InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Gunpowder ❯ Running, Hiding, and Running Some More ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and co. are property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise, and Viz. I own none of those and make no profit whatsoever. All I own is this fanfiction and that is all.
A/N: I'm actually really excited about writing this! I just hope to be able to complete it. I have always had a tendency to never finishing long projects but I'm determine to change that! I suppose one can say that I'm writing this more to my benefit than others. (Laughs) Anyways, back to the fact that I'm excited. I've been literally going nuts! Ideas, scenes, and dialogue have been flooding my brain as of late. All I can think about is writing this fan fiction! It's driving me crazy that I can't even put my thoughts down fast enough before something else pops up! (@_@;;) Then there's the fact that my hand keeps itching to draw more! Especially fan art which is highly unusual... I usually create original artwork rather than mimic someone else's. Not saying that fan art is bad, it's just that I prefer to create something that is mine completely. Eheheh... o_o;; Well anyways, I uploaded some fan art and they will be listed at the very end of this chapter. On the way there, enjoy this update. (Bows down respectfully)


"..." - dialogue
'...' - thoughts
xXxXx - Scenery change/Time break

Warning(s) in this chapter: Erm... Violence and language are all I can think of... Oh wait! There's licking too. (Laughs)

Chapter One: Running, Hiding and Running Some More

A red and silver blur raced down the deserted street that was situated between two rows of large buildings and darted into a shadowed alleyway hiding from the exposing sun. The blur finally came into focus revealing a male silver-haired half-dog demon in a long, crimson, sleeveless coat with small golden clutches, slits from the bottom up to the top of his thighs on both opposite ends, red pants and heavy black boots underneath. His back was positioned against the uncomfortable grey cement wall. Golden eyes flicked to their left finding a dead-end and rolled in their socket.

“Figures.”

Soft, furry appendages located on top of his head twitched from side to side trying to pick up any and all sounds. A slender nose whiffed the air to pick up his pursuers’ scents.

“Shit, they’re still there!” he murmured sharply under his breath. He took another whiff of the air.

“-and they’re humans,” he groaned inaudibly. The half-demon reached under his heavy red coat through the long slit and drew out a particularly large silver handgun from the leather gun holster strapped to his right thigh. He raised the gun up with his right hand and positioned it beside his head, muzzle pointing to the sky. Positioning his right index finger onto the trigger guard, he clicked the safety off. Readying himself, he breathed in and slowly released it.

“Okay, I’ll just disable them and make a run for it.”

The half-demon flicked his soft ears toward heavy footsteps drawing closer. Pale eyelids slid down hiding the golden eyes as he listened intently.

‘One. Two. Three.’

All of sudden a flash of red darted from the shadows of the alley into the front of two human bounty hunters surprising them. Gunshots rang out and the two men fell to their knees clutching their punctured thighs as the half-demon bolted for the opposite direction. In his mad dash, he instinctively leapt to his left skidding as a bullet grazed his right cheek. An amused voice drifted into his ears.

“So you are the infamous Inuyasha, I presumed.” The half-demon tilted his head towards the figure a distance away, to which the voice belonged to.

“Who wants to know?” he growled out. The tan figure stared at him curiously. Then he rummaged through the pocket of his white cargo pants pulling out what looks like a folded sheet of paper. The half-demon stared wearily at the ebony-haired human sensing something off about the man and noticed the purple crest on the center of the tan forehead. He stared at the purple crest with a confused expression.

‘Why would a human have something like a demon’s marking?’

“Ah. Now let’s see.” The half-demon drew back from his thoughts to the man across from him with a now unfolded sheet of paper. Dark as coal eyes stared at the sheet as fingers thoughtlessly tapped against a simple assault rifle positioned across his shoulder with the muzzle facing diagonally off somewhere behind him. He started mumbling something and the half-demon inclined his ears to listen.

“Dog-like ear… silver hair… red coat…” Dark peeked up over the sheet of paper and glimpse at him.

“Ha! Perfect match!” Suddenly the ebony-haired man shifted the rifle towards Inuyasha and a spray of bullets sped towards him surprising him. Inuyasha impulsively launched to the right to avoid them but two shells managed to embed themselves into his left upper arm and into his left shoulder rendering his left arm temporarily useless.

