InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Chosen ❯ Information is scarce ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter four: Information is Scarce

In the dark of twilight a dark dingy back alley that was the favourite haunt of a family of sewer rats was not perhaps the safest place to be. Especially because Sesshoumaru was in it.

Since he had given the girl his leather jacket he had donned a long wool overcoat that kicked up in the harsh wind and flapped about his legs. The collar was turned up to avoid the chill getting to his neck, but that was simply a habit and not a necessity. He didn't feel the hold as much as a ningen but sub-zero temperatures served to cool his blood. Just a little.

His youki flared slightly as a warning to the lesser Yokai in the area that he was not to be messed with. The cities were notorious for their Yokai, even though most humans never seemed to realise the amount of deaths in the cities that they put down to `gangs' were actually due to rival Yokai packs bickering over territory. Sesshoumaru thought it pretty farcical how the human `gangs' seemed to enjoy copying the behaviour of Yokai by bickering over their own territory. He had to laugh at that, humans had no idea how to mark a territory and less of an idea how to keep their territory.

He came to a large apartment building that had a set of stairs leading to a dingy looking basement flat. The glass on the window of the door was not only frosted but painted black and if one looked carefully they would notice the door had seven different locking mechanisms. They were obviously meant to keep prying intentions elsewhere other than the less than humble abode, but to Sesshoumaru they were a mere irritancy.

He leant a hand flat against the door and applied as much pressure as was necessary to snap the locks in their holds and break the doorframe with about as much effort as pushing open an unlocked door.

The room behind the door resembled a library crossed with a disused cellar. The walls were made up of books and more books made their own teetering islands on the dank and dusty floor, some piles stretching up the ceiling so that they looked like they were holding up the cobwebbed roof. There was a small 1920's style till on a spindly desk that was coated in such a thick layer of dust it looked furry. There was a large Victorian table in the centre of the room on top of which were yet more piles of books and two wonky chairs. There was one small door that led to the rest of the space directly opposite the door Sesshoumaru had just invited himself through with an old fashioned brass plaque on it proclaiming the room the `Store room'.

Sesshoumaru knew it to be not the storeroom any longer, even though it still stored books, it's primary use was as a home to a certain old man with a rather cowardly temperament. He could smell the elderly Yokai's fear mixed with slight annoyance from where he stood and he inwardly smirked at that.

“Come out Myoga before I break down another door to come and get you” he called in a soothing voice that was decidedly creepy coming from Sesshoumaru

There was a silence and Sesshoumaru smiled “Myoga” he tried again “I know you're in there, come out and I wont have to burn your precious books”

The door swung open pretty fast after that last remark to reveal a short pudgy man whose face and bald head was covered in a thin sheen of nervous sweat. His pudgy hands were twisting a handkerchief manically, obviously uncomfortable with his present company. The flea Yokai's true form was of course nowhere near as large as he appeared now, but due to extensive research using the vast array of books at his disposal he had discovered a way to retain his humanoid form. This was necessary today, being two inches tall was not exactly fun in the modern world.

“Ano... Sesshoumaru-sama, it's good to see you again” his voice cracked under the strain of the situation a few times and the lie would have been tangible even to a human.

At the lie Sesshoumaru parted his lips to reveal the razor sharp teeth behind. To a passing ningen it would look as if Sesshoumaru was merely smiling at the bowed man whereas in actual fact he was baring his teeth as a warning not to mess with him.

“I grow tired of your lies flea” he intoned and noticed with a certain sadistic pleasure that the little mans knees started to quiver. “I am here because of your knowledge and I sincerely hope you will be able to assist me”

Myoga didn't miss the subtle way Sesshoumaru was hinting at punishment if his hopes were proved false and he gulped audibly, a sound that was strangely out of place in the otherwise silent room.

“H-hai... Sesshoumaru-sama”

“What do you know about a Miko whose blood calls to all Yokai?” he paused for effect “Or the Shikon no Tama Onna?”

If it was possible Myoga turned an even paler shade of white and his life flashed before his eyes as they widened in fear.

