InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Impoverished Heir ❯ Breaking Vices ( Chapter 25 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

PIYO PIYO!! Here we go again!! Hope you're all still reading this. Read on and tell me what you think, I hope you enjoy!
All in dedication to my beautiful fiancee. Ma Malai I need my Skye. I love you, baby. You inspire my Yasha sagas obviously; you gave me the ideas to spark my writing after all.
Dedicated also to Inugrrrl. KIIIII You've been Heired, whatcha think bout that???
to all who read: thank you. Please review! They are an author's fuel.


Disclaimer: Penpaninu does not claim to own Inuyasha, nor any of its wonderful characters. The wonderful head of the Takahashi clan, Rumiko-san, does benefit from such creations, not I. However, hanyous make the best spouses: loyal to a fine fine razor edge and love enough to spill over!

"Impoverished Heir" chapter twenty-five
"Breaking Vices"


Inuyasha and Sesshomaru stood side by side in the Room of Supreme Contemplation. They wore bannering white silk gi pants that molded to their thigh muscles and fell loosely around calves and shins. Their upper torsos were bare, and slick with sweat from their earlier excursions. Inuyasha's hands were crossed in front of him, small claw-like nails poised to slash. The muscles in his chest stood rigidly at attention, supporting his limbs. Sesshomaru's left shoulder was half its once proud slope contrasting with his single right arm crossed in front of his chest. Inuyasha did not dare make fun of him; he had the feeling his brother was more dangerous with one arm than with two.
An aged short man with long hair neatly tied back into an oiled ponytail walked in front of them, barking lines of wisdom and advice. Sensei Ryuu was one of the most prominent martial arts masters in the islands, Myoga had said, and of course was readily available for the brothers with the salary Sesshomaru had bestowed upon him.
"Pull back! Strike! Drive hard, past, THROUGH your target!" Ryuu barked. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru obediently complied. Myoga stood to the side, arms crossed across his wide chest, watching. A wry smile pulled at the corner of his white mustachioed lips.
"Through! Through! Inuyasha-san, don't you understand?" Ryuu dictated. Inuyasha lowed his arms, his face twisted in an expression of genuine hate.
"What is his problem??" he hissed at his brother. Sesshomaru flashed his long white teeth in an insolent grin.
"Just take his advice, little brother... strike through the target," he murmured. Inuyasha's brows raised.
"What is that supposed to mean? Ryuu-san kept saying it and I don't get it!" he hissed. Sesshomaru glanced out of the corner of his golden eyes and nodded. Ryuu-san was pacing once more, his back to them. He would turn and see them whispering lowly in seconds.
"Just that, brother... through. Strike when the winds form as one point..." were Sesshomaru's words. Inuyasha glared at him, aghast in his confusion, when suddenly one moment of honest clarity shone through in his memory.
'If you want to unleash the holy breath...' Was that akin to the winds as one point?
"Now, strike! THROUGH!" Ryuu was facing the young men again, hands clasped behind his slim waist. Inuyasha felt himself react.
Out of the corner of his eye, Inuyasha saw Sesshomaru move into position to strike. He followed, his right leg moving forward as his hip drove with the motion. His clawed fist parted the air of the stillness inside the Room of Supreme Contemplation. In a moment of epiphany, Inuyasha swore he saw colors swirl, dancing to form layers and crossroads of a nexus of energy. Sesshomaru grunted beside him; time stood still. As his arm seemed to move in slow motion, Inuyasha felt more than saw his fist drive through the energy, creating a whirlwind through the colorful streams; Sesshomaru did the same beside him.
Inuyasha was pleased to see what he felt was not fanciful illusion; Ryuu-san dove out of the way as an invisible hand slapped the wall just where he had been, knocking one of the calligraphy scrolls to the tatami mats.
"What in the world!" he cursed.
Sesshomaru and Inuyasha stood poised, one hand forward, balanced perfectly on their rear feet.
"Striking through, sensei?" was Inuyasha's smart remark. Myoga laughed and clapped his hands together. As Sesshomaru congratulated his brother and Ryuu-san fumed, the old advisor studied the young men. They were so linked in their destiny, they positively shone with it. And Inuyasha, he was on the right track...
'Finally, old friend, your sons will discover what you did...'
"Strike through, what on earth was THAT!" Ryuu-san screamed. Sesshomaru swept his hand through his loose bangs and clapped his hand onto Inuyasha's back. Inuyasha looked down at his palms, his face truly bewildered. What was that? Was that something he needed to do? It felt so right... As his brother talked brightly into his ear, and the sensei wailed, Inuyasha failed to notice the knowing look on the face of his father's oldest friend.

