InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Metamorphosis ❯ Misdirection ( Chapter 62 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: King Baka 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Suspense / Romance / Hentai / Adventure | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 11.21.2010 | Updated On: 03.06.2011 | Pages: 6 | Words: 9.6K | Visits: 2.5K | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Suspense / Romance / Hentai / Adventure | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 11.21.2010 | Updated On: 03.06.2011 | Pages: 6 | Words: 9.6K | Visits: 2.5K | Status: Completed
Disclaimer: I don’t own Inuyasha or any of the publicly known characters, plot, etc. I’m just renting them from Rumiko Takahashi, Viz, etc. I do own the plot of this story and any original characters I’ve created. I will make no money from this fic; I write for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of my readers.
Misdirection
“Kagome!”
“Shippou-chan!” the miko responded, surprised to meet the kit on the outskirts of the village. Fortunately, Inuyasha was holding Izayoi, which freed both her hands to catch the energetic fox.
“I didn’t expect to see you here,” she told him merrily.
“Hideyoshi-sama had to go away on business, so he dropped me and Kiku off here.”
“Oh, well I’m glad he didn’t leave you two by yourselves. Do you still like living with them?”
“Yep! I’m learning a lot, and the village kids are fun to play with. Kiku’s a pain sometimes, but she’s pretty cool…for a girl.”
Inuyasha and Kagome shared an amused look at that. Though they were both just kids, it was abundantly clear that Shippou and Kiku liked each other. Kagome grinned, remembering some of her grade school crushes. Ah, to be young again. She shook her head; with everything that had happened, it was sometimes difficult to remember that she was only seventeen herself.
“Hey, you wanna see my latest kitsune-bi?”
“Sure,” Kagome replied, but Shippou didn’t move. In fact, he seemed to have finally realized that there were four of them there instead of three. He had been informed of Kagome’s pregnancy on one of their visits, but had honestly forgotten about it until he caught an unfamiliar scent and noticed how Inuyasha held something in his arms. He scurried up onto the hanyou’s shoulder, perching there and gazing down in awe at the tiny, furry-eared bundle.
“Shippou-chan, meet Izayoi,” Kagome said. The introduction was not mutual since Izayoi was sleeping, but Shippou didn’t mind.
“Wow, she looks just like you, Kagome!”
“Heh, just wait ‘til she opens her eyes, runt,” Inuyasha retorted, grinning proudly.
“Hm, well I guess she had to be like you in some small way. Hopefully that’s the only way.”
“Why you little—”
“Alright boys, that’s enough,” Kagome declared, knowing it was unnecessary but not wanting to risk waking Izayoi up. Shippou remained sitting comfortably on Inuyasha’s shoulder, a clear sign of their improved relationship. Together, the four of them made their way toward the village.
They found Sango hanging clothes on the line, with Miroku standing nearby rocking Hideyoshi, humming to him softly. Both of them smiled warmly as their friends approached, expressions which quickly vanished as they realized just how much things had changed since their hanyou companions were last here.
“Kagome-chan, you gave birth!” Sango exclaimed.
“Yep. Meet Izayoi, guys,” Kagome replied as Inuyasha tilted his arms so the humans could get a better look at the baby.
“She’s beautiful,” Miroku observed smoothly. “Just like her mother.”
Kagome rolled her eyes. Somehow, most of his compliments still sound like pickup lines.
“So how did the birth go?” Sango asked, curious if her friend’s experience had matched her own. “How was the midwife you found?”
Inuyasha and Kagome shared a look, prompting two pairs of widened eyes from their friends.
“You did find a midwife, right?” Sango inquired.
“Well, not exactly,” Kagome hedged.
“Not exactly?”
“You see…Inuyasha delivered the baby.”
Somehow, Miroku and Sango managed stifle their surprise so as not to wake the infants. But it was clear they were quite shocked, as well as fairly upset. What if something had gone wrong? Seeing those concerns, Kagome launched into an explanation of their pursuit of the jewel shards, their battle with Kajimaru, the snowstorm, and her early labor. Miroku and Sango were somewhat mollified by that; their hanyou friends hadn’t planned on this. The circumstances conspired against them, and everything had fortunately turned out alright in the end. Just as they were recovering from that bombshell, Kagome decided to drop an even larger one on them. This time, they could not remain quiet.
“Oh, and Izayoi purified the jewel.”
“WHAT?!!!”
Twin cries rang out immediately, the sounds of irate infants protesting their discourteous awakenings. No one was surprised when Miroku immediately set about comforting Hideyoshi, but Sango for one was not expecting Inuyasha to do the same. Especially when he rocked Izayoi so tenderly, whispered to her so lovingly, and got her to settle down even while Hideyoshi was still fussing. Sango shared a look with Kagome, conveying how impressed she was. It seemed Inuyasha had taken to fatherhood like a fish to water. The hanyou didn’t even notice their attention until Izayoi had calmed completely.
“What?” he demanded, a little defensively. Sango shook her head, deciding not to comment. Praise would only make him uncomfortable, she knew.
“So, Kagome-chan,” she began, “I must have had something in my ear before. Did you tell us Izayoi purified the Shikon no Tama?”
Kagome confirmed it, then related their encounter with Midoriko, as well as what the ancient miko had said. Sango and Miroku nodded their understanding; it was one of those things that was much easier to comprehend with a good explanation. Now, Izayoi purifying the jewel made perfect sense. And they were also very happy for Kagome to hear that the well would remain open. Both knew what it was like to lose parents early in life, and neither wished that fate upon their friend.
“So the Shikon no Tama is finally gone,” Sango repeated, beaming.
“Where will you be living?” Miroku asked. “We would love to be able to call you our neighbors.”
“Inuyasha and I plan to live here. Of course we’ll visit my family often, but Inuyasha’s home has always been in this time, and now…I feel like mine is here too. I’ll take over as village miko for Kaede-babaa, and maybe Kohaku-kun can help with the healing duties until I catch up.”
“I’m sure he’d be happy to,” Sango replied. “Kaede-sama has already started taking him to watch her treat the sick and injured.”
“That’s great! Does he like it?”
“I think he’s found his true calling in life. He never did take to being a taijiya.”
“Yes,” Miroku interjected, “and Inuyasha, you could accompany me when I travel on my youkai extermination jobs.”
“Keh. You just want me to come along so you don’t have to do the dirty work,” the hanyou answered snidely. But he didn’t say no; he was grateful for the offer. Regularly going out and killing some youkai sounded like a great way to earn a living, especially for a man who’d spent most of his life as a nomad.
“Well, that’s part of it,” Miroku jokingly admitted, “but getting home sooner is not a bad thing.”
“Wait a minute!” Kagome exclaimed suddenly. “Aren’t you going to invite me, Miroku-sama, or am I to remain in this village forever?”
“I’m sorry, Kagome-sama, but we men do not possess the ability to breastfeed.”
“So what?” Sango retorted. “We’re not going to be lactating our whole lives. We talked about this, Houshi-sama; I’m still a taijiya, and Kagome-chan is still a miko. You boys don’t get to go out on every job.”
Inuyasha and Miroku shared a helpless look. “We don’t have any choice in this, do we bouzu?”
“Ah, that’s the trouble with marrying strong women, my friend,” Miroku replied, clapping the hanyou on the back. Laughing and merrymaking, the four friends made their way inside.
They had worried briefly that the well would not allow her to pass, since Midoriko had not specified who time-traveling privileges would extend to. They were pretty sure the miko intended to grant their children passage, but it didn’t hurt to err on the side of caution. Inuyasha leapt in first, discovering that the well would still not let him go through alone. Then he placed Izayoi on the ground at the bottom, keeping contact with her as Kagome jumped in. That way, they could test whether she could go through with them without putting her in any danger. If the well did not allow her to pass, she would simply lie at the bottom for a few seconds instead of dropping to the dirt when the arms holding her disappeared. Fortunately, these precautions proved to be unnecessary; the three of them emerged in the modern era without incident. Izayoi scrunched up her little nose at the new smells, but otherwise made no protest. The constant odors of modern Tokyo were something else she would have to get used to.
“Oh, Kagome!” her mother’s voice floated from the kitchen. “Thank goodness. Dr. Hayashi and I were starting to worry that you’d miss your due date.”
Kagome shared an amused look with her husband before replying. “Yeah, about that…”
Suddenly they heard a small commotion coming from the kitchen, as Mrs. Higurashi set down her mug and newspaper and rushed to the front door. She stopped in her tracks, covering her mouth as she laid eyes on Izayoi for the first time.
“Hi, Mama. Meet your granddaughter.”
Mrs. Higurashi crept slowly closer, carefully taking the baby when Kagome offered. “Hello there, little one,” she cooed, grinning from ear to ear. “I’m your grandma.”
Izayoi smiled at the cheerful voice, chirping happily, and Mrs. Higurashi nearly melted. It truly was love at first sight.
“What’s her name?” she croaked, throat suddenly dry.
“Izayoi,” Inuyasha answered, “after my mother.”
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, unable to take her gaze from those captivating amber eyes, or fuzzy black ears. For several minutes, Mrs. Higurashi stood there, getting to know her granddaughter as Inuyasha and Kagome looked on.
“So you decided to deliver in the feudal era?” she finally inquired.
“Not exactly,” Kagome replied. At her mother’s confused look, she once again recounted their recent adventures leading up to Izayoi’s birth. Mrs. Higurashi was simultaneously impressed, appalled, and relieved. In the middle of the woods with only Inuyasha there had not been the situation she’d imagined for her daughter’s childbirth. They were lucky there hadn’t been any complications, though the fact that Kagome was hanyou weighed heavily in their favor. Circumstances had united against them, so perhaps it was meant to be. Mrs. Higurashi was very pleased to hear that the mysterious jewel her daughter and son-in-law had pursued for almost three years was now gone. She couldn’t help but sense the hand of fate in all this; it was almost as if Izayoi had been meant to purity the Shikon no Tama. Then again, perhaps it was just blind luck. Only the Kami could know for sure.