“I'm afraid I don't know Sesshoumaru-sama”

“You reek of deceit” Sesshoumaru was not amused “Your library contains books on everything within our world and they have more youki than you do” he paused for effect “so who has sealed your lips?”

“I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about” he stammered

If you knew Myoga and unfortunately Sesshoumaru did, then you would know that under normal circumstances Myoga would have told him what he needed to know in order to get him to leave. The fact that he was purposely withholding information and lying badly however meant something was amiss.

Sesshoumaru smiled and wrapped a clawed hand around the flea's neck casually letting his claws pierce the thin membrane of his skin and cutting off both the blood supply to his head and the oxygen supply to his lungs. He went an interesting mix of both red and blue; resulting in a kind of blotchy purple hue to his skin which Sesshoumaru regarded for a second before returning to his line of threatening.

“Who?” he barked

“It was fifty years ago!” he protested in a gasped and disjointed sentence and Sesshoumaru relinquished his hold on Myoga's neck so fast that he fell to his knees on the dusty floor.

Sesshoumaru settled onto one of the spindly chairs with a lithe grace and gestured magnanimously for him to continue.

Myoga simply sat on the ground and breathed heavily for a while; recovering. Then he looked up at Sesshoumaru with baleful eyes before speaking.

“A woman came into the shop, a Miko as it were. She was pretty as I remember” he ignored Sesshoumaru's snort at a ningen being pretty “and she had a young girl with her, but the kid didn't have any Miko powers. The woman was scarily powerful too and she told me to show her all the books I had on that particular subject. Then she took then from me and opened a portal on that wall” he paused to point to the wall behind the Inu Yokai

“And?”

“And she sealed all the books I had on the subject inside the wall and then threatened me in much the same way you chose to” he winced in remembrance “but her hold burned more than yours”

“Hn” he paused to consider the facts as they had been presented to him “what was her name?”

“It was fifty years ago” he protested once more, but hastily rescinded his protest when Sesshoumaru growled at him and rubbed his chin “I don't likely remember, but she did say that one who was not of her blood would not be able to open the portal”

Sesshoumaru paused to consider this and stood to walk over to the wall where the portal was said to lie.

He shoved the bookshelf that stood against the wall roughly out of the way, causing it to topple over and deposit it's cargo onto the floor and he distinctly heard Myoga mutter `just like her, no regard for books'.

On the wall that had been concealed behind the shelf was a circle roughly sketched in chalk against the deep green crackling wallpaper. Inside the circle the kanji for `protection' was written and when Sesshoumaru reached out to touch the wallpaper next to the ward he was shocked with residual reiyouku.

He frowned in shock, the flea had not been lying when he had said she came fifty years ago and yet there was still residual reiyouku? He already appreciated the fact that the priestess had to be strong but that was ridiculous. It required a large amount of power to open up a portal, as a portal was basically a no space concealed within a real space, to put it simply it was a magical storage space that didn't exist tangibly. Obviously in order to inject a cavernous space into a wall required a great deal of power but the fact that there was still enough residual reiyouku on the wall around the portal to shock Sesshoumaru suggested a Miko wielding a damaging amount of power.

He hadn't even touched the portal's seal and he had been burned, which was interesting.

“Sugoi” Myoga whispered and Sesshoumaru looked over to him with an eyebrow raised in question

“I had to make that bookshelf out of dragon scales that were blessed by a holy man to withstand even being by that wall. Only last week a Kappa demon tried to touch the wall and was flung out of the store!”

Sesshoumaru nodded and contemplated this new information. He was arrogant, but not arrogant enough to think that it was because of his powerful blood that he was still inside the store. Eventually he realised it was probably due to tasting the Miko's blood yesterday. Which of course opened up a new question, did that mean that this woman from fifty years ago was an ancestor of Kagome Higurashi? “Do you not keep records flea?” Sesshoumaru questioned

The flea winced “I keep records of the people who purchase books, however she only moved the books within the store and therefore there was no need to take her name” Sesshoumaru growled and Myoga shrugged helplessly “That's what she said, and I am not one to argue with a being of such power”

“Indeed” Sesshoumaru snorted, he knew of the flea's cowardice only too well. It was the only way to survive when one was a flea; bend to the will of those more powerful than you. It had enabled Myoga to live a long life, so he wasn't complaining.