*****

"I know, back in the board in twenty. Sheez, Sessh really needs me to backmouth people, doesn't he?" Inuyasha asked. Myoga laughed as Inuyasha's male assistant went bug-eyed in trying not to diss his betters with him. The youngest Takahashi pushed open his office doors, the fur-lined crescent moon with the blob of a sword swinging with his movements. Myoga stepped around it, eyeing the symbology with bored interest.
"And can you get me a cup of coffee? Starbucks with tons and tons of sugar, man. Oh, and take a break. I ain't no slave driver!" Inuyasha was saying as Myoga placed himself before his desk, hands folded in front of his waist. The male assistant left the office and Inuyasha threw himself into his chair, undoing his crimson silk tie as he spun in a slow circle.
"I thought you didn't work this hard when you got to the top, but man, it's harder than the old Wac job!" the youngest Takahashi grinned. Myoga smiled and looked through his breast pocket for his pipe.
"At least you know it's work, young master. Might I say you're doing very well?" Myoga offered. Inuyasha flushed with happiness.
"Thanks, Myoga-ojii," Inuyasha exclaimed. He set his binder of papers down on his finely polished desk, flicking a small piglet toy with his index finger. Myoga smiled to see that even though Inuyasha was risen high into the world, he kept some old habits to define himself. Inuyasha ran his clawed fingers over a bright red motorcycle toy, then pushed it back and forth across the desk.
"Hang on, I'm getting a call, Myoga," Inuyasha swore as he fished around in his suit jacket pockets for the offending machinery blaring its catch ringtone at him.
"I WANT to CHANGE the WORLD!"
"Hello?" Inuyasha barked, eager to quieten the room from the riotous ringtone. Myoga bowed and backed out of the offices as the conversation continued without him.
"Hey, Yasha," Sango's voice rang out to Inuyasha's sharp ears. He wiggled them and leaned back in his chair.
"Sango, what's going on?" Somehow he knew it wasn't going to be good.
Sniffling. He was right.
"Sango?"
"I wish you'd come by more, Yasha, I miss you, man," Sango said in a wavery voice. Inuyasha frowned.
"Did Miroku come back?" he growled. Sango sounded like she was holding back straight-out sobs at this point. His eyes narrowed as he imagined pummelling his best buddy's face.
"He did...but he keeps going out. Yasha, he's been drinking! And he won't stay home, or go to work..." Sango wailed. Inuyasha looked at the files on his desk. He looked at the little motorcycle anime toy that Sango had given him, then at the crisply typed memorandums and orders. He shoved the folder aside and rose to his feet, making his decision.
"I'll go find him," he swore. "And I'll make him come home. Any idea where he's drinking at?"
Sango gave him the name of a few bars and clubs no doubt read from match books of their propriators. Inuyasha redid his tie and tapped his leather shoes on the floor.
"Alright, I'll go now," he said.
Inuyasha swept out his office doors, spinning his assistant into the wall.
"Whoa! Hey, Takahashi-san!" he called out, holding a sloshing cup of coffee. Inuyasha kept going. He would make it right. He would make his friends happy again.