At that point, the four of them went into the kitchen. Inuyasha and Kagome sat down as her mother prepared some more tea. They talked for awhile about labor and the birth, as Mrs. Higurashi was interested in her daughter’s experience. She was also curious about how Inuyasha had handled it, and was secretly impressed at what Kagome told her. Her son-in-law had managed about as well as any man without a medical degree could reasonably be expected to.
Soon Kagome called her brother and grandfather downstairs to meet the new arrival. The old man held Izayoi with the same kind of adoration as Mrs. Higurashi; any reservations about his great-grandchild’s hanyou heritage had long since passed. Souta was thrilled to be an uncle at his young age, which made him in his own words the “coolest uncle anyone has ever had.” Kagome rolled her eyes, playfully contesting just how ‘cool’ her brother was. This was the same boy who three years ago had been too much of a fraidy cat to go into the well house to look for Buyo. And that changed my life forever. Who knew where she’d be now if Souta had retrieved Buyo himself? Probably going to high school, feeling like something was missing in her life, and never knowing why she felt that way. It was hard to imagine that existence, a life without her soul mate. And in the jovial atmosphere created by her families, old and new, she didn’t try.
Speaking of resolving issues, both Dr. Hayashi and Kenji had been informed of recent developments, the former about the birth and the latter about the purification of the Shikon no Tama. The doctor had requested a checkup, which was scheduled for this weekend. Kenji had come over a couple days ago, but the purpose of the meeting was not only to congratulate them and see the baby. He reluctantly told them that in the absence of the Shikon no Tama, he could not justify to his superiors keeping them under guard while they were here. In other words, there would no longer be friendly youkai watching over them; they were on their own. She and Inuyasha understood, brushing aside his apologies. Whatever this mysterious evil youkai had wanted with them before, the jewel was gone, so what could anyone possibly want with them now? Neither hanyou expected any more trouble.
In the meantime, Inuyasha had kept busy by once again helping her grandfather in the storage shed. Right now he was out running an errand at the store. They also spent plenty of time in the feudal era. In fact, Miroku and Inuyasha were planning to set out on an extermination job tomorrow morning. Things seemed to be going exactly according to plan. It almost made her nervous.
She was just nodding off when a sudden knocking sounded, three harsh raps in rapid succession. Kagome rolled off the couch and strode toward the front door. Who could that be at this hour? She opened the door and saw…nothing. No one was there. She stepped out and scanned the shrine grounds, finding them deserted. Hm, maybe it was a woodpecker on a tree. Or maybe I’m hearing things. Shrugging, she turned to go back inside but paused when her foot came down on something crinkly. Looking down, she spied a piece of paper on the stoop. She picked it up and saw that it was mostly blank, with only one line typed across the top in plain font. Her eyes widened impossibly as she read, her breath hitching and knees buckling with horror.
Kagome – We have your hanyou. Yakamura Warehouse, Number 24. Come alone.
Her hands clenched involuntarily, tearing the note with her claws. The bastards…had Inuyasha.
“Shit!” she swore, darting back inside the house. She wanted to go right now, but couldn’t leave Izayoi unprotected. She picked up the phone and dialed a number, shifting impatiently until someone finally answered after the third ring.
“Hello?”
“Ayumi! It’s Kagome. Is Kenji there?”
“No, he’s not. What’s up, Kagome?”
“I need you to call him and tell him to get his butt over to my house now!”
“Kagome, wh—”
*click*
Kagome hung up. She didn’t have time to answer her friend’s questions, especially when Ayumi needed to call Kenji as soon as possible. And she would, Kagome knew; no one could have ignored the tinge of panic in her tone. Least of all her mother.
“What’s wrong, dear?” Mrs. Higurashi asked as she rounded the corner, having obviously overheard the phone call. Kagome grimaced, then showed her the crumpled note.
“Oh, Kami,” her mother breathed. “I’ll call the police.”
“No, Mama!” Kagome cried, louder than intended. Lowering her voice, she tried to explain. “Whoever kidnapped Inuyasha is obviously a youkai, or more likely a group of them. If they could handle Inuyasha, what would they do to a bunch of human police officers?”
Mrs. Higurashi’s eyes colored with understanding. “But Kagome, what do we do?”
“Look, Mama,” she said, placing both her hands on the frightened woman’s shoulders. “Inuyasha and I have defeated hundreds of youkai in the past, including some of the strongest that ever existed. Please, trust us to handle this.”
Mrs. Higurashi said nothing for several moments, then finally nodded. Fearful tears slipped down her cheeks, and she enfolded her daughter in a crushing embrace. Kagome returned it, but felt no compulsion to cry. Adrenaline coursed through her, invigorating her more primal side, readying her body for a fight. Her emotions rose to match. She would rescue Inuyasha, and make sure those responsible never kidnapped anyone again. And if they hurt him…they would pay dearly.
The front door clanged open, and Kagome pulled away to meet Kenji in the foyer.
“Come with me,” she told him before he could even open his mouth. She bounded up the stairs to her room, yanking off her blouse and tossing it into a corner. Kenji came in behind her and quickly turned his back as she changed into a set of her feudal era clothing. The fur of the swamp fox would give her more protection than any modern cloth.
“Kagome, what’s going on?” he demanded, more than a little alarmed by her frantic demeanor.
“Here,” she said, tossing him the balled-up note. He caught it, then swore under his breath as he read.
“It has to be Sueosoroshii. No one else would be so bold.”
“I don’t care who it is,” Kagome declared, slipping Tetsusaiga—which Inuyasha had left in her room along with his fire-rat garments—into her obi. If only she hadn’t left her bow and quiver in the feudal era. She picked up the red haori and held it to her nose, allowing her mate’s scent to calm her frazzled nerves, leaving her only with steely resolve.
“I’m going to kick his fucking ass,” she stated quietly.
“I’m coming with you,” Kenji said, fingering the hilt of his sword. It had been awhile since he’d last seen combat, but he was more than ready.
“No, you’re going to stay here and watch Izayoi.”
“But—”
“You keep her safe, you got it?!” Kagome demanded, leaving no room for argument. Izayoi wailed, both at being woken up and because of the hard edge to her mother’s tone. Kagome repressed the urge to go to her; there was no time. Her grandmother’s comfort would have to do.
Kenji swallowed, seeing that this was one argument he wasn’t going to win. “I’ll protect her with my life,” he proclaimed. “But you should stay here for a few minutes. Let me call for backup—”
“You do that. I’m going.”
“Wait, Kagome! Dammit!” he cursed as she slipped out the window into the night. Kenji pulled out his cell phone and dialed.
“It’s Yamato. Get a few people to the Higurashi shrine and send everyone else to Yakamura Warehouse, Number 24. The shit’s about to hit the fan.”
“Hello, Inuyassssha.”
The hanyou started and spun, finding the owner of the voice gazing at him with a smile Inuyasha would qualify as slightly sinister. He looked, smelled, and dressed like a normal human, which explained how he had snuck up on him. But those baleful, cunning eyes were not normal, and Inuyasha felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up at the barely-concealed menace. That, and the serpentine way the man had hissed his name, convinced him that this stranger was a youkai. He must be wearing one of those charms.
“Who are you? How do you know my name?” he demanded, reaching his right hand down to grasp Tetsusaiga’s hilt, only to find empty air. Crap. He had left his sword and feudal era clothing in Kagome’s room. Loose-fitting jeans and a red muscle shirt were fine for moving around in, but if this boiled down to a fight, they didn’t offer nearly as much protection as his fire-rat armour. He would have to make do with his bare claws and some flimsy modern fabric.
“My name is Sueosoroshii Taichimaru. And I know much about you, my hanyou friend.”
Inuyasha ran the somehow-familiar name through his mind several times, finally recalling the memory he sought. He grabbed Taichimaru by the collar of his shirt and snarled in his face.
“You’re the bastard who sent six thugs after my wife! I should fucking skin you alive!”
“That’s a bold accusation,” Taichimaru replied sternly, all amusement gone from his features. “Do you have any evidence to prove I was behind this attack?”
“Uh…” Inuyasha mumbled, loosening his grip and losing some of his bravado.
“I didn’t think so. I’m afraid I have quite a reputation in youkai society, but that does not mean I ever committed any crimes. I merely wish to discuss something with you.”
Inuyasha growled, not buying Taichimaru’s innocent act. But at the same time, he couldn’t just kill the bastard because he had no proof of his involvement. He didn’t want to slay a potentially innocent man, even though his instincts told him Taichimaru was bad news.
“Discuss what?” he asked warily.
“A proposal,” Taichimaru answered, grinning ominously. “Merely a proposal.”
Inuyasha opened his mouth to demand further explanation, but the burly storeowner interrupted him.
“Is there a problem here?” the man asked, crossing his beefy arms over his broad chest. It was clear he didn’t want a fight breaking out in his store, and was willing to throw both of the troublemakers out on their asses if necessary. Little did he know that either of them could dispose of him with minimal effort.
“No, no problem,” Taichimaru replied smoothly. “Simply a misunderstanding. We’ll take it outside.”
Hearing that, Inuyasha finally released the collar of Taichimaru’s shirt, which he straightened as best he could. Inuyasha was pleased to see five small holes left by his claws.
“I’d appreciate that,” the storeowner stated dryly, ‘escorting’ them to the exit. Once on the sidewalk, Taichimaru pulled out his phone and spoke very briefly to someone. Soon, a long black car pulled up and stopped in the middle of the road, the driver not caring if the entire row of traffic behind him had to wait. He got out and held the rear door open.
“After you,” Taichimaru said cordially, motioning for Inuyasha to precede him into the car. That definitely was not happening.
“I’d rather not.”
“Oh?” the other man replied, appearing not the least bit surprised. “I trust you will have no trouble keeping up?”
Inuyasha’s first instinct was to tell this guy to go fuck himself, but he knew he needed to at least see what he wanted. Then he could decline the ‘proposal’ and go home, hopefully avoiding any further trouble.