“What did the books speak of Myoga?” he asked the flea

“I do not know” Myoga winced and Sesshoumaru growled so he quickly continued in an attempt to placate the Inu “They were delivered here upon the death of your mother, they came from her personal library. The very next day, before I could even catalogue the books the Miko arrived”

“The books belonged to my mother?” Sesshoumaru asked in interest, this explained why he had the memories of her voice speaking those words that confused him.

“Yes, she was very specific in her will that the books were to be left to me” Myoga frowned and shrugged “I have no idea why though, she only once bought a book from me”

Sesshoumaru fought the urge to rub his temples in stress; he had come to the flea to get answers, not to be bogged down by yet more unanswerable questions.

Myoga attempted to stop shaking even as he watched Sesshoumaru become more and more agitated and nearly died of shock when he pulled an athame from his pocket; certain his life was going to end.

“What do you know of this flea?” he asked in a bored voice

Myoga nearly smiled in relief, he wasn't going to die...yet at least. He reached out and took the athame from Sesshoumaru marvelling at its craftsmanship “I do not know of the athame itself, you would be wise to consult Totosai. But the inscription reads `to draw the power of the blood' in Latin.”

Sesshoumaru nodded thoughtfully; at least he had some answers, even if he had more questions too. He removed the athame from Myoga and put it back into his pocket.

“You did well not to die” was all Sesshoumaru said before vacating the room so fast it was hard to tell he had actually been there in the first place, if you ignored the fact that there was one overturned shelf and a barely standing flea Yokai.

“I need to get better locks” Myoga muttered darkly

***

Meanwhile in a darkened manor house expensively decorated in furs and ivory and turn of the century portraiture. In a room with a bear skin rug and several swords mounted to a wall that emitted youki and sat in a leather arm chair was a certain Doku Yokai.

This Doku Yokai was incensed and his poison dripping claws were dug into the arm rests of the expensive chair he was perched inside.

The poor servant that had been delegated with the honour of telling him the bad news lay cowering on the floor clutching their face where he had burnt it with his poisons.

“You are sure it is gone?” he questioned in a deadly grating voice that sounded like bones being sawed, the bedraggled servant whimpered and nodded, praying for no more punishment.

“Very well” he stood from his chair and walked into the corridor, he had no desire to linger in the room. The poison injected into the servants face was enough that he would be dead in an hour and though his nose was not one of his most sensitive senses he did not enjoy the reek of death. The scent of blood was something he indulged in often, but it was normally only as the victim was dying. Death was not something he was comfortable with saturating his air.

He strode into the drawing room and summoned his butler.

“Go to the Higurashi shrine and see if another Miko is yet born” he ordered in a bored voice whilst pouring himself a glass of sake “but before that send my one of my whores” he smiled revealing his glistening poison covered fangs “I have some aggression to work out”

The butler nodded and bit back the urge to shudder before retracting himself from the room and sending someone to retrieve the dead body. He smiled sympathetically at the young woman who was ushered past him into his masters room, but she did not return the smile, her eyes were soulless now. She was a doll and that was how his master liked them.

***

Kagome was annoyed and both Miroku and Sango were doing their best to sooth her, in between bouts of groping and smacking of course.

They had all just gone out grocery shopping for the evening meal that Miroku was cooking and were heavily laden with bags of purchases. Sango had steered it so that Kagome was in between her ass and the overly friendly hands of a certain man, but apparently his arms were longer than that and he was doing a brilliant job of groping over a large distance.

“Cheer up Kagome-chan” Miroku said happily as he once again rubbed the rounded contours of Sango's bottom. Nobody knew exactly how he did this with two hands full of shopping, but he was a master in his art.

“Hentai” Sango hit him again in the head, causing him to see stars for a moment.

