InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Slayer of Nightmares ❯ Chapter Four ( Chapter 4 )

A Slayer of Nightmares

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Chapter four

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"Hey. Kagome. Get up."

Kagome opened one eye. It was dawn, by the ambient light in her bedroom.

A pair of amber eyes were inches from hers. She blinked, remembered Inuyasha, and managed not to scream. Adrenalin thrummed through her veins in shock, though, and something of her Slayer instincts to hit and kill must have shown on her face because he hastily withdrew and stood with his arms folded near the door. "You need to let the vampire in."

Vampire. Spike. Morning -- sunrise. Vampire go crispy in direct sunlight. Vampire need an invitation to get inside out of the sun. She made a rapid connect-the-dots assumption, and lifted her head from the pillow and noted that the sun was definitely up. She could hear swearing and Shippou's voice, "Here! Wrap up in this!"

"Spike! Come in!" She shouted -- then only after the fact did she question the wisdom of inviting a vampire into her home. Particularly one that could fight at the level she'd seen last night. Nah, it's Spike. I think I trust him. And I can always disinvite him later; I'm sure I could figure out how to do that if I had to.

"Bloody hell," Spike's British accent growled from the living room, a second later. Spurred into action, she kicked her way free of the covers and stumbled into the living room in her pajamas.

Spike was faintly smoking in the middle of her living room, looking disgruntled and thoroughly disreputable -- and he'd apparently been cowering under her quilt, because he still had it in his arms. He had a black eye and a fat lip and blood smeared on his face. Shippou, next to him, looked completely unscathed. Both men were grinning like loons, and she got a distinct whiff of alcohol rolling off one or both of the pair.

"Damned trickster." Inuyasha growled at Shippou. "You said you needed my help."

"I lied." Shippou said, shrugging. "It was worth it, ne? Kagome-chan cares about you and you'd never have come if you knew the truth."

Inuyasha gave Shippou a one-finger salute. "I also got turned human because of you. The Slayers have no idea where my house is; it's owned by a trust. But I'm sure they've been watching the demon bars for me. Might even have a few paid informers. So fuck you!"

"You couldn't handle me," Shippou shot back, with a laugh of open amusement, causing Spike to cackle and Kagome to suffer a severe case of mental whiplash. This was Shippou? This roguish young man was the kitsune she'd known as an adorable child? "Sides, the spell will wear off eventually, no harm done, right?"

Inuyasha stalked into the kitchen and started messing around with her teapot.

"Hey, make me a cup, if you're making tea ..." Spike said, a request that only got him a look from Inuyasha.

"So did you guys deal with the Slayers?" Kagome asked.

Spike snorted. "You need to go talk to Buffy, Kagome. And you," he pointed at Inuyasha who stiffened but didn't turn around, "I'll kill you myself if you don't shape up. You got a soul, Rover, but that don't mean you're nec'ly on the side of the light."

"Don't call me Rover." His tone of voice that made Kagome wince. The last thing she needed was for Spike and Inuyasha to end up fighting. And it would be perfectly in character for Inuyasha to light into an ally -- unfortunately, she didn't know how Spike would react.

"By the way," Kagome said, trying to smooth things over a bit, "Inuyasha, this is Spike. He's the one who found you for me. Say thank you."

"Feh." He added water to the teapot and put it on the stove.

"That's 'thank you' in Inuyasha-speak," Shippou put in.

"Yeah, I figured. Just make sure I don't regret doing this, Rover." Spike snorted.

"Don't call me Rover!" Inuyasha whirled around and held the teapot up like he was going to throw it. Even in human form, he could look pretty menacing when he was angry.

"Probably best if you don't call him that," Kagome said, mildly. "He doesn't like dog references much."

Spike looked like he was about to snap back at Inuyasha for a moment. She glared at the vampire, and he sighed, and said, "Well, sorrrrry."

It wasn't exactly a sincere apology, but then again, given the target of said 'sorry' was almost physically incapable of saying the word himself, she figured it would do. "Okay, what do we do now? We need to get the Slayers off his back."