He nodded, and Taichimaru got into the car. Inuyasha ducked into the nearest alley and leapt up onto the roof. It was easy to follow the black vehicle on the crowded streets of Tokyo. As they moved away from the center of the city, the traffic thinned out and Inuyasha found himself moving at a brisk pace. Still nowhere near his top speed though. Finally, the car drove into a deserted area, with the headlights the only sign of movement for hundreds of yards in any direction. Lamps cast an eerie glow on the spaces between huge, squat buildings, a stark contrast to the skyscrapers on the horizon. As the car approached one particularly large building, a garage door opened and the vehicle drove inside. The door remained open, presumably for him to follow. Before doing so, Inuyasha scoped out the surrounding area, finding no one else in the immediate vicinity. He also entered the building cautiously, and was eventually satisfied that he wasn’t walking into an ambush.
“Ah, Inuyasha,” Taichimaru welcomed warmly. “I was beginning to think we’d lost you.”
“Keh. What do you want?”
Taichimaru grinned maliciously. “Very well, I suppose we’ll get right down to business. Leave us, Yori,” he said to the driver of the car. “I think it’s time you delivered our message.” Nodding, Yori exited the warehouse on foot.
“What message?” Inuyasha demanded, suddenly getting a bad vibe.
“A completely unrelated matter, I assure you,” Taichimaru replied, his smile now taking on an edge of downright wickedness. Inuyasha glared at him. Usually, he could get a sense of whether someone was telling the truth or lying, but he could get nothing from Taichimaru. Either he was telling the truth, or he was an expert in deceit. Somehow, Inuyasha was leaning towards the latter.
“Please, make yourself comfortable,” his host implored, motioning to a very nice table set up near this end of the mostly-empty warehouse. There were two chairs, one at either end. The only truly strange item was the small cage sitting on the center of the table, a black and white cat its prisoner. The feline gazed at them warily, it’s eyes and demeanor fearful.
“I trust you don’t mind if I do the same?” Taichimaru inquired. When Inuyasha said nothing, he slipped a gold ring off his finger. Instantly his body transformed, his skin becoming paler as his hair and eyes darkened to a greenish-brown tint. His clothes shifted as well, the illusion dissolving to expose ornate, traditional robes, similar to what a wealthy lord might wear hundreds of years ago. His scent revealed him to be a serpent youkai, his aura a powerful one at that. But that aura was weaker than some of the youkai Inuyasha had defeated in the past, albeit with Tetsusaiga. Still, if it came down to a fight, he thought he could take him.
“Ah, much better. I despise putting on that loathsome human disguise every day. Don’t you agree, Inuyasha?” he asked, his grin suggesting that he knew damn well Inuyasha didn’t possess a concealment charm.
“Would you just fuckin’ tell me what you want already?” Inuyasha growled roughly, his patience reaching its limit.
Some of Taichimaru’s good humor vanished, to be replaced by malevolence. “Very well. I have a task I wish you to perform for me. Your…special skills are perfectly suited for the job. You—”
“Not interested.”
“Hear me out. It is a relatively simple assignment, and you will be handsomely rewarded.”
“Are you fucking deaf? I said I’m not interested. If that’s it, then I’m leaving. Don’t ever let me see or smell you again.”
Far from being offended, Taichimaru began chuckling darkly, a sound which froze Inuyasha in his tracks and filled him with dread.
“I thought you might say that,” Taichimaru confessed gleefully. “But I have something that might change your mind.”
He reached into his robes and pulled out a small blue box with a short wire sticking out of it. He flipped up the plastic safety and pressed a button. For a moment, nothing happened. Then all hell broke loose.
**Warning: next paragraph depicts graphic animal death. Squeamish individuals should not read**
The cat yowled in pain, smashing itself repeatedly against the bars of the cage. Blood began oozing from its eyes and ears, then pouring from every orifice in its body. The struggling animal calmed, wobbled on its feet, then collapsed and expired in a pool of its own blood. The entire incident took less than fifteen seconds.
**Death scene over** (1)
“What the fuck did you do?!” Inuyasha demanded, rounding on the bastard.
“A wonderful invention, really,” Taichimaru replied, ignoring the question. “It’s a compound that, when injected into the bloodstream and set off with a precise radio frequency, sets in motion a chain reaction that destroys the body from the inside out. Not even youkai can survive it.”
“And what does this have to do with me?” Inuyasha queried, knowing he was not going to like the answer.
“Because, my hanyou friend, I had Yori inject your mate with the exact same compound.” (2)
“You lie!” Inuyasha yelled, his voice full of desperate denial.
“Do I?” Taichimaru replied calmly, pulling a red controller from his robes. “Care to bet your mate’s life on that?” He flipped open the safety.
“Bastard!”
“I’d be careful what I say if I were you,” Taichimaru sneered, finally showing his true colors. “Do you think I care about the life of a half-breed? The only reason both of you aren’t rotting corpses is because I need you.”
Inuyasha clenched his fists, so tightly that his claws punctured his palms and blood dripped onto the floor. His jaws clamped so firmly together that he thought his teeth might shatter. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to take action, to remove the threat to his mate at once, to wipe this enemy from the face of the earth. But…he couldn’t. Taichimaru could be bluffing, but on the other hand, he could truly have Kagome’s life in his hand. That was a chance Inuyasha was unwilling to take. He couldn’t assume Taichimaru was lying, nor could he gamble on the youkai’s reflexes. The odds were slim that he could cross the twenty feet between them before Taichimaru could push the button. So, with no other options, he decided to play along.
“What do I have to do?”
Whatever the reason, his private reflections over the past half hour or so had led him to one conclusion: he could not complete the mission which had been given to him. Say he did what Taichimaru wanted. Then what? The bastard would no longer have a reason not to kill Kagome. Why would he let either of them live when they were witnesses to his criminal activity? Brutal images of the poor cat’s horrible death flew through his mind, and he suppressed a shudder. It was difficult to ignore the symbolism. His wife…could die like that.
Growling, he rose to his feet, already settled on a plan. If he could get Kagome to the feudal era, she would be safe; he doubted that ‘ray-dee-o’ signal would transmit five hundred years in the past. Then they could find Myouga and get him to purge her blood of the toxin, or whatever it was. The keys were speed and surprise; without both, the plan would fail gruesomely. Kagome had to be ready and waiting with Izayoi for him to sneak up to the shrine under the cover of darkness. She would dash to the well house and he would meet her there. Hopefully the three of them would leap inside the well before Taichimaru knew to push that cursed button. As to alerting Kagome to his plan, he thought he remembered roughly where her three friends lived. He would drop in on one of them and use that telephone thing to warn his wife of the danger. He would also call Kenji and ask him to watch over Kagome’s family while they were gone.
This wasn’t his typical type of plan, he realized, which usually consisted of going in and cutting the enemy to pieces one way or another. He hated running away, but Kagome’s safety was the top priority right now. His pride could take the hit. Inuyasha took off, settling into a stealthy run. He stuck to the rooftops, being extra careful to move in the shadows as he made his way back toward the city, away from Ageo. He skirted around the warehouse in a very wide semi-circle, senses on high alert. If one of Taichimaru’s lackeys discovered him, there would only be a small window in which to silence the interloper before he alerted his master. And by ‘silence,’ he meant by any means necessary. This was no time for mercy.
He had almost completed his half-circle around the warehouse when he spotted a lone figure on the next rooftop, silhouetted against the lights of the city in the distance. Inuyasha ducked down below the ledge and peered over. The figure hadn’t seen him, but probably would if he tried to sneak by. Inuyasha grimaced; he could feel the person’s youki from here. This youkai would have to be dealt with, quick and easy. He hated killing someone like that, but reminded himself of the circumstances and the danger Kagome was in. That was more than enough to get him moving again. He approached silent as death, hesitating only slightly as a feeling of familiarity struck him. The youkai was turned away from him, but that aura, and that scent…
He recognized the youkai an instant before making contact. Instead of rending the youkai asunder with his claws, he grabbed him by the neck and slammed him face-first into the roof. He wrenched his quarry’s arm behind him and placed his knee in his lower back. He thought this youkai was a friend, but now he wasn’t in a mood to trust anyone. Especially when he could think of no innocent explanation for why this individual was here in the first place.
“Kenji! What the fuck are you doing here?! I could’ve kill—” he cut himself off, sensing a new presence behind him and the telltale prick of a blade pressed against the back of his neck.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Kenji said, his voice muffled by the roof. “Let’s all calm down. Inuyasha, let me up. I think we both have some explaining to do.”
The pressure of the blade remained for another second, then abruptly vanished. Inuyasha stood, releasing Kenji. He turned and found…nothing. He looked around, but there was no sign of the mysterious presence.
“Her code name is Kumori,” Kenji stated conversationally. “She’s the stealthiest person I know.”
Inuyasha nodded, in complete agreement. He felt relieved; if this ‘Shadow’ was working for Taichimaru, he’d probably be dead already. He could assume Kenji and his cohorts were still on his side.
“Inuyasha, how on earth did you manage to escape?”
“Escape? What the hell are you talking about?”
“You weren’t take prisoner by Sueosoroshii Taichimaru?”
“I met him, but I was never his prisoner.”
“But the note—oh, no.”
“What’s ‘oh no?’” Inuyasha demanded, alarmed at the trepidation in Kenji’s tone.
“Kagome received a note saying that you had been kidnapped, and telling her to meet your abductor at Yakamura Warehouse, Number 24,” Kenji replied, pointing in the general direction of the warehouse where Inuyasha had met Taichimaru. “Oh, shit, this is bad. We’ve been barking up the wrong tree the whole time. Sueosoroshii has played us like fools.”
“Kenji! Stop babbling and tell me what the fuck is going on!”
“Don’t you see? Kagome is inside the warehouse now!”
Inuyasha’s mind slowed to a crawl as he gradually started to unravel this jumbled mess. Taichimaru had told Kagome that he’d been kidnapped, apparently to lure her out to the warehouse. And now Kagome was meeting him. Alone. Inuyasha’s eyes widened. Fuck! He didn’t want anything to do with me! He was after Kagome the whole time! This entire thing was a setup. His ‘mission’ was just a decoy, as his instincts had tried to tell him. Taichimaru might very well have poisoned Kagome’s blood, but that was probably the only element of truth in his otherwise bogus story. And the bastard had accomplished his objective—getting Kagome alone. Well, he would just have to crash that party. Inuyasha launched into a dead sprint, moving as quickly as he could back to the warehouse. He barely heard Kenji call out to him over the whoosh of the wind past his ears.