*****

"Kouga-san!" a voice called out.
Ookami Kouga turned around on the beach. He had been walking hand in hand with Ayame and enjoying the sunrise when the car had pulled up at the hut on the japanese surf. He had a feeling his father would be sending an associate for a report and he didn't have to see the Ookami wolf crest on the side of the car to know where it had come from.
Ayame squeezed his long fingers and grinned impishly up at him. "Looks like your father wants to see if your temper's been, well, tempered."
Kouga laughed. He gave her a swift kiss on the cheek as the man in the gray suit waded his way through the sand towards them. The both of them were clad in dark gray gi pants and tops knotted at the waist. They were barefoot in the sand, and often went barefoot in the woods while training. At first Kouga cut his feet alot, but soon they grew as tough and caloused as Ayame's. They stood as one unit as the short assistant huffed his way up and swiftly bowed at the waist.
"Honored Ookami heir," he intoned grandly. "I am Kitsune Shippou-san. It is an honor to meet you."
Ayame smiled as Kouga tilted his head down. Shippou was a good head shorter, and his hair was oddly red, long, and pulled back into a high topknot on top of his skull. It made for a very extreme old look and Kouga didn't have to squint to see the crackles of youkai chi coming off of the short man. His ears were pointed at the tips, his teeth sharp and white. Kouga looked into his eyes and saw a wash of gold that matched his own strange irises and he knew that he was a youkai as well; just a different breed than the wolf men in his family's clan.
"The honor is all mine, Kitsune-san. Fox clan, hmm?" he inquired. Shippou grinned a sharp smile of amusement and nodded.
"It's all in the name, sir. Your father asked I come to bring him back word of how you were progressing."
And here Shippou bowed to the slim line of a woman, showing her deference to her unseen rank. Ayame smiled and inclined her head to him lowly.
"Ookami Kouga has not learned his place. He has learned himself. He has learned respect and how to treat others," Ayame began. She could see her lover's shoulders tighten up and she squeezed his hand gently. "He also has given himself to me, and shown me all of him. He is a good man. And he has learned to follow as well as to lead. He is ready."
Kouga let out a slow breath of air and grinned. Kitsune Shippou brought out a small notepad and scribbled furiously.
"Would that be ready now, or ready later?" the little man asked, his pen poised. Kouga laughed.
"Now, later, who cares! Let my old man know he can be damned proud of me. My woman can tell him too!" Kouga hugged Ayame tightly to him, listening to his girlfriend's breathless squeals. This was right, and all was well in the world.
Kitsune Shippou bowed lowly and left with the Ookami company driver. Little did Kouga know, but his father needed his aide, and fast. This report would be received very, very well. Hell, he could even see a promotion in his near future just for coming out to receive said good news.
Shippou settled into the backseat of the shiny car and smiled.



