InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bloody Requiem ❯ The scent of the Dark ( Chapter 2 )

April 25, 3006

A smiling face hovered above the living room coffee table. The familiar sound of a commercial played, "Are you looking for a PET? You know the new toy that everybody has! Personal Esoteric Terrestrials that are yours to do whatever you please with. They will please you well. For the best prices get them at. ."

"Feh, four thousand channels and there's still that crap on TV," gold eyes flicker in irritation. Toweling his still wet hair dry Inuyasha switched the channels on his holotelevision. Leaning comfortably back into his black leather couches, the hide cool against the naked flesh of his back. He crossed his denim clad legs in a comfortable position.

". . . And in related news the eccentric Captain Higarashi has not appeared at yet another Senate meeting with the Galaxial Forces. This is her fourth absence in the past month." The smiling Negro woman on the screen turned. "Various sources say that the honored Captain is most likely making a stand on a issue and will return in due time. Now . . ."

Click.

He stood and walked toward the kitchen of his spacious three bedroom apartment. In was designed so that the living space was a large area with the kitchen and bedrooms off to one side. The only door was located at the end of the living area at the farthest spot from the bedrooms.

The Kitchen was past an arch on the front wall, which was lined with numerous bookshelves. Each case was filled leather bound volumes placed within. In the center was a large stone hewn fireplace with an old sword placed above it.

To the right side of the room was an arch that opened into a hall containing the bedrooms and bathrooms. The opposite side faced west towards the city streets. This wall was covered by glass windows, but only a thin ray of light was visible through the crimson curtains.

Shadows danced across the tiled floors in remaining light of dusk. Inuyasha felt the chill of the night permeating through the smooth marble floors beneath him.

A chill not created by the dampness of the crept up his spine. Pausing in mid-grab for his Ramen Inuyasha's gaze swept around the room.

`I feel like someone just stepped on my grave.'

Despite a through ocular inspection the room revealed nothing to Inuyasha that he could detect. There were no changes from any other time he had been in the kitchen.

The plain white walls were completely bare of ornamentation and the cupboards were a beautiful, yet simple, pine.

It was a house befitting of the man who living there

"All those years in the force, must have made me paranoid." An errant clawed hand ran through his hair. It was bullshit. He knew it, and saying it aloud didn't verify it. It was those instincts that kept him alive each day of his life.

They were very rarely wrong.

Inuyasha Gin was no retired paper pusher. He knew all too well the dangers of the enemy. Of the unknown shadows that crept the world in the new millennium.

It was one of the few amusements of the terrans, the residents of the worlds that united against the Dark, that in the prior millennium the only worry of the passage of the age was whether the computers would work. For their dawn of a new age was darkened instead with the cover of an interplanetary war.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!!

Suddenly pulled out of his dark thoughts Inuyasha spun around to see what the disruption was. A hard scowl was set on his face, "Damnit."

`A bomb? It can't be I would have smelt someone in here. Even if they had an android to do it, how would they have gotten the access codes for my apartment? It's impossible. Not to mention there is no way they could have gotten past my security.'

All this flashed through Inuyasha's mind in half a second. He was ready to dive to the floor when he heard a perky voice that sounded rather like a pixie on a sugar high say, "Your ramen is ready! Arigato gozaimasu!"

Eyes narrowed and slid over to the device, which rested innocently on the countertop. A smiley faced light was blinking on and off indicating the meal's completion.

"I should kill Shippou for buying me that bloody hell-foresaken piece of shit."

"I can't believe I got so fucking wrapped up in my thoughts. If Sesshoumaru was here I would never hear the end of this. He's always going on about how I can't be so reckless. Stupid Fluffy."

As if on cue a phone rang. Pulling a small black phone out of his pocket Inuyasha emotionlessly flipped it open. "Gin here."

A wide fanged grin spread across his face. "Hello Fluffy. I was just thinking about you."

An irritated and exhausted voice came to Inuyasha's ears over the line, "Gin you have a job."

Immediately Inuyasha straightened and grew serious. His brother only ever called him by their family's surname in two situations. If they were talking business, and Sesshoumaru didn't want the person with him to know who he commissioned to do the work. Or if he believed he could be overheard by someone wanted to know who Gin was.

Either was potentially dangerous. For no one knew the notorious Gin was Sesshoumaru Tensai's brother Inuyasha Testu. If they were linked, then the enemy could find out and it could be disastrous.

"What are the details?"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .

Forty minutes later Inuyasha stood high above the city streets. His long hair, held back by a tie, danced behind him in the wind, shimmering translucently and taking appearing to be any color and yet no color at all.

He was literally dressed to kill. Clad in black from head to toe, Inuyasha was a sight to behold if the wandering eye could catch a glimpse of him above the streets of the city. Of course if they could he wouldn't be doing his job properly.

Leaning against the legs of a billboard he calmly surveyed the streets below him. The district was an old one. It dated well back to the early twentieth century.

It had been a craze several decades back to revive the architectural styles of that time. There were now complete rebuilt and fully functioning cities that looked exactly like they did during the twentieth century, Neo- York and Neo-Orleans to name a few. They were masterpieces that were beautifully up kept and homes of the rich.

This however, wasn't one of them.

Inuyasha's lip curled in distaste. The scent of this area curdled the ramen in his stomach that he had made inhaled before leaving his apartment. Scents of feces, urine, liqueur, sweat and blood were prominent in air.

`How can anyone stand this shit?' Despite his frequent visits to the shadier sectors of the city of Tokyo, he could never fully tolerate the putrid stench of its inhabitants. And here, deep within the bowels of the red light district, the deepest of the underground, the reek was at its worst.