“Wait, Inuyasha! There’s a b—”
Inuyasha slammed into something solid, gritting his teeth as electricity surged through him. He went rigid as his muscles seized, his skin feeling as if it was aflame. Then he was flying backwards, landing on a rooftop in a dazed heap.
“Inuyasha, are you okay?” Kenji asked, kneeling by his side.
“Ugh…what the fuck was that?”
“I tried to tell you. There’s a really powerful barrier around the warehouse, with about a quarter mile radius. I’m sorry, but we can’t get to Kagome.”
Grunting, Inuyasha sat up and looked down at himself, searching for the source of the smell of something burning. He quickly discovered that something to be his clothes, which were now scorched and tattered, with more holes than a piece of Swiss cheese.
“I don’t suppose you brought Tetsusaiga,” he said, wishing for his sword’s barrier-breaking abilities.
“Unfortunately, Kagome took it with her, believing she was going to meet you. It is inside the barrier as well.”
“Mother f—”
“I did bring these,” Kenji interrupted, not wanting to listen to an angry, profanity-filled tirade. He then handed Inuyasha his fire-rat robes.
“Thanks,” Inuyasha told him, standing to change into his customary combat clothes. There was a certain comfort level he felt with these robes; he had survived many battles in them. And they wouldn’t go to pieces from a singeing like that cheap modern fabric. While dressing, he tried to come up with a plan. With Tetsusaiga inside the barrier, the only option was to punch through with his bare claws. Maybe Sankon Tetsusou would be enough. It was a long shot, but it was currently the only shot he had.
“That will never work,” Kenji declared, reading his thoughts. “You’ll only hurt yourself.”
“Shut up! What else can I do?”
“Rest and conserve your strength. When that barrier comes down—and it will—you’ll need it.”
“Oh, and hang Kagome out to dry like you did?” Inuyasha snapped accusingly. “Forget it!”
“I’m sorry! She was out the window before I could stop her.”
“Well why didn’t you go with her?”
“She told me to protect your daughter.”
“What?!” Inuyasha snarled, grabbing Kenji by the collar. “You left Izayoi unprotected?”
“No, I did not!” Kenji retorted, some of his own frustration showing through. “There are currently four of my comrades watching the house. She is perfectly safe.”
“She’d better be.”
Kenji sighed, trying to reign in his temper. He understood why Inuyasha was acting this way. If anyone was going to be calm in this situation, it had to be him. Grimacing, he realized that it wouldn’t help Inuyasha’s anxiety any if he knew Kagome had been inside the barrier for twenty minutes already.
“Inuyasha,” he tried, “stay here and rest. You won’t do Kagome any good if you exhaust yourself.”
“I won’t do her any good if I sit on ass, either. No fucking way! What kind of mate or husband would I be if I didn’t try to get in there?”
Kenji sighed, seeing that the hanyou was not going to be swayed. He was glad he’d decided to bring the fire-rat robes; they would at least provide him some protection against the barrier. If Inuyasha started to really hurt himself, he would need to be restrained. But Kenji didn’t have the heart to stop him from trying. This hanyou was powerful; maybe he really could break through with his bare hands. Inuyasha wasted no more time in making his first attempt. He charged, leaping into the air and bringing his claws down where he knew the barrier was.
“Sankon Tetsusou!”
Golden energy trailed from his claws, slashing into…nothing. He landed on the next rooftop over, wondering what the hell had just happened. Had the barrier thrown him farther than he thought? No…no! Now he could sense something undetectable to him before—Kagome’s presence through their bond. And the sinking, aching feeling in his chest left no doubt that she was in danger. With that knowledge running through his mind, he gave no more thought to how he’d gotten through the barrier as he charged back to the warehouse. If he had turned around, he would have seen several flashes in the air, as Kenji and his cohorts tried to follow and were painfully thrown back. And perhaps he would have wondered why the barrier had only allowed him passage, and no one else.
Kagome slowed her pace as Warehouse Number 24 came into view. She studied the building, allowing all her senses to scan the area. Nothing; she could detect no sign of anyone in the immediate vicinity. Satisfied, she vaulted down to the ground, nearly choking as she inhaled. Blood. The scent was powerful and unmistakable, though fortunately it did not belong to Inuyasha. In fact, it did not smell like a youkai’s blood at all.
Cautiously she crept to the door, peering around the edge. There was no one inside. Inuyasha’s residual scent told her that he’d been here, but he was long gone, as were his abductors. She gasped; there on the center of a table was a cage. Blood dripped onto the ground, the source a lump of fur inside the cage. Kagome approached and was sickened by the sight. She closed her eyes and said a small prayer for the poor creature. Her eyes snapped open as she sensed a new presence behind her, appearing as if out of nowhere. It was already too late to react. She felt a hand come to rest on her shoulder, and then her world exploded.
Gale force winds buffeted her mind, pounding against her consciousness. She barely comprehended the sensation of her body collapsing onto the floor, that infernal hand still clutching her shoulder. A pervasive darkness invaded her, devastating her thoughts and slowly clouding everything she knew, overwhelming her very being. She fought back on an instinctual level, fueled by a combination of desperate self-preservation and miko strength. With a herculean effort she managed to drive the darkness to the edge of her mind, but her attacker intensified his efforts. The darkness strengthened, pushing her steadily back. She continued to fight, trying to stop the inexorable advance, but it was futile. With the last of the light, she managed one final thought before her world went black. Inuyasha…
“Kagome!” he cried, dashing up to her. She made no response, not even raising her head. He looked her up and down, finding no physical injuries. So then why was she, for lack of a better word, unconscious?
“What the fuck did you do to her?!” Inuyasha demanded, rounding on the bastards who dared to attack her.
Taichimaru managed a breathless chuckle. “I possessed her; she is under my control now. But it almost didn’t happen. My possessory spell is the most powerful in the youkai world. In two hundred years, no one has come close to defeating it. But your mate nearly did just that; it took me more than ten minutes to subdue her. I can see I made the right choice.”
“The right choice?” Inuyasha repeated angrily. “Damn you! Why did you do it? How can Kagome possibly be of any use to you?”
“I think you vastly underestimate just how valuable your mate is. She has the strength and speed of a daiyoukai, and now that her consciousness is repressed, an unmatched viciousness. She has the ability to take punishment which would kill any human and most youkai. She also happens to be the most powerful miko I have ever encountered. Think about it; she is the perfect weapon. And I will help her reach her full potential. I will teach her things you can’t imagine, terrible techniques forbidden in all but the darkest corners of the world. My enemies will cower before me, or she will obliterate them. No youkai on earth will dare to stand up to me! With Kagome at my side and a loyal army of youkai at my back, there is no limit to what I can accomplish!”
From this narcissistic tirade Inuyasha gleaned one solitary realization—he was dealing with a madman. Taichimaru was completely insane. He wanted to use Kagome to take over Japan, or the world, or whatever. Inuyasha wasn’t going to let that happen.
“Perhaps my plan was overly circuitous,” Taichimaru continued serenely, “but part of the fun is spinning a tangled web, and watching all the little flies get caught in it. And besides, the compound in Kagome’s blood will serve as a useful insurance policy,” he said, patting one particular spot on the front of his robes.
Smiling evilly, Taichimaru bore a striking resemblance to Naraku in that moment. He had shown himself to be a conniver of the same caliber as the ancient hanyou, with a sadistic streak to match. And if Inuyasha had anything to say about it, he would meet the same fate as his feudal era counterpart.
“So I’m a fly, am I?” the hanyou asked, flexing his claws. “It doesn’t matter. I’m going to kill you, break your spell, and take my wife home with me.”
Taichimaru chuckled menacingly. “My dear Inuyasha, you still don’t understand, do you? Why do you think I allowed you to enter my barrier while those other fools are still hopping around outside? I did it because you will make a perfect experimentation subject. I think it is time to test just how deeply your mate is under my control. Kagome, awaken!”
Kagome’s head shot up, her eyes opening as wide as they could go. Inuyasha gasped at the expanse of crimson in each. Where during her youkai transformations at least her pupils remained black, now each eye was nothing but a solid blood-red orb. They were chilling, and utterly soulless. Inuyasha felt as though he was gazing into hell itself. Taichimaru’s wicked cackle broke through his daze, drawing his attention to the youkai as he spoke a single command.
“Kagome, kill him.”
(1) I debated over and over whether to insert this warning. I hate to break up the flow of the chapter, but I could see people really being upset by a description of a housecat getting killed like that, especially if they have one (or several) as pets. Better safe than sorry, I guess.
(2) Remember that “hornet sting” way back in chapter 32? Well, now you know what it really was. This aspect of Taichimaru’s plan has been in motion for a long time.
A/N – Okay, I know what you’re thinking. “Hey, KB, why doesn’t Taichimaru just possess everybody if he’s so good at it?” Well, my thinking is that it’s one of those energy-consuming techniques that he can’t use too much. So he probably can’t possess more than one or two people at a time. So he does need Kagome to do his dirty work for him. That’s how I imagine it, anyway.
Converting /tmp/phpvXAuSN to /dev/stdout
Misdirection
“Kagome!”
“Shippou-chan!” the miko responded, surprised to meet the kit on the outskirts of the village. Fortunately, Inuyasha was holding Izayoi, which freed both her hands to catch the energetic fox.
“I didn’t expect to see you here,” she told him merrily.
“Hideyoshi-sama had to go away on business, so he dropped me and Kiku off here.”
“Oh, well I’m glad he didn’t leave you two by yourselves. Do you still like living with them?”
“Yep! I’m learning a lot, and the village kids are fun to play with. Kiku’s a pain sometimes, but she’s pretty cool…for a girl.”
Inuyasha and Kagome shared an amused look at that. Though they were both just kids, it was abundantly clear that Shippou and Kiku liked each other. Kagome grinned, remembering some of her grade school crushes. Ah, to be young again. She shook her head; with everything that had happened, it was sometimes difficult to remember that she was only seventeen herself.
“Hey, you wanna see my latest kitsune-bi?”