‘How’d the fuck did that happen?!’

“Your reflexes are indeed pretty good but I wouldn’t think you would last very long now, would you.” The man gazed at Inuyasha’s wounded arm pointedly. The half-demon scowled.

“Keh. I don’t need your concern. Who the fuck are you and what d’ya want, asshole?” Inuyasha growled ignoring the pain in his left shoulder and arm. He continued to watch the man in front of him closely trying to decipher the strange aura coming from the man’s body. At the same time, he checked his surrounding through his peripheral vision but found no means of escape seeing that the street was blocked. He sure as hell can’t turn around and run leaving his back exposed.

‘It doesn’t look like I can just run from this one,’ the half-demon thought slightly peeved.

“Oh? Have you not heard of me? I am Bankotsu, the greatest mercenary around (‘Gloating bastard.’) and I’m here for your head or have you forgotten the ten million dollar for your life?” Bankotsu sneered at Inuyasha mockingly. The half demon snorted in response.

“Keh. Like I care, you can get in line with the rest of the fuck-tards.” Watching carefully, Inuyasha slightly shifted the silver handgun that still remained in his right hand into a more comfortable position.

“Now why would I do that when you’re right HERE!” Bankotsu swiftly aimed and pulled the trigger of his rifle showering another set of bullets toward Inuyasha. The half-demon being prepared this time immediately spun around and purposely shoved the muzzle of his silver handgun deep into the wound of his left shoulder pulling the trigger surprising the mercenary. Inuyasha gritted his teeth as the bullet forcibly tore through his shoulder and through his back scattering sickles of blood into the space behind him. The crimson sickles collided with any bullets aiming for his body redirecting them and continued slicing though the air to reach the tan figure beyond. Bankotsu quickly fell out of his stupor and brought up the weapon to guard against the onslaught. In doing so, he managed to set them slightly off course but he still received long gashed along his arm and sides as they pass by. Coal eyes narrowed as the half-demon turned around with a smug like on his face.

“What? You don’t like the taste of my Blades of Blood?” Bankotsu scoffed.

“Yeah, right. I was rather surprise that you would mutilate yourself just to deliver such a measly attack. I would have done the favor for you if you wanted to so much as die slowly.”

“Feh. Fat chance, jackass. No one’s touching my life. I’ll fucking deform your ass before you can even put another scratch on me.”

“Hmph. We’ll have to see about that.” With that said, his rifle started glowing red. A shiver ran down Inuyasha’s spine. He could feel a strong aura surging out in waves from the rifle.

‘What the hell is that?’

“Now let’s see if you can say the same thing against my Banryu!” but before the ebony-haired man could make a move, the wind suddenly whipped up wildly causing dust and debris to fly everywhere. Half-demon and human alike instinctively brought up their arms to shield their eyes.

With the wind roaring in Inuyasha’s ear making him lose his senses, his body all of a sudden spiked with panic as an arm encircled around his waist and jerked him onto a speeding vehicle. Inuyasha started to thrash wildly trying to remove the arm before a familiar voice flowed into his soft ears.

“Would you hold still, mutt-face!” a growl broke out from his captor.

“Kouga?! What the fuck are you doing here?!”

“Saving your fucking ass, dog-shit! Now hold still and shut the fuck up!” Kouga all but snarled as they sped away on his motorcycle leaving the mercenary behind.

The wind finally died down around Bankotsu, and he lowered his arm only to find his target was missing. Annoyed, dark eyes glanced down finding tire tracks. He lifted an eyebrow.

“Was this here before?”

xXxXx

“OWWWWW FUCKING DAMMIT!!! Can’t you be any gentler?!” Downy ears crushed themselves onto his scalp in pain.

“You should’ve thought of that before you blasted a fucking hole through your fucking body!” Kouga had already removed the shells (or rather shell since dog-shit-for-brains managed to blast the other one out with his brash attack), and now he was cleaning the wounds to discontinue the bleeding. The wolf-demon literally poured the whole bottle of hydrogen peroxide onto the festering wounds. The half-demon hissed at the smell and pain and bolted up from where he was sitting to get away, but Kouga just as quickly shoved him back down.

“Would you hold still!? I’m trying to help you here, unless you want your wound to reopen again, you ungrateful mongrel!”

