InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Finding Freedom ❯ chapter three ( Chapter 3 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Finding Freedom

By: UC

Chapter Three




The plan was perfect, foolproof, unassailable. He would be funny and polite and hopefully charm the pants right off her. Phase one for operation killing time in Mayberry; win over the kid. An involuntary shiver wracked his frame at the thought. Kids were annoying and filthy and always seem to find a way ruin everything. And their noses seemed to run at the most incontinent times. At least that’s how it seemed to work with his brothers kid.



Why of all things did she have to have a kid? Boyfriends he could deal with, they were easy enough to get rid of, overbearing, overprotective fathers were a little trickier, but evadable none the less. Kids were in an entirely different category all together, you cant get rid of them like a boyfriend, nor could you just ignore them all together.



Inuyasha heaved a sigh looking at the big blue and white sign looming before him like a beacon, confirming his degradation into common hood. The parking lot of the Wilmington Super Wal-Mart was slap full of cars ranging from beat up old imports to shiny, straight off the lot SUV’s. None were comparable to his baby though.



With an almost apologetic sigh he locked the doors, sending one last look back at the gorgeous piece of machinery. He had chosen to park at the very back of the lot where there were few cars and signs that read ‘heart healthy’ parking. He took up two spaces to ward off any offending vehicles that would possibly throw open a door and scratch his pristine, and not to mention expensive, paint job or even worse, slam a shopping cart into the side.



Yes, he was one of those people.



He couldn’t believe he was actually doing this, Miya had better be really appreciative if he was degrading himself like this. He’d only been in a Wal-Mart a grand total of twice, current venture included, but there really wasn’t much for variety around. Hell, he’d had to drive almost forty-five minutes just to get to a Wal-Mart mart.


Inuyasha usually preferred to do his shopping online when he wanted something, and he had someone who took care of house hold needs back in New York, but seeing as he was still camped out in a hotel that didn’t even have high speed internet connections he didn’t exactly have many options. After he finished getting what he needed here he would have to find some sort of hardware store to place an order.



Upon entering the department store a friendly old man sporting an ugly blue vest gave him a polite smile and head nod and pushed a shopping cart to him. Inuyasha took it, returning the customary male greeting, but grimaced when he grabbed the handle of the cart and realized that it was sticky with some foreign and unidentifiable substance.


‘disgusting.’


Slowly meandering through the isles he tried to remember all the ‘necessities’ he would need for his ‘apartment’. Yes, apartment. Upon closer inspection of the rundown building that was now his, he discovered that the upstairs was actually some form of primitive dwelling, complete with indoor plumbing, much to his surprise.


Granted the entire living space was smaller than his bedroom in his place back home, but it was better than the Cross Roads. The room smelled like old cheese and the orange shag carpet looked like a habitat for a host of nasty house hold pests. He was afraid to walk barefoot in there.


'Lets see', he ticked off items on his mental list of necessities, the left back wheel of his cart catching about every few steps and squeaking loud enough to make him grit his teeth. Honestly, people actually come here on a regular basis? He felt the need to burn his clothes after just walking through here. Ok, back to the task at hand; Cheese puffs, a TV/DVD player combo, though he was outraged that the largest they had in stock was a thirty two inch, a handful of movies, and a case of beer. Yep, that ought to do it. Now for the kid. Something pink.

Inuyasha maneuvered the shopping cart around the corner and into the dreaded Barbie isle, the gimpy wheel catching sideways and causing him to have to push harder as the wheel, still sideways, skimmed across the floor with a nerve pinching squeal. A rather nondescript man in a tee shirt with a little pigtailed girl on his shoulders shot him a dirty look. Inuyasha shot him a bird for his trouble.

What the hell, it was like a bottle of pepto exploded. Just how many kind of Barbie's did they make anyway, and how was he supposed to know what kind the kid would like? Uhg, this was ridiculous.

A cute blonde in a short pleated pink skirt walked by the mouth of the isle, doing a double take when she saw him. His lips immediately twitched into a smirk. Maybe pink wasn't all bad, he thought as he watched the twitching pink material that hung just below her swaying bottom.