“Sure,” Kagome replied, but Shippou didn’t move. In fact, he seemed to have finally realized that there were four of them there instead of three. He had been informed of Kagome’s pregnancy on one of their visits, but had honestly forgotten about it until he caught an unfamiliar scent and noticed how Inuyasha held something in his arms. He scurried up onto the hanyou’s shoulder, perching there and gazing down in awe at the tiny, furry-eared bundle.
“Shippou-chan, meet Izayoi,” Kagome said. The introduction was not mutual since Izayoi was sleeping, but Shippou didn’t mind.
“Wow, she looks just like you, Kagome!”
“Heh, just wait ‘til she opens her eyes, runt,” Inuyasha retorted, grinning proudly.
“Hm, well I guess she had to be like you in some small way. Hopefully that’s the only way.”
“Why you little—”
“Alright boys, that’s enough,” Kagome declared, knowing it was unnecessary but not wanting to risk waking Izayoi up. Shippou remained sitting comfortably on Inuyasha’s shoulder, a clear sign of their improved relationship. Together, the four of them made their way toward the village.
They found Sango hanging clothes on the line, with Miroku standing nearby rocking Hideyoshi, humming to him softly. Both of them smiled warmly as their friends approached, expressions which quickly vanished as they realized just how much things had changed since their hanyou companions were last here.
“Kagome-chan, you gave birth!” Sango exclaimed.
“Yep. Meet Izayoi, guys,” Kagome replied as Inuyasha tilted his arms so the humans could get a better look at the baby.
“She’s beautiful,” Miroku observed smoothly. “Just like her mother.”
Kagome rolled her eyes. Somehow, most of his compliments still sound like pickup lines.
“So how did the birth go?” Sango asked, curious if her friend’s experience had matched her own. “How was the midwife you found?”
Inuyasha and Kagome shared a look, prompting two pairs of widened eyes from their friends.
“You did find a midwife, right?” Sango inquired.
“Well, not exactly,” Kagome hedged.
“Not exactly?”
“You see…Inuyasha delivered the baby.”
Somehow, Miroku and Sango managed stifle their surprise so as not to wake the infants. But it was clear they were quite shocked, as well as fairly upset. What if something had gone wrong? Seeing those concerns, Kagome launched into an explanation of their pursuit of the jewel shards, their battle with Kajimaru, the snowstorm, and her early labor. Miroku and Sango were somewhat mollified by that; their hanyou friends hadn’t planned on this. The circumstances conspired against them, and everything had fortunately turned out alright in the end. Just as they were recovering from that bombshell, Kagome decided to drop an even larger one on them. This time, they could not remain quiet.
“Oh, and Izayoi purified the jewel.”
“WHAT?!!!”
Twin cries rang out immediately, the sounds of irate infants protesting their discourteous awakenings. No one was surprised when Miroku immediately set about comforting Hideyoshi, but Sango for one was not expecting Inuyasha to do the same. Especially when he rocked Izayoi so tenderly, whispered to her so lovingly, and got her to settle down even while Hideyoshi was still fussing. Sango shared a look with Kagome, conveying how impressed she was. It seemed Inuyasha had taken to fatherhood like a fish to water. The hanyou didn’t even notice their attention until Izayoi had calmed completely.
“What?” he demanded, a little defensively. Sango shook her head, deciding not to comment. Praise would only make him uncomfortable, she knew.
“So, Kagome-chan,” she began, “I must have had something in my ear before. Did you tell us Izayoi purified the Shikon no Tama?”
Kagome confirmed it, then related their encounter with Midoriko, as well as what the ancient miko had said. Sango and Miroku nodded their understanding; it was one of those things that was much easier to comprehend with a good explanation. Now, Izayoi purifying the jewel made perfect sense. And they were also very happy for Kagome to hear that the well would remain open. Both knew what it was like to lose parents early in life, and neither wished that fate upon their friend.
“So the Shikon no Tama is finally gone,” Sango repeated, beaming.
“Where will you be living?” Miroku asked. “We would love to be able to call you our neighbors.”
“Inuyasha and I plan to live here. Of course we’ll visit my family often, but Inuyasha’s home has always been in this time, and now…I feel like mine is here too. I’ll take over as village miko for Kaede-babaa, and maybe Kohaku-kun can help with the healing duties until I catch up.”
“I’m sure he’d be happy to,” Sango replied. “Kaede-sama has already started taking him to watch her treat the sick and injured.”
“That’s great! Does he like it?”
“I think he’s found his true calling in life. He never did take to being a taijiya.”
“Yes,” Miroku interjected, “and Inuyasha, you could accompany me when I travel on my youkai extermination jobs.”
“Keh. You just want me to come along so you don’t have to do the dirty work,” the hanyou answered snidely. But he didn’t say no; he was grateful for the offer. Regularly going out and killing some youkai sounded like a great way to earn a living, especially for a man who’d spent most of his life as a nomad.
“Well, that’s part of it,” Miroku jokingly admitted, “but getting home sooner is not a bad thing.”
“Wait a minute!” Kagome exclaimed suddenly. “Aren’t you going to invite me, Miroku-sama, or am I to remain in this village forever?”
“I’m sorry, Kagome-sama, but we men do not possess the ability to breastfeed.”
“So what?” Sango retorted. “We’re not going to be lactating our whole lives. We talked about this, Houshi-sama; I’m still a taijiya, and Kagome-chan is still a miko. You boys don’t get to go out on every job.”
Inuyasha and Miroku shared a helpless look. “We don’t have any choice in this, do we bouzu?”
“Ah, that’s the trouble with marrying strong women, my friend,” Miroku replied, clapping the hanyou on the back. Laughing and merrymaking, the four friends made their way inside.
* * *
“We’re back!” Kagome called as she and Inuyasha entered her family’s house. It was early evening now; they had spent all afternoon with their friends, including Kaede, Kohaku, and Kiku. Izayoi had eventually been overwhelmed by all the new people and scents, so Kagome had taken her outside, fed her, and then rocked her to sleep. Now a few hours later she was awake again, happy after another meal and a few minutes alone with her parents. It would probably take her awhile to get used to other people, especially with her heightened senses, which at this point just gave her mind more confusing information to process. They had worried briefly that the well would not allow her to pass, since Midoriko had not specified who time-traveling privileges would extend to. They were pretty sure the miko intended to grant their children passage, but it didn’t hurt to err on the side of caution. Inuyasha leapt in first, discovering that the well would still not let him go through alone. Then he placed Izayoi on the ground at the bottom, keeping contact with her as Kagome jumped in. That way, they could test whether she could go through with them without putting her in any danger. If the well did not allow her to pass, she would simply lie at the bottom for a few seconds instead of dropping to the dirt when the arms holding her disappeared. Fortunately, these precautions proved to be unnecessary; the three of them emerged in the modern era without incident. Izayoi scrunched up her little nose at the new smells, but otherwise made no protest. The constant odors of modern Tokyo were something else she would have to get used to.
“Oh, Kagome!” her mother’s voice floated from the kitchen. “Thank goodness. Dr. Hayashi and I were starting to worry that you’d miss your due date.”
Kagome shared an amused look with her husband before replying. “Yeah, about that…”
Suddenly they heard a small commotion coming from the kitchen, as Mrs. Higurashi set down her mug and newspaper and rushed to the front door. She stopped in her tracks, covering her mouth as she laid eyes on Izayoi for the first time.
“Hi, Mama. Meet your granddaughter.”
Mrs. Higurashi crept slowly closer, carefully taking the baby when Kagome offered. “Hello there, little one,” she cooed, grinning from ear to ear. “I’m your grandma.”
Izayoi smiled at the cheerful voice, chirping happily, and Mrs. Higurashi nearly melted. It truly was love at first sight.
“What’s her name?” she croaked, throat suddenly dry.
“Izayoi,” Inuyasha answered, “after my mother.”
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, unable to take her gaze from those captivating amber eyes, or fuzzy black ears. For several minutes, Mrs. Higurashi stood there, getting to know her granddaughter as Inuyasha and Kagome looked on.
“So you decided to deliver in the feudal era?” she finally inquired.
“Not exactly,” Kagome replied. At her mother’s confused look, she once again recounted their recent adventures leading up to Izayoi’s birth. Mrs. Higurashi was simultaneously impressed, appalled, and relieved. In the middle of the woods with only Inuyasha there had not been the situation she’d imagined for her daughter’s childbirth. They were lucky there hadn’t been any complications, though the fact that Kagome was hanyou weighed heavily in their favor. Circumstances had united against them, so perhaps it was meant to be. Mrs. Higurashi was very pleased to hear that the mysterious jewel her daughter and son-in-law had pursued for almost three years was now gone. She couldn’t help but sense the hand of fate in all this; it was almost as if Izayoi had been meant to purity the Shikon no Tama. Then again, perhaps it was just blind luck. Only the Kami could know for sure.
At that point, the four of them went into the kitchen. Inuyasha and Kagome sat down as her mother prepared some more tea. They talked for awhile about labor and the birth, as Mrs. Higurashi was interested in her daughter’s experience. She was also curious about how Inuyasha had handled it, and was secretly impressed at what Kagome told her. Her son-in-law had managed about as well as any man without a medical degree could reasonably be expected to.
Soon Kagome called her brother and grandfather downstairs to meet the new arrival. The old man held Izayoi with the same kind of adoration as Mrs. Higurashi; any reservations about his great-grandchild’s hanyou heritage had long since passed. Souta was thrilled to be an uncle at his young age, which made him in his own words the “coolest uncle anyone has ever had.” Kagome rolled her eyes, playfully contesting just how ‘cool’ her brother was. This was the same boy who three years ago had been too much of a fraidy cat to go into the well house to look for Buyo. And that changed my life forever. Who knew where she’d be now if Souta had retrieved Buyo himself? Probably going to high school, feeling like something was missing in her life, and never knowing why she felt that way. It was hard to imagine that existence, a life without her soul mate. And in the jovial atmosphere created by her families, old and new, she didn’t try.