*****

Miroku stumbled out of the bar, his clothing half untucked, his whole body in pure disarray. Stubble lined his cheeks and jaw, and he could barely peel his eyes open.
He lost his balance, and went sideways into a pair of sloshed businessmen. They shied from him and gave him a push back.
"The fuck," Miroku slurred as he caught the wall with one trembling hand.
"Fuck you, man," one of them said, brushing off his rumpled suit as he passed on by. Miroku leaned his brow against the cool granite and took deep breaths to try and get the world to stop spinning. When he opened them, he saw a vision of elegant waste.
Or so his drunken mind thought suddenly. Inuyasha was there, and he was painted up like a tooled up businessman, all sharp lines and smooth suit. His long hair wasn't plastered back with mousse or spray to keep each hair perfectly back in his low ponytail and Miroku suddenly hated him. He blinked sharply as words floated from his best friend's mouth, and almost took shape, they took so long to reach his inebriated ears.
"Whu?" Miroku asked as the painted up Inuyasha stood waiting for an answer.
"I said Sango called. It's time to get you home, man."
Miroku looked him up and down again. Man, even his shoes were fucking brand new! What the heck had happened while he was out getting drunk off his ass lately?
"...Did Donald Trump throw up on you?"
Inuyasha sighed raggedly. "Come on, Miroku, it's time to go home."
"No, man, no, come on, lemme just get another one..."
Inuyasha grabbed Miroku's arm and steadied him when he made to stumble his face into the pavement.
"You've had enough, already! Come on, man, Sango's crying! Why don't you just go home?" he insisted. Miroku jerked his arm away from Inuyasha's hand, almost throwing himself sideways onto the ground in the process.
"Man, whattaya know?? You don't know nothing!" he yelled. Inuyasha held his hands up, palm first as Miroku fisted his hands.
"You don't wanna do this, man," he warned his friend. Miroku shook his head, loose hair flying. There was barely enough of his long hair tied back into its customary dragon's tail.
"Hell yeah, I do! Why you coming at me??" Miroku snarled. Inuyasha rolled his sleeves up, sighing.
"You gotta just go home, Miro. Your girl misses you. You wanna make Sango mad?" he asked. Miroku sniffed, but kept his hands up.
"Shut up! No one knows how I feel! No one!" he yelled. Inuyasha backed off as he made to punch. Miroku tripped and almost fell from the exceeded effort.
"Come on, Miroku. I know how you feel. I know your pain..." Inuyasha began when his friend howled. Miroku held his head with both hands and screamed his pain in one roar of disapproval.
"NO YOU DON'T!! My baby... it took my baby!" Miroku screamed. Inuyasha gulped, his eyes wide. His priest-trained friend DID feel it... the wave of evil...
"Come on, man, you can try again! It's not like you were planning it, were you?" Inuyasha tried. Miroku screamed and hit him. Inuyasha blinked and scraped his fingertips against the bruise that would form across the side of his jaw calmly. "What's going on, Miroku?"
"I never plan! But it didn't mean... it didn't mean..." Miroku grabbed his friend by the shoulders and handled him with shaking hands.
"Easy there, Miroku, easy," Inuyasha urged. He grabbed his friend when Miroku stumbled and slid down.
"I DID want it... I wanted it... cause it came..." Miroku mumbled. Tears bled freely from his pain-filled eyes and made his face a canvas of wet flesh. Inuyasha patted his shoulders, and slung one of his arms across his.
"I'll get you home now, my friend. I think it's Sango who needs to hear that..." Inuyasha soothed. His cell phone blurted out its jaunty ringtone, but he ignored it and walked his grieving hungover friend to the subway station. Miroku stumbled, sobbing at his side.
It was an interesting ride and walk through the crowds of Tokyo. Many avoided the pair, shunning open inebriation and emotion, while others openly stared at Inuyasha's exotically different beauty. Inuyasha hummed an old school song to cheer his sniffling friend. He didn't care that Miroku's snot was dotting the hell out of his jacket sleeve. Step by step, annoying person through irritating crowd, he walked his old friend back to the apartment he shared with his girlfriend.
Sango finally answered his knocks and her eyes were puffy and red. They widened when they saw what remained of her lover.
"What happened to him?" she asked fearfully, taking in the bruise on Inuyasha's chin. He grinned softly.
"Nothing some neosporin and a kiss can't cure. He's home now, Sango."
'I made it all better.'
Sango nodded, and took one of Miroku's arms, helping him across the threshold. Inuyasha noticed her flat stomach, and the soft folds that was the evidence she had once been carrying a life. Miroku fell against her shoulder, babbling as Inuyasha threw the covers back off of their bed in the back.
"I wanted it so bad, Sango, honest I did. I'm sorry, so sorry, I couldn't save it..."
Sango's eyes filled with tears, but she tucked her lover in with tender hands. Inuyasha knew instantly the love they had found in each other when Miroku clutched her fingers in his.
"It's okay, Miroku... it'll get better, I promise," she said with quiet conviction. Inuyasha reflected that Miroku should have been the one promising her that, but it wasn't his business to say so.
After two glasses of water, and a change into a t-shirt, Miroku was sleeping away his hangover. Sango kissed his unshaven cheek and pulled Inuyasha out of the bedroom. The door closed softly behind them.
"Do you want any tea or anything, Yasha?" Sango asked softly. Inuyasha's sharp ears almost twitched. She needn't be so quiet. Miroku's snores could be heard in their small kitchen; a small war couldn't have woken him up.
"No, that's okay, Sango. Has he been like this since... it happened?" he asked. Sango smiled sadly. Her friend was blunt and always to the point. It was an admirable quality to possess, and she knew the fact of the matter would be discussed once he was involved.
"Yes. He tried to help me when I was crying, but I think... he needed his own way to mourne. Miroku's a different breed of man. Even when he wanted to help, he needed to loose himself," Sango tried to explain the man she loved to the man who had been her best friend always. She twirled loose strands of gray hair between her fingers fondly. Inuyasha smiled.
"He'll find his way, because he has you. He's needed you, Sango, and for many years now," he promised. Sango smiled gently. There were twinges of sadness in her inquiring orbs, but affection as well.
"It's been a good minute. Look at you, you're all slicked up now," Sango admired his new suit, and never mind the snot stain on his sleeve Miroku had left.
Inuyasha shrugged.
"It looks like my brother's finally come around. He acts like he's my friend, and that he needs me," Inuyasha said. Sango sat at the kitchen table.
"He really hurt you."
Inuyasha met her eyes. "I know."
"Do you trust him?" Now it had been spoken. Inuyasha crossed his arms and looked down. He looked deep inside himself and found instantly the answer that would explain best.
"Kagome trusts him."
'And that may be good enough for all.'
Sango's smile was not strained in the slightest this time.
"Then that's good enough for me," she declared. "Tell your 'nii-san that I'll kick his butt if he hurts you again. I know ju-jitsu!"
Inuyasha laughed with his friend and they squeezed hands across the tabletop.
"Things have really changed, haven't they?" he asked after the giggles had stopped. Sango nodded.
"They have. But things will be good. I know it," she said impishly. Inuyasha watched her with sad eyes, but he smiled.
Things would change, but there would be terrifying things to come. He could feel it.

