InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Little Haunted Maze of Horrors ❯ Curiosity killed the...dog? ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

 

 

Chapter 2 – Curiosity killed the…dog?

 

 

 

Damn that wench and her infernal 'grades', Inuyasha cursed for the seventeenth time that morning. Tonight was the new moon, and thanks to that miko and her stupid misplaced sense of duty, he would be spending it alone for the first time since...

 

Since she freed me from Kikyou's seal, he thought with a sigh.

 

Kagome had freed him from the undead miko in more ways than one on that day, not that he was about to admit to anything mushy like that to the wench's face, of course. At least not while he was busy trying to stay angry with the girl.

 

Since she wasn't due back for two more mornings, Miroku and Sango had decided to take a quick trip to the taijiya village so that the slayer could stock up on some much needed supplies of her own. Things like stink-pellets and replacement filters for her gas mask. They could make the journey there and back within the time allotted with the aid of Kirara, and deciding that he hadn't wanted to be left behind without even the nekomata to keep him company, Shippou had tagged along with them as well.

 

It was his fault, really, Inuyasha knew, since his friends all believed that he would be spending the new moon in Kagome's world. They never would've left him alone otherwise, but he couldn't deny that it was logical to get Sango's pit stop taken care of while they were already idle, anyway, so that they wouldn't then have to detour to the slayer's village at a later time.

 

So he definitely wasn't upset with them for leaving yesterday while he was in Kagome's time, but since he was not currently in Kagome's world now, that left Inuyasha alone in the presence of Kaede, instead; something he was not looking forward to come sundown. Especially since the old miko, who was the one who'd told him about where the others had gone off to, would probably try to take advantage of it being just the two of them to drill him on something or other while his human emotions would be more vulnerable to his desire to be honest with the aging priestess.

 

He did sort of owe her one, he supposed, for watching over his body during the five decades he'd been sealed, making sure no random person had come along and decided to torch him or something. Then there was the whole welcoming him into her home thing, even back when she'd known nothing of Naraku and had had no idea why he had suddenly attacked their village that day for the Shikon no Tama. Knowing Kaede, she would probably want to pick his brain regarding his lingering feelings for Kikyou versus his developing feelings for Kagome, and he couldn't even rightfully say that it was none of the hag's business, so that meant he had to make himself scarce.

 

I guess spending the new moon in her time wouldn't be so bad, after all, he conceded after a few minutes of contemplation, realizing that the lingering stink of whatever the hell she was doing down at her school at least wouldn't be quite so unbearable while in his human form.

 

That thought had his anger bubbling back up to the surface again. Just what the hell was she doing down at that school of hers, anyway? The more he thought about it, the more he realized he couldn't just let it go. He knew he was in the dark and he absolutely detested the fact that there was something going on that he didn't know anything about. Especially something so important.

 

“Keh, well then I'll just have to find out, won't I?” he said to himself as he made his way to the well. Kaede would figure out where he'd gone.

 

Arriving on Kagome's side of time, he made sure to wait in the well-house a moment until he was certain that the coast was clear. He didn't want the miko realizing he had come back; it wasn't her he was there to see.

 

Sure, he supposed he could just ask her to explain to him in greater detail what all she was involved with, but who was to say that she would be completely honest with him? While he didn't think that Kagome would outright lie to him, there was nothing preventing her from concealing part of the truth, and he wanted to know everything, starting with what, exactly, that 'maze' thing – as her mother had called it – really was.

 

Taking off in the direction of her school, he leapt from rooftop to rooftop, traveling faster than the human eye could see. Arriving at his destination, it didn't take him long to discover what he was looking for, immediately noticing a new, small building that had not been there the last time he'd been at Kagome's school, surrounded by even smaller buildings all around it.

 

They were all painted black, and the main building was covered with strange decorations applied to its outer surface that he supposed were meant to represent ghosts and youkai. Landing with a thud next to the ticket booth, Inuyasha's nose was immediately accosted by the combined scents of hordes of humans, spilled food and drink, and more strange chemical smells he couldn't quite identify. Among the things that stood out the strongest, there was an unmistakable lingering stench of fear in the air, but it smelled...off. Something was missing.

 

Then it dawned on him. There was nervousness and apprehension in the air, but none of the chilled, blood-curdling terror that was usually associated with genuine fright. It was just like how Kagome's mother had explained it; the children coming to this festivity were allowing themselves to pretend to be scared, apparently to the point that at least the first part of the emotion had become legitimate, as everyone psyched themselves up for what was meant to be a frightening experience.

 

Most other emotions did not linger as strongly as fear did, and with all of the other scents mixed up together and clouding his nose like they were, he couldn't really decipher much of anything else, though if Souta's reaction when the family had gotten home last night was any indication, then everyone's fright had most likely gotten replaced with joy after the experience had ended.

 

Approaching what he believed to be the main entrance to the 'maze', as the vast majority of human scents seemed to be heading into the building from that particular doorway, Inuyasha came up short to find that the door was locked, sealed by a small metal box with a hoop on it going through two holes on two different pieces of metal on both the door and on the wall beside it, attaching the door to the building. Taking a moment to examine the way the whole thing was attached to the wood, however, revealed that he could actually open the door without breaking anything, which was a good thing since he hadn't wanted to alert anyone to his presence.

 

Never mind the fact that he was currently standing outside of a black building in bright red clothing with bright white hair in broad daylight, but fortunately for him there was no school today, so there was presently nobody around to notice what he was up to. While the old him might've just ripped the whole lock clean off the door, he didn't want anybody knowing that someone had broken inside – especially since Kagome would probably (rightly) suspect him before anyone else – and so instead, he carefully inserted a claw tip into the screws holding the metal plate onto the wall beside the door, unscrewing them one by one.

 

He was thankfully familiar with screws because of his times aiding Kagome's grandfather in their storage sheds. Sure, most of the time the old geezer just had him moving heavy boxes from place to place, but there had been a couple of times that it'd turned out a shelf or two had been in need of repair. Inuyasha had been confused at first with how to use the small pick-like tool her grandfather had placed in his hand, and he understood nothing of distinguishing direction by relation to which way a clock hand turned, but it hadn't taken him long to grasp how the weird futuristic nails he'd been handed all had threading that wove around their bases, meaning you had to twist them into the surface you wished to put them in rather than merely hammering them straight down.