* * *
Kagome yawned, curling up on the couch and pulling a handy blanket over her. Izayoi had been fed and was sleeping upstairs in her new crib. She was one week old today. It was just after six o’clock in the evening, and a power nap before dinner sounded divine to Kagome. She had exercised today for the first time since the delivery, joining Inuyasha on a feudal era run. It was nice, but it also took quite a bit out of her. Still, she felt almost completely recovered, aside from having slightly less energy than she used to. That, and not wanting to touch her husband or be touched sexually. Inuyasha had been nothing if not understanding in that regard. But hanyou healing abilities were a wonderful thing, and she sensed both of those issues would resolve themselves soon. Speaking of resolving issues, both Dr. Hayashi and Kenji had been informed of recent developments, the former about the birth and the latter about the purification of the Shikon no Tama. The doctor had requested a checkup, which was scheduled for this weekend. Kenji had come over a couple days ago, but the purpose of the meeting was not only to congratulate them and see the baby. He reluctantly told them that in the absence of the Shikon no Tama, he could not justify to his superiors keeping them under guard while they were here. In other words, there would no longer be friendly youkai watching over them; they were on their own. She and Inuyasha understood, brushing aside his apologies. Whatever this mysterious evil youkai had wanted with them before, the jewel was gone, so what could anyone possibly want with them now? Neither hanyou expected any more trouble.
In the meantime, Inuyasha had kept busy by once again helping her grandfather in the storage shed. Right now he was out running an errand at the store. They also spent plenty of time in the feudal era. In fact, Miroku and Inuyasha were planning to set out on an extermination job tomorrow morning. Things seemed to be going exactly according to plan. It almost made her nervous.
She was just nodding off when a sudden knocking sounded, three harsh raps in rapid succession. Kagome rolled off the couch and strode toward the front door. Who could that be at this hour? She opened the door and saw…nothing. No one was there. She stepped out and scanned the shrine grounds, finding them deserted. Hm, maybe it was a woodpecker on a tree. Or maybe I’m hearing things. Shrugging, she turned to go back inside but paused when her foot came down on something crinkly. Looking down, she spied a piece of paper on the stoop. She picked it up and saw that it was mostly blank, with only one line typed across the top in plain font. Her eyes widened impossibly as she read, her breath hitching and knees buckling with horror.
Kagome – We have your hanyou. Yakamura Warehouse, Number 24. Come alone.
Her hands clenched involuntarily, tearing the note with her claws. The bastards…had Inuyasha.
“Shit!” she swore, darting back inside the house. She wanted to go right now, but couldn’t leave Izayoi unprotected. She picked up the phone and dialed a number, shifting impatiently until someone finally answered after the third ring.
“Hello?”
“Ayumi! It’s Kagome. Is Kenji there?”
“No, he’s not. What’s up, Kagome?”
“I need you to call him and tell him to get his butt over to my house now!”
“Kagome, wh—”
*click*
Kagome hung up. She didn’t have time to answer her friend’s questions, especially when Ayumi needed to call Kenji as soon as possible. And she would, Kagome knew; no one could have ignored the tinge of panic in her tone. Least of all her mother.
“What’s wrong, dear?” Mrs. Higurashi asked as she rounded the corner, having obviously overheard the phone call. Kagome grimaced, then showed her the crumpled note.
“Oh, Kami,” her mother breathed. “I’ll call the police.”
“No, Mama!” Kagome cried, louder than intended. Lowering her voice, she tried to explain. “Whoever kidnapped Inuyasha is obviously a youkai, or more likely a group of them. If they could handle Inuyasha, what would they do to a bunch of human police officers?”
Mrs. Higurashi’s eyes colored with understanding. “But Kagome, what do we do?”
“Look, Mama,” she said, placing both her hands on the frightened woman’s shoulders. “Inuyasha and I have defeated hundreds of youkai in the past, including some of the strongest that ever existed. Please, trust us to handle this.”
Mrs. Higurashi said nothing for several moments, then finally nodded. Fearful tears slipped down her cheeks, and she enfolded her daughter in a crushing embrace. Kagome returned it, but felt no compulsion to cry. Adrenaline coursed through her, invigorating her more primal side, readying her body for a fight. Her emotions rose to match. She would rescue Inuyasha, and make sure those responsible never kidnapped anyone again. And if they hurt him…they would pay dearly.
The front door clanged open, and Kagome pulled away to meet Kenji in the foyer.
“Come with me,” she told him before he could even open his mouth. She bounded up the stairs to her room, yanking off her blouse and tossing it into a corner. Kenji came in behind her and quickly turned his back as she changed into a set of her feudal era clothing. The fur of the swamp fox would give her more protection than any modern cloth.
“Kagome, what’s going on?” he demanded, more than a little alarmed by her frantic demeanor.
“Here,” she said, tossing him the balled-up note. He caught it, then swore under his breath as he read.
“It has to be Sueosoroshii. No one else would be so bold.”
“I don’t care who it is,” Kagome declared, slipping Tetsusaiga—which Inuyasha had left in her room along with his fire-rat garments—into her obi. If only she hadn’t left her bow and quiver in the feudal era. She picked up the red haori and held it to her nose, allowing her mate’s scent to calm her frazzled nerves, leaving her only with steely resolve.
“I’m going to kick his fucking ass,” she stated quietly.
“I’m coming with you,” Kenji said, fingering the hilt of his sword. It had been awhile since he’d last seen combat, but he was more than ready.
“No, you’re going to stay here and watch Izayoi.”
“But—”
“You keep her safe, you got it?!” Kagome demanded, leaving no room for argument. Izayoi wailed, both at being woken up and because of the hard edge to her mother’s tone. Kagome repressed the urge to go to her; there was no time. Her grandmother’s comfort would have to do.
Kenji swallowed, seeing that this was one argument he wasn’t going to win. “I’ll protect her with my life,” he proclaimed. “But you should stay here for a few minutes. Let me call for backup—”
“You do that. I’m going.”
“Wait, Kagome! Dammit!” he cursed as she slipped out the window into the night. Kenji pulled out his cell phone and dialed.
“It’s Yamato. Get a few people to the Higurashi shrine and send everyone else to Yakamura Warehouse, Number 24. The shit’s about to hit the fan.”
* * *
Inuyasha sighed, scanning the endless packages upon packages on the shelves. How many kinds of diapers can there possibly be? Cloth diapers were fine for the feudal era, but Kagome refused to ask her mother to wash them. In this time, Izayoi would wear disposable ones. They were also less likely to leak, which could be problematic if it happened on the couch, for example. He had offered to go buy some, both because Izayoi would be hungry soon and because he wanted to stretch his legs. Going out into modern Tokyo was a sort of adventure for him; he learned something new every time. He had nearly settled on a final purchase when a strange voice sounded behind him. “Hello, Inuyassssha.”
The hanyou started and spun, finding the owner of the voice gazing at him with a smile Inuyasha would qualify as slightly sinister. He looked, smelled, and dressed like a normal human, which explained how he had snuck up on him. But those baleful, cunning eyes were not normal, and Inuyasha felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up at the barely-concealed menace. That, and the serpentine way the man had hissed his name, convinced him that this stranger was a youkai. He must be wearing one of those charms.
“Who are you? How do you know my name?” he demanded, reaching his right hand down to grasp Tetsusaiga’s hilt, only to find empty air. Crap. He had left his sword and feudal era clothing in Kagome’s room. Loose-fitting jeans and a red muscle shirt were fine for moving around in, but if this boiled down to a fight, they didn’t offer nearly as much protection as his fire-rat armour. He would have to make do with his bare claws and some flimsy modern fabric.
“My name is Sueosoroshii Taichimaru. And I know much about you, my hanyou friend.”
Inuyasha ran the somehow-familiar name through his mind several times, finally recalling the memory he sought. He grabbed Taichimaru by the collar of his shirt and snarled in his face.
“You’re the bastard who sent six thugs after my wife! I should fucking skin you alive!”
“That’s a bold accusation,” Taichimaru replied sternly, all amusement gone from his features. “Do you have any evidence to prove I was behind this attack?”
“Uh…” Inuyasha mumbled, loosening his grip and losing some of his bravado.
“I didn’t think so. I’m afraid I have quite a reputation in youkai society, but that does not mean I ever committed any crimes. I merely wish to discuss something with you.”
Inuyasha growled, not buying Taichimaru’s innocent act. But at the same time, he couldn’t just kill the bastard because he had no proof of his involvement. He didn’t want to slay a potentially innocent man, even though his instincts told him Taichimaru was bad news.
“Discuss what?” he asked warily.
“A proposal,” Taichimaru answered, grinning ominously. “Merely a proposal.”
Inuyasha opened his mouth to demand further explanation, but the burly storeowner interrupted him.
“Is there a problem here?” the man asked, crossing his beefy arms over his broad chest. It was clear he didn’t want a fight breaking out in his store, and was willing to throw both of the troublemakers out on their asses if necessary. Little did he know that either of them could dispose of him with minimal effort.
“No, no problem,” Taichimaru replied smoothly. “Simply a misunderstanding. We’ll take it outside.”
Hearing that, Inuyasha finally released the collar of Taichimaru’s shirt, which he straightened as best he could. Inuyasha was pleased to see five small holes left by his claws.
“I’d appreciate that,” the storeowner stated dryly, ‘escorting’ them to the exit. Once on the sidewalk, Taichimaru pulled out his phone and spoke very briefly to someone. Soon, a long black car pulled up and stopped in the middle of the road, the driver not caring if the entire row of traffic behind him had to wait. He got out and held the rear door open.
“After you,” Taichimaru said cordially, motioning for Inuyasha to precede him into the car. That definitely was not happening.
“I’d rather not.”
“Oh?” the other man replied, appearing not the least bit surprised. “I trust you will have no trouble keeping up?”
Inuyasha’s first instinct was to tell this guy to go fuck himself, but he knew he needed to at least see what he wanted. Then he could decline the ‘proposal’ and go home, hopefully avoiding any further trouble.
He nodded, and Taichimaru got into the car. Inuyasha ducked into the nearest alley and leapt up onto the roof. It was easy to follow the black vehicle on the crowded streets of Tokyo. As they moved away from the center of the city, the traffic thinned out and Inuyasha found himself moving at a brisk pace. Still nowhere near his top speed though. Finally, the car drove into a deserted area, with the headlights the only sign of movement for hundreds of yards in any direction. Lamps cast an eerie glow on the spaces between huge, squat buildings, a stark contrast to the skyscrapers on the horizon. As the car approached one particularly large building, a garage door opened and the vehicle drove inside. The door remained open, presumably for him to follow. Before doing so, Inuyasha scoped out the surrounding area, finding no one else in the immediate vicinity. He also entered the building cautiously, and was eventually satisfied that he wasn’t walking into an ambush.