Even though most youkai noses were not as sensitive as an inu-youkai's, they still tended to be a great deal better than the average human's. Yet most humans he had spoken with, that had enough balls to venture this deep into the underground had said the smells disgusted them.

A crackle resonated in his earpiece. "Yasha?"

"Fuck." Inuyasha hissed in pain. Stupid bastard set the volume on the earpiece too high. "Damnit Fox, turn it down."

"Shit. Sorry Yash. I knew I shouldn't have let that human set up the equipment." The voice on the set sounded apologetic. "Is this better?"

"Yeah, info?"

"The truck is on time. It is about two miles away right now and remaining on course. So stay where you are. What's the street like?"

Golden eyes peered down at the street. Inuyasha's slit pupils seeing the dark as if it were a sunny July day.

The grimy street below was dimly lit and seemed to be the perfect setting for any number of murder movies. Only in this town nobody went to the movies any more.

The tall nondescript brick buildings were set closely together and took up a maximum of their space. So there could be more tenants per building. Trash was littered along the streets and alleyways. Stains seeped into the very fiber of streets turned the grey of the sidewalks into a mottled brown color; of what had stained it was better not to know.

Not light shone in the windows of the buildings. Monsters crept in the dark, and people here knew it better than anyone. The only living soul on the street was a young humanoid heron-youkai.

`A prostitute,' Inuyasha thought darkly. `She'll disappear quickly enough when the blood spray begins.'

"Just one, it's a runner. So there's nothing to worry about."

He could hear the trunk now. It was just two blocks away, one of those old hover jobs that were common in this area for transport. It looked like a pickup truck.

Hover cars hadn't been invented until the late 2500's and hadn't improved much since. Now there were cars capable of actual flight, but the concept had been pushed on the backburner in favor of safe space travel and habitation.

This trunk was a junker with a big heavy engine in for pulling heavy loads. It was big and slow, obviously they weren't here on a hit.

"Yash the truck has stopped a block to your north. Only one of the guys is getting out though."

Inuyasha frowned, `That's not right. These guys are supposed to be delivering something. Why only send one guy in on the job, and not have the other to watch his back?'

Out of a back alley came a scrawny, weasel-like man with slicked back brown hair and a baby face. He wore a sweat stained tank top and a pair overly tight leather pants. Neither built nor flabby, he walked with a swagger. By the bludge on hip Inuyasha could easily tell he was packing.

From his vantage point Inuyasha watched incredulously, looking for anything to foretell what was going to happen. An ear flicked in apprehension.

The man let out a whistle at the hooker standing at the street corner. Dressed in her best for her profession the woman turned and smiled, "Looking for a good time honey?"

She strut down sidewalk in her six inch green stilettos towards the man. He leered and gave her a once over. She had bird-like features, long legs, green micro-mini and long blond hair.

"Sure am, along with a friend of mine. He's asleep in our truck. It's just a ways down."

The woman practically purred, "I'll make sure you both have a great time." The weasel swung his arm around her hip with a hand on her ass in response as they walked.

Staring after the retreating pair Inuyasha cursed. Something about the whole thing didn't sit right with him. Why have a conversation in the middle of a dangerous street when you have a vehicle down the road?

"Fuck."

Wait. Unless you wanted people to know that you were picking up a hooker. After all, who's going to be lewd enough to follow a hooker and her customer who are going to do their business? Even if stumbled across them, they would believe that their information was incorrect and that they had made a mistake. It was a prefect arrangement to exchange intelligence.

"Fox, I'm going after them."

. . . . . . .. . . . .

Sora shivered. She hated nights like this. When the meager light of the moon vanished behind the cover of the city's smog and cut off the light. Or maybe it was just the cold. A green mini-dress no matter how befitting of her job wasn't anyone's definition of warm.

The wind cut through her. Cold was one of the few things she could feel though. Everything else had long ago gone numb. You had to during this war and amidst these streets. Or else you died. Sora was a survivor. That's why she chose the Dark.

"So what's your name honey?"

She had played this game many times before. With this man and with hundreds of others like him, what did she care just as long as she had a place to go home to at night. And she certainly would be going home.

His hand gave her ass a firm squeeze, "Hojo."

Oh, Sora was extremely glad this would be their last encounter. Hojo was always rough and liked to do things that left her sore in ways she'd rather not be.

They entered the alley where the truck was parked. Sora internally rolled her eyes. The idiot always parked in the same place every single time.

Hojo slammed her against the hood of the truck and began to kiss her.

"What about your friend?" Sora whispered with her arms around his neck.

He monetarily silenced her by shoving his tongue down her throat. `Ew,' Sora internally squealed.

"He's asleep. Permanently. Like my new truck?" Hojo began to slide his groping his hands under dress.

"No," Sora hissed. "Give me the info first. The procedure is the same as always."

Denied of his prize, Hojo painfully pinched a nipple. "Our leader has a delivery he wants you to pick up tomorrow at the spaceport at three o'clock. You are then to train it, or send it to a trainer for teaching in your arts."

Hojo grinned at Sora, "Our leader is very pleased with what will be delivered tomorrow. It will be a great detriment to the `Light'." A cruel laugh left his mouth, but was cut off a choked scream.

Sora's eyes widened as Hojo's body crumpled to the ground. A shadowed figure with feral glowing eyes stood in his place. Before she even had a chance to scream, she was dead on the ground.

Steeping into light Inuyasha smirked, "Tomorrow it is then."