InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ In the Dark ❯ Contemplations and a fated meeting ( Chapter 1 )

"" Speaking
'' Thought
: : Telepathy

IN THE DARK:
Chapter 1
Contemplations and a fated meeting


The darkness, it threatened to swallow her whole.

She blinked, trying to clear the feeling she had. It surrounded her, wrapped so tightly around her senses she felt lost and wondered if she was even awake.

'Get a grip! You're just in the dark!'

She stepped forward into the darkness and she became sharply aware of her bare feet as the bumps of stones sensually curved to her feet, making it uncomfortable to step away from where she stood.

'I don't remember how I got here.'

Her fingers brushed against the cool walls and she dully noted that there was a thin sheen of dampness kissing its surface. She frowned a little bit, her brows arching down in thought. She wasn't sure where she was. It was so dark here she couldn't see anything. There was no windows, no lights. There was the sound of water dripping further away, a slow 'drip drip' echoed around her and it was starting to make her nervous. She scooted around the area, trying to get a better feel of her surroundings but it was in vain. She started to feel a little hopeless.

"Hello?" her voice echoed off the damp walls. She felt her skin tingle from the coolness; she cocked her head to the right in an attempt to hear a response. Nothing. Nothing but the darkness and that nervous dripping sound. She sighed and reached out to feel the walls. Her out stretched fingers bumped into the hard surface, and to her relief, she put her back to it, ignoring the damp, and let her body fold itself into a comfortable position on the ground.

"Might as well sit down …" she muttered, a little dejected that she couldn't recall where or how she got here. She closed her eyes and let her head fall back. Her body felt tense and she wanted to sleep.

She was nearly asleep when she heard something. She barely caught the sound but it was still there. A soft rumble of some kind. A growl? Her eyes opened into the blindness and she pressed her head forward into the thick darkness to listen closer. She held her breath; she wanted to make sure she wasn't imagining the sound. A few seconds passed, it was there alright.

"Hello?" her voice wasn't louder than a whisper. She tensed and her eyes widened a little in surprise when the sound stopped suddenly and she saw something ahead of her. It was red. Red eyes were staring at her, piercing through the dark. She felt a familiar knot of panic build inside her chest.

Suddenly, they rushed towards her, a loud snarl came out of nowhere and it took everything in her not to scream. She felt rough hands grab her and the smell of forest; winds and sandalwood lulled her for a moment while she stared into the eyes, those red eyes full of rage and pain. She squeaked when she meant to howl in fear but her throat felt odd and she shook too much to feel a normal sense of danger and fear.

: What are you doing here? :

***

Kagome woke up like a shot, falling out of bed, tangled in her blankets. She screamed out loud, disoriented and for a moment she had to suppress the urge to cry, to crumble inside herself and give in to the incredible sadness that had taken over her soul. What had happened?

She took a deep breath and started to untangle herself. Waves of the dream were still lingering, swirling in her mind. Those eyes, she felt odd about them. They had scared her at first but for some reason; her instinct told her that she shouldn't fear the one they belonged to, like this was an unusual occurrence that they were that shade of colour. She still felt chilled from the coolness of the room she had dreamt off and her arms had a lingering ache to them, where she had been grabbed roughly. The voice still echoed in her head, it had been angry, swirling with a rage she knew wasn't towards her.

She made her bed, grabbed her clothes from the closet of her room. It was seven in the morning and her class was starting in two hours. She tiredly made her way to the bathroom and nearly tripped over her brother Souta, who was running by her in a haste.

"Watch it Kag! I'm going to be late!"

"Where are you going?" irritated that her brother was blaming her for the near-accident.

"I have to get to school early, I'm meeting with Reina for some math tutoring before this stupid algebra test."

'Oh. That girlfriend of his?'

"Why didn't you study last night?" She smirked as her brother blushed a little "She was here most of the night" Her eyebrows were arched high on her forehead, feigning innocence.

"Shut up!" he glared at her, trying to look mad. It was hard to take his death glare seriously when all she could see was his blush deepening on his cheeks. He ran away from her, desperate to get his blush under control but Kagome just laughed at his obvious discomfort.

Her brother had recently turned 17, he had been seeing Reina for a little less than a month but they had been friends since the first grade. Kagome was 23 and attended Tokyo University, with an anticipated degree in History and archeology. Something about the past just drew her and fascinated her. She and her brother lived at the Sunset Shrine, her mother was away most of the time on business and her grandfather was the shrine priest. He was full of stories about the history of this place and he had gradually built for her a deep love for history. She was secretly thankful that he had forced her to sit through all his rambles as a child but don't tell him that, she'd never hear the end of the 'I-told-you-so-now-be-a-shrine-priestess!' She shook her head slightly and smiled at the thought of her grandfather.

She hopped into the bathroom, turning on the shower, longing for the warmth of the water. She stripped of her damp pj's. She must of sweated a great deal while she slept.

'Eew, that's so gross' she thought as she peeled off the offending clothes. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and took in a sharp breath. There, on her arms were two bruises, shaped like hands.

***

The sun shined through his bedroom window, he opened his eyes slowly, shaking off the remains of his occurring dream. He was there again, trapped in the dungeon. That place still held mysteries to him. It seems he had spent years there, in his demon form; his youkai side had taken over to help him survive the trauma of that time.

It still made him angry thinking about it. He was angry because of the lack of memories, he had lost complete control for a long period of time and his youkai did not want him to remember what had transpired for those short years. He recalls Kikyo, his first mate, a human Miko that lived centuries ago. She had been his life for a short period of time, and she had been powerful. He had worshipped the ground she walked on and she had loved him to the best of her abilities, the best she could with the weight of her responsibility on her shoulders.

He remembers the day she died. A dark miko had been jealous, hungered for Kikyo's power and aura. He had stood by her while she fought the dark Miko, supported her efforts with his own magics. As an Inu-youkai, even if he was only half of an Inu-youkai, he held great power and it was fueled with his eager love and protection for his mate. The witch had been sneaky though, she had managed to cast a spell on Inuyasha while he fought to protect his miko. That spell had caused him to lose himself in his darker half. He had transformed but not completely, he could still remember the rest of the battle and how it had ended. It had ended poorly for his mate and for himself.

The dark miko had eventually died but not without a price. Inuyasha had fallen under her dark control long enough to lose reason and all logical thought. He had turned his claws on his love, on his mate and had killed her. She didn't die right away. No, that would have been unsatisfying to the dark miko. She had held on long enough to return Inuyasha to himself, for him to blanch at the sight of his bloody hands stroking the face of his mate. Her eyes were full of tears, tears of sadness for leaving him and tears of joy for knowing he was safe. He loathed himself, wanted to join her in death. She pleaded for him to live, if not for himself, than for her, as a last request. With a final blast of magic, she let her aura purify the darkness of the corrupted miko, killing her instantly.

Kikyo stared at her mate, whispering words of love and understanding. She knew that he had been under a spell and knew her lover could never have intentionally harmed her, but still, deep in her heart, a speck of darkness tainted her. She died with regret lingering there, deep in her soul that her love had killed her but she had forgiven him, barely in time before death swept through her. She whispered moments before her eyes became blank "I will find you again."

Inuyasha had clutched to her limp cooling body for what seemed to be hours, howling to the rain his pain, his agony of his loss. His mate was dead and he had killed her. His rage was unbelievable. He was angry with himself, loathed his youkai and his loss of control.

He heard a laugh behind him, so lost in his grief he had not sensed the threat. A man stood behind him and spoke harshly "You will do fine." He raised his hands and uttered the same spell the miko had used against him. Red swirled in the grieving hanyou's eyes and he felt his youkai rise to the challenge of this man. Everything went blank.

Years had gone by and he remembers moments of clarity in that place, deep down in the darkness where his feet met damp stone and all he could hear was dripping water. He was in a constant rage and knew that man, Naraku, was the reason behind his entrapment. He had been released eventually, once Naraku grew bored with him. Inuyasha wasn't sure what he had been doing all this time, he couldn't remember his actions but he knew they had been full of blood lust. He could smell it on his hands. His youkai had been in control while all these years and his hanyou self had laid dormant below the surface of his animal mind.

Inuyasha rolled over on his bed, thinking of his past and that dream, that place where he had lost all sense of humanity and had grieved the death of his mate. He had moved on from that ache in his heart. He still hadn't forgiven himself.

Suddenly he remembered something different about the dream; there had been a girl there, in his cell. It had surprised him, in dream and in reality. What had she been doing there? He had never seen her before and he was pretty positive she hadn't been there in that room all those years ago. He didn't know what she looked like; it had been too dark, even for his hanyou senses to see her. She had called out to him and it had surprised him. He thought her to be a trick from Naraku and had lunged at her, scaring her into disappearing oddly enough but when his hands touched her, he felt a spark, a connection he could not even begin to comprehend. He had lost all sense of rage at that instant and he felt free, even in that prison.

He shifted his eyes to the clock. "Oh shit! I have class in 20 minutes!" He rushed out of his room and ran down the hall of his home, pulling on his pants, a shirt and cursed when he couldn't find the mate to his sandal. He threw on his concealing spell to make his twitching dog ears disappear before he stepped outside into the warming sun.

***

He stepped onto the campus, rushing towards his classes. He didn't really need to be at school but he was growing bored with life. He needed a distraction so he decided to join up the university, take a few classes and maybe meet some people. It was a new school year and he was entering his third year. He decided to take up some history this year and mythology. Myths of demons always entertained him, considering he was one and the silly humans had weird notions about what a demon could actually do or how they cursed their race with plagues and other gibberish.

He had transferred from college to Tokyo University, they had a better program here and he wanted a change of scenery. College life was not made for a 500-year-old hanyou, even though he looked in his early 20s. There were more people here and lately he had felt the need to be around people. His life was lonely as of late. His brother had picked up and gone to another country. His business made him travel around often and his mate Rin was itchy to travel anyways. They had left him in their house and signed it over to him, saying they were going to be gone far too long to keep this home in Japan.

They had never gotten along before Sesshomaru had met Rin. She had changed him over the years and his brother had become more accepting of Inuyasha. It was still weird to hear him make jokes and poke fun at their past considering at some point in time, they really wanted each other dead. Sesshomarou laughing and teasing in good humor was just hard to imagine.

He walked into the History building, his first class had already begun but he still made his way through the empty halls, noting the numbers over the doors.

"C-209 … C-209 … where the hell is it?" He spotted the door eventually, having wasted another 10 minutes and sighed deeply as he reached for the doorknob. He was irritated about his lateness and hated being the last one to show up to class. It only meant that he was suddenly noticeable and people stared at him. 'Hard not to be noticed with freakish white hair and deep gold eyes. Good thing they can't see my ears'. He mentally winced at the thought of their reactions. In Feudal times, he didn't have to hide back then, it was all right since Demons were a normal occurrence but in modern times? Cosplay was getting weird enough looks; let alone what a flesh and blood dog demon would do.

He pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked up to the class. His eyes scanned for an empty seat and sighed when he noticed one out in back. 'At least I'll be in the back…' He greeted the professor and stared defiantly at the students ogling him. He proudly walked to the seat and settled himself, taking out a pen and a binder, ignoring the whispers that surrounded him. 'It's going to be a long day.'

***

Kagome had been falling asleep in class, still tired from that dream. She felt drained of energy for some reason. She heard the door open to her class and lifted her heavy eyelids for a moment to see what the commotion was about. Her classmates were gasping and muttering amongst themselves and she was starting to get annoyed.

She lifted her head from her desk just in time to see the back of a silver haired man walk up the stairs of her class. There was a shimmering effect around him, almost glowed even. She let her curious gaze follow his steps to the vacant seat. Before he could turn around, the cough of the professor brought her attention back to the front of the class. She'd try and sneak a peek at the mysterious man on occasion but couldn't really get a good look. Heads were either in the way or he was bent down over his notes and she couldn't get a good look.

His hair was what caught her attention. It was silver-white and so long. It made her a little envious at first; it looked soft and well groomed. Her hair was a constant tangle, never mind how she tried to grow it out, that was just asking for trouble. He was laid back, but still seemed tense. His body, from what she could see, was well developed, she let her gaze follow the lines of his clothes and felt a slight blush crawl on her face. She shouldn't be doing that. It was almost like invading his privacy and it made her feel a little perverted. Another cough caught her attention and noticed the professor glaring at her and uttered out loud "If you're done undressing that young man with your eyes Kagome, I would like to get back to my lesson"

Kagome's eyes snapped shut in utter embarrassment, and she tried to sink into her chair, silently praying that the ground would open up and swallow her. She bit her lip with a nervous thought 'I hope he didn't hear that.'

She waited a few more minutes before she furtively peeked over her shoulder to see if that 'young man' had noticed anything. What she saw made her want to crawl under her desk and disappear into thin air. He was looking around the group confused and his eyes swept over to her, locking into her own and a hint of surprise reflected from them. She was blushing furiously from the comments of the professor so he knew it was her who he had been speaking to. A slow smile crept into his face and his eyes glinted with amusement. What she didn't know is that Inuyasha wasn't aware that it was him she had been 'undressing', he was just amused she had gotten caught doing it. Whoever the guy was, she was sure embarrassed about it.

He had to stifle a laugh as he observed her eyes get big and this look of total loss and panic settled on her small female frame. She turned around briskly, her face even redder than before and he suddenly had a sneaky suspicion that it was someone in his area that she had been staring at. He looked around and noticed that women surrounded him. One eyebrow raised in surprise. She had been staring at him! He wanted to laugh. That certainly not the kind of staring he was expecting on his first day.

***