 

Recalling which direction was used to remove the screws, Inuyasha did just that in that moment, pulling them from the doorway one by one, until the metal plate with the loop that the padlock was attached to pulled away from the wood of the wall, allowing him to pull open the door with the entire lock assembly still attached. He left all three screws hanging inside the metal place so that he wouldn't lose them, intent on reattaching the plate to the wall before leaving.

 

So the wench thinks she can keep secrets, can she? Inuyasha thought as he gently pushed the door open with a creak as it squeaked on its hinges.

 

Never mind the fact that both she and her mother had invited him to come along. They had only invited him out of some misplaced sense of duty, he was sure; they knew he'd turn down their invitations, knowing how he felt about crowds and festivals.

 

But that was before he'd realized that Kagome was directly pawing all over everybody who passed through here, while covered in some foul smelling chemical. He didn't care how much 'extra credit' her school was going to give her for playing along with this fiasco. Nobody had the right to feel Kagome's hands upon them. The only thing that was keeping him sane at the moment was the constant reminder that this was a children's festival, meaning that Kagome at least wasn't being forced to...forced to...

 

If he found any evidence of that he would burn the whole gods damned thing to the ground!

 

Stepping into the blackened hallway, Inuyasha crinkled his nose in disgust. Paint, plastic, oils he didn't quite recognize, and lots and lots of humans. Sweat and tears and fear, even the faintest hint of blood was in the air, buried under the stench of chemicals. The place smelled like a torture chamber.

 

Yeah, Souta looked real tortured when his friend called...

 

Though the blood smell worried him a little bit, it was very faint, like what one would get from a scraped knee or elbow. He had that ratio down fairly accurately, considering how many times Kagome used to stumble and cut herself back near the beginning of their journey. Snorting to himself at the memory, Inuyasha fully entered the maze, then, his night vision switching on once he entered the darkness so that everything appeared before him in perfect, black and white clarity. Although the scent of blood was a little unsettling, he would do his best to ignore it, unless it got noticeably stronger at some point, of course. So far so good.

 

This place doesn't look so bad, he thought after a moment, walking through the hallways to note the occasional larger rooms where he gathered either Kagome or one of her school friends were stationed during operating hours.

 

There was no way he would be able to pick out Kagome's natural scent in this place. He thought he could perhaps smell it, in the back of his mind, but it was also likely true that she had been through the entire building at one point in time or another. There was no way to pinpoint it. He had hoped that he would be able to identify where Kagome had actually been stationed based on the stink of whatever foreign chemical she had been covered with, but while part of what had been on her skin didn't appear to be present in the maze at all, another stench that had been underneath the most potent chemical smell on her last night was literally everywhere, indicating that whatever her 'makeup' had been made out of, she hadn't been the only one coated in the stuff.

 

Exiting a room that appeared to be a library or study of some sort, Inuyasha passed through the next corridor, noticing a row of strange paintings on the wall. They looked like drawings of various akuma. Following the turn, he came into a room that had a table in the corner, with some sort of strange ink or paint splattered around on the walls and floors. Leaving that room and heading down another narrow hallway, he was confused as he came upon a room of dots. There were dots painted on the walls, but there also appeared to be dots hanging from the ceiling on thin wires. What did that represent? Were they supposed to be lost and floating souls?

 

It took him a moment to find his way out of that room as there didn't immediately appear to be an exit, but continuing to head for the far wall he quickly discovered a black curtain he pushed aside which led to another hallway. This hallway was different as it had a curved ceiling and walls, with a stripe painted along the inside that reminded him of the thread of a screw. In fact, it looked like he was walking along a thin bridge of some sort, as the walls were not connected to the floor and instead appeared to curve underneath him. At the end of the tunnel in front of him the wall also had a curved line painted on it, which sort of reminded him of that 'lollipop' thing Kagome had brought back for Shippou one time.

 

Exiting that hallway, he made a sharp left and immediately found himself deposited into what looked like an underground cave of some sort, the scent of coal suddenly thick in the air. It took him a moment to realize it was supposed to be a mine. There was what appeared to be a fake human skeleton leaning against the wall, as if a man had died in there. Exiting that room, Inuyasha next found himself in a room full of long, polished wooden boxes sitting on elevated platforms. Once again, he didn't understand the significance.

 

Growing bored, Inuyasha headed down the next curve in the hallway only to suddenly find himself in total darkness. His youkai vision allowed him to see even in pitch-black conditions, but there was simply nothing to see, he realized quickly, as he found the thick black curtain on the other end of the hallway and pushed it aside, emerging in yet another corridor. Rolling his eyes as he brushed the thin strands of thread aside that he saw hanging from the ceiling, it wasn't hard for him to deduce what those were for, and he snickered to himself that human children were so easily frightened.

 

Making his way down the hallway, he followed the curve towards the left and quickly found himself in a facsimile of a graveyard, complete with a fake tree off to the side to complete the illusion that he was outdoors even though there was truly no way to ignore the fact that he was still stuffed inside the smelly, stale pressboard building. Walking past the graves, Inuyasha then entered another room, a room that still looked done up as if it were the outdoors, as he spotted what looked like an old well. Glancing inside the well out of pure curiosity revealed that it wasn't in truth any deeper than the floor of the building, and there was some sort of box down inside it.

 

Reaching the end of the road, as he came upon another door that was apparently locked from the outside, Inuyasha turned and quickly headed back the way he'd come. Emerging through the entrance, he took a moment to twist each of the screws back in place as planned, thus ensuring that the humans, with their puny noses, would never be able to tell that he'd been in there.

 

Keh, though even me with my own nose probably wouldn't be able to tell that I'd be in there if I went back inside right now, he thought sarcastically, doing his best to fight off an encroaching sneeze attack as he leapt up onto the roof of the nearby school, taking off in the direction of Kagome's shrine.