*****

"She's the girlfriend of Takahashi Inuyasha?"
Ookami Takeru nodded as he looked through his ledger. "She is. An able and accomplished woman, and she has served me and my idiot son well. My friend has had nothing but the highest of compliments for her skills under him."
Kitsune Shippou grinned a sharp smile and bowed his head at his employer. "She is so normal, boss! A true-blue human if there was one in our surroundings."
Ookami Senior nodded, his golden eyes crinkling with his smile. "Oft times power can be found in true simplicity," he intoned. "And Kagome-san has my blessing of friendship. There may come a time when wolf will join with dog to settle the matters of darkness, and sooner rather than late I fear. My elders have convened, and decided the signs so."
"Cryptic ramblings, I'm telling ya," Shippou complained good-naturedly. "Still, I serve as I always will. You think she'll like me?"
"Kagome-san sees the good in all true friends," Ookami declared. "Go ahead and meet her. I command it."
"When the head of the Ookami clan commands, who am I to question?" Shippou smiled. He straightened out his collar and swept his hand through his red bangs. "Well, I'm off."
Kagome had been looking through her list of meetings for her boss when a polite cough sounded at her side.
"Anou... Higurashi Kagome-san?"
Young. Male. Kagome hoped she wouldn't have to turn down yet another admirer. She was loyal to Inuyasha, and that would be her answer as always.
"Yes, sir?" she asked and turned. Golden eyes clashed with her dark and she smiled, noting the jagged lines of youkai chi forming around the short man before her. He WAS short. She was half a head taller in low pumps!
"I am Kitsune Shippou-san, and I must say, it's an honor to make your acquaintance," Shippou smiled and bowed. Kagome smiled with genuine friendship and bowed in return.
"The honor is mine, Shippou-san! And it's Kagome," she offered. Shippou smiled shyly. He held the demeanour of a young man holding affection for a favorite sister.
"Ookami Takeru asks that we work together on the next case, if it please your supervisor," he began. Kagome nodded and compared folders. She noted the small claws topping Shippou's fingers subtly.
"Suzuki Koichi will be pleased," she declared. She could feel the waves of camraderie flowing off of the young man, and knew instantly she could trust him. She always trusted her instincts, and they told her Kitsune Shippou was a good man. Her instincts told her the truth; that Inuyasha was the man for her, despite her grandfather's superstitious ravings. She knew something was coming, and they could use all the friends they could get.