“Well, no one asked for your fucking help!” Inuyasha tries to get up again only to find himself fall face first onto the ground when Kouga slapped his naked wounded shoulder.

“Dammit! Is this how you treat the wounded?!”

“Shut up, you dramatic pup!” Inuyasha growled at that comment and tried to get up but a foot on his bare back prevented from doing so.

“If you had just listened to me and stayed still, I wouldn’t have to do this!” Inuyasha grumbled incoherently into the soft rug under him. Kouga sighed and shook his head slightly.

“For a person that would purposely mutilate himself, you sure cry a lot about being in pain.”

“Shuddap! That fucking bastard already made my arm useless! I might as well use it to my advantage!” Inuyasha retaliated as he renewed his struggle. Kouga raised a brow at the half-demon’s logic and pressed his foot down onto the half-demon causing his head to fall back down nearly eating the rug.

“Argh! Maybe I should’ve left you back there to die!”

“No one asked you to fucking save me! I had things under my control!”

“Control?! CONTROL?! Yeah, right! I know you have more common sense then that; even if you have shit for brains! You of all people should’ve been able to sense something wrong! Or have you really gone stupid?” Arguing with dog-breath was really starting to fray his nerves. Before Inuyasha could say anything though, Kouga pulled him off the ground and back onto the couch surprising him.

“Okay, even if you were able to beat the guy, how long do you think you’d last drenched in blood as you were? Even if your clothes have the ability to hide your natural scent, I wouldn’t think it would be able to cover up the stench of your blood. I mean, geez, I detected the smell of your blood from miles away; that was how I found you in the first place.” Inuyasha stayed silent. Kouga picked up the towel that he dropped and started wiping the blood that was spilling out of the reopened wound. He took a piece of cotton out from the bag of cotton balls on the marble table in front of the couch they were currently taking up. Facing Inuyasha’s naked back, he pushed the half-demon’s wild silver mane over his (Inuyasha’s) right shoulder. He then put a bit of hydrogen peroxide on the cotton and starting dabbing the injury on the pale peach body. The half-demon winced pulling his ear back against his scalp once more and Kouga paused his movements before speaking up breaking the comfortable silence.

“I have a more… natural remedy… that wouldn’t hurt as much.” Snowy ears perked up as Kouga remained still.

“That is, if you want, I could do that instead of this.” The mass of silver hair tilted down slightly in a nod not being able to see the glint in the wolf-demon’s sky blue eyes. Suddenly something warm and wet was sliding over his flesh wounds. Inuyasha’s body became rigid.

“What the hell are you doing exactly, you mangy wolf?”

“Licking you wounds like any dog would their own. What d’ya think?” Inuyasha could feel the smirk on Kouga’s on his shoulder. His whole body flushed. Immediately, the wolf demon found a pale foot planted onto his handsome bronze face knocking him across the living room toppling over furniture.

“Keep you FUCKING MOUTH to YOURSELF, jackass!” Inuyasha fumed in embarrassment. The wolf-demon merely picked himself up carefully and chuckled at Inuyasha’s flustered face. A blur of silver bolted for the door of the bachelor pad but Kouga beat him there blocking the way out. The half-demon ran for the window in the living room but Kouga grabbed onto long silver locks before he could launch out making him fall backwards in a thud. The wolf-demon immediately straddled the half-demon’s slim waist and trapped his right arm against the cold wooden floor. Inuyasha kicked his leg wildly and tried to strangle the exposed throat of the bastard on top him. Of course with his left arm still being inapplicable, all he managed was to flail uselessly.

“Inuyasha, calm down already!”

“I’ll calm the fuck down when you get the fuck OFF!”

“No, you’ll try to leap out the window again.”

“Hmmm. I wonder why, fucking pervert!” Inuyasha continued his struggling.

“Okay, okay. That was stupid of me. I forgot you were still a virgin-” Inuyasha growled and Kouga smirked.

“-but it worked, didn’t it?” Inuyasha stilled.

“Huh?” Inuyasha voiced intelligently. Kouga rolled his eyes.

“Look. That fucking gaping hole in your shoulder closed and you’re no longer bleeding like mad. If you were completely human, you would’ve been dead by now. Now let’s dress your wounds before they open again.”