Inuyasha turned his back to the discussion again. She saw him get out a box of earl grey from the top shelf and set about making a pot.

"Buffy's got a serious mad-on over Inuyasha if she's hunting him with both Faith and Willow -- Willow's one hell of a witch -- though actually, given it was Kennedy that he killed first, Wil might have demanded to play on this one. They were lovers." Spike mused, pulling a kitchen chair out from the table and straddling it backwards. "That's not to say either of them couldn't forgive Inuyasha, 'cause I've seen them forgive people for some major things before." He eyed Inuyasha for a moment, then said, "Kennedy was a good guy, fighting the good fight, Inuyasha. I can't say as I'm happy to hear you were behind her death either."

Inuyasha didn't even flinch. He just fixed Spike with a level gaze and said, "She killed my wife."

"Which is why I'm not exactly siding with the Slayers on this one." Spike said, giving Inuyasha a flat, disgusted glance that said, isn't-this-obvious? Then he sighed, and said to Kagome, "I asked around; word is on the street that they're viewing him as a minor big-bad and devoting quite a few resources to taking him out. Inuyasha, you've made a bad enemy in the Slayers."

"They made a bad enemy in me!" His retort was instinctive, a spinal reflex -- Kagome would only have been surprised if he hadn't postured a bit in response to a threat.

"Yeah, well, you're the demon and they're generally considered the good guys." Spike pointed out, sharply. And you've killed a bunch of them. "Go do the math, Rapunzel."

Rapunzel. Kagome bit back a laugh and waited for Inuyasha's explosion. Curiously, it didn't come ... He just poured cups of coffee from the pot that was still in the coffee machine.

"I don't understand why you're helping us either, Spike," Kagome said, keeping her eyes on Inuyasha. He was being domestic, making tea and coffee (though the coffee was going to be vile) and it rather worried her simply because it was such strange behavior. On the other hand, he'd had five hundred years to learn something approximating how to be nice to friends. "I know you've decided we're the good guys in this -- but Buffy and her Slayers are your friends, I thought."

He gave her a sideways look and said, "Buffy's a friend. She's an amazing woman. The rest of her people ... I don't trust 'em. And I ain't fighting with them unless I've got good reason, not anymore. I'd trust my damned grandsire before I'd trust them ... They've tried to kill me more'n once, 'cause of what I am. They don't trust me. Don't like me. And I ain't forgotten that. -- I bloody hell saved the world, more'n once, at their side. And they still wouldn't dream of letting me into their little in club."

This little speech got a frown in Spike's direction from Inuyasha, and the hanyou hunched his shoulders a bit. He had clearly heard those words.

Inuyasha walked over and handed mugs of coffee to Kagome and Shippou. Kagome sniffed her coffee. She could tell simply by the odor that it was a bit old now. On the other hand, she suspected this was as close to a thank you as the hanyou was going come. Even a complete moron would have to realize she was running on rather minimal sleep.

"Thank you, Inuyasha. I appreciate it." If he didn't drink coffee he couldn't appreciate the vile nature of coffee that had been on the burner since one AM the previous night ... which was only three and a half hours, she realized suddenly. Fighting the urge to hold her nose, she swallowed several gulps of the now very bitter and oily black liquid. She needed it, nasty or not!

Shippou apparently felt the same way; he was downing his cup without comment.

Spike suddenly reached out and caught Inuyasha's hand. Inuyasha tried to pull free, and he made a noise very like a growl despite his human throat. Spike ignored that, and traced the deep scratch on Inuyasha's wrist with one finger. "You know," Spike said, conversationally, "There's no guarantee that you'll be with her if you die that way."

Inuyasha reclaimed his wrist and glared.

"I heard about Amelia, from a few people on the street who are friends with the Slayers. Been asking around, I'm nosy that way," Spike said. His voice had gone soft and urgent, curiously gentle; there was none of the rough-around-the-edges tough guy in his demeanor now. "I'm sorry about what happened. It sounds like it was a major fuckup on the Slayer's part. But believe me, you kill yourself 'cause you're missing her? No guarantee you end up with on a cloud with harps and angels and your lady love. Dying might be worse than living. All depends on where you end up."