Was it really worth all this trouble when there were obviously women fresh for the picking just an hours drive from his new prison? Women with out kids. With a snort he stuffed the scantily dressed doll back on the shelf and made to follow the blonde when a vision of bright blue eyes framed by a sodden shock of midnight hair flashed in his mind. If he gave up that would mean he lost, by forfeit true, but a loss is still a loss and Inuyasha Taishou never, EVER lost.

With a grumble he grabbed the first thing his hand reached and tossed it into the cart along with his other purchases, not really even looking to see what it was.


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Detective Taijya sighed heavily as she sank into the worn vinyl chair stationed behind her desk at the Los Angeles DEA office. The room was drab, painted in all grays and browns, adding to her already dark mood. Her desk was a cluttered maelstrom of paper and manila folders, concealing the scratched wood surface beneath. A picture of a younger version of herself with her arm a boy with eyes identical to her own and an ample smattering of freckles strewn across his sun kissed face made up the extent of personal effects that resided there.

Her head fell to the desk with a muffled thump, the blow cushioned by the three inch thick case file she was working on. It seemed like everywhere she turned she found a dead end. Every lead was a wild goose chase.

Naraku, as the organization was known on the streets, consisted of everything despised about organized crime. Murder, conspiracy, and the largest drug ring in the south west, just to name a few. Their leader was unknown, headquarters unknown, funding (aside from the drug profiteering) unknown. They were a vapor, a poisonous vapor. Miasma.

Sango glanced up at the photo on her desk, a lost look crossing her face. She was lucky the Naraku case had fallen into her hands, lucky it had fallen to the DEA to begin with considering all the other agencies toes they’d stepped on. Of course if the chief knew why she was so gung ho about bringing down the proverbial beast she’d be yanked off the case so fast it’d make her head spin. She had a personal stake in it.

Her brother was killed by one of ‘Naraku’s men when a deal went down bad, Kohaku never stood a chance. He was just a kid, walking home from school like he did everyday, when gunfire broke out. Witnesses said he was taken hostage and gunned down in cold blood. She’d been just a rookie then, fresh out of the academy and working patrol on the streets. She’d seen the brownish stain on the sidewalk where his blood was spilt, where her brother breathed his last on the corner of Wilford and Pine with no one to comfort him in his final moments.

Sango felt a tear slip from the corner of her eye and down her cheek. That blood would be repaid in blood. She would see to that.

They had had no luck infiltrating the organization until recently. Until Sango. She had staked a known agent and infiltrated their system. Her partner had been undercover in the organization for nearly three years now, but up until two weeks ago he’d been nothing but a grunt.

Finally after scraping and following rumors for so long they were starting to reign in something concrete, something she could follow. So far the only thing Hojo had managed to drag out was rumor of something called the butterfly project, and a blurry picture of a picture he happened to see lying on a desk.

Ring...Ring

"Detective Taijya." She answered curtly, all traces of exhaustion gone from her voice.

"47 Smithe street. Fifteen minutes." The line went dead, but a surge of adrenaline brought life to her tired limbs. It was Hojo. He wouldn't have risked a call to her personally unless it was urgent.

Sango jumped to her feet, grabbing absently at her keys, and bolted for the door. Several heads popped up from behind computers as she passed, like prairie dogs in a field of outdated technology.

47 Smithe street was at least 20 minutes away. Good thing she was a cop. She rounded the corner going much faster than what was considered normal in an office setting and smacked right into someone. Papers scattered, curses flew, and ...someone was grabbing her ass?

"What the hell are you doing?!!!"
"I apologize my dear, I was simply checking for injury."

"I don't have time for this Mushin. I have to meet someone." She fumed, scooping up some of the papers to shove at the old perverted Lieutenant.

"A boyfriend perhaps?" She rolled her eyes at him, shoving he last of the papers in his arms. "Always in such a hurry." He tsked, trying to reorganize the papers.

One caught Sango's eye and she snatched it from him, sending the rest of his papers flying once more.

"What is this Mushin?" she asked warily, looking at the glossy 8x10 of a girl with dark hair and blue eyes. If made to guess Sango would say she was around sixteen or seventeen.