 

Now that he'd seen the place with his own two eyes, it didn't look like that big of a deal. He imagined that a lot of the symbolism he hadn't understood would make perfect sense to the humans of Kagome's time, so he supposed the experience could be a frightening one if you allowed it to be, but still, he didn't think it was anything worth getting as excited over as Souta had obviously been. Then again, the boy had clearly been hopped up on sugar, the scents of soda and chocolate and all sorts of other treats lingering in the air outside the haunted maze, in and around the smaller buildings that had been stationed next to the main one. Booths selling the confections, he imagined.

 

As he headed back to the Higurashi Shrine, bypassing the house as he came to their property, making a mad dash for the well, Inuyasha still couldn't shake his thoughts of the haunted maze, and what, exactly, Kagome's part was in the whole thing. He was still upset with the girl for pawing all over the visitors, but he knew he didn't really know what she was doing, so he wouldn't get up in her face about it and demand that she not touch anyone for the next two nights. That wouldn't accomplish anything except getting her angry with him and getting himself slammed face first into the ground.

 

Leaping up into the branches of the Goshinboku of his time, Inuyasha figured there was no hurry in letting the wench know that he planned on spending the new moon in her time, after all. The longer he was in her presence, the less likely it would be that he could refrain from saying anything nasty about her job for the school. In fact, it would probably be best if he waited until after she had already left for the evening before returning to her family's home. It would be better if Kagome thought he had decided to stay in his own time.

 

Heh...so the wench likes to scare people, does she? Inuyasha thought in passing after a moment, admitting, at least to himself, that the concept was somewhat amusing.

 

Not that he thought the girl didn't have it in her. He knew from firsthand experience just how frightening Kagome could actually be.

 

He also had to admit, after having already seen the haunted maze for himself now, that a large part of him was even more curious to find out what he was missing, knowing there had to be more to it than what he'd seen. But the last thing he wanted to do was embarrass himself by humbly deciding to take her family up on their offer to take him down there with them after he had already flat out refused the first time around. Besides, who was to say that they were even going back down there again tonight?

 

Especially knowing that it was his night of weakness, once he showed up at her house, Mrs. Higurashi would probably insist that they all stay put, for his safety and peace of mind. Not that he imagined it would be all that dangerous to leave the house in her world while in his human form. Kagome's time was much more dangerous to him while in his hanyou form.

 

That unexpected thought gave him the beginnings of a plan.

 

No way, I couldn't…could I?

 

He'd never dared do much of anything during his human night before, but it was true that Kagome's world was void of youkai, at least for the most part. That Noh mask didn't count because it had been brought to life with a jewel shard, and the soul piper didn't count because that wasn't a dangerous youkai.

 

Sure, there would undoubtedly still be risks to being out in Kagome's world without his youkai senses, but one giant positive would be that he could blend in and keep an eye on the wench undetected. Since Kagome wasn't expecting him, he'd be able to sneak around without her knowledge, seeing first hand just what all the fuss was really about.

 

Maybe I'll take the wench up on her invitation, after all...

 

Of course, he still didn't really have any desire to genuinely attend the festival as one of the guests, but if he could observe the wench at work while pretending to be a guest, that was different. Without her knowledge of his presence, she would be acting just as she had the night before, not holding anything back. That way he could observe what she was really up to without worrying that she had toned anything down for his sake. Yes, going with her family as a whole production so that he could 'enjoy' himself was definitely not what he had planned, but he would be going. Oh yes, he would be going.

 

I can't do this alone, though… he realized then, glancing down at himself as he sat on his favorite branch.

 

Human night or no, his red kimono would be a dead giveaway. But he couldn't let Mrs. Higurashi know of his plans, or surely she would spoil the surprise by informing Kagome of his presence. Still, he was sure another member of Kagome's family would be quite eager to help him, and keep his secret.