"Keh."

"Think about it." Spike said, shortly. "I've seen hell. More'n once. Your Amelia isn't the woman I think she was if she's there." He paused, and sighed, and added, "Sometimes, you have to find things to live for. You got a good start right there."

He pointed at Kagome, who blinked in surprise at being singled out by the vampire, and blushed.

Silence, from Inuyasha. But he also shot Kagome a look -- one that she absolutely couldn't read. Suddenly, though, he turned his back to her and stalked stiffly to the window. It was funny how even as a human she could see the demon in him. He was pissed off and angry.

Spike said, voice urgent, "Friends like that are bloody special. Trust me, I know. Do her justice, Rapunzel."

Speech apparently over, Spike nodded at Kagome. "Care if I crash on your couch today? Promise I don't bite. Or snore."

"Or breathe," Inuyasha muttered under his breath.

"Yeah, fine." He couldn't leave anyway. Kagome didn't have an issue with it at all; she liked the vampire. He's good people, that's for sure. I hope he's not in too much trouble with Buffy. Because he does care about her a great deal.

She contemplated what would have happened if she'd ever pulled a stunt like he'd done with Buffy on Sango and Miroku and couldn't even imagine their reactions.

"I want to go by my place today," Inuyasha said, suddenly. "Need clean clothes 'n shit."

Kagome realized, He's staying here. He's just assuming he can stay with me, which is awesome. I must have gotten something through that thick skull of his last night, or he's subconsciously remembering what things were like between us once ... He's trusting me. More than that, he's accepting that it's okay for me to help him -- and okay for him to accept that help.

Relief surged through her veins. Somehow, some way, she was starting to reach him. Thank God. It was a huge step in the right direction.

"Sure, I'll drive you over. The Slayers don't know where you live, do they?"

"No." Scorn, there. "I'm not that stupid. Everything's in the name of a trust, and it can't be traced back to me. And there ain't a Slayer alive who could track me without me knowing about it."

"Don't underestimate Buffy," Spike said, suddenly, to Inuyasha. "She's a bad one to have as an enemy. Take it from me. I love the woman, and I've seen her at her best and worst. You're up a creek right now, bud. She's gunning for you bad, 'n you best skip town until she cools off. I would. Hell, I have! That woman's taken out a god and closed a Hellmouth!"

"If you love her, why are you helping me?" Inuyasha asked, doubt and suspicion filling his voice. Despite what Spike had already said, Inuyasha clearly didn't trust him. "Seems pretty much a betrayal even if you don't like her friends."

Spike snorted a laugh. "If the world was ending or summat, sure, I'd be helping her. Give my life for her, I would -- have, actually. Her dog, her champion, all that crap. Don't mind fighting a bit with her for old time's sake, though, when she's in the wrong and it ain't the end of the world. 'Sides, turn about's fair play. Her people wouldn't help us when the stakes were nigh apocalyptic. I ain't forgotten that. And she didn't answer my letter."

Kagome thought the last bit was the truth of why he'd chosen to side with them. There was hurt, there. She asked quietly, "Are you sure she got it?"

"Nah. But even so, she had to know years ago I was alive. Her network's pretty good, and I haven't exactly been working undercover. I've even had a friendly chats with the local Slayers so's they know who I am. I'm sure she gets regular bulletins on what I'm up to." Spike shrugged nonchalantly, but Kagome wasn't fooled -- she saw the darkness lurking in his blue eyes. "Anyway, she's never loved me back and I guess these days she doesn't need me anymore. I've been, at best, a friend; most of the time, just a useful tool for her. Her strongest fighter and all that."

Ouch. Kagome's heart went out to him; she understood that feeling rather well. Heh. Shard-detector on two legs here. Forgotten shard detector.

On the other hand, the other Slayer had looked positively stunned when Spike had appeared. I'm not so sure that was just shock that he was fighting against her that made her look like that. I think I want to talk to this woman.