“Ah, Inuyasha,” Taichimaru welcomed warmly. “I was beginning to think we’d lost you.”
“Keh. What do you want?”
Taichimaru grinned maliciously. “Very well, I suppose we’ll get right down to business. Leave us, Yori,” he said to the driver of the car. “I think it’s time you delivered our message.” Nodding, Yori exited the warehouse on foot.
“What message?” Inuyasha demanded, suddenly getting a bad vibe.
“A completely unrelated matter, I assure you,” Taichimaru replied, his smile now taking on an edge of downright wickedness. Inuyasha glared at him. Usually, he could get a sense of whether someone was telling the truth or lying, but he could get nothing from Taichimaru. Either he was telling the truth, or he was an expert in deceit. Somehow, Inuyasha was leaning towards the latter.
“Please, make yourself comfortable,” his host implored, motioning to a very nice table set up near this end of the mostly-empty warehouse. There were two chairs, one at either end. The only truly strange item was the small cage sitting on the center of the table, a black and white cat its prisoner. The feline gazed at them warily, it’s eyes and demeanor fearful.
“I trust you don’t mind if I do the same?” Taichimaru inquired. When Inuyasha said nothing, he slipped a gold ring off his finger. Instantly his body transformed, his skin becoming paler as his hair and eyes darkened to a greenish-brown tint. His clothes shifted as well, the illusion dissolving to expose ornate, traditional robes, similar to what a wealthy lord might wear hundreds of years ago. His scent revealed him to be a serpent youkai, his aura a powerful one at that. But that aura was weaker than some of the youkai Inuyasha had defeated in the past, albeit with Tetsusaiga. Still, if it came down to a fight, he thought he could take him.
“Ah, much better. I despise putting on that loathsome human disguise every day. Don’t you agree, Inuyasha?” he asked, his grin suggesting that he knew damn well Inuyasha didn’t possess a concealment charm.
“Would you just fuckin’ tell me what you want already?” Inuyasha growled roughly, his patience reaching its limit.
Some of Taichimaru’s good humor vanished, to be replaced by malevolence. “Very well. I have a task I wish you to perform for me. Your…special skills are perfectly suited for the job. You—”
“Not interested.”
“Hear me out. It is a relatively simple assignment, and you will be handsomely rewarded.”
“Are you fucking deaf? I said I’m not interested. If that’s it, then I’m leaving. Don’t ever let me see or smell you again.”
Far from being offended, Taichimaru began chuckling darkly, a sound which froze Inuyasha in his tracks and filled him with dread.
“I thought you might say that,” Taichimaru confessed gleefully. “But I have something that might change your mind.”
He reached into his robes and pulled out a small blue box with a short wire sticking out of it. He flipped up the plastic safety and pressed a button. For a moment, nothing happened. Then all hell broke loose.
**Warning: next paragraph depicts graphic animal death. Squeamish individuals should not read**
The cat yowled in pain, smashing itself repeatedly against the bars of the cage. Blood began oozing from its eyes and ears, then pouring from every orifice in its body. The struggling animal calmed, wobbled on its feet, then collapsed and expired in a pool of its own blood. The entire incident took less than fifteen seconds.
**Death scene over** (1)
“What the fuck did you do?!” Inuyasha demanded, rounding on the bastard.
“A wonderful invention, really,” Taichimaru replied, ignoring the question. “It’s a compound that, when injected into the bloodstream and set off with a precise radio frequency, sets in motion a chain reaction that destroys the body from the inside out. Not even youkai can survive it.”
“And what does this have to do with me?” Inuyasha queried, knowing he was not going to like the answer.
“Because, my hanyou friend, I had Yori inject your mate with the exact same compound.” (2)
“You lie!” Inuyasha yelled, his voice full of desperate denial.
“Do I?” Taichimaru replied calmly, pulling a red controller from his robes. “Care to bet your mate’s life on that?” He flipped open the safety.
“Bastard!”
“I’d be careful what I say if I were you,” Taichimaru sneered, finally showing his true colors. “Do you think I care about the life of a half-breed? The only reason both of you aren’t rotting corpses is because I need you.”
Inuyasha clenched his fists, so tightly that his claws punctured his palms and blood dripped onto the floor. His jaws clamped so firmly together that he thought his teeth might shatter. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to take action, to remove the threat to his mate at once, to wipe this enemy from the face of the earth. But…he couldn’t. Taichimaru could be bluffing, but on the other hand, he could truly have Kagome’s life in his hand. That was a chance Inuyasha was unwilling to take. He couldn’t assume Taichimaru was lying, nor could he gamble on the youkai’s reflexes. The odds were slim that he could cross the twenty feet between them before Taichimaru could push the button. So, with no other options, he decided to play along.
“What do I have to do?”
* * *
Inuyasha sat cross-legged on the roof, staring pensively up at the stars. He was perched atop some random building, a fair distance from the warehouse in which he’d met Taichimaru. He could not see the structure in the distance, and was well out of hearing and scent range. That was part of a purposeful effort to avoid detection; his instincts told him to stick around instead of proceeding directly to Ageo as his ‘assignment’ dictated. The whole thing seemed abnormally suspicious. He had been told to travel north to Ageo and meet a contact at a certain building. But why didn’t Taichimaru just tell him what the job was? And what task could possibly require a hanyou to complete? Inuyasha was sure Taichimaru had many lackeys, so why go to all the trouble of attacking Kagome and then blackmailing him? Whatever the reason, his private reflections over the past half hour or so had led him to one conclusion: he could not complete the mission which had been given to him. Say he did what Taichimaru wanted. Then what? The bastard would no longer have a reason not to kill Kagome. Why would he let either of them live when they were witnesses to his criminal activity? Brutal images of the poor cat’s horrible death flew through his mind, and he suppressed a shudder. It was difficult to ignore the symbolism. His wife…could die like that.
Growling, he rose to his feet, already settled on a plan. If he could get Kagome to the feudal era, she would be safe; he doubted that ‘ray-dee-o’ signal would transmit five hundred years in the past. Then they could find Myouga and get him to purge her blood of the toxin, or whatever it was. The keys were speed and surprise; without both, the plan would fail gruesomely. Kagome had to be ready and waiting with Izayoi for him to sneak up to the shrine under the cover of darkness. She would dash to the well house and he would meet her there. Hopefully the three of them would leap inside the well before Taichimaru knew to push that cursed button. As to alerting Kagome to his plan, he thought he remembered roughly where her three friends lived. He would drop in on one of them and use that telephone thing to warn his wife of the danger. He would also call Kenji and ask him to watch over Kagome’s family while they were gone.
This wasn’t his typical type of plan, he realized, which usually consisted of going in and cutting the enemy to pieces one way or another. He hated running away, but Kagome’s safety was the top priority right now. His pride could take the hit. Inuyasha took off, settling into a stealthy run. He stuck to the rooftops, being extra careful to move in the shadows as he made his way back toward the city, away from Ageo. He skirted around the warehouse in a very wide semi-circle, senses on high alert. If one of Taichimaru’s lackeys discovered him, there would only be a small window in which to silence the interloper before he alerted his master. And by ‘silence,’ he meant by any means necessary. This was no time for mercy.
He had almost completed his half-circle around the warehouse when he spotted a lone figure on the next rooftop, silhouetted against the lights of the city in the distance. Inuyasha ducked down below the ledge and peered over. The figure hadn’t seen him, but probably would if he tried to sneak by. Inuyasha grimaced; he could feel the person’s youki from here. This youkai would have to be dealt with, quick and easy. He hated killing someone like that, but reminded himself of the circumstances and the danger Kagome was in. That was more than enough to get him moving again. He approached silent as death, hesitating only slightly as a feeling of familiarity struck him. The youkai was turned away from him, but that aura, and that scent…
He recognized the youkai an instant before making contact. Instead of rending the youkai asunder with his claws, he grabbed him by the neck and slammed him face-first into the roof. He wrenched his quarry’s arm behind him and placed his knee in his lower back. He thought this youkai was a friend, but now he wasn’t in a mood to trust anyone. Especially when he could think of no innocent explanation for why this individual was here in the first place.
“Kenji! What the fuck are you doing here?! I could’ve kill—” he cut himself off, sensing a new presence behind him and the telltale prick of a blade pressed against the back of his neck.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Kenji said, his voice muffled by the roof. “Let’s all calm down. Inuyasha, let me up. I think we both have some explaining to do.”
The pressure of the blade remained for another second, then abruptly vanished. Inuyasha stood, releasing Kenji. He turned and found…nothing. He looked around, but there was no sign of the mysterious presence.
“Her code name is Kumori,” Kenji stated conversationally. “She’s the stealthiest person I know.”
Inuyasha nodded, in complete agreement. He felt relieved; if this ‘Shadow’ was working for Taichimaru, he’d probably be dead already. He could assume Kenji and his cohorts were still on his side.
“Inuyasha, how on earth did you manage to escape?”
“Escape? What the hell are you talking about?”
“You weren’t take prisoner by Sueosoroshii Taichimaru?”
“I met him, but I was never his prisoner.”
“But the note—oh, no.”
“What’s ‘oh no?’” Inuyasha demanded, alarmed at the trepidation in Kenji’s tone.
“Kagome received a note saying that you had been kidnapped, and telling her to meet your abductor at Yakamura Warehouse, Number 24,” Kenji replied, pointing in the general direction of the warehouse where Inuyasha had met Taichimaru. “Oh, shit, this is bad. We’ve been barking up the wrong tree the whole time. Sueosoroshii has played us like fools.”
“Kenji! Stop babbling and tell me what the fuck is going on!”
“Don’t you see? Kagome is inside the warehouse now!”