“Fine! But if you try something again and you’re gonna be eating lead, stinking wolf! Now get the fuck off!” Sky blue eyes rolled once more but he complied anyways. Kouga stood up and dusted himself off before helping the pale body on the ground up. He guided the mass of red, peach, and silver back to the couch with the half-demon grumbling the whole time. Inuyasha sat sideways onto the couch with Kouga following suit sitting behind him. They sat in a comfortable silent as Kouga got back to treating the injuries; this time rubbing ointment on them. Inuyasha leaned to the right; shoulders rested into the cushion of the couch as his left foot tapped idly on the rug covering the wooden floor.

“So why’d you save me anyways?” No reply came and the deafening silence continued. After a while, Inuyasha began to start wondering if he even said anything at all. That is, until Kouga spoke up.

“I don’t know.” Kouga’s voice was calm and solemn much different from his usual energetic tone. An awkward silence fell around them. The wolf-demon sighed heavily startling Inuyasha a bit with the action that was so unlike himself.

“It has been nearly 20 years since she died now… Nearly 15 years since I last saw you and you’re still moping around like this. I was hoping that the next time I see you that you would’ve moved on.” Inuyasha scowled and parted his lips to retaliate but Kouga cut him off.

“Y’know, I loved her, too, right?” Not being able to say anything, Inuyasha closed his mouth. The wolf-demon’s voice sounded too dejected. Kouga continued his ministrations and started bandaging the slowly (well, slow for a demon anyways) healing shoulder and arm. A clawed hand started fidgeting with the edge of his red pants’ leg that was covering the right leg currently bent on the couch.

“I think it’s about time you settled down and find a mate.” Snowy ears perked up at the light humor in the solemn voice. Figuring that Kouga was trying to lighten the mood, Inuyasha hmphed.

“Right, and let her live her life in danger, constantly running and hiding.” Kouga smiled at his friend’s sarcastic tone.

“At least you won’t be alone.”

“Psh. Like that can get me out of my situation. Even if it did, I wouldn’t want to.” Kouga lifted a dark brow at Inuyasha’s quiet tone. He tightened the knot on the bandages signaling that he was finished and maneuvered around Inuyasha to sit in front of him. The half-demon only stared down at his fidgeting hand, silver hair shielding his face.

“So you’re saying you’re living like this to punish yourself.” Inuyasha scowled at that statement but said nothing. Kouga’s brows knitted in bubbling anger.

“Why are you so fucking STUPID!” Inuyasha was startled at the sudden outburst and finally lifted his head finding furious, light blue eyes. The half-demon’s silence seem to rile the bronze figure even more.

“You’ve got your fucking revenge whereas I got nothing! If you’re gonna keep punishing yourself for something that wasn’t even your fault, then why don’t ya end your fucking miserable life already! In fact, I can do that for you! That ten million dollars award is after all very tempting!”

“Fuck off! You weren’t there when she died! I was! ME! Not YOU! I was there and I couldn’t do anything! Nothing at all! NOT ONE DAMN FUCKING THING!” At this point, there were both standing; huffing and glaring at each other furiously. Inuyasha was the first one to break eye contact as he slid back down onto the plush leather couch.

“Besides, if I died… I don’t think I’ll be going to the same place… as her…” Kouga had to strain his ears just to hear the half-demon’s hushed voice. Upon hearing those words, Kouga’s anger evaporated and in its place was guilt. He sighed again and ran long tan fingers through his ruddy brown hair before fixing it back into a neat ponytail. He kneeled down to pick up bloodied towels and cotton. He walked towards the kitchen to dispose of them in the trash bin.

Upon returning to the living room, he saw Inuyasha was still in the same dejected position on the couch. Not wanting to dwell on the subject that was deemed a taboo, he opted to change it rather than apologizing as he shuffled around the area straightening fallen furniture.

“So who were you fighting to cause you such harm?” Inuyasha fell out of his depressing thoughts when he noticed Kouga was trying to change the topic.

“Some bastard claiming he was the greatest,” Inuyasha replied with his usual gruffness returning, eager with the subject change.

“Oh really? His name?”