"Anyway. Speaking of Buffy, Chibi, you should go have a sit-down talk with her about Rapunzel," Spike said, mirroring her thoughts, "You're a Slayer and that counts for something. She might listen to you."

"No." Inuyasha said, firmly. "I won't have her walk into danger like that on my behalf."

Spike scoffed, "With Buffy? She's not going to kill another Slayer. Or even hurt her. It's some sort of sisterhood thing. Buffy might kick my ass when we show up. But she won't stake me."

"You can't be sure of that." Inuyasha's voice was dangerous -- brittle and tense and far too quiet. In the next breath, he'd be yelling.

Kagome said, before he could blow up, "Inuyasha, we'll talk about it later. Let's go get your stuff now."

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It turned out to be a two hour drive to Inuyasha's home -- he had a house up in the hills, in a rather nice area. She drove mostly in silence, occasionally giving him a sideways glance. It was weird to see human-Inuyasha by daylight. His dark hair, long and loose this morning rather than caught back in a tail, caught the sunlight with glossy highlights -- but somehow, his human form looked years older than she remembered where his hanyou form had not aged at all. Something about his eyes, and the planes of his face, she decided -- his cheekbones were sharper, and his jaw stronger. He looked like a grown man.

He was quiet, pensive; once, when she looked over at him he was already looking in her direction, he said low and surly, "Whatcha looking at, miko?"

Given that he was looking in her direction first before she'd glanced his way, she felt this was rather unfair. She shot back, words coming from pure instinct, "Five centuries and still no manners. It's amazing."

A grunt, from Inuyasha, in response. Almost, but not quite, a Keh noise.

She risked another look in his direction. He was staring straight ahead, now, mouth set in a thin line, arms folded. After a long moment, he said, "Turn right, here, into the driveway."

The driveway had a keypad to open the gate. To her surprise, he told her, "Code number's 12021. If you ever need a place that's safe, my entire property's seriously warded against demons -- only Shippou can get past the protections on this place. Amelia always liked him."

"Umm. Thank you." She leaned out and punched the numbers and the gate opened smoothly inward. She was genuinely shocked he'd given her the number -- maybe some part of him still cared about her. Or maybe he was responding to her now. To the friendship she was more than willing to extend to him.

"Keh." He stared out the window, not glancing her way.

The driveway was at least a mile and a half long -- a narrow road, with an asphalt surface that was long crumbled and potholed and in need of repair. It skirted the side of a canyon, overhung by eucalyptus and oak, then climbed up to the top of a ridge.

There was a house there -- an old territorial, very large, with a wrap-around porch, a metal roof, and an expansive view of the city and (far away in the distance) a bit of ocean. A few live oaks shaded it. She recognized it from the photograph; a corner of the house had been in the background.

"This is yours?" She said, somewhat surprised. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but surely not something like this.

"Has been for almost a century. We've owned it since it was new ... Amelia and I. It's for sale." He got out of the car. "Too many damn memories, but I won't sell it to a developer. Got a few hundred acres here. Got to go to someone who'll love it as much as she did."

Amelia. His voice had softened as he said her name, and gone wistful and somehow very weary. She thought Amelia hadn't been the only person who'd been happy here. The home was isolated, protected from strangers, surrounded by natural beauty and wilderness. He could live here undisturbed by both demon and hanyou.

The house was warded, over and above the protection on the land itself -- she could feel powerful magic as she approached. It felt good and pure. It let them pass, but her skin prickled from the power for a moment and she felt like she was being watched closely for minutes after that.

Inuyasha saw her face and said, "Amelia cast the spells on this house. Nothing evil can come here. She was good at protection magic."

The inside of the house was neat as a pin, except that everything downstairs was covered over in a fine sheen of dust. "Wait here," he said, brusquely, in the living room. He padded up a flight of stairs and disappeared.

The room had definitely been decorated by someone other than Inuyasha -- almost certainly, his beloved Amelia. He hadn't changed anything from the day she'd died, Kagome thought.