 

``````````````````

 

“Inu-no-nii-chan!” Souta cried in surprise as the hanyou literally got the drop on him as he headed back home from his friend's house.

 

“Hey kid,” the hanyou greeted casually enough.

 

Beaming up at his hero, Souta asked in mild confusion, “What are you doing here? Nee-chan said your nose was bothered by all the left over smells of the haunted house, and that you weren't coming back.”

 

Then eyes widening in belated realization, the boy asked, “Oh...is it because of what tonight is? Then the smells won't bother you, huh? You gonna stay the night at our house after all, then?”

 

Inuyasha smirked down at Kagome's little brother, pleased to discover that the miko did indeed believe that he would not be returning, even despite his human night.

 

“Yes and no, kid. Yes, I'm back 'cause it's the new moon, but not just so I can crash at your place instead of back at the babaa's. I've got a plan, and I need your help.”

 

Souta's eyes widened in delight as Inuyasha launched into an explanation of everything he had planned. A lot of it the hanyou would be able to pull off on his own. He knew where Kagome's school was, after all, and also precisely where on the school grounds the haunted maze was located. He also knew that once upon a time Kagome's mother had purchased some 'modern' clothes for him to wear, if he were ever curious about their world and wanted Kagome to show him around. He had declined the offer at the time, politely enough for him, but Mrs. Higurashi had assured him that the clothing was there for him if he ever changed his mind. That meant he knew he had a way out of his fire-rat.

 

What Inuyasha didn't know was where in the house the clothing Mrs. Higurashi had purchased for him was located, what it looked like, or how to put it on. He also knew that the festival at Kagome's school required money, something that he didn't have. Souta quickly assured him not to worry in that department, that he'd been saving up his allowance for a while for a new video game console, but that giving him some money for an admission ticket to the haunted house would totally be worth it.

 

As they reached the shrine steps, Inuyasha darted away, planning on waiting in hiding until after Kagome left for the evening. Souta was under strict orders not to let anyone in his family know that Inuyasha had returned, but since the hanyou planned on playing a prank on his sister, Souta didn't have a problem going along with it. Shortly after an early dinner, Kagome was gone, and Souta went up to his room to 'finish his homework'. Unlocking his bedroom window, he pulled out his chair and sat at his desk, and waited.

 

He didn't have long to wait, as Inuyasha climbed inside as soon as he was sure Kagome was out of sensing range.

 

Fortunately, Souta remembered the time his mother had purchased those clothes for Inuyasha, so he knew exactly where they were and retrieved then quickly while his mother was still tidying up in the kitchen. As he helped his hero figure out how to fasten the jeans and tie his shoelaces, Souta couldn't help snickering to himself that he wished he could be there to see Kagome's face. To see both of their faces. Inuyasha had no idea what he was getting himself into, but being a bit of a prankster, himself, Souta wasn't about to spoil half the fun.

 

“Oi, runt, what's so funny?” Inuyasha asked, easily detecting Souta's amusement.

 

“Oh nothing...” the boy trailed off deliberately. “I just think it's funny how you want to go down there to see the place so badly now, when before, you didn't have any interest at all. Curiosity killed the cat, you know.”

 

Snorting, Inuyasha rolled his eyes as he pulled his baggy t-shirt over his head.

 

“Keh, good thing I'm a dog, then, ain't it? I've already seen the place; I know what it looks like. The only thing I'm 'curious' about is what the wench is doing.”

 

Souta crinkled his nose at Inuyasha's nickname for his sister, though deciding to let it go, he teased, “I could just tell you what 'the wench' is doing, you know. But on second thought, I think I won't. Why ruin the surprise?”

 

Inuyasha just snorted again, amused at how Souta was clearly trying to plant a seed of uncertainty in his mind. Inuyasha had no intention of falling victim to the 'frightening' atmosphere of the holiday. He didn't give a rat's ass what the rest of the people at the festival were up to, and when it came to Kagome, all he really cared about was whatever she was doing that was putting all of those strange humans' scents on her hands, and those strange chemical scents on her face. So long as it turned out not to be anything bad then he didn't have a problem with it.

 

Well, that wasn't really true, because he did have a problem with strange male scents on Kagome's hands, regardless of the circumstances. But more accurately, so long as it wasn't anything bad, then he wouldn't give her any problems because of it.

 

“Yeah yeah yeah...” he answered aloud after a moment, not taking Souta's bait to demand he tell him what Kagome was up to.

 

He would find out soon enough, after all, and Inuyasha also suddenly had the distinct feeling that Souta had no intention of telling him what his sister was doing, anyway, apparently believing that it was shocking enough that he didn't want to spoil the 'surprise' he'd said. Inuyasha just snorted again at the thought, then getting serious, he scooped up his bundle of clothing as well as Tetsusaiga.

 

“Think you can keep guard over this stuff, boy? It's very important.”

 

Souta's eyes widened in genuine surprise, not having really thought about it, but figuring Inuyasha would probably just stash his stuff in his sister's room. That he was going to let him keep his robes and sword in his room...

 

“I...I don't know what to say.” Glancing up to meet his hero's eyes, Souta then bowed his head, and murmured, “I won't let you down.”

 

Inuyasha silently put his load in Souta's arms, ruffling the boy's hair before leaping out the window. Yes, he was taking a marginal risk, leaving his fire-rat robes and sword behind, but it would simply be too impractical to take them with him. Besides, it wasn't as if his sword did him a whole lot of good during his human night, anyway, and Kagome's world probably wasn't dangerous enough for him to need his armor. He'd much rather leave them with Souta. That way, he knew where they were for easy retrieval.

 

Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, Inuyasha found he reluctantly had to admit that, although he hated the feel of shoes on his feet, the 'sneakers' he was currently wearing were far better than a pair of sandals that would have made his run virtually impossible. At least he felt secure in that the shoes wouldn't fall from his feet or cause him to slip. Their rubberized grips were almost as good as his own feet.

 

Reaching Kagome's school, Inuyasha was amazed to see the place suddenly such a bustle of activity. There were teachers and students running around everywhere, the scent of sugar was stronger in the air now as something fluffy and pink was being produced in one of the snack booths, and guests were already lining up to buy tickets for entry into the main attraction.

 

Quickly tucking himself out of sight, Inuyasha prayed that Kagome hadn't gotten a flash of his youki, knowing that the girl could sense his demonic aura if he got close enough, but also that she could only sense demonic auras from any measurable distance if she were deliberately looking for one. Kagome was easily distracted, as proven by how startled she'd been by his presence in her room the night before.

 

Dropping down to street level, he found himself an out of the way corner to hide in as he waited, and then it happened. He had timed his departure well, having already known how long it would take him to run to Kagome's school from the shrine, so it was less than five minutes to sunset when he arrived. Feeling the change consume him, Inuyasha did his best not to let his emotions run away with him, as part of him started to feel apprehensive about being out in public, and all by himself, while human. He wasn't falling victim to the mumbo-jumbo 'spookiness' of the holiday, but it was admittedly a little unsettling to be in such an unfamiliar setting during his night of vulnerability, nobody save for Kagome's little brother even knowing where he was.

 