"What is what?" the older man grumbled, looking from his position on the floor where he was, once again, picking up his papers. "Oh, that's the Higurashi girl. Missing persons case filed about five years ago, Kagome Higurashi I think. Filed by her mother. There were no leads. Why?"

"I think I have a lead." Sango whispered, taking off once again down the hall.

"Were you planning on sharing or running the whole department yourself Taijya?" Mushin called after her teasingly, shaking his head at the impetuous young woman with the nice behind.





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The morning sun shone in through the front windows of the book store, thick golden streams, like it was trying to fill the whole store with its warmth. Little specks of dust glowed in its rays, floating where ever the breeze coming in through the open front door deemed to take them.

Miya held a bright orange feather duster in one hand, a pop tart in the other, cherry this morning, as she haphazardly dusted the shelf of reference books from the seventies that no one ever even glanced at. She'd tried to talk Ms. K into donating them to ...something, the historical society might have been interested in them, but the woman was nothing if not a pack rat.

'They'll sell', she'd assured. Sure they would. Right along with those old copies of the TV guide Ms. K swore were collectible items.

In all truth, her mind was not on her work this morning. It wasn't even on her pop tart. It was on a certain silver haired cretin, who apparently was moving in across the street. He pulled in this morning, guns a blazing so to speak. If he'd had his radio turned up any louder, Miya swore the speakers would have blown. It had rattled the windows of her apartment hard enough to send Kylie into fits about earthquakes, diving under the table with a pillow and yelling at Miya about battening down the hatches.


She sighed, straightening a thick leather bound book of synonyms and antonyms, she really needed to cut the child back on her TV time.

Glancing over her shoulder at the gleaming red convertible sitting dormant outside the ramshackle old building feeling a sliver of trepidation. What was he doing here? Rich pretty boys don't just up and decide to move out to the middle of nowhere. She stopped dusting, opting to cross her arms over her stomach instead, suddenly she wasn't feeling very well.

Things had been so quiet, she had thought that she was safe here. Could he have found her? Was this Inuyasha character here for her? It seemed unlikely that he'd have just let her drive away when he had the perfect opportunity to grab her that night on Three Bridges Road, but maybe he didn't recognize her in the dark and soaking wet.

Bile rose up in the back of her throat, a bitter panic churning her stomach to the point that she thought she might just be sick. Even after all this time the thought of being taken back to him...and Kylie. Oh, god.

Miya made a mad dive for the trash can. So much for the pop tart.

Staying her breath and willing her tremors to cease, Miya decided to find out for herself if he was sent by Onigumo. She would not let him get a hold of Kylie, even if she had to die to protect her. Kylie was too precious, too special to be ruined by him.

A loud crash sent her to her feet with a scream, prepared to run upstairs and grab Kylie to make a run for it. When another crash immediately followed by the clanging of metal rang through the morning stillness she found herself looking out the front window...and across the street where things were flying out the second story window and crashing to the sidewalk below.

Things like metal pipes, broken cabinets, and ...a toilet?

What in the world was going on over there?



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The place should've been condemned.

No, seriously, it was scheduled for demolition before his father threw out a wad for it, probably grievously over paying just for the chance to put his son, his own flesh and blood, through a little more hell. Just for laughs.

'Ha ha old man,' Inuyasha thought wryly, in a fine fit of temper as he continued his gutting of the upstairs apartment, 'I'll remember this when you're in diapers.' He swore to find his father the ugliest, lip hairiest, moley, man handy nurse he could find. Then who'd be laughing.

He let out a string of expletives vivid enough to make a sailor blush when he cut his finger on a piece of broken pipe and chucked it out the window, mindful that it didn't land anywhere near baby. Pleased with the lightening in his dark mood with the simple brutality of destroying inanimate objects, he decided to oust a few more things that were just lying around. The cabinets that were literally hanging off the walls in the kitchen and the nasty lime green toilet he'd found in the closet. Feeling much better, he trudged back toward the kitchen area.

Who put a toilet in the closet anyway?