It was homey -- the couch had a quilt thrown over it, there were photographs of ocean scenery on the walls, and the fireplace had an unlit and partially burnt rack of candles placed in it. By the amount of cobwebs on the candles, they hadn't been lit in years.

She walked around the room, seeing the evidence of Inuyasha's life here. There were books on shelves -- in both English and Japanese. Someone had liked science fiction, and had good taste in authors. There were also a number of books on history -- both historical novels and non-fiction books. Plus, almost inevitably, there were several dozen books on demons and monsters and magic. The real stuff, judging from what little she personally knew.

She wondered who the reader was -- Inuyasha had never struck her as the reading type, back in feudal Japan, but maybe a few centuries had mellowed him out. She knew he could read and write to a basic level of literacy, likely taught by his noble-born mother, but she seriously doubted he'd ever opened a book for pure enjoyment in her time. On the other hand, he was plenty smart and five centuries was a long time to go without picking up at least a few new hobbies. Reading might have been one of them.

"Fuck!" Came from upstairs. "Where'd I put my fucking ..." He trailed off, but she shook her head. The books were Amelia's, almost certainly. Mellowed out? Hardly.

She pictured Inuyasha curled up with a good book on the couch, relaxing. She could see it. She didn't know if it had ever happened, but maybe he'd found peace with Amelia, and time to relax and let his guard down and enjoy life. She could hope.

She continued her inspection of the room. They had racks and racks of DVDs -- old movies, new movies, TV series, cartoons, foreign movies -- thousands of titles, in shelves all along one wall. She was amused by that, remembering Inuyasha's reaction the first time he'd seen a TV. Bet some of these are his ... I can see him learning to like TV eventually.

Music, too -- he had an amazing collection, covering a broad range of tastes, though contrary to the heavy-metal t-shirt he'd been wearing, the bulk of the collection seemed consist of artists that were easy on the ears. That made sense, given his sensitive hearing.

Only belatedly did she notice the single photograph over the fireplace mantle. It was an 8X10 print of Inuyasha and a woman ... Kagome, almost not wanting to look, walked over to it.

The woman didn't even begin to look human. She had a wild mane of fire-red hair, cheekbones so sharp they could cut glass, pointed ears, long, long fingers, a narrow mouth (with fangs), and eyes the color of green glass. She had a stunning alien beauty but Kagome couldn't even begin to guess what race she belonged to. Nothing she'd ever seen in Japan. Amelia wasn't a Japanese name, either. She wondered if she'd ever hear that story. Maybe Shippou knew how Inuyasha had met her.

In the photo, Inuyasha stood behind Amelia, hugging her from behind, chin on her shoulder, grinning broadly -- Kagome had seldom seen him with that particular expression on his face, though it suited him well to be that happy. The woman had an easy smile on her face, an expression that spoke of deep love and great trust, and she was leaning back, utterly comfortable and relaxed in his arms. Kagome sighed silently. Lady, at least I think, by that expression, you know what you had in Inuyasha. There's that, at least.

She amused herself a few more moments by checking the view out each window of the downstairs -- it was an amazing house, with expansive views of city and hills in all directions. The mountains that loomed above the hill were heavily covered in snow still.

There was no further sound from upstairs.

With a chill, she remembered finding him in the bathtub, and decided that she needed to check on him whether he liked it or not. She padded up the stairs, where she found two bedrooms, an office, (doors all open) and one bathroom.

The master bedroom had a lived-in look at odds with the dusty rest of the house. It was cluttered, a bit messy, with an open hamper in one corner, a few dirty dishes on an end table by the bed, and an overflowing trash can. Not filthy, but not neat and tidy, either. There were more pictures of Amelia on a shelf -- a bit of a shrine, really, complete with candles too. She was surprised to see Shippou in one of the pictures -- he and Amelia were sitting on the porch, both laughing. Shippou's hair was red in the photo, not black, making him much more recognizable. She wondered if the person to take the photograph had been Inuyasha, or somebody else who'd known them all.