“I forgot. Ban-something, not like I care to remember anyways. There was something weird about him, though. He clearly had the stench of a human but he had this strange marking on his forehead like some demons would have. Also, his weapon seemed ordinary but he is able to wield it to such an extreme that it’s anything but.” Kouga stilled his movements and turned his head to face Inuyasha seeing the half-demon’s handsome face distort in confusion.

“Wait, what?”

“I said-”

“I know what you said. That was a rhetorical question.” Inuyasha scowled again as Kouga crossed the room and slid down into the couch again. Golden eyes stared at the wolf-demon in confusion.

“So the rumors are true. Damn, this is such a mess,” he said more to himself than to Inuyasha as dark brow knitted together in contemplation.

“What’s true and what’s a mess?” Kouga said nothing being lost in his own thoughts. Inuyasha felt agitated with curiosity.

“What’s fucking true and what’s a fucking mess?!” Kouga seem to have finally realized that Inuyasha was still there and pulled himself out of his muddled thoughts to glance at the half-demon.

“Well… there’s been rumors going around about humans having… demonic powers…”

“Huh? How does that work? Do you mean like those… gifted humans with… spiritual powers…?” Inuyasha’s mood plummeted again as he unintentionally reminded himself of a certain girl. Kouga, sensing his friend’s distress, immediately replied to draw the half-demon away from his own melancholy thoughts.

“Not exactly. Unlike the gifted humans who are born with such powers, these guys were given the power, but what I’m trying to figure out is who or what is would be the source in supplying them with such.” Inuyasha perked up in curiosity again.

“Given?”

“Uh huh.” It was Inuyasha’s turn to notch his light eyebrows together in contemplation.

“Can we do that, like just hand someone our powers?”

“I don’t think it’s as easy as simply handing someone else our powers like an object. There must be something else to it,” but before Kouga can say anything else, a knock on the door of his temporary apartment silenced him. Inuyasha’s body went rigid as he sniffed the air attentively.

“It’s a human… Well I outstayed my visit anyways. It’s already so dark outside,” he said feeling himself calmed down after sorting through the scent of stale furniture and the metallic smell that blood gives off. Inuyasha stood up and strode quietly over to the mini bar counter to pick up the black leather gun holster with his faithful gun, Tetsusaiga, still snuggly inside. He then strapped it back onto his right leg.

“Where’s my shirt and coat?”

“They’re in the dryer. They seem to have fixed themselves- never mind that. Where are you gonna go?” Inuyasha stepped into the kitchen to reach the laundry room with Kouga following him. He opened the drying machine and pull out his clothes which felt warm to the touch notifying him that the dryer had just finished.

“Feh. I wish I knew the answer to that one.” Finding himself healed enough to use his left arm but with some pain and hardship, the half demon pulled the black muscle shirt over his head and down his torso warming his chest before proceeding to put on the long, red, sleeveless coat.

“I’ll just do the same as always. Running, hiding, and running some more.” Kouga winced at how calmly his half-demon friend stated that. More knocking resounded through the apartment as Inuyasha finished connecting the clutches of his coat and buckled his black belt snuggly around his slim waist securing his coat.

“Hold on a sec!” Kouga called out at his visitor. Inuyasha walked back through the kitchen to the living room for the window he had attempted to escape through earlier with Kouga in tow. Long, pale peach fingers unlatched the locks on the window and slid the frame up. He placed one foot and hand on the window sill before turning his head back around to face Kouga.

“You better burn the trash. You don’t want people to find out that a top-notch cop is helping a dangerous criminal.” Kouga wince again at the solemnity of his friend’s voice. Inuyasha turned his head back into its original position to look out the window staring at the dark sky that was littered in stars and a waning half moon watching over them.

“By the way…” Kouga perked up at the voice to listen to what the half-demon had to say.

“Thank for saving me today… and…” Kouga lifted a slender brow.

‘And?’

“-and for back then… when I wasn’t exactly… myself…” Upon realizing what the half-demon had meant, Kouga tried to stop him.

“Wait. That wasn’t-” but Inuyasha had already disappeared through the window and vanished into the shadows of the night.

“-me… who saved you…” Kouga sighed as he closed the window to keep the cool draft of the night out. He immediately went to the marble table to clear off all the first-aid kit items and shoving them into one of the kitchen cabinets. He quickly made his way to the entrance of his temporary home muttering the whole way about “stupid half-breeds and their thick headedness.”

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