The place was a total dive, if his mother knew what kind of condition this place was in she'd have a fit. No doubt dad told her it needed 'a little work'. What the place needed was a wrecking ball and a stick of dynamite.

For starters everything was painted a 1960-esque shade of avocado green, not vintage mind you, but ugly, snot green. And when he said everything he meant everything. Even the floor.

The over head lights were dim and out dated, the ones that there were, and the bathroom looked like it was growing some sort of fungus in the grout of the tile shower. No bath tub. Just a shower, he was afraid he'd contract a disease from by just standing next to it.

The kitchen was bad, but not as bad as the bathroom. The cabinets were pretty much trash, but the sink seemed to be in working condition, if desperately in need of a scrub. He turned the tap. A low rumble, clunk, clunk, shook the building, but nothing came out.

Did anything work?! He dropped down and grimaced, the knees of his chinos were probably ruined. There was no sense in ruining his shirt too, it was one of his favorites, red, made with silk fibers woven in with the cotton. Not cheap that's for sure.

Tossing the shirt up on the counter where it would, hopefully, not get too dirty, he pulled the doors that covered the piping under the sink, cursing as the left door came off in his hand. He threw it against the wall before sticking his head under the counter to inspect the piping.

Everything looked normal, he supposed, not that he ever really looked before, but there were no gaping holes or broken pipes. What was wrong with the stupid thing then?

A throat cleared behind him, startling him enough that he jumped, "Son of a ..." he yelled as he slammed his head into the counter. Rubbing furiously at the rising knot between his ears he turned to give someone hell for trespassing. "Just who the..... what are you doing here?"


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The smell in the old derelict building was horrendous, mold, stale air, and just a hind of au de rich boy. The cologne probably smelled wonderful on his skin, but in here it was like a dying flower growing in a compost heap.

Miya precariously made her way up the stairs, raising a delicate brow at the pile of obviously new stuff on the landing at the top. A TV, Movies, an open bag of cheetos and beer? 'All the necessities I see.' She tsked quietly.

Indistinct grumbling and a list of profanities, some of which she was not even aware existed, floated to her from the open kitchen to her left, though she couldn't see the source over the low Island counter top.

"What the hell is wrong with you, you stupid piece of..." a few indistinct yet obviously angry growls "This is stupid...stupid...stupid..." a sharp yip of pain..."Son of a..."

Miya had to wonder if he knew he was talking to himself. She cleared her throat pointedly, interrupting what was sure to be another lengthy string of expletives.

"Just who the....what are you doing here?" he asked gruffly. Maybe a little more gruffly than he meant because his mouth opened to take it back. Miya beat him to it.

He was shirtless, she noted with a slight gulp, and very well sculpted at that. Her eyes briefly followed the line of his abs to the belted khakis resting low on his hips before jerking her eyes upward once more.

"What are you doing here?" She asked shortly, no point in beating around the bush. It would only encourage him anyway. At any rate, it seemed to cut through the B.S. and goad him a little.

"Excuse me? I own the building doll. I have every right to be here. You're the one trespassing."

"No, I mean what are you doing in Holly Ridge? Are you here for me?"

"Little full of yourself aren't you?" he sneered.

"Why are you here?" She demanded, slamming her hands down on the counter of the island. The whole structure wobbled, even at the slight force. Inuyasha shot it a baleful glance before retorting, his hackles raised.

"That is none of your business wench."

"I'm making it my business."

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A fire smoldered in her gaze, standing there like a butterfly trying to slay a raging bull, a front only and Inuyasha spotted it from the first. She was ...afraid, but why? And why such concern over him being there? Did she think he was going to bulldoze her precious little Hicksville and put up condos? Not a bad Idea, but that wasn't his initial plan.

"Look, I'm not here to start some resort project or anything like that." He told her a bit tightly.

She seemed surprised at his answer. Did she honestly think he wanted to be here? "Then why..." she asked warily.

"Because my old man made me, ok." There. That was all she really needed to know anyway.

"Your...father? Why?" Her face visibly relaxed, her hands no longer wreaking havoc on his counter top.