There was a duffel bag on the bed -- it was stuffed with a couple of changes of clothes, plus a very familiar red haori. So he still had it, even if he chose not to wear it daily. She brushed her fingers over the rough fabric, remember all the times Inuyasha had hugged her while wearing it, or had draped it around her shoulders for her protection.

And ... Tessaiga. The battered old sword was laying on the bed next to the duffel bag. She'd wondered if he still had it -- and she had wondered how he was keeping his demon half in check without carrying it with him. Obviously, that wasn't such a problem now, but it had been, in the past. Yet he didn't seem to carry the sword with him anymore. Perhaps it was too obvious -- more of a liability than an asset. He could pass for human as long as people didn't look too close, but wearing a sword would draw scrutiny he wouldn't want..

She picked it up, feeling the weight and heft and age of the thing. It tingled in her fingers, a flare of power that was almost like a greeting. The sword knew her.

"Remember when you pulled it from the stone?" Inuyasha's voice asked, quietly. She jumped a bit -- there was a balcony off the bedroom and he quietly stepped in through the doorway.

"You were fighting your brother. Do you remember?" She turned to face him.

"Yeah, a bit, now. " He ran a hand over his head, and scratched where his ear would be if he were in hanyou form. "I remembered when I saw you standing there with it. You were so brave, and so damn stupid. But I wouldn't have ever learned how the sword worked if you hadn't been with me that day. My brother probably would have killed me."

"How is that you don't need it anymore?" She asked.

"Amelia." Inuyasha said. "She was some sort of hanyou from Europe -- we never did figure out what kind, and she never knew her parents. She was very powerful; her demon side was way worse than mine, and she had to learn to control it all on her own before she ever met me. She taught me a few techniques ... And growing up helped, I guess. Don't get me wrong -- you can still get a rise out of my demon with sufficient provocation. Buffy could tell you all about that! But I can control it, now, somewhat."

That somewhat wasn't as reassuring as she would have liked.

He stepped closer to take the sword from her, and she saw something. "Hey, Inuyasha, you've got silver roots."

He touched his hair. "Keh. Don't feel any different. Feel like shit, actually."

"Yeah, well, neither of us got much sleep last night." She smiled at him.

"Don't need sleep." He stuffed Tessaiga unceremoniously into the duffle bag -- it was just short enough to fit -- and zipped it up.

"You're human for now," she pointed out. "Though if your hair's coming in white I'm thinking maybe the spell's wearing off."

He ran his hand over his hair, then scowled at his fingers. "I'm shedding," he said, sounding absolutely indignant. His fingers were covered in loose hairs. Then in a softer voice he said, "What did that witch do to me?"

She squinted at him, using miko sight. What she saw was disturbing -- he looked less. The spell was fading, but so was he.

"Inuyasha, come here for a second."

"Huh?"

She caught his chin in her fingers, and tipped his face down so she could see it very clearly. Up close, he didn't look quite as young has he did from a distance, even allowing for the changes that time had made on the bones of his human face -- he had lines around the corners of his eyes and mouth. But she could also feel lines of power wrapped around him -- could see them, as a fine net of energy across his skin, when she focused very hard. The spell was inhibiting his demon side, and it was very, very powerful and done by an incredibly talented witch with great technical skills. His youki was actually powering the spell that was keeping him wholly human.

It was far beyond what she could do. And it was white magic.

"What are you doing, woman! You're creeping me out." He finally swatted her hand away.

"Spell's doing something to you," she said, quietly. "It's restraining your demon, Inuyasha, but it's doing something to you."

"It's wearing off, though," he said, uncertainly. He ran a hand through his long hair, then fell went quiet and still, staring at his hands. He frowned, suddenly, and looked up at her with great uncertainty in his eyes.

She reached up and touched his hair, echoing his earlier gesture. The trace of white roots ought to be evidence of the spell ending. But she, too, came away with dozens of fine ebony hairs.

"Let go." He stepped away, not liking the familiarity. "I'm fine."

Maybe, Kagome thought. I hope so.