“As much as his Hentai ways annoy me, I think hitting him in his head is inflicting brain damage and therefore doing more harm than good” Kagome pointed out with a pouting scowl marring her features

“Come on Kagome stop pouting” Miroku said

“Am not pouting” she pouted

Miroku and Sango rolled their eyes in synchronicity

“Is it the fact her ruined your favourite bra?” Sango asked

“I'm wondering if he's a big Hentai like Miroku” Kagome growled “who cut's someone else's bra anyhow?”

“I can think of plenty of reasons” Miroku said and Kagome and Sango hit him with a synchronicity that had him quite literally seeing stars for a moment.

“Pervert”

“Then what is it that bothers you? The fact that he dropped you back home perfectly safe? The fact that he saved you from the panther Yokai? Or the fact that he looked after you?” Miroku enquired

“All of the above” Kagome said growling “I feel like a damsel in distress! And I am not in need of being saved!”

They rounded a corner and came face to face with a group of twelve of the most ugly Hebi Yokai the three of them had ever had the displeasure of meeting.

“I wouldn't be sssso ssssure” the leader of the small posse replied to her last statement.

The humans all took a step back in disgust; these reptilians were obviously waiting for them and ass such hadn't bothered to keep up their humanoid appearances. They still had the human body shape (all the better to fight with) but their skin was covered with their scales, their tongues were darting everywhere and their eyes were not blinking.

“Great” Kagome growled in annoyance

“You truly do attract a lot of unwanted attention” Miroku commented

“Yep”

“This is going to ruin the food” Sango commented dryly as the Yokai moved forwards as one.

The three humans relinquished their grip on the bags they held and food clattered to the concrete beneath them.

One snake tried to tackle Miroku around the waist and was thrown agilely over the dark haired human's shoulder whilst delivering a swift roundhouse kick in the midriff of another snake as it attempted to sneak up on him.

Sango in the meantime found herself blocking a barrage of attacks from two Hebi Yokai at once cursing the fact that her Hiraikotsu was not suitable to carry with her at all times. She smirked though as she pulled her knife from her leather boot and twirling in a circle slit the throats of the two Hebi attacking her, just in time to doge the right hook from the next Hebi.

Kagome kicked one hebi in the face, breaking his nose with the heavy heel of her boot. She then purified the face of the one who was going to grab her from behind. Before grabbing the sutra's that were sticking from the back of Miroku's pocket and throwing them at the remaining Yokai purifying them to dust.

“Did anyone see us?” Kagome asked

Miroku did a discreet check and shook his head whilst Sango peered into one of the hastily discarded bag “The eggs are broken” she said

“That's Yokai all over, no respect for the daily groceries” Miroku chuckled

“Bite me” Sango said feeling that he was poking fun at her

“That was easy” Kagome scoffed “I really will never understand why demon's pick fights with us, what hope could they possibly have against a monk, a Miko and a demon slayer?”

“Over confidence will be your down fall Miko” said an undesirably familiar voice and Kagome whirled around to stare into the deep golden shifting depths of Sesshoumaru's eyes.

“You know, you're kinda cocky considering I could purify something very sensitive to oblivion” she threatened glancing meaningfully down at his crotch with a little bit of malicious intent.

Sesshoumaru smirked “To do that you would have to touch it, do you really have the guts Miko?”

A/N: Wheeee! I did it! And it took me long enough! Sorry for the wait I was in Denmark for a week! I do not own Inuyasha!

Reviews! Thanks to y'all who reviewed the last chapter at fanfiction dot net : juusan'ya, Ladybug2009, sousie, kouga's older woman, MoonFlower77, angelapage, Moonlight X Luna, Serenity digo19 and GothicHime89. Thanks for your reviews guys!

On Dokuga I'd like to say thanks to...

Rei: Yes he did slice her top, but not all the way off, it was enough of an incision to get at the wound and he only sliced through her bra strap, nothing too much was on show and bra's can function okay without a strap so she didn't really notice because of her headache and being in a strange place with an even stranger Yokai.

Katlady: happy now? Specially for you, even though I'm tired and jetlagged, hope you liked it!