Inuyasha’s mind slowed to a crawl as he gradually started to unravel this jumbled mess. Taichimaru had told Kagome that he’d been kidnapped, apparently to lure her out to the warehouse. And now Kagome was meeting him. Alone. Inuyasha’s eyes widened. Fuck! He didn’t want anything to do with me! He was after Kagome the whole time! This entire thing was a setup. His ‘mission’ was just a decoy, as his instincts had tried to tell him. Taichimaru might very well have poisoned Kagome’s blood, but that was probably the only element of truth in his otherwise bogus story. And the bastard had accomplished his objective—getting Kagome alone. Well, he would just have to crash that party. Inuyasha launched into a dead sprint, moving as quickly as he could back to the warehouse. He barely heard Kenji call out to him over the whoosh of the wind past his ears.
“Wait, Inuyasha! There’s a b—”
Inuyasha slammed into something solid, gritting his teeth as electricity surged through him. He went rigid as his muscles seized, his skin feeling as if it was aflame. Then he was flying backwards, landing on a rooftop in a dazed heap.
“Inuyasha, are you okay?” Kenji asked, kneeling by his side.
“Ugh…what the fuck was that?”
“I tried to tell you. There’s a really powerful barrier around the warehouse, with about a quarter mile radius. I’m sorry, but we can’t get to Kagome.”
Grunting, Inuyasha sat up and looked down at himself, searching for the source of the smell of something burning. He quickly discovered that something to be his clothes, which were now scorched and tattered, with more holes than a piece of Swiss cheese.
“I don’t suppose you brought Tetsusaiga,” he said, wishing for his sword’s barrier-breaking abilities.
“Unfortunately, Kagome took it with her, believing she was going to meet you. It is inside the barrier as well.”
“Mother f—”
“I did bring these,” Kenji interrupted, not wanting to listen to an angry, profanity-filled tirade. He then handed Inuyasha his fire-rat robes.
“Thanks,” Inuyasha told him, standing to change into his customary combat clothes. There was a certain comfort level he felt with these robes; he had survived many battles in them. And they wouldn’t go to pieces from a singeing like that cheap modern fabric. While dressing, he tried to come up with a plan. With Tetsusaiga inside the barrier, the only option was to punch through with his bare claws. Maybe Sankon Tetsusou would be enough. It was a long shot, but it was currently the only shot he had.
“That will never work,” Kenji declared, reading his thoughts. “You’ll only hurt yourself.”
“Shut up! What else can I do?”
“Rest and conserve your strength. When that barrier comes down—and it will—you’ll need it.”
“Oh, and hang Kagome out to dry like you did?” Inuyasha snapped accusingly. “Forget it!”
“I’m sorry! She was out the window before I could stop her.”
“Well why didn’t you go with her?”
“She told me to protect your daughter.”
“What?!” Inuyasha snarled, grabbing Kenji by the collar. “You left Izayoi unprotected?”
“No, I did not!” Kenji retorted, some of his own frustration showing through. “There are currently four of my comrades watching the house. She is perfectly safe.”
“She’d better be.”
Kenji sighed, trying to reign in his temper. He understood why Inuyasha was acting this way. If anyone was going to be calm in this situation, it had to be him. Grimacing, he realized that it wouldn’t help Inuyasha’s anxiety any if he knew Kagome had been inside the barrier for twenty minutes already.
“Inuyasha,” he tried, “stay here and rest. You won’t do Kagome any good if you exhaust yourself.”
“I won’t do her any good if I sit on ass, either. No fucking way! What kind of mate or husband would I be if I didn’t try to get in there?”
Kenji sighed, seeing that the hanyou was not going to be swayed. He was glad he’d decided to bring the fire-rat robes; they would at least provide him some protection against the barrier. If Inuyasha started to really hurt himself, he would need to be restrained. But Kenji didn’t have the heart to stop him from trying. This hanyou was powerful; maybe he really could break through with his bare hands. Inuyasha wasted no more time in making his first attempt. He charged, leaping into the air and bringing his claws down where he knew the barrier was.
“Sankon Tetsusou!”
Golden energy trailed from his claws, slashing into…nothing. He landed on the next rooftop over, wondering what the hell had just happened. Had the barrier thrown him farther than he thought? No…no! Now he could sense something undetectable to him before—Kagome’s presence through their bond. And the sinking, aching feeling in his chest left no doubt that she was in danger. With that knowledge running through his mind, he gave no more thought to how he’d gotten through the barrier as he charged back to the warehouse. If he had turned around, he would have seen several flashes in the air, as Kenji and his cohorts tried to follow and were painfully thrown back. And perhaps he would have wondered why the barrier had only allowed him passage, and no one else.
* * *
Kagome moved through the Tokyo outskirts like a phantom in the night. Everyone knew where the old Yakamura complex was. The company had gone out of business years ago, and the subsequent owners rented the warehouses out as storage space. People still referred to the buildings as they were known in the Yakamura days. It was the perfect place for a youkai’s hideout—huge, private, and almost devoid of human activity. It was the perfect place for an ambush. Kagome slowed her pace as Warehouse Number 24 came into view. She studied the building, allowing all her senses to scan the area. Nothing; she could detect no sign of anyone in the immediate vicinity. Satisfied, she vaulted down to the ground, nearly choking as she inhaled. Blood. The scent was powerful and unmistakable, though fortunately it did not belong to Inuyasha. In fact, it did not smell like a youkai’s blood at all.
Cautiously she crept to the door, peering around the edge. There was no one inside. Inuyasha’s residual scent told her that he’d been here, but he was long gone, as were his abductors. She gasped; there on the center of a table was a cage. Blood dripped onto the ground, the source a lump of fur inside the cage. Kagome approached and was sickened by the sight. She closed her eyes and said a small prayer for the poor creature. Her eyes snapped open as she sensed a new presence behind her, appearing as if out of nowhere. It was already too late to react. She felt a hand come to rest on her shoulder, and then her world exploded.
Gale force winds buffeted her mind, pounding against her consciousness. She barely comprehended the sensation of her body collapsing onto the floor, that infernal hand still clutching her shoulder. A pervasive darkness invaded her, devastating her thoughts and slowly clouding everything she knew, overwhelming her very being. She fought back on an instinctual level, fueled by a combination of desperate self-preservation and miko strength. With a herculean effort she managed to drive the darkness to the edge of her mind, but her attacker intensified his efforts. The darkness strengthened, pushing her steadily back. She continued to fight, trying to stop the inexorable advance, but it was futile. With the last of the light, she managed one final thought before her world went black. Inuyasha…
* * *
Inuyasha rushed through the warehouse door without hesitation, skidding to a halt at what he saw. There was Kagome, standing in the middle of the room, facing him with her head downcast and eyes closed. Taichimaru and Yori stood well off to one side, the former panting with exertion. Inuyasha didn’t give those two a second thought. “Kagome!” he cried, dashing up to her. She made no response, not even raising her head. He looked her up and down, finding no physical injuries. So then why was she, for lack of a better word, unconscious?
“What the fuck did you do to her?!” Inuyasha demanded, rounding on the bastards who dared to attack her.
Taichimaru managed a breathless chuckle. “I possessed her; she is under my control now. But it almost didn’t happen. My possessory spell is the most powerful in the youkai world. In two hundred years, no one has come close to defeating it. But your mate nearly did just that; it took me more than ten minutes to subdue her. I can see I made the right choice.”
“The right choice?” Inuyasha repeated angrily. “Damn you! Why did you do it? How can Kagome possibly be of any use to you?”
“I think you vastly underestimate just how valuable your mate is. She has the strength and speed of a daiyoukai, and now that her consciousness is repressed, an unmatched viciousness. She has the ability to take punishment which would kill any human and most youkai. She also happens to be the most powerful miko I have ever encountered. Think about it; she is the perfect weapon. And I will help her reach her full potential. I will teach her things you can’t imagine, terrible techniques forbidden in all but the darkest corners of the world. My enemies will cower before me, or she will obliterate them. No youkai on earth will dare to stand up to me! With Kagome at my side and a loyal army of youkai at my back, there is no limit to what I can accomplish!”
From this narcissistic tirade Inuyasha gleaned one solitary realization—he was dealing with a madman. Taichimaru was completely insane. He wanted to use Kagome to take over Japan, or the world, or whatever. Inuyasha wasn’t going to let that happen.
“Perhaps my plan was overly circuitous,” Taichimaru continued serenely, “but part of the fun is spinning a tangled web, and watching all the little flies get caught in it. And besides, the compound in Kagome’s blood will serve as a useful insurance policy,” he said, patting one particular spot on the front of his robes.
Smiling evilly, Taichimaru bore a striking resemblance to Naraku in that moment. He had shown himself to be a conniver of the same caliber as the ancient hanyou, with a sadistic streak to match. And if Inuyasha had anything to say about it, he would meet the same fate as his feudal era counterpart.
“So I’m a fly, am I?” the hanyou asked, flexing his claws. “It doesn’t matter. I’m going to kill you, break your spell, and take my wife home with me.”
Taichimaru chuckled menacingly. “My dear Inuyasha, you still don’t understand, do you? Why do you think I allowed you to enter my barrier while those other fools are still hopping around outside? I did it because you will make a perfect experimentation subject. I think it is time to test just how deeply your mate is under my control. Kagome, awaken!”
Kagome’s head shot up, her eyes opening as wide as they could go. Inuyasha gasped at the expanse of crimson in each. Where during her youkai transformations at least her pupils remained black, now each eye was nothing but a solid blood-red orb. They were chilling, and utterly soulless. Inuyasha felt as though he was gazing into hell itself. Taichimaru’s wicked cackle broke through his daze, drawing his attention to the youkai as he spoke a single command.
“Kagome, kill him.”
(1) I debated over and over whether to insert this warning. I hate to break up the flow of the chapter, but I could see people really being upset by a description of a housecat getting killed like that, especially if they have one (or several) as pets. Better safe than sorry, I guess.
(2) Remember that “hornet sting” way back in chapter 32? Well, now you know what it really was. This aspect of Taichimaru’s plan has been in motion for a long time.
A/N – Okay, I know what you’re thinking. “Hey, KB, why doesn’t Taichimaru just possess everybody if he’s so good at it?” Well, my thinking is that it’s one of those energy-consuming techniques that he can’t use too much. So he probably can’t possess more than one or two people at a time. So he does need Kagome to do his dirty work for him. That’s how I imagine it, anyway.
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