He shrugged menially. "Apparently," he sighed dramatically, gesturing to their surroundings, "he hates me."

Her face brightened, a smile twitching at the corners of her soft mouth. "Its not so bad." She tried offering, no sooner had it left her mouth than the over head light hanging between them fell to the floor with a crash. "eh..."

Inuyasha pulled his hand over his face in frustration.

"I'm sure a good contractor could fix this place up in no time." She offered brightly.

"Can't." He said dismally, giving the island a kick, wincing when it quivered again. "I have to live on a 'budget'." he spat the word like it was poison.


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"I see." Miya said tightly, fighting a losing battle with her composure. "I'm sorry." she started, pausing when he snapped his head to her fiercely. She realized with a sigh that he wasn't here after her. Maybe she was losing her mind, surely he'd forgotten about her by now. "I've been...rude."

"More like a complete Bit.."

"And you've been a real charmer yourself." She interrupted. "Let's start over ok." and held out her hand. "I'm Miya Hitome." She smiled encouragingly when he raised a brow at her. His lips twitched up into that same smirk he'd plastered on yesterday and she quickly held her hand up in a stopping motion.

"None of that. I'm not interested in any of your lines." She told him firmly.

"Fine." he grumpily took her hand and gave it a firm shake before turning back to the sink with a frown.

"You know," Miya offered sheepishly, "I did a lot of the work when I fixed up my apartment. It wasn't this bad or anything, but...well...I could try and help."

He stared hard at her, as if searching for an ulterior motive before shrugging and pointing at the dingy sink. "You know anything about plumbing?"

"A little. I've fixed a leaky sink or two."

"Why wont this stupid thing work."

Miya turned the tap, and when nothing happened bent low to look under at the pipes, rapping on a few of the old metal tubes. Everything looked ok, old...really old, but intact.

"Did you have the water turned on?" She asked sensibly.

Inuyasha reddened tellingly, then growled, stomping down the stairs when she laughed.

"Wait...wait I'm sorry." She ran after him. "Where are you going?"

" To find a pay phone and get the water turned on."

"You can use the phone at the bookworm ."

"Fine." He threw his shirt over his head, grabbing a small pink box and thrusting it into her hands. "here."

"What is this?" she asked.

"A gift. For the kid."

"The kid has a name." She chided gently, looking at the box. "Kylie." She glanced at him, he was turned away from her pushing his arms into his shirt and she couldn't help but watch as the material slid down to his hips, covering the smooth line of his spine and the rippling muscles of his shoulders. "Whu..." Miya started, shaking her head as a bit of pink rushed to her cheeks, "why did you do this?"

'I was trying to be neighborly' " I was trying to get into your panties."

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"Aw hell." He realized his mistake about a second too late. He'd said what he meant to think and thought what he meant to say. There was a moment of neigh unbearable silence where he was afraid to turn and look at her. Then she laughed.

It was a deep, musical sound and when he turned he found that it lit up her face like the sun, making her beautiful. More than beautiful. "I believe it." she laughed, "but hoochi mama Barbie here isn't going to do much for you."

'hoochi mama Barbie?'

She held the box out for his inspection, and he realized for the first time that he hadn't even looked at the thing. She had on fish net stockings, a mini skirt, and a tube top. "What's wrong with it?" he asked gruffly.

"Well," Miya gave him a long suffering stare, "Kylie's four for one, and for two, this doll looks like a hooker."

He chuckled, "Yeah, she does, doesn't she?" he laughed harder and reached for the box. "Maybe I should keep it."

Miya swatted at his arm after he snatched up the box, holding it out of her grasp. She was smiling at him again, and he realized with a start that he liked that, making her smile. And there was nothing in it for him except that he got to see it.

"I'll take it back and get her something else." he said, tossing the box onto the counter and walking out to the street below.

"You don't have to do that you know." She said softly.

He merely shrugged in answer. He didn't have to turn around to know she was smiling again.

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AN: Sooooo, what do you think? Are you all still with me? (peers out into 'audience' and hears crickets chirping) hello? where did everyone go? Anyways, I'll update again soon, but I want to try and get my other stories back up. Thanks for reading.

UC