*****

"So, how's the old ticker doing?" Hakudoshi leered. Kanna looked at their papers quietly. One pale white hand reached to rest upon her small bosom. The gesture was more than enough to indicate a heavy burden. Hakudoshi snorted.
"Yeah, I hated it too. That's the price of power, though, kid. Gotta do what you don't want to," he drawled. Kanna moved a strand of white hair out of her face and looked at her erstwhile partner with unmoving black eyes. Hakudoshi swallowed uneasily.
"Yeah, I heard that too..."
"My loyal subjects," a grand voice swept throughout the room. Hakudoshi kicked off his desk and almost fell over the top of it in his hurry to stand at attention. Kanna was more elegant in her movements; she flowed into a bowed as smooth as silken water.
Onigumo Naraku swept into the office, his black topknot swaying behind him. His waif of an adopted daughter scurried behind him like a dark mouse. Hakudoshi leered at her a moment before Naraku stopped before him.
"Yeah?" Damn, he was starting to sweat.
"I want you to strike at Takahashi Inuyasha's best interests. He has joined the ranks of his father's company, and Sesshomaru can't have that," Naraku intoned. Hakudoshi smiled.
"You just want to get back at that Sesshomaru for stabbing you," he guessed. Barely restrained fury sparked in Naraku's eyes. Hakudoshi stood his ground.
"They cannot rise to power against us," Naraku swore. "If they find the sacred talismans of the island, we are done for."
"Well, can't have that an' all..."
"WHICH is why you will enable them anyway we can NOW. Take out Inuyasha's heart. And bury it down his throat," Naraku fumed. His daughter touched his arm and he quieted for a moment. Hakudoshi thought he might actually be still before Naraku whirled and whapped the girl in the face with a neat backhand. The girl shrieked and went down in shock like a sack of rice. Hakudoshi wanted to nudge her with the toe of his shoe, but thought better against it. She was his boss' property, after all.
Kanna remained unmoved throughout the whole scene. Hakudoshi looked up into his boss' victorious gaze and nodded.
"Take care of his heart, huh? Kinda like yours?"
"Just take care of it. I dont' care what you do to her; murder, dismemberment, rape... whatever you deem most damaging to the clan's future," Naraku suggested. "I will take care of the talisman connections." He walked to his employee's desk and read over his papers. Hakudoshi bit back a scream of outrage at having his things looked through, but held his peace. Kanna touched his arm in much the same manner as the current Miss Onigumo, and he wished with all his might the heart of Onigumo were not residing inside his cryptic partner. He would have loved to sock her one for touching him at all.
"Yes, sir. Your will be done," Hakudoshi murmured. He bowed and Kanna bowed at his side out of habit. Naraku smirked, and took a seat in Hakudoshi's own leather chair. Damn the bastard.
"You can go do that now," he suggested. Hakudoshi's eyes narrowed. But he bowed once more.
"Fine, I'll go do that," he drawled. Naraku waved one milky white hand. Hakudoshi stalked out. Kanna watched her employer with unmoving black eyes.
Naraku grinned. "Do you understand what is going on at all, my dear Kanna?"
Kanna smiled ever so slightly.

End for now

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here we go again! What will happen? What won't happen? What will Inuyasha think of Shippou? What will Ookami senior do? What talismans was Naraku talking about?? Read on! Sorry it's been about a month in between posting. The story is all planned out. We just have to ride out to the end!

Most sincerely yours, penpaninu
4/25/07