gold sparklies she did a backwards handspring over the falling chair and cart wheeled to her feet. Instinct caused her to land in a fighting stance.

Inuyasha stared at her with wide, startled eyes. For a moment, she thought he'd recognized her -- but the recognition was of an entirely other kind. "A Slayer." He growled, the cold anger going hot and furious.

She had one heartbeat to see him shift his weight into a deadly attack. His claws were out and his teeth bared and he was coming for her with every bit of the ferocity she remembered of old -- but that fury had never, ever, been turned her way. No amount of Slayer strength and speed was going to stop that attack. She was going to die!

"SIT BOY!" She screamed, high and terrified -- never had she delivered a "Sit!" with that much panic in her voice.

He slammed into the ground, hard, and slid to a stop an inch from her feet.

Silence.

More silence.

For a moment, she thought she'd actually knocked him unconscious. He wasn't moving. His ponytail slid across his back and pooled on the ground beside him, a silver banner. Concerned, she leaned over and verified that he was at least breathing. His breath was coming rapidly.

Finally, "Fuck."

She waited, heart in her throat, wondering if he was going to attack her again when he could move. On the other hand, he ought to know her now ... there was no way in freaking hell he could forget being sat by the rosary.

"Fuck." He banged his forehead against the ground. "Fuck." He did it again. "Fuck." A third collision of skull with the dusty floor.

"Inuyasha?" She said, hesitantly.

"..."

No comment, she supposed, was probably better than profanity.

"Can you get up?"

"I fucking forgot how fucking much that hurts." He still wasn't trying to stand -- or even looking up at her. And he was still swearing profusely.

"Do you ... do you remember me now?" She said, hesitantly, and not entirely able to keep the hurt out of her voice. She knew her appearance hadn't changed much at all; how could he have forgotten her?

Five hundred years, A tiny voice whispered in the back of her head. It's been five hundred years. He might not even remember your name.

"Kagome." He said, quietly. No profanity and she'd never been so glad to hear her name from Inuyasha before. At least he remembered that much. His next words, however, sent her heart back to her toes, because there was absolutely no warmth in them, just snark. "I'm so glad to see you haven't lost your touch."

"Get up." She said, impatiently. "Quit feeling sorry for yourself. You know damn well you more than had it coming."

Stiffly, he sat up. His lip was swollen and he still looked very mad -- though not homicidal. She relaxed a little, though she wouldn't be surprised if Inuyasha walked in her nightmares tonight. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Looking for you. And going to college here. I found out you were alive and I had to make sure you were okay. Inuyasha, I know it's been a long time, but ..."

"Go away, Kagome." He stood up, spat blood, and said, "Go away, forget you ever knew me."

"I can't do that! Inuyasha!"

"You don't want to be involved with me right now, Kagome. Trust me on this one. And if you ever 'Sit' me again you'd better be willing to start sleeping with your eyes open." That was delivered in a tone of voice of anger she did recognize -- and she blanched.

She couldn't believe he was speaking to her like this -- like she didn't matter, like she was nothing but a threat to him. There wasn't the slightest hint of the grumpy affection that her Inuyasha had always had in his voice when he was yelling at her. His eyes were cold and hard and he stared at her until she looked away, uncomfortable.

He picked his coat up off the ground and said, "Don't follow me."

"I-inuyasha!"

He stalked out the door without looking back.

Her breath hitched in her chest. She'd dreamed of this reunion for years ... she'd never thought it would be like this ... she wanted to scream grief, it was almost as if the Inuyasha she'd known was dead. He never threatened me like that. Not ever. 'Better be willing to sleep with your eyes open ...' that was an honest threat to kill me, I think. He wasn't bluffing.

She knew Inuyasha. She knew the difference between Inuyasha pissed off and cranky and Inuyasha deadly serious. That statement had been very much of the latter category.

"Kagome-chan."

She turned, forcing tears and sobs back with sheer force of will. The dark-haired man stood there -- he was dressed in designer jeans and a bright green silk shirt. He sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Kagome-chan. I thought perhaps ... well, he's an asshole, but I didn't think he'd inflict his asshole-itude on you to the degree he does to the rest of the word. I was obviously wrong."

"Who are you?" He was so very familiar.

The man gave her a crooked grin. "Would you believe I'm Shippou?"

Oh. Sailor. Duh. It's a rather lame pun. Ship-o.

He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her in a hug of greeting. "I'm sorry, Kagome-chan, I really am. He just hasn't been the same since Amelia died."

"Shippou?" Now she did burst into tears, unsure if she was crying because Inuyasha had just shattered her heart, or if she was crying tears of joy because another one of her friends was alive and well. At least Shippou was glad to see her. Into his shoulder she said, "You're all grown up!"

"Five centuries will do that." His embrace was tight, for a moment.. "I've missed you, Kagome. I'm so glad to see you. I remember you well, even if he doesn't."

"Did you send that letter?"

"Letter?" Apparently not. He let her go, and said, "I wasn't even sure what year you started going through the well. I've been a little hesitant to look you up for fear of creating a paradox if I did. I take it enough time's passed now ..."

"Yeah." She sniffed; her nose was stuffed up. "It's been three years."

"Hey." He reached onto the table, retrieved a napkin, and handed it to her.

"Shippou, what's wrong with Inuyasha?" She wiped at her eyes and blew her nose.

"Aren't you going to go after him and find out?" He said. "It's not my story to tell."

"I ... he didn't exactly sound like he wanted to see me. He tried to kill me." She was under no illusions about the deadly nature of his attack. If not for the rosary, he'd have torn her to shreds.

"Exactly why you need to go after him. Kagome, Inuyasha needs you more than he's ever needed you before. If you can't help him, I don't think anyone can." Shippou paused, then added, "Oh, and be careful. And I don't mean about Inuyasha, though that applies too -- I mean look out for other trouble. I don't know all the details about what happened -- Inuyasha won't talk about it -- but he's made some bad enemies."

"Thanks." She hugged him again, briefly. It was hard to believe that this tall, poised man was the kitsune she'd known so long ago -- but when she looked him in the eyes, she could see the resemblance. The baby had become a man -- and had done something weird to his hair, which had been a reddish brown -- but he still had the same old soul. Shippou had always been uncannily perceptive; he didn't sound like he'd changed much. She asked, "How do I find you?"

"I work here." Shippou snorted. "I'm real hard to locate, Kagome. Go on, go see if you can catch idiot-boy. I'll be here if you need to talk to me later, or if not, Lorne can give you my cel phone number. Lorne's good people. Go!"

Gently but firmly he shoved her in the direction of the door. He repeated, very firmly, "Go on. He needs you."

She turned around, and said softly, "Thank you. And, uh, wish me luck."

"Yeah. You're gonna need it. Go!"