The one thing he knew he had going for him was that there was safety in numbers, and that the 'numbers' buzzing all around him wouldn't turn on him so long as they thought he was a normal human just like they were. There had actually been several occasions in his past, prior to meeting Kikyou, when the fact that he looked like a normal human during the night he lost his powers had been his best disguise. It was dangerous for a human man out in the middle of the forests of his time, all alone and unarmed, but near a human village he was much safer.

 

On a few, rare occasions, he had even planned ahead for his pending night of weakness, getting himself into position near a busy trading community; nobody ever suspected he was truly a hanyou in disguise as he walked among them. He had done so in part for the security that being in a crowd of humans had offered him compared to the dangers of the forest, but also, secretly, he had in truth been seeking human contact for other reasons. He didn't like being alone anywhere near as much as he often pretended he did.

 

I wonder if Kagome knows just how much I truly appreciate her presence in my life.

 

While he was sure the wench knew he cared for her as more than just a 'shard detector', he was also equally sure that she still thought her preincarnation was number one in his life. While it was true that he did still have an obligation to Kikyou that he could not ignore, how he felt for Kikyou and how he felt for Kagome was entirely different. There was really no way you could rightfully say which one he loved more when he loved them both so differently, but if he had to choose...

 

Keh, and the wench thinks I chose Kikyou way back when, but that had been for her own good. I'd just figured it wouldn't be fair to subject Kagome to me constantly running after Kikyou like I do, but she disagreed with me, choosing to stay by my side anyway, and I'm so glad she did.

 

He'd overheard Kagome use the expression 'If you love something set it free' in a conversation with Sango not too long ago, regarding why she still continued to allow him to chase after Kikyou, and Inuyasha thought it was the perfect expression. That was why he had originally tried to let her go, back when he'd thought he couldn't see Kagome anymore. He had let her go because he loved her, even back then, and what had she done? She'd come back to him. Just like he always came back to her after his visits with Kikyou. He wondered idly if the wench had figured that part out yet.

 

Coming around to where everyone was standing, Inuyasha plucked the hair tie from his pocket that Souta had given him and pulled his raven locks back into a low ponytail. He then did his best to just stroll right on into the center of activity as if he had every right to be there. Nobody paid him any attention except for an occasional nod of greeting, as he happened to inadvertently make eye contact with someone as he walked by. Souta had given Inuyasha more than enough money to buy a single admission ticket, having explained briefly to the hanyou how their modern-day money worked, also explaining to him how much money he had given him and how expensive the various things at the school fair were. He had enough extra money to buy himself a snack of some kind, if he wanted to, so since it looked like the haunted maze wasn't quite open for business just yet, he decided to do just that, purchasing himself a soda.

 

As he waited in line to buy his ticket for the haunted house Inuyasha was relieved to see that he wasn't the only one there in his supposed age group, having feared it would only be parents with children closer to Souta's age. Instead, it looked as if the majority of the crowd was closer to Kagome's age, most likely other students who had wanted to have fun at what their own school was doing, even if they hadn't personally had a hand in it. While Inuyasha was in truth a lot older than he looked, he knew he could pass for a student at Kagome's school, and that was just fine with him.

 

Keeping his eyes pealed for Kagome, Inuyasha did his best to completely ignore everyone else around him, except to occasionally listen in on some passing conversations for the off chance of catching Kagome's name. So far, nothing, but the night was still young.

 

A sudden scream off to his right had everyone in line with him jumping at the same time, as multiple heads darted to look in the direction of the sound. There they saw a young girl dressed in a school uniform like Kagome's running for her life as she zipped past them, some kind of a wolf-youkai chasing after her. Inuyasha panicked, and was just about to try and run after the pair despite being unarmed and in his human form when the sudden laughter of everyone around him gave him pause.

 

Wait a minute...there aren't any ookami-youkai in Kagome's time, he reminded himself slowly.

 

Kagome had told him once how the Japanese wolf had actually been hunted to extinction by her century, people afraid that even the mortal canines were secretly demons in disguise. Sure, there were rumors of the occasional sighting, so it was possible there were actually a few still alive, but if so they were very rare, and mortal. The wolf-youkai was gone for sure, and if not, then they sure as hell wouldn't be roaming the cities chasing schoolgirls.

 

“I still say I would've made a better werewolf,” one of the male students in line with him claimed suddenly, pulling Inuyasha from his thoughts.

 

“Well then you should've applied for it sooner,” another student teased in reply.

 

That scene was staged, Inuyasha realized immediately, those two students having been a part of what Mrs. Higurashi had said this whole festival was about, dressing up as different people and acting out their characters so that the guests could pretend to be scared.

 

But without his senses, how was he supposed to tell what was real and what wasn't? What if a real youkai decided to show up, taking advantage of the fact that all of the humans would automatically assume it was fake? How unlikely was such a scenario, truly? After all, he was a real youkai – or hanyou, whatever – and he had been invited to attend yesterday's opening night, twice. Had he agreed, then there would in fact have been a real person of youkai descent walking amongst the humans, and they wouldn't have known it.

 

Stop it! I'm just letting my stupid human emotions get the better of me, Inuyasha argued with himself then.

 

The whole point of this fiasco was to 'let' yourself be scared. He would not be afraid. Of anything.

 

Keh, I don't need my sense of smell to tell me what's what, like I woulda really had any use of my nose here last night, anyway. At least this way I ain't getting' a headache tryin' to deal with that gods awful stench. I know there ain't no youkai in Kagome's time, so if I see one, it's a student, simple as that.

 

A few more screams could be heard off in the distance somewhere and he did his best to ignore them, though if he'd had his hanyou ears they would have lowered to his head at the sound. Sure, there weren't any other youkai in Kagome's time, or at least he was ninety-five percent certain there weren't any other youkai in Kagome's time, save for spiritually based ones like the soul piper, of course, but what about evil humans? In an environment where everyone was screaming anyway as they pretended to be scared by fake monsters, who would respond to the distant scream of somebody actually being attacked?

 

Doing his best to shake such thoughts free from his mind, Inuyasha was caught off guard when a flash of red zipped past his peripheral vision. Ignoring it, as he was next up at the ticket booth, Inuyasha purchased one ticket and stepped away, heading over to the line of people waiting to get into the haunted house. Another flash of red caught his attention, then, and he turned to look behind him this time only for his eyes to widen in surprise.

 

