InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dark Heaven ❯ Curiosity ( Chapter 8 )

Dark Heaven

 

Chapter 8

 

Curiosity

 

Sango side-stepped a police van and walked up the steps to the Haven Historical Archives.

 

“Little left,” A voice called. Sango looked up to see a man being raised up to the shattering skylight via a boom lift. “Hold it,” He said, whipping out a tape measured. Sango shrugged and looked about the ruined museum.

 

“Who are you?” Sango spun around as a woman behind her put a hand on her shoulder.

 

“Sorry…you scared me,” Sango gasped. The woman nodded. “I'm Sango, of the Haven Cryer. I'm here doing a report on the robbery last night.”

 

“Right. Well. Sango, I'm Councilor Kikyo Tama, here for damage control. If you have any questions, ask me, I'm overseeing the proceedings here,” Kikyo said. Sango nodded, her emotions mixed. A Councilor would have more detailed information, but would also be less willing to share such information.

“Well, Councilor Tama,” Sango said, reaching into her pocket for ma pad of paper and a pen. She also took the chance to flip on the tiny tape recorder she had there as well. “Would you mind telling me what the point of the robbery was?”

 

“We're not entirely sure, to be honest,” Kikyo admitted. “We know more or less what was stolen, what they tried to steal, but we don't know why.”

 

“And what was stolen, exactly?” Sango asked. Kikyo shrugged.

 

“I'm not at liberty to say, but the importance of the items is not known. To our knowledge, none of them would be at all important to criminals, as none were particularly valuable.”

 

“Right...” Sango said, getting frustrated. “And suspects?”

 

“One of the men we found was a member of the Shinchinintai family. That's all we know for now,” Kikyo nodded and turned, walking away. Sango narrowed her eyes.

 

“Shinchinintai, eh?” She murmured, flicking off the recorder in her pocket. She watched Kikyo speak to the contractors for a moment, then slipped behind one of the stone pillars lining the semi-circular main hall of the museum. The museum entrance was situated at a semi-circular room that branched off left, right and back to three smaller chambers. The main hall had three floors, while the side rooms had two.

 

Sango sneaked into the left corridor, tossing a glance over her shoulder to look for anyone, before continuing. The end of the corridor was blocked off with police tape. Sango ducked under the tape and pulled out her tape recorder, flipping it on.

 

“The only section of the museum that was roped off was heavily vandalized,” She said into the recorder. “Smashed cases, picked locks. Books and parchments have been scattered.” Sango thought for a moment. The main hall of the museum had been trashed too. Why just rope off this specific room. Sango stepped forward, and froze when she heard a crunch. She looked down to see a glass case under her foot, cracked.

 

Sango reached down and carefully peeled back the glass. Under it was a very old parchment. Sango picked it up and peered at it carefully. The parchment was faded, and to Sango's shock, the words weren't in English. It was one of the Old Languages, before the Great War. Luckily, Sango knew a bit about this particular Old Language. She was fairly sure it was Japanese.

 

“The winds shall roar, the fires shall rage, and the earth shall shake. Let all who walk this world, ningen, hanyou or youkai, fear its name.” Sango looked at the bottom of the parchment and found a few words she did not recognize.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

Kagome pulled her sweater down over her special top, and grabbed her jacket from the coat rack. She had opted to wear her Angel disguise under her outfit. She wasn't used to being out so late, at least not as Kagome. She wasn't going to run out on Inuyasha, but if trouble brewed, she wasn't going to neglect her duty.

The phone rang, and Kagome picked it up.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Kagome, I'm outside,” Inuyasha said on the other line.

 

“Okay, I'll buzz you in, I'm on the third floor. I'll be down in a few, just hold on.” Kagome hit the pound sign to open the downstairs door, and looked down at herself. She wasn't exactly spoiled for clothes: save the essential undergarments and socks, she didn't really have much for extra clothing. Most of what she made went to rent and food. She grabbed a hairclip from her dresser and swirled her midnight hair into a quick bun.

 

The door to the apartment thudded, and Kagome spun around. She looked over her shoulders to make sure her wings weren't obvious. She didn't notice anything, so she rushed to the door and pulled it open.

 

“Oh….hi,” Kagome said, surprised to see Inuyasha standing there.

 

“Ready?” Inuyasha asked.

 

Um…yeah, just a second,” Kagome said. She rushed to the bedroom and grabbed a blue scarf, shoving it in her pocket. She ran back to the door and gasped. Inuyasha had leaned his head in and was looking around.

 

“Nice…uh, place you got here,” He mumbled. Kagome sighed.

 

“Yeah, well…I don't make much,” She explained. “So, I kinda only really have 1 wardrobe.” She gestured to herself.

 

“Naw, it's okay. You look casual, natural. It's nice,” Inuyasha assured her. Kagome smiled and noticed the man wearing a red T-shirt and black jeans. Suddenly she felt better.

 

“Thanks,” She said. Inuyasha held the door open, and Kagome walked past him into the hall, locking the apartment door behind her.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

“I hope you don't mind this place,” Inuyasha said. The cab they had taken pulled to a halt outside The Ranch. It wasn't one of the more up-class restaurants in Haven, but it was good food.

 

“I can't complain. I've heard good things,” She said. She led Inuyasha inside, and the hostess looked up.

 

“Hi, welcome to The Ranch,” She said.

 

“Table for two please,” Inuyasha said. The hostess nodded and grabbed a pair of menus from her podium.

 

“This way,” She said. Inuyasha and Kagome stepped forward, and a scream ran out behind them. The patrons of the restaurant looked up as a car raced past the restaurant, sideswiping a man on the sidewalk and sending him sprawling to the pavement.

 

“Bastards,” Inuyasha muttered. Kagome narrowed her eyes and put a hand on the hostess' arm.

 

“Where's the bathroom?” She asked.

 

“It's in the back, to the left,” The hostess guided her. Kagome nodded and slipped away to the back. She went past the bathroom and pushed open the door to the alley. As she slammed the door shut, she pulled her sweater over her head and reached behind her to unclip her wing restraints.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

“You can sit right here, The hostess said. Inuyasha opened his mouth to reply, when a beeping from his pocket cut him off.

 

“Sorry, Inuyasha said, pulling out his cellphone and flipping it open.

 

“Yeah? Oh, it's you….really? I'm busy, can't it….you're sure?” The hostess raised an eyebrow as Inuyasha sighed. “I'm on it. Give me a minute.” Inuyasha put his phone away and turned to the hostess. “Tell my date I got a business call, very urgent, couldn't wait. Sorry.” The hostess watched Inuyasha run to the doors and dash outside. Meanwhile, in the darkness of the alley behind the restaurant, Angel took flight.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

“An old fashioned chase, Kagome said to herself, noting a police cruiser swerve from a sideroad. She followed the cruiser before flapping hard to pass it. She dove down and glared at the roof of the car ahead of them. Kagome noticed movement in the backseat, and sighed. “Kidnapping. A new one, She noted. She pushed harder and surged ahead of the chase. She looked ahead and nodded.

 

“The pier, She growled. She flew harder, and finally pulled her arms back as she leaned down into a dive, spinning around in midair. She dove for the car, and smiled under her scarf as she saw the driver spin the wheel. Kagome flung her wings out, canceled her momentum, and landed on the roof of the car. It swerved to the side, and Kagome lifted a foot to smash the windshield. The driver inside screamed, and Kagome reached inside to spin the wheel. The car slammed into a streetlight, and Kagome backflipped off into the air as the front of the car crunched into a rumbled lump of metal. Smoke came from under the hood, and the driver's door opened, the shaken man falling out onto the street, coughing. Kagome landed on a nearby rooftop, and her eyes widened as flames shot up from the hood as the police cruiser skidded to a halt.

 

“Get the kid out!” One officer shouted. The driver climbed to his feet and stumbled away as the police ran to the car to free his victim. Kagome watched for a minute, and sighed with relief as the child was carried away. The flames leapt higher, and the car would probably explode eventually, but no one would be injured. That done, Kagome flew across the street and glared down at the stumbling man staggering into the alley. She jumped down and landed in front of him as he glanced over his shoulder. Kagome grabbed his collar and flung him up against the alley wall.

 

“It's you!” The man cried. Kagome growled and flapped, rising to the roof, and carried him to the edge. Spying an ambulance on the street below, Kagome tossed the man off, letting him scream as he landed on a stretcher the drivers were pulling out of the back. The stretcher buckled and collapsed, but it more or less cushioned him. Kagome pulled back from the roof.

 

“Good thing this didn't take long, She reflected. If she hurried, she might be able to get back from her extended `bathroom break' with Inuyasha none the wiser.

 

“You're good at that.” Kagome spun around. In the shadows of a wall on the roof behind her, a figure stood silently. Kagome couldn't see much about him, except for his eyes: glowing dark amber.

 

“I do my best, She defended. The figure chuckled.

 

“Your best is enough, He pointed out.

 

“You here to fight me?” Kagome asked, raising a fist. She didn't make it a point to train for hand-to-hand combat, but she could take care of herself.

 

“Not really, no,” The man replied. “I just came to watch. You have quite a talent for crime fighting, Angel.”

 

“You know me then,” Kagome said.

 

“A name given by the papers, but a fitting name it is,” The man said.

 

“Do you have a name?” Kagome asked. The man paused.

 

“Call me Hunter,” He said after a moment.

 

“That your name or your job?” Kagome persisted.

 

“Take your pick,” Hunter replied. Kagome nodded, and Hunter's head swung around.

 

“Your friends are here,” He said. “I'll be seeing you.” Hunter crouched and leapt. Kagome gasped as the man sailed over her head, landed briefly on the edge of the roof, and leapt across the street to land opposite on another roof, sweeping away into the night. Kagome stared in awe. That was no human.

 

“She's up here!” Kagome spun as a cop climbed up the fire escape to the roof. She spread her wings and flew away as the officer called after her.

 

“Who or what the hell was that?” She asked herself. Glowing eyes watched as Kagome flew away, before leaping down to the street.