There, seemingly flirting with a group of male students, was what appeared to be a female oni. But no...as he got a better look, Inuyasha realized that the girl didn't look any older than Kagome. He would be willing to bet Tetsusaiga that that wench was just a student, herself. In fact, as he got an even better look at her, Inuyasha thought that he might even recognize the girl. She kind of looked like one of Kagome's three friends that he'd met a couple of times.

 

Seeing the way the girl openly smiled at the men she was talking to, showing off a set of fangs in her mouth, Inuyasha felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise on end. He almost lost it completely when she leaned forward and placed her hand on one of the boy's shoulders, whispering something that he couldn't pick up with his useless human ears.

 

She was flirting! She was touching a strange man!

 

Granted, he didn't honestly care what Kagome's friends did at this thing, but if Kagome herself were dressed up in anything similar so help them… He would tear the whole damn thing to the ground, youkai powers or no youkai powers! Nobody was allowed to flirt with his Kagome!

 

Inuyasha was so caught up in his thoughts that he barely registered the fact that his line was moving, as he automatically took a few steps forward every time the person in front of him also took a few steps forward. Before he knew it, he was suddenly standing at the entrance to the maze, another wench around Kagome's age dressed up in tattered black clothing reaching out her hand as she asked him for his ticket.

 

Complying, Inuyasha did his best to get his raging thoughts and emotions back under control as he entered the building. He only had one shot at this, and he did not want to miss his opportunity to spot Kagome and spy on her. Provided that whatever she was doing seemed harmless enough, he'd let it go, passing right on through while leaving the wench none the wiser to his presence. If, on the other hand, she were dressed up as some kind of a sultry oni who flirted with men so that she could devour their souls, he would drag her ass outta there, kicking and screaming if he had to.

 

It wasn't like anyone else would pay any attention to her screaming, anyway, and even if he ended up 'devouring' dirt as a result, he at least knew that Kagome would have to wait until after sunrise to exact her revenge. The one benefit to being human, besides the whole 'undercover operation' thing he currently had going on, was that the subduing command of the rosary didn't work.

 

Coming into the first main room of the haunted maze, Inuyasha marveled for a moment at how much creepier the place really looked when he was forced to use weak human eyes to adjust to the tiny amounts of light that were sprinkled in around him. The flicker of candles illuminated what looked like a private study; fake candles because he could clearly see there was no flame although the special bulbs they used did a fairly good job of replicating the look.

 

There was also some strange kind of music that was being pumped into the room from somewhere that almost seemed to amplify the 'spooky' feel of the room, although he refused to fall victim to their spell so easily. Glancing curiously at an open book he didn't remember seeing on the desk before, though he probably just hadn't been paying close enough attention during his trial walk-through, Inuyasha found himself noticing how the calligraphy in the book stopped abruptly, as though whomever had been writing it had literally been snatched from their seat mid-stroke, the last character in the book getting smeared from the brush being yanked away.

 

A thumping sound from down the hall followed immediately by a yell and screams quickly drew his attention then, and he exited the study to enter the narrow hallway that led into the next room.

 

I remember this, he thought, as he passed by the wall of oni paintings. The last one kind of looked like a demonic Noh mask.

 

He was not expecting that painting to suddenly drop down with a loud thud, revealing a person wearing the exact same demon mask as in the painting as they yelled out at the top of their lungs.

 

“Gah!” Inuyasha cried out in return, jumping back in surprise only to immediately feel embarrassed over the fact that somebody had actually managed to startle him.

 

Startled.

 

They had startled him.

 

He wasn't scared.

 

Feh!

 

The snickering from the group of people coming in behind him didn't help his self-esteem any, but the screaming and yelling he could hear originating from further within the maze also didn't help his rapid heartbeat. Across from him, amused eyes shown from behind the wooden mask, as the male student pulled a lever from inside the wall that raised the painting back up into position, getting it ready for his next victim.

 

Okay, so these bastards are pretty good at getting the drop on people, I'll just have to stay on guard, Inuyasha told himself as he salvaged what was left of his pride and finished exiting the hallway.

 

Entering the next large room, Inuyasha's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

 

That...that's not paint!

 

The room with the table in the corner that had looked like it was splashed with paint or ink of some type was now illuminated by a single lamp in the opposite corner, revealing the deep crimson color of the stains on the wall and flooring. The once empty room was also now occupied by two persons, although perhaps truly only one person, as the other one appeared lifeless on the table. A girl, who had apparently been stabbed to death, was covered in what at least looked like blood, a crazy man crouching over her, cooing to her how pretty she was, as if they were lovers in bed. Upon noticing Inuyasha's horrified stare, the man darted his head up.

 

Glaring daggers at the hanyou-turned-human, and wielding a large butcher knife, he cried out, “No! You can't have her! She's mine!”

 

Not wanting to argue, Inuyasha quickly scurried himself out of that room.

 

Okay...this is a little more messed up than I'd thought it would be...

 

That scene had clearly been faked, but he hadn't expected Kagome's friends and fellow students to be...such good actors. What a messed up thing to do! Did these guys really find amusement in pretending they'd just seen one of their classmates murdered on a table? What was wrong with these people?! And Kagome was a part of this?

 

Only for the extra credit... he reminded himself, trying to convince himself that Kagome wasn't really as sick in the head as these other people were.

 

She was just doing this because she had to, to repair her grades. She'd said so herself.

 

Entering the room of dots, it took Inuyasha a moment to get his bearings. In total darkness, his youkai night vision had permitted him to see the dots painted on the walls and hanging from the ceiling, but they had all appeared either white or a bland, faded gray color, and he hadn't understood their significance. Were they supposed to represent lost souls? But now that he had his weaker, albeit full color human night vision, Inuyasha realized with a dizzying shake of his head that those dots were not white and gray.

 

Obnoxiously bright florescent greens, oranges, pinks and blues assaulted him, burning after images into his retinas the longer he focused on any specific ones, while some kind of bizarre lighting effect literally made the dots appear to jump out at him. They were also moving. Or at least, he could've sworn they looked like they were moving.

 

Was that wall panel getting closer? Did that dot from the ceiling just get lower?

 

Darting his head back and forth as he desperately tried to follow any hint of movement, the steady, low base thumbing of a heartbeat rhythm that was being fed into the room via hidden speakers did nothing to ease his troubled mind. When a shadow moved off to his right, he couldn't be sure if he was really seeing something or if his eyes were just playing tricks on him.

 

Stupid weak human vision!

 

Taking a moment to glance down at his hands as he cursed his human transformation, he was caught off guard when he realized his weak human fingernails were actually glowing in the lighting of this room. Glancing further down over himself he noticed how his shoelaces were also glowing. How was that possible?

 

Shaking his head again, Inuyasha realized he couldn't afford to get distracted by the funny lights. This room must've been meant to throw everyone off their equilibrium. Suddenly realizing he thought he could make out the shape of a person reaching out for him, Inuyasha did his best to shuffle towards the exit, telling himself he was not afraid of the student that was simply dressed up in a black ninja suit covered in matching dots. He wasn't afraid; the bright colors were just giving him a headache. That was all.

 

Holy crap...

 

Entering the round hallway, Inuyasha was momentarily blinded by a repetitive, bright flashing light, making the neon orange and yellow stripes of the curved wall and ceiling wink in and out of existence. Was the tunnel actually moving? A weird kind of melody playing quietly in the background almost seemed to aid in the sensation of falling as the tunnel-hallway turned at a steady, fairly rapid pace. It was all Inuyasha could do to walk in a straight line with those stripes rotating and flashing all around him.

 

The strange light from the dot room was also still present because during every moment of darkness the stripes around him seemed to glow just like the dots had, but the bright flashes of white light following immediately afterwards were making the florescent stripes in the tunnel burn his eyes. It felt like the platform he was walking on was tilting sideways as he did his best to keep his balance, the back wall at the end of the hallway he was heading towards also turning, the spiral painted on it also glowing, and almost seeming as if it was trying to pull him towards it.

 

Finally reaching the end of the hall, Inuyasha practically threw himself towards the left, recalling that the next room in this maze was the coal mine. Taking a moment to gather his bearings and shake the dancing spots free from his vision, it was hard for him to make out very much in the low lighting of the mine, a single flickering lantern in the corner providing barely enough light to see by.

 

No longer was that room empty, either. The fake skeleton was still where he remembered it, but now there was also a student present, dressed up as a coal miner, his face covered in coal. He was just working away, swinging a pickax, but pausing in his work as if sensing he had a visitor, the coal miner turned to glance in Inuyasha's direction then. The hanyou was shocked to discover the man's eyes were pure white. Was that just fake makeup? How had that been accomplished? You couldn't put makeup on your eyes.

 

Then Inuyasha noticed something else, the sound of picking was still taking place, even though the man had stopped swinging his pick. Something caught his eye off to the other side, then, and he noticed what looked like a semi-transparent image of a man flickering in and out of existence. The ghost miner was also swinging a pickax, and the 'ding' sound of metal against rock that was echoing throughout the room matched in perfect timing with his swing.

 

That can't be real, it's just an illusion, he told himself. How could there be a real coal miner ghost in a fake coal mine?

 

Getting some of his bravado back, Inuyasha headed into the next room, the one full of long wooden boxes. One of those boxes was now open, revealing a woman dressed in strange black clothing. She was just lying there. Was she supposed to be dead? Were these boxes perhaps meant for holding human bodies? They did look to be about the right size.

 

Suddenly, the eyes of the woman lying next to him popped open, and turning her head, she hissed at him.

 

She hissed at him!

 

He had to bite the inside of his lip to keep from snickering. The female student also had fangs in her mouth, and he could only imagine she was supposed to be some sort of youkai or another.

 

Probably a cat.

 

Continuing to walk through the room, he did his best not to jump in surprise when the lid of another coffin swung open, revealing a male youkai that time. A third student, also male, appeared from within a hidden pocket in the wall, and Inuyasha almost found himself snickering again at their weak attempts at being scary. A little hissing and fang baring didn't bother him; not with the number of youkai he'd faced in his long life.

 

Leaving the hissers to themselves, Inuyasha brushed the black curtain aside to step into the tunnel of darkness, and froze.

 

Crap, I can't see a thing!

 

When he had done his preliminary walk-through he hadn't been surprised by the total darkness because one, the place had been closed and therefore all of the lights had been turned off, and two, with his enhanced youkai night vision he hadn't needed any light to see by, anyway. But upon entering the maze now that he was human, Inuyasha had been expecting the whole place to be lit up at least enough to see where he was going. How could they expect any human to find their way out of this?

 

At least I already know where the curtain is on the other side, so I'll just go slowly, he decided then, sticking his arms out in front of him as he carefully shuffled towards the other side.

 

A loud roar from the corridor beyond, followed immediately by a bloodcurdling scream, had him jumping back a pace.

 

“Come on, don't be a pansy, you know it ain't real,” he told himself quietly as he began shuffling forward once more.

 

The unexpected sensation of cool air blowing on the back of his neck had him jumping to the side again. Was someone in there with him?

 

Bah, no other human would be able to see in here any better than I can, he reminded himself as he continued to gradually make his way towards the exit. Had this hallway been this long before?

 

A shifting floorboard nearly had him falling on his butt as he almost lost his balance, and steadying himself, an eerie voice whispering, “I can see you...” nearly did him in.

 

Okay, that's it, Inuyasha thought frantically as he darted towards where he believed the back curtain to be located, hands still out in front of him.

 

Finding it and quickly pulling it aside, he was not expecting the sudden bright flash of blinding white light that went off in his face, making him see a floating green dot for a moment as his weak human vision ran around in circles screaming. So distracted was he, the hanyou-turned-human completely forgot about the black sewing thread hanging from the ceiling that he walked right into, jumping back and quickly bringing his hands to his face to brush off the heebie-jeebie sensation as he walked forward in a disoriented fashion.

 

He did not notice the monster lying in wait, preparing to make her move.

 

“RAWR!!!”

 

“AHHHH!!!”

 

Spying her next victim, Kagome had waited until just the right moment, and right when he was within grabbing distance, she lunged.

 

Growling low in a voice wholly not her own, she latched on to the man's arm, absolutely delighted when he shrieked back at her unexpected presence. Snarling and snapping her jaws at him, Kagome was the picture-perfect image of every newer zombie movie she'd ever seen. Granted, wandering around aimlessly with your arms held forward and groaning “Brains,” was marginally spooky in its own right, but timeless classic or no, the future-born miko much preferred the zombies you couldn't so easily out run.

 

The ones who were a result of some horrible mad science experiment gone wrong or a virus spreading throughout the population, rather than actual reanimated corpses risen from their graves. The zombies who weren't after your brain, per se, but who just wanted to eat you, and who were extremely contagious if they bit you.

 

Of course, she had absolutely no intention of biting anyone. As a natural instinctive reaction, everyone always tried to yank their arm out of her grasp, and she would let them, and then as they ran she would 'chase' after them for a moment, allowing them to feel relieved when they successfully 'escaped'.

 

That was the plan, anyway. The principle had warned her – and everyone else playing a monster – that haunted mazes didn't always go according to plan.

 

Instead of struggling to get free, her current victim struck back, and the next thing Kagome knew, she was pinned against the wall, a hand on her throat. She wasn't sure what to do next, but taking a moment to truly get a good look at her victim-turned-attacker, her eyes immediately widened in surprise.

 

Inuyasha freaked.

 

Some horribly disgusting looking thing had just launched out at him and grabbed a hold of his arm, and now it was snarling at him and trying to take a chunk out of him. Temporarily losing his higher brain functions when his 'fight or flight' reflex kicked on, Inuyasha reached out with his other hand and shoved back on the creature's neck, keeping its teeth away from him as he pressed it against the wall. He might not have his youkai strength, but even as a human he was pretty damn strong. No way would this monster make a midnight snack out of him!

 

Of course, the whole procedure only took about two seconds, and as he held the monster against the sidewall of the maze by its throat, recognizing a pair of frightened, human eyes staring back at him, he realized with a growing sensation of dread that he'd just attacked a human junior high school student. Just a human teenager, wearing makeup.

 

Wearing facial makeup...

 

Hadn't Kagome pointed at her face when she'd claimed the night before that she had removed all of her makeup?

 

Those eyes...

 

But before he could even say anything, the wench actually beat him to it.

 

“...Inuyasha?” she croaked out hesitantly, and he immediately released the pressure on her throat.

 

Maybe curiosity really did kill the dog, because Kagome was surely going to kill him after this. Looking at his hand in disgust, as if he wanted to burn the traitor for daring to strike out against his precious Kagome, he was only mildly surprised to note how some of her white makeup had rubbed off on him. Glancing back at her, though, the makeup on her neck still looked to be intact, at least as far as the other patrons would be concerned. There weren't any glaring red hand prints, at least.

 

I can't believe I just-

 

“It is you, isn't it?” Kagome asked him next, pulling him from his thoughts, her voice hoarse more from all of her constant growling and yelling than his rough handling, though he didn't know that.

 

“Kami, Kagome...I'm so-”

 

A bright flash interrupted him, and the next thing he knew Kagome was shoving him back into her secret pocket in the wall, which was barely big enough for her alone, but she couldn't let him go just yet. They needed to talk.

 

“Hold that thought,” she told him in a whisper, and doing his best to ignore the unexpected sensation of suddenly having Kagome pressed fully flush up against him, he got to observe from behind the scenes as the miko waited for the next perfect moment to strike.

 

Spying her next victim, that same group of friends who had been trailing after him the entire time and who'd laughed at him getting scared by the dropping painting, Kagome made her move. Jumping out of her hiding place, she snarled deep in her throat as she latched on to the arm of a girl, a girl who screamed bloody murder while her other friends just laughed.

 

Struggling to get free, Kagome let the girl think she had managed to escape just like someone playing tug-o-war with their dog might let the dog think it'd won by pretending to lose their grip on the toy. As everyone scurried into the graveyard beyond Kagome's crypt, she didn't give chase like she normally did, instead immediately going back to her pocket in the wall, where a very confused, agitated, guilty, and mildly embarrassed man was waiting for her.

 

“So...” the miko started nervously, unsure of what to say.

 

Inuyasha could barely even look at her. Her makeup was horrific, true, but it wasn't really that. He still couldn't believe he'd tried to choke her! What was the matter with him?! Even though he hadn't known it was Kagome at first, he sure as hell should have remembered that it wasn't a real monster!

 

“I'm not mad at you for attacking me, you know,” she spoke up then, easily recognizing the look in his eyes. “It's a warning we all got, everyone who signed up for this. Anyone might possibly get spooked enough that they take a swing at us purely on instinct. It's just a risk we have to take. I'm not worried because after everything I've faced in your time, what's a light bruise or two if somebody hits me on reflex?”

 

“That's no excuse,” he argued quietly, still refusing to meet her eyes.

 

“Okay, then how about the fact that you've lived for well over a century out on your own in the wilds of a world where every living thing you've ever come across has wanted you dead, and tonight you're at your most vulnerable? Is that a good enough excuse?” she asked him then. “Besides, you didn't hurt me, just surprised the hell out of me,” she added with a quiet laugh. “So don't worry about it, no harm done. I'm sorry I scared you.”

 

“Feh...didn't scare me,” he denied lamely, a faint grin creeping up his lips as he dared cast a glance Kagome's way.

 

He couldn't see very well in their dark little pocket, but there was enough light coming in for him to catch her eyes. Those sweet, kind, caring, forgiving, understanding eyes.

 

A bright flash indicated the arrival of more victims, and Kagome excused herself to go do her thing again. He had to admit, it was actually kind of amusing to watch everything happen from the other side. When he wasn't one of the hapless victims himself, it was really kind of funny watching the other humans get scared out of their wits.

 

“So what are you even doing here?” Kagome asked him when she returned again. “Did Souta put you up to this?”

 

“Actually,” he admitted sheepishly. “Your brother did help me a little, but it was my idea. I wanted to come see what you were doing without you knowing it.”

 

Instant understanding dawned inside Kagome's eyes.

 

“The scents on me. The male scents, on my hands...”

 

“Yeah...” he confirmed, adding, “...but, but I guess if all your doin' is grabbin' on to people pretending you're about to eat 'em, and then they run for their lives, well...that ain't so bad.”

 

Taking a deep breath and surprising himself with how strongly her makeup stunk, even to his human nose, he added, “But you had better take a damn good bath before returning to my time!”

 

Giggling, Kagome held up her hand and said, “Promise,” before darting off to get her next victim.

 

Escorting Inuyasha through the graveyard, then, the hanyou-turned-human was amused when the other monsters merely gave him a curious look as he walked beside Kagome rather than running from her. It was easy to deduce that he knew the girl. Kagome wasn't the only one to have a friend come see her in action, after all. Passing the graves, Kagome stopped when the scene changed to the hill with the old well, not wanting to get too far away from her post lest she miss her cue.

 

“You gonna be all right by yourself until midnight?” she asked.

 

“Keh, don't worry 'bout me. I'll hang around till you're done.”

 

Nodding, Kagome turned and scurried back to her post.

 

Grinning a bit and shaking his head, Inuyasha's attention was drawn in the direction of a woman dressed in a gray kimono, moaning to herself quietly like some sort of lost spirit. As he walked past the fake well he jumped one last time as a goblin-looking thing leapt up out of its center with a loud shriek, then chuckling to himself that he'd fallen victim to the spookiness, after all, he exited the maze, sure enough, with